Mappilla

Mappila Muslim, often shortened to Mappila, formerly anglicized as Moplah/Mopla and historically known as Jonaka/Chonaka Mappila or Moors Mopulars/Mouros da Terra and Mouros Malabares, in general, is a member of the Muslim community of same name found predominantly in Kerala and Lakshadweep Islands, in southern India. Muslims of Kerala make up 26.56% of the population of the state (2011), and as a religious group they are the second largest group after Hindus (54.73%). Mappilas share the common language of Malayalam with the other religious communities of Kerala.Miller, Roland. E., "Mappila" in "The Encyclopedia of Islam". Volume VI. E. J. Brill, Leiden. 198

pp. 458–56.

According to some scholars, the Mappilas are the oldest settled native Muslim community in South Asia. In general, a Mappila is either a descendant of any native convert to Islam or a mixed descendant of any Middle Eastern — Arab or Persian — individual.Hafiz Mohamad, N. P. "Socioeconomic determinants of the continuity of matrilocal family system among Mappila Muslims of Malabar" Unpublished Ph.D. thesis (2013) Department of History, University of Calicu

/ref>P. P., Razak Abdul "Colonialism and community formation in Malabar: a study of Muslims of Malabar" Unpublished Ph.D. thesis (2013) Department of History, University of Calicu

/ref> Mappilas are but one among the many communities that form the Muslim population of Kerala. No Census Report where the Muslim communities were mentioned separately is also available.

The Mappila community originated primarily as a result of the West Asian contacts with Kerala, which was fundamentally based upon commerce ("the spice trade"). As per local tradition, Islam reached Malabar Coast, of which the Kerala state is a part of, as early as the 7th century AD. Before being overtaken by the Europeans in the spice trade, Mappilas were a prosperous trading community, settled mainly in the coastal urban centres of Kerala. The continuous interaction of the Mappilas with the Middle East has created a profound impact on their life, customs, and culture. This has resulted in the formation of a unique Indo-Islamic synthesis — within the large spectrum of Kerala culture — in literature, art, food, language, and music.

Most of the Muslims in Kerala follow the Shāfiʿī School, while a large minority follow movements such as Salafism. Contrary to a popular misconception, the caste system, like from other parts of South Asia, does exist among the Muslims of Kerala (although all Muslims are allowed to worship in all Kerala mosques, certain communities are held in "lower status" to others). A number of different communities, some of them having distant ethnic roots, exist as status groups in Kerala.Kunhali, V. "Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798" PhD Dissertation Aligarh Muslim University (1986

/ref>

Etymology

Mappila Muslims are but one among the many communities that form the Muslim population of Kerala. Sometimes the whole Muslim community in Kerala, is known by the term "Mappila". Portuguese literature, Portuguese writer Duarte Barbosa (1515) uses the term 'Moors Mopulars' for the Muslims of Kerala.

"Mappila" (originally meaning "the great child" and now often used as a synonym for son-in-law/bridegroom) was a respectful, and honorific title given to foreign visitors, merchants and immigrants to Malabar Coast by the native Hindus. The Muslims were referred to as ''Jonaka'' or ''Chonaka Mappila'' (" Yavanaka Mappila"), to distinguish them from the '' Nasrani Mappila'' (Saint Thomas Christians) and the '' Juda Mappila'' (Cochin Jews).

Demographics and distribution

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, about one-quarter of Kerala's population (26.56%) are Muslims. The calculated Muslim population (2011) in Kerala state is 88,73,472. The number of Muslims in rural areas is only 42,51,787, against an urban population of 46,21,685.

