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Mappila
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The Mappilas (historically called Moplahs in Malayalam :???????) refer to the Muslim community in Kerala and neighbouring states and territories of India. The term mappila in southern Kerala also refers to the Syrian Malabar Nasrani. The Mappila Muslims make up the largest community in Kerala, 24.70% of the population. However as a religious group they are the second largest after Hindus (56%)
word mappila is derived from ancient Tamil language during the 1st century AD.
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The Mappilas (historically called Moplahs in Malayalam :???????) refer to the Muslim community in Kerala and neighbouring states and territories of India. The term mappila in southern Kerala also refers to the Syrian Malabar Nasrani. The Mappila Muslims make up the largest community in Kerala, 24.70% of the population. However as a religious group they are the second largest after Hindus (56%)
Etymology
The word mappila is derived from ancient Tamil language during the 1st century AD. Mappila in Tamil refers to son-in-law. As the Muslims did not belong to India and were largely Arabs, they were referred to as Mappila. There is also an argument that Mappila was shortened form of Margapilla (Margam means 'the way') in Tamil/Malayalam referred to the Nasranis or early Christians of Kerala. Later came to mean those who converted to Islam, or any religion other than Hindu religion. Hence the term is used to denote Muslim in northern Kerala and Christians in the southern part.
History
The long-standing Arab and Jew contact with the coastal areas of India has left its permanent mark in the form of several communities. These communities came into existence through the marriage of local women to Arab sailors (The Muslim Mappilas) and traders and conversion of early Jews to Christianity (Nasrani Christians). Malabar and Kochi was the most important state on the western coast of India where the Arabs and Jews found a fertile soil for their trade activities. The community, which arose in Malabar as a result of the contact, is termed as Mappilas.
The Arab, Greek and Jew contact with Malabar existed long before and became predominant in the post Roman period. Therefore the history of the Mappilas goes back to the Pre-Islamic period. In the Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency, Khan Bahadur Fazlullah Faridi, mentions the settlement of pre-Islamic Arabs in Chaul, Kalyan Supara and Malabar Coast and Arab merchants passing along the Coromandel Coast on their way to China.
One Uppukutan Mappila appears in the legend of Parayi Petta Pandiru Kulam, (The Twelve Tribes Born to a Paryai) and he is said to have lived in 378 BC. Ouwayi, who through extreme devotion made the goddess of Kozhikode appear before him, was a Jonaka Mappila.
It was with the advent of Islam that the Arabs became a prominent cultural race in the world. The Arab merchants and traders now became the carriers of the new religion and they propagated it wherever they went. When Islam spread among the Arabs, the Arab traders brought it to Malabar during the time of Prophet Muhammad itself. Francis Day’s assumption that the first settlement of the Muslims on the western coast took place sometime in the seventh century strengthens this view. George Sarton says in his Introduction to the History of Science that the most outstanding event of the seventh century was, of course, the explosion of Islam throughout Arabia and parts of Africa and might have reached Malabar coast during those early days. In Malabar, the Mappilas may be the first community to come to the fold of Islam because they were more closely connected with the Arabs than others. Intensive missionary activities took place on the coast and a number of natives embraced Islam, joining the Mappila community. Thus among the Mappilas, we find descendants of the Pure Arabs, the descendants of Arabs through local women (the vast majority) and the converts from among non-Arabic locals.
Malabar Mappilas
Arab merchants propagated their faith along the Malabar Coast. The community that came into existence through the marriage of local women to Arab sailors are known as the Mappilas or Moplahs. The Arabs are believed to come from many regions of present day Arabia notably from the Red Sea coastal areas and the Hadhramaut region of present day Yemen as most present day Mappilla Muslims are Shafi'i. Muslims and the Muslims in Maldives, Sri Lanka, and coastal Karnataka also share a similar history and culture. 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. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Mappilas were known for active armed attacks against the British, including the 1921 Moplah rebellion. Mohommed Haji was proclaimed the Caliph of the Moplah Khilafat (Caliphate) and flags of Islamic Caliphate were flown. Ernad and Valluvanad were declared Khalifat kingdoms.
