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

Marathas speak about chank fishey in the coast and coolie charges to the divers. It was 14 chakrams,
per 1000 chank. Further the English permitted the chank divers ( Muslims) In the coastal areas to go to
Ceylon for fishing chank. Shells were sent to Malacca from Nagore port175.
In the south &cot coast the chank shek were collected hy rentors and also by indiddual fkhmn.
The collection of the shells was done with net as in the case of Thanjawr. Chank shells were smuggled
from South Arcot coast to Pondicheny where it fetched a higher price'7'.
The Coromandel chank shells had a good market in Bengal and hence exported there in large
quantities. From there they were sent to Tibet and Butan. In Bengal the chank was in wider use as
ornaments Uve bangles and eariets, it was also used in many social functions. We find references to the
export of chank to Bengal from Coromandel in the Wting of the Arabian and European travellen. The
Musi~ms of Coromandel were the wholesale merchants in chank in Calcutta. Kilakkarai was an important
centre of chank export to Bengal.
A large number of Muslims of Coromandel were engaged in pearl and chank fishing and trade,
from wy early times. Pearling ad diving for chank were regarded as low and ritually pollubng oc~pations,
but this did not stop these Muslims from using their specialities as a bridge to this more prestigious and
lucrative maritime activity177. Persons in the lower strata of the society were engaged in diving and
collecting activities while the affluent were in trade and export"'. From the early times, the Arab pearl
divers were consided to be better than theTamils . Since Thimelveii and Ramanathapuram coasts
wre nch in pearl and chank, the majority of the coastal population among the Muslims twk to diving as
a profession. The writings of the Europeans praise the superiority of the Coromandel Muslim divers.
The lWakkarai Muslim divers were vey industrious and liked by English also. They spenally designed the
boats suitable for =hank and pearl fishey and these boats differ from evey other in the world. Great
majority of the divers in Kllakkarai were Labbais, of course there were also Marakkayars and Sonakan.
The superlorlty of the Labbais over Paravas In the number of seconds they remained under water.
C~Uectin greater number of oysters per dive made the work of the former more productive and powerful.
The stones under the Muslims fetched morels0. Hence the Muslim divers were paid higher than the
Paravas and the Karaiyars.