Distribution

The number of Muslims is particularly high in the northern Kerala (former Malabar District). Mappilas are also found in Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian Sea. A small number of Malayali Muslims have settled in the southern districts of Karnataka and western parts of Tamil Nadu, while the scattered presence of the community in major cities of India can also be seen."Remittances and its Impact on the Kerala Economy and Society – International Migration, Multi-local Livelihoods and Human Security: Perspectives from Europe, Asia and Africa", Institute of Social Studies, The Netherlands, 30–31 August 2007 When the British supremacy on Malabar District was established, many Mappilas were recruited for employment in plantations in Burma, Assam and for manual labor in South East Asian concerns of the British Empire. Diaspora groups of Mappilas are also found in Singapore and Malaysia. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of Muslims have left Kerala to seek employment in the Middle East, especially in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

According to the 2011 Census of India, the district-wise distribution of the Muslim population is as shown below:

Portuguese distinctions

The Muslims present in Kerala were distinguished by the Portuguese historians into two groups:
* Mouros da Terra ("Moors of the Land").
* Mouros da Arabia/Mouros de Meca ("Moors from Arabia/Mecca").
The latter, also known as the "Paradesi Muslims", in fact came from all over the Islamic world. They included Arabs, Persians, Egyptians, Turks, Iraqis, Gujaratis, Khorasanis and Deccanis (and Melakans, Sumatrans, Bengalis). These Muslims were not unsettled navigators but had settled in Kerala. The Malayali (and Tamil Muslim) community as a whole was considerably lower economic standing than the Paradesi Muslims.

A Mappila is either,

# A descendant of any native convert (vast majority were Ezhavar, Thiyyar, Pulayar and Mukkuvar)) to Islam (or)
# A descendant of a marriage alliance between a Middle Eastern individual and a native low caste woman

Till the 16th century, as noticed by the contemporary observers, Muslims settled mainly along the coastal tracts of Kerala (especially in major Kerala ports such as Calicut (Kozhikode), Cannanore (Kannur), Tanore (Tanur), Funan ( Ponnani), Cochin (Kochi) and Quilon (Kollam)). They were traditionally elite merchants who were all part of the brisk foreign trade. Until well into the European period, the Muslims were almost exclusively concentrated in the port cities. Middle Eastern sailors had to rely on lighterage at most of the Kerala ports in the medieval period. This led them to enter into mutually beneficial relationships with the traditional sea fishermen community. A large majority of fishermen, once low-caste Hindus, in northern Kerala now follow Islam.

Inland Growth

After and during the Portuguese period, some of the Muslim merchants were forced to turn inland (Malabar) in search of alternative occupations to commerce. Some acquired land and became landowners and some became agricultural labourers. Between 16th and 20th centuries, the collective Mappila numbers increased rapidly in Malabar District, chiefly by the conversion among the lower and 'outcaste' Hindu groups of the South Malabar interior. The peak of the Muslim distribution in Kerala had gradually shifted to the interior Malabar District. William Logan, comparing the Census Reports of 1871 and 1881, famously concluded that within ten years some 50,000 people from the Cheruma community (former untouchables) converted to Islam. Muslim growth in the 20th century has considerably outpaced that of the general Kerala population due to higher birth rates.

British distinctions

During the British period the so-called Mappila Outbreaks, ''c.'' 1836–1921 led the officials to make and maintain a distinction between the interior Mappilas and the 'respectable' Mappila traders of the coastal cities, such as Calicut. The two other regional groupings are the high-status Muslim families of Cannanore in North Malabar — arguably converts from high caste Hindus — and the Muslims of Travancore and Cochin. The Colonial administrates also kept a distinction between coastal and inland Mappilas of the South Malabar.

* Thangals (the Sayyids) – at the top were the aristrocratic Tangals (the Sayyids), who claim descent from the family of Prophet Muhammed.
* Arabis - Below the Thangals are Arabis (mostly from the coastal towns), the people tracing their origin from the West Asian intermarriage with Malayali women.
* Landed Aristocracy - the Arabis were followed by the landed aristocracy, centred on Cannanore, North Malabar, arguably converts from high caste Hindus.
* Lastly, there were the converts from the Backward and Scheduled Hindu castes (such as the South Malabar interior Mappilas, Pusalars/Puyislans and the Ossans).

History

Arrival of Islam in Kerala and Lakshadweep

Kerala has been a major spice exporter since 3000 BCE, according to Sumerian records

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