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When the English appeared in Indian waters in the seventeenth century, they found the coromandel ships were better than their ships. The Engllsh ships were bullt of oak tree, fastened with iron nails,the corrosion of which consumed the very metal which is supposed to unite the planks. Hence the English turned to the South Indian technology and began to build crafts with teak wood engaging local craftsmen. In 1821, timber was declared as state monopoly ~ lsmall d boat builders were not able to get teak wood for boat building2". The archival records of the English shed some light on the ship building activities of the Muslims of Coromandel. Periathambi Marakkayar the seventeenth century commercial magnate of Coromandei owed many -Is of various descriptions Md he bullt those wsek In his ship bulkbg yard at W. The English East India Company utilissd the yard of the Marakkayar to repairthelr Many other ~nerchants of Kikkkami also built ships of their om for their maritime activities engaging local carpenters, among whom there were many Muslims. As trial run they freighted passengers in their vessels to ~ecca~'~. The Muslim merchants in Nagapattanam and Nagore also built ships of considerable burthen up to 500 tons, in the port itself, not only for their use but also for the merchants of western coast. The English also purchased such wssels from the local Marakkayar merchants and the company also utikd their technical The Marakkayars of Kayalpattanam built ships for their activities and they also .old vessels to the English East India n om pan^^^^. Similarly the maritime Muslim communities engaged m seafaling and fishing activities throughout the stretch of the Coromandel coast built ships and boats of their own with the available local skills. It is interesting to note that at present the Marakkayars and Labbais who are engaged in fishing in Thanjawr, Ramanathapuram, and Thirunelvell coasts buiki their boats of their own. There are also a number of Muslim carpenters engaged in these works216. They buiM such wssels in the traditional way as handed down from generation to generation217. The coastal Muslim communities supplied skilled crew members required for shipping in large numbers because of their mastey in techniques in sea tradition and knowledge of oceanography. These traditions are getting lost under the impact of modern technologies and the last vestiges of a dieing past can be traced only in remote locations and minor ports where counhy crafts still survive. The memoy of the glorious past of the Mwlim maritime communities has vanished still the vediges can be traced among the Marakkayar and Labbai fishermen in Coastal villages. They have good knowledge about wind,
weather, sea and its bottom topography, water current and life, field knowledge about sky and stars method of determining distance, direction and fixing locations of the vessel in the open sea. Some information on the above collected in field studies in the coastal villages among Muslim fishermen are described here briefly. The basic dirtections are understood by rising and setting of the sun and the pole star. The d~rections find a strong associations with wind and weather, since the wind brings the weather and sailing IS regulated by wind direction and speed. The wind is named from the origin of it'sdirection as. vadai, for north wind, chokkatm for southern wind, Kachan for west wind and Kondal for eastern wind, lntermedioy directions are Vadaikondal for north east wind, Cholakondal for south east wind, Vadai Kachan for north west wind and Cholakachan for south west wind. The wind that brings changes in the direction of the wind is called Thiwaikat~. The location of the coast from the open sea is determined by the direction of the waves, since waves dl be directed towards the coast, and the flight of birds as they will fly towardsthe coast at the fall of the day. During day, the time is ascertained by pointing the pointing finger vertically towards the sun and time is calculated approximately from the resultant shade. During night the time is ascertained with the help of the stars. They use a handful of stars for finding directions, time and to forecast weather conditions. This varles with the seasons and regions. In Coromandel Coast the stars used are mainly planets and a few stars such as Jupiter, Erinjanvelli and Vldi velli morning star (Venus). Vada VelU ( pole star) Kappal velli (sapt Rishl or Ursa Majoris), Tarassu veb ( Tulacentaunrs) Kootu velli ( orionis or Adrra and Mrig), Raja veU~ etc. The depth of the sea is measured by droping a rope with a clay mass at the tip. As the clay mas touches the floor of the sea the sandy particles stick on it, the rope is drawn up and with the type of sandy particles sticking in the clay mass, the depth of the sea is ascertained.