In recent years, many Kerala Muslims, along with other Malayali communities have found work in the Middle East (especially in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates ), sending remittances home to support their families in Kerala. This makes Kerala one of the main contributors of foreign exchange to Indian economy.
Like the Bearys of Tulunadu, most Mappila Muslims follow the Shafi'i school of Muslim Jurisprudence (in contrast to the Hanafi school followed by most South Asian Muslims). The Pakistan Movement (which drew its strongest support from Muslims in northern India) received a lukewarm reception amongst Muslims in Kerala though relatively few Mappilas migrated to Pakistan following partition.
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 Kodagu (Coorg), Mangalore, Bangalore, Coimbatore) etc. Nowadays the Mappila diaspora is spread around the world from United States in the west to Australia in the east.
Culture of Malabar Mappilas
Oppana
It is a popular form of social entertainment among the mappila community of Kerala, south India, prevalent all over, especially in the northern districts of Kannur, Calicut, and Malappuram. It is generally presented by females, numbering about fifteen including musicians, a day before a wedding. The bride, dressed in all finery, covered with gold ornaments, is the chief spectator; she sits on a peetam, around which the singing and dancing take place. While they sing, they clap their hands rhythmically and move around the bride using simple steps. Two or three girls begin the songs and the rest join the chorus.
Mappila Paattukal
Mappila Paattukal or Mappila Songs are folklore Muslim devotional songs in the Malayalam language sung by Muslims (Mappilas) of Malabar. The first gramophone record in Malayalam language was a Mappila song. In 1925, Gul Mohammed, father of actor KG Sathar recorded his voice in gramophone. Even though many Mappila songs were released thereafter on records, only a few of them are considered as authentic Mappila songs.
Duff Muttu
Duff Muttu (also called Dubh Muttu) is an art form prevalent among Mappilas. The Duff is a percussion music instrument made of wood and ox skin. It is also called Thappitta. Participants play this and dance.
Mappilas of Tirunelveli
Indian Muslims who followed Shafi'i from the coastal state of Kerala – which borders Tamil Nadu – 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 Mappilas and follow Malabari religious teachers and social culture.
Christian Mappilas
The rulers gave the Syrian Christians various rights and privileges written on copper plates.
In Kollavarsham 149 (AD1051) the Chera King Vallabhan Kotha had given a Chepped to the Chengannur Church conferring the title Mappila to all the Syrian Chrstians. The Syrian churches existing at that time were known as Mother Churches. After this Chepped was given, members of those churches were given the title ‘Mappila’ or children of Mother Churches and they suffixed Mappila with their names as a title of honour. The Christian Mappilas are known as the Syrian Malabar Nasranis.
Origin of the Christian Mappila
The word Mappila was not a herditary title but it denotes all the foreigners who came to Malabar coast and married native Dravidian girls and became residents of Malabar coast. Most of the sailors came from Western countries like Arabia as well as Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. The prefix before the Mappila denote the country of origin including Arabi Mapilla, Yonaka Mapilla (Greeks and Turks) Nasrani Mapilla (Persian,Jewish, Palestinian, and Syrian immigrants).
Many of the Syrian Malabar Nasrani were converted to Islam during Tippu Sultan's invasion of Malabar.
During the attack by Tippu the Kozhikode Zamuthiri (Zamorin), Manorama Thampuratti accompanied by many Syrian Christians came for shelter under Travancore State ruled by Karthika Thirunal. Such Christians were settled in places like Ennakadu, Cheppadu, Kannankode, Mavelikkara, etc. where there were already Christians. During the time of Ramayyan Dalawa a census of such Christians were taken. In order to identify them, their houses were named after the tree closest to their houses. Thus names like Plamood, Mammootil, Pulimootil, Alumootil etc were given which exist till today. The earlier Christians in those places had "Thalackal", "Oor", "kode","thil" etc added to their house name; examples are Poovathoor, Thalakode, Kizhakethalackal, Thundathil etc. They were Christians settled down there from St. Thomas' time. These Syrian Christians still use the Mappila in their name. The Mammen Mappila of Malayala Manorama is from one of those families.
Citation
- The Cochin State Manual by Mr. C. Achutha Menon, Government of Kerala, 1995
- The Christian Churches in Kerala by Mr. K.U.John, November1995
External Citation
See also
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