MUSLIM COMMUNITIES IN KERALA TO 1798 Dissertation Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy KUNHALI V. Under the Supervision of PROF.(Dr-) M- ZAMEERUDDIN SIDDIQl CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AllGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, ALIGARH 1986 Use/ *... ^.Li*>!i>iQm fiTT, ©F HISTORY. A,«JiS ^ > T5242 27 JUN 2000 Esfc tf THESIS PREFACE This dissertation is an attempt to analyse in detail the history and culture of the various communities that formed the Muslim population of Kerala. Moat of the published works on Muslims of Kerala regarded this group as monolithic* and failed to analyse the different cultural identities that existed among them* These communities played an important role in the cultural development of the region* Published and unpublished works available in Arabic* Arabi-Malayalam and Malayalam formed the source material for this dissertation* The Maulid literature* an equivalent of 'Malfuzat'* was for the first time utilised in this study for social analysis. The major portion of this dissertation is mostly based on extensive field work conducted in different parts of the state* The early coastal settlements* their riverine and interIn extensions were visited fox this study. Necessary information was also collected from different communities on the basis of a prepared questionnaire. Also several festivals and social gatherings were attended and rituals and ceremonies were analysed* for a descriptive accout of the study. ii For the irst time 3uf ism in Kerala was studied tracing lea origin, development* philosophy, rituals and practices and evaluating its role in the spread of the community* Fifteen sub-sections of the community as traced in this study, their relative significance, functional role and social status has been discussed in detail, A realistic appraisal of the condition af Muslim community upto 1798 is earnestly attempted. In preparation of this dissertation I am greately indebted to Dr. K. zaneeruddin siddiqi, frofeasor. Department of History, Centre of Advanced Study of Allgarh Muslim University* under whose supervision this study was carried out. I am grateful to Prof. K.A. Nizami and Prof* Irfan liabib who initiated me into the study of social history* Prof* M.O.o* Narayanan, Head of the Department of History and Prof* K.K.N. Kurup, my Colleagues, helped with their valuable suggestions at various stages of this work. Prof. Ibrahim Kunju deserves my deepest gratitude for all the helps and encouragement he gave me in completing this dissertation. I am thankful to Prof* Hashim of MES Mampad College* for saving me from stylistic errors. I am also thankful to Mr. N. Ussain for secretarial asdistance. A.M.U. Allgarh,I 20—6—1986. I KUNHAL1. V. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS B.S.O.A.S. : Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African studies. E.I. J Encyclopaedia of Islam. I.A. i Indian Antiquary I.C. : Islamic Culture Proc. I.H.C. i Proceedings of Indian History Congress• J • A • 3 • i Journal of Asian studies. J.I.H. t Journal of Indian History. J.K.3. t Journal of Kerala studies* Adhkiya i Shaykh Zayn ud-din Makhdum (Senior) Hidayat a 1-Adhkiya Ha Tariqat al-Awllya. Manaqib waliyullahl t Abdul Axis Musaliyar, Manaqib waliyullahl al-Rabbanl wa al-ghawth al-Saraadani al-Shaykh Abdul Qadlr Sani. Napplla sahithyam i Civ. Ahmad Moulavi and K.K. Muhammad Abdul Kareed (Ed.), Mahathaya Mappila Sahithya parambaryam. Muhiyiddin * Shaykh Muhiyl al-Din Abdul Qadlr Jilani. Tuhfat i Shaykh zayn ud-din (Junior) Tuhfat al-Mujahidln fl Badi Ahwal al-Burthuqallyyin (Tr.), S.M.H. Nainar. CONTENTS Ssass. PREFACE ABBREVIATIONS INTRODUCTION i-xxiv Ch*pf ra I GENESIS AND GROWTH OP THE MUSLIM COMMUNITSf IN KERALA TO THE CLOSE OP THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 1-45 II SUFISM AND THE ROLE OF SUFIS IN THE GROWTH OF THE COMMUNITY 46-92 III THE EUROPEAN DOMINATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY 93-148 IV MUSLIM COMMUNITIES IN KERALA 149-239 V MUSLIM SOCIAL LIFE IN KERALA 240-292 VI MUSLIM FOLK LIPS IN KERALA 293-330 APPENDIX .. 331 GLOSSARY .. 332-335 BIBLIOGRAPHY .. 336-345 INTRODUCTION Tha Muslims of Kerala are generally known to the outside world as Mappilas* Seldom any one realise that Mappilas are but one among the many communities that formed the Muslim population of Kerala. The fame the community acquired may be due to the Mappila out­ breaks of the 19th century and the Malabar Rebellion of 1921. Even recent publications on the Muslims of Kerala do concentrate only on different aspects of the major community - the Mappilas* This work is an attempt to enlist various communities, their origin and growth, relative significance in the community, reactions to the major problems, response to important developments, life style, and inter-relation of these communities* The study aims at an evaluation of local influence and also to trace the Impression of pre-conversion life* An attempt is made here