maritime activities economy and social customs of the muslims of ...

Similarly the Cholia Muslim were well settled in the coast of Ache and influencid with the rulers.
In the effort to promote their own trade, the English were trying to establish a factory at Ache. The
English resident at Ache. Charles Desvoeux writing to Fort St. Gorye In 1772, says tliai tlie Cliolla
Mulims were very influencid with the King of Ache. Among them one Cholia Muslim Mohamed Kasim
was prlme merchant, probably a native of Nagapattanam. The English representative could meet the
Sultan only with the help of Mohamed Kasim. The English had to negotiate with Mohamed Kasim to get
trade concessions from the Sultan of Ache. The Cholia Muslims stiffly opposed the enty of the English
but later they compromised with them and the English were permitted to trade in the coast of Ache"
When English settlement was founded in Penang in 1789, the Cholia Muslirns were the first
traders to arrive there. Early trade statistics show a large scale trade between PortoNovo. Nagore.
Nagapattanam and Penang.The early censuses of population show the Cholias as the third largest
community. Among the first inhabitants were family clans of the Labbais and Marakkayars. Some of
whom were known as people of affluence IiLing in some of the best dwellings in the urban settlement
But there were many cholias of lower social orders engaged in a variety of occupations : shopkeeping.
peddling, poulhy rearing, coolie labour on the water front and crew on ships. It was noted that the vessels
from Coromandel would bring annually about 2000 men who would settle for short periods.earn some
money and return with their saws. Pe~ng had captured the imagination of the Cholia Muslims as a place
with future. The English encouraged this perceptionq5. When Stamford Raffles founded
Singapore in 1824, the Cholia Musllm inhabitants were there in large number^'^. The Cholia
Muslims were mobile. Some members of the merchants family would live semipermanently in the main
lands of Southeast Asian ports to conduct their business.
The Tamil Muslirn merchants from Nagore and PortoNovo in the eighteenth century, carried
paddy and ready money to the Jaffna Peninsula. Their agents made advances to the local tobacco
cultivators ad shipped the cargoes from Ceylon directly to Malabar cost and Panany.
Nadve -1s from Coromandel, rnajorlty of them belonging to Muslims, plied to Malabar in the
eighteenth century from Manapad, Tutlwtin, Khkkaral, Kayalpattanam, Tegnapttanam. Nsgapttanarn
and Colochal. They brought cotton piece goods such as spreads, chintzes, frocks, stokkings, carnbaya
(a cheap cloth) kerchief, call)as (Manapad whlte cloth) tupatti, roornals, tobacco, salt , onion, writing olas
karupatti (the native palmyrah sugar).ln miun thq, todcareca, coir, timber, oops, counut, dwmd