A tale of two states

by B.C. Shama

While the Northern states of India have been wracked by Hindu-Muslim conflicts, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in Southern India have not witnessed Hindu-Muslim tension, leave alone riots.

Kilakarai Jumma Mosque: One of the finest mosques to be built in the Dravidian Islamic architecture by the legendary 17 Century philanthropist, Seethakkathi at Kilakarai

A bas relief sculpture depicting the maritime trade of the Muslims found at the Azhagiya Nambi temple at Thirukurungudi

The Tamil traditional martial art 'silambam' being exhibited by Tamil Muslim men

Miskal Palli: The mosque built in the architectural tradition of the Chera country by an Arab trader at Calicut

The Kandhuri celebrations at Alwarthirunagari

The Muslims came to the North as conquerors, and stayed on to be the new ruling class. They had to maintain their hegemony through force of arms. Although they imbibed Hindu cultural and linguistic forms and imparted West Asian cultures and languages to the Hindus to form a synthetic Indian or 'Hindustani' culture, the fact that they were the ruling class for centuries before the British ousted them in the 19 Century has adversely affected Hindu-Muslim relations in North India.

The Muslims came to South India in an entirely different way: As traders. They settled down to be a local trading class, specializing in international maritime trade and being an intermediary between the South Indian economy and the economies of West and East Asia. Between the Chola era and the arrival of the Portuguese in the 15 Century, Muslims were handling international maritime trade on behalf of the Tamil kingdoms or chiefdoms in what is now known as Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The historical and contemporary saga of Muslim-Tamil relations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, has been brought out in a fascinating documentary film produced and directed by Kombai S.Anwar.

Place in economy

Entitled Yaadhum-A Tamil Muslim's Search For His Roots And Identity, it has recently won a Bronze Remi award at the 48th WorldFest Houston International Film Festival. Earlier, it was declared as the Best Documentary Film for the year 2013 by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association.

Anwar begins his journey from this home town, Kombai, in Theni District, bordering Kerala. If Kombai had prospered since 1 AD, it was because its pepper and cardamom were marketed worldwide by Arab maritime traders.

Those days, the Arabs used to land at Muziri, now called Kodungalur, 40 km north of Kochi, in Kerala. Muziri was a major Tamil port since the days of the Chera kings.

According to Anwar, the Arab traders called the South Western Indian coast as "Mabaar" or "Transit point" as it was half way between West Asian and East Asian ports. Perhaps the "Malabar" region of Kerala today owes its origin to the Arabic word Mabaar. Given Kodungalur's position historically, it is hardly surprising that India's oldest mosque - the Cheraman Jumma Palli - built between 800 and 1100 AD, is in Kodungalur.

Kodungalur was a transshipment port even for Chinese vessels trading with West Asia. The Chinese fishing nets used on the Kochi coast even today, bear testimony to the East-West transshipment trade through Kodungalur. The Muslim Maraikkar traders of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Sri Lanka, are so named, because they came by a Marakkalam or wooden boat. The Muslims also specialized in wooden boat building. Even today, there is a community of Muslims in Pulicat, north of Chennai, which specializes in boat building. The Rowthers of Tamil Nadu were Arab traders who brought horses to Southern India from Arabia. Till date, the Rowthers are in shipping and trade.

The role of the Arab merchants in the economy of Tamil country in the distant past finds mention in ancient Tamil Sangam literature. Aganaanooru (149) talks of Yavana (Yemeni) ships bringing gold and taking pepper back in exchange The Brihadeeshwara temple in Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, built by Rajaraja Chola I in 1010 AD, has inscriptions mentioning the Arab currency, "Drammam" (Dirham).

Wealthy Muslim merchants have been witnesses to major land grants by South Indian kings and chieftains. The 9th Century St.Therasa's copper plate shows signatures of witnesses in three scripts including Pahlavi-Kufi (Arabic).

Muslims had also occupied high office in the Tamil kingdoms. Anwar mentions one Sonaka Saroor as a high official in the Chola kingdom. The term Sonaka had come to be used for Tamil-speaking Muslims by the time of the Cholas.

Muslim merchants were integrated into the Hindu caste structure in an ingenious way. They were referred to as Anjuvannam or the fifth colour (caste) in the Hindu varna (caste) system. The other four varnas (colours or castes) being Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. Anwar quotes Prof.Y.Subbarayalu, to say that Tamil Nadu was dotted with Anjuvannam or Muslim settlements.

Place in society and culture

Muslims had found a place in Hindu temples too. At the Vishnu temple in Alwarthirunagari in Thirunelveli, a vessel with Arab traders on board is depicted. In the Azhagiyanambi temple at Thirukurungudi in southern Tamil Nadu, there is a bas relief sculpture showing an Arab trader arriving by boat and landing a horse on the shore. The Rowthers of Tamil Nadu were horse traders who brought Arabian horses to Tamil Nadu.

Islam was brought to Tamil Nadu, not only by Arab traders but also by Sufi Saints from Syria, Turkey and Iraq. Uriyarur in Tiruchi became a major Islamic centre a thousand years ago, thanks to the Sufi Saint Nattar Wali.

When the 16 Century Sufi Saint, Shahul Hameed, cured Thanjavur ruler Achutappa Naik of an ailment, land was granted to him at Nagoor where a shrine was built. It later became a popular shrine attracting people of all faiths, especially seafarers hoping for a safe journey across treacherous oceans.

Today, in an era of fundamentalist Islam, there is a thriving Hindu-Muslim syncretic culture in Tamil Nadu. In Alwarthirunagari in Thirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu, the mosques use caparisoned elephants and Nadaswaram musicians in their Sufi Kanduri processions. Use of elephants and Nadaswaram music is typical of Hindu Kovil festivals.

The Muslims of Tamil Nadu had adapted the Dravidian Hindu temple architecture when building their mosques. The early mosques and also ancient mosques still in use, have sculptured columns, though no humans or animals are depicted as per the Islamic injunction.

In Kilakarai, the Seethakaadi mosque built in the 17 Century and the Habib Arasar mosque built in the 19 Century, conform to the Dravidian style with sculptured, multi-pillared prayer halls.

According to Dr.Raja Mohammad, in those days, there was no prescribed architectural design for a mosque. Muslims built mosques as per the local style for a place of worship. The documentary shows mosques in Kerala which are built like the Hindu temples of Kerala.

Contribution to Tamil literature

The Muslims' contribution to Tamil literature has been outstanding from the earliest times. Ayiram Masla (1000 questions or issues) about Islam, written in 1590, was accepted in the highest Tamil literary circles of Madurai. Kaviko Abul Rahman quotes K.A.P.Viswanatham to say that from the stand point of religious groups' contribution to Tamil literature, Islam's contribution has been the greatest. According to Rahman, the Muslims had kept Tamil literature alive in the "dark age" between the 16 and the 19 Centuries. The Muslims introduced to Tamil, new literary styles like Kissa, Nama, Padaippor and Munajat. Muslims had adopted local forms to express Islamic themes. The 16 Century Tamil poem, Miharaj Malai, on the Prophet's ascent to Heaven, is sung in the classical Carnatic style adhering to the Carnatic Raga patterns. In the 17 Century work, Seera Puranam, on the Prophet's life, Umaru Pulavar uses South Indian imagery rather than the imagery of the West Asian desert.