to project the unparalleled role of Muslims of Kerala as the defenders of Islam against medieval west as the oily one community on earth who fought people of the Dar ul-Harb while them* selves in Dar ul-Harb. The evolution of the concept of martyrdom (shahid), in fact the real resource of the ii community to naet wastern fira power* is traoad in this work* The significant contribution of religious leader* ship of tha community of diffarant agas in diverse forms has also been noticed* Till recently* Muslim of Kerala have rarely been noticed in scholarly writings* This non-Urdu- speaking people were not Included among 'The Indian Muslims' (M. Mujeeb* 1967)* Only Dr. I. H. Qureshi had realised the need to begin the study of the history of Islam in India from Peninsular India, and included the Mappilas (far an outsider all the Muslims of Kerala are Mappilas) in his 'Muslim Community of Indo-Pakistan sub- con tin ant (1962)* Tha first realistic appraisal of the history and culture of Muslims of Kerala appeared in the monu­ mental Malabar Manual (1881) of William Logan* first the Malabar Collector and than the Special Commissioner for Malabar* to Investigate the causes of the Mapplla Outbreaks of the nineteenth century. Innes and Evans utilised the materials available in 'Logan'a Manual * to compile the Malabar District Gazetteer (1908) and the successive editions of Malabar District Gasattears updated the informations* w.w. Hunter in his Indian Mussulmans (1876) showed unusual insight into the mind of the Muslim community and tried to high light some aspects of Mapplla Outbreaks of the 19th century. Hi Even native writers seemed to neglect this community* when T.K.G. Panikkar edited his 'Malabar and Its Folk* in 1900, Muslims were not included in the study and it was only ifi the revised third edition (1929) that a chapter by Harold All on Mappilas, who represented one third of the 'folk', was incorporated in it* There was a spurt of works on Mappllas following the Kebelllon of 1921* Some of thmra were motivated by enthusiasm to describe it as a struggle for independence and others to glorify the community* Another source of information were secret administratives reports. Then there was a series of 'Khilafat reminiscences' by veteran fighters* The themes of all such works were the ideology and activitits of Congress-Khilafat volunteers* A few works on the Rebellion of 1921 by the Marxist sympathisers characterised it a peasant rebellion (Soumyendranadh Tagore's banned pamphlet* 1937, and Sukhblr Chaudhurl's Moplah Uprisings, 1977). Except for P.A. Seyd Muhammad's Kerala Muslim Charitram (1961), a Malayalam historical study on the Mappilas, there has been no major investigation of the community's history, theology or culture by a Mappila. Khan Bahadur K* Muhammad's Mappilamar Enqott, ("Whither the Mappilas") published in 1956 is the first end still i.V the only major discussion of the community's future by one of its own members. There was an unprecedented increase of monographs and commemoration volumes on men in various fields* To cite a few* like Ali Musaliar* Variyamkunnath Kunhamad Haji, K.M. Moulavi* K.M. Seethl Sahib* Mohammed Abdurahiraan Sahib* Bafaqi Tangal* Panakkad Pukkoya Tangal* C.H. Mohamed Koya and others* These works contain important information regarding many aspects of life of Muslims in Kerala* but which are written in such laudatory forms that they must be sub­ jected to tests for historical accuracy* The 'Mapplla Muslims of Kerala* of %•£• Miller (1976) is worth mentioning* But it is a compendium of available materials* wherein widely accepted notions are explained and do not contain any original thinking and analysis* Dr. Stephen F* Dale's 'Mappilas of Malabar 1493-1922' (1980), is the only one research monograph published on .Muslims of Kerala* He has tried to explain the Ideology underlying the outbreaks of 19th century in terms of a militant revivalist movement and exploded the idea held by several writers that tldiculed the outbreaks were a mere act of 'Hal Ilakkam* (frensy)* A research work as attempted in this study* • to traea the orlgion and growth of various subsections of the community has not appeared so far, except for Dlwan Bahadur c. Gopalan Nair's Malayalattile Mappllamar, (Tha Mappilaa of Malayalam) (1917)• Repeating the rele­ vant portions of Karalolpattl, he prepared brief notes on Maraburam Tangal, Kozikkod Koya* Nahas and Mandayippuratt Muppans. Of these only •Naha* is referred to in the present study as a community and Mamburam Tangal is included in the section on Sayylds* The present study on the Muslim communities is subject to many limitations. Much of the information for the study of Muslim communities is derived from personal interviews with leaders of the communities* The informants flew into rage on being told of communi­ ties among Muslims and burst out that there is only one community and Islam does not recognise any differences among its followers* Theoretically they were right.