Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c5.s5.t1: A. Arabs
Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c5.s5.t1
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A. Arabs
c5.s5.t1.1
The descendants of the early Arab colonists, though very numerous in S. India, are perhaps not in any case of pure descent. In Malabar and the south-west they are called ‘Māppiḷa’; in the east (or Tamiḷ country) their name is ‘Labbai’ or ‘Lĕbbai.’ There does not appear to be any trace in the Telugu country of a similar race. True Muḥammadans they are²), but few have any knowledge of Arabic; their books and letters are now written in Malayāḷam or Tamiḷ with a modified Arabic character. This has, however, been introduced only in recent times. I have given an account of the system already elsewhere³).
c5.s5.t1.2
² They all affect the S. Arabian costume especially the ‘Qalansuwah’ (a stiff cap of variegated silk or cotton. See Dozy’s “Dictionnaire des noms des vêtements chez les Arabes”, pp. 365-371) if they can afford it. The Muḥammadan Arabs appear to have settled first in Malabar about the beginning of the ninth century; there were heathen Arabs there long before that in consequence of the immense trade conducted by the Sabeans with India (according to Agatharchides. i., p. 64 of Hudson’s ed. *Cfr.* also the Periplus of the Red Sea).
c5.s5.t1.3
³ 3; “Specimens of South-Indian Dialects”, No. ii.