Mappila

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The Mappilas (historically called Moplahs in Malayalam :മാപ്പിള) are a Muslim community in Kerala and neighbouring states and territories of India. They are the earliest known Indian Muslim community, having existed since the 8th century AD, when Arab merchants who had long been trading with the Chera kingdom converted to Islam, based on the preachings of monotheism by Prophet Muhammad in Arabia.

They propagated their faith along the Malabar Coast.

In the 16th and 17th centuries they are known for their fight against Portuguese inquisition and conversion to Christianity of native people of malabar coast. 19th and early 20th centuries, Mappilas were known for active armed attacks against the British, including the 1921 Moplah rebellion.

In recent years, many Kerala Muslims have found work in the Middle East (especially in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates ), sending remittances home to support families in Kerala.

This makes Kerala one of the main contributors of foreign exchange to Indian economy.

Most Mappila Muslims follow the Shafi'te school of Muslim Jurisprudence.

According to the 2001 census, about one-quarter of Kerala's population (or 7,863,842 people) were Muslims. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of Mappilas have left Kerala to seek employment in the Middle East, and some have settled in other states within India. There are substantial numbers of Mappilas in nearby Lakshadweep and Kodagu (Coorg).

[edit] Mappilas of Tirunelveli

Indian Muslims who followed Shafi'i from the coastal state of Kerala – which borders Tamilnadu – were forced by Portuguese brutal attacks on their villages in the 16th century to flee into the rural interior. They began migrating to the villages near Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu. Many of the present-day Tirulnelveli Muslims claim to be descended from the Kerala mapillais (“grooms”), follow Malabari religious teachers and social culture.

[edit] Mappilas of Kadayanallur

Kadayanallur is one of many traditional Muslim weaving villages in Tirulnelveli, a district in the state of Tamilnadu. Practically every household in Kadayanallur once worked a handloom, and the occupation was passed down from generation to generation. But in the 19th century, the weaving industry in South India was twice transformed because of the industrial revolution in Britain. In the early 19th century, India’s hand-spinning industry was destroyed by the import of machine-spun yarn from Britain and the establishment of local spinning mills. With a plentiful supply of cheap yarn, however, the handloom sector flourished until about 1860, when the East India Company imposed a handloom tax to suppress competition to the British textile industry. Many of the traditional weavers (nesavali) found themselves without income and were forced to migrate to places like Penang, Singapore. By one estimate, there are about 20,000 Kadayanallur Muslims in Penang itself today. Today, Kadayanallur itself is transformed into a township. A few households do still work in handloom, but most households depend on income from jobs in the Middle East.

The name Kadayanallur comes from "Kadayaleeswara", the name of the presiding deity of Kadayaleeswarar Kovil, a Hindu temple located in Kadayanallur.

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