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MARITIME ACTIVITIES ECONOMY AND SOC
Page 3 and 4:
During my field work. I interviewed
Page 5 and 6:
J RAJA MOHAMAD CURATOR GOVERNMENT M
Page 7 and 8:
Key to Abbrevlmtlonm ARE ARP BOR FS
Page 9 and 10:
Chapter - I INTRODUCTION A study of
Page 11 and 12:
However the Muslims were no match t
Page 14 and 15:
Secondary Sources Castes and Tribes
Page 16 and 17:
Chapter two outlines the geographic
Page 18 and 19:
at Tranquebar. Their trading activi
Page 20 and 21:
At the beginning of nineteenth cent
Page 22 and 23:
There were Muslim weavers in large
Page 24 and 25:
The Tamil speaking Muslims of Corom
Page 26 and 27:
and they have been pooled together
Page 28 and 29:
Chapter I1 THE COROMANDEL COAST The
Page 30 and 31:
community of the present day Tamil
Page 33 and 34:
Most of the Coromandel ports were l
Page 35 and 36:
trading communltles and their settl
Page 37 and 38:
acquired the knowledge about the oc
Page 39 and 40:
Kenneth Hall. op. dt. p - 167. A.R.
Page 41 and 42:
polygais reorganised the admlnistra
Page 43 and 44:
In 1736 the rulers of Tamil country
Page 45 and 46:
SethupathkofRamaMthapaoam. Lwas~fra
Page 47 and 48:
Chapter IV THE MUSLIMS OF COROMANDE
Page 49 and 50:
M~~llnlppattu, Ncd~~nnlvndnl,Prr~~m
Page 51 and 52:
wife but also a pbce for board and
Page 53 and 54:
Yonakar street or Yon street even t
Page 55 and 56:
to be the merchant guild of the Mus
Page 57 and 58:
which is considered to be a subcast
Page 59 and 60:
Muslims of Tamil Nadu as Lovai. It
Page 61 and 62:
inscription and said the term marak
Page 63 and 64:
No doubt this is to enhance their e
Page 65 and 66:
The Portuguese used this plural hon
Page 67 and 68:
CHOUAS The Wrds of the Dutch, Engli
Page 69 and 70:
W. Roboltson Smlth, Mp and manisge
Page 71 and 72:
80. Qusdir Hussain Khan, op.clt., p
Page 73 and 74:
Chapter - V EUROPEANS ON THE COROMA
Page 75 and 76:
to be friendly with Portuguese. Rul
Page 77 and 78:
the Muslims had established firmly
Page 79 and 80:
assistance of the Dutch. In return
Page 81 and 82:
In 1537 the three captains of the Z
Page 83 and 84:
V. I1 . THE DUTCH The Hollanders -
Page 85 and 86:
An impressive fort was built at Nag
Page 87 and 88:
Ekojl the Maratha general was insta
Page 89 and 90:
However the Dutch web caught hold o
Page 91 and 92:
ejected a similar offer made to Col
Page 93 and 94:
The Dutch took the Coromandel texti
Page 95 and 96:
The Portuguese never extended such
Page 97 and 98:
to the English and Pondichery to Fr
Page 99 and 100:
The french settlements were a heave
Page 101 and 102:
A record of Fort St. George of 28 J
Page 103 and 104:
The settlement of Madras ( Fort. St
Page 105 and 106:
The Myrore wars of subsequent times
Page 107 and 108:
Under the English administration th
Page 109 and 110:
for local representatives. Most of
Page 111 and 112:
and confident merchants as share ho
Page 113 and 114:
Choudy alleges that the English Eas
Page 115 and 116:
C Sivarathnam, Tamils m Ceylon , (
Page 117 and 118: S Arasaratnam. Conlpan~eb and Comme
Page 119 and 120: 130. B.Krishnamoorthy op cit ; Ch~e
Page 121 and 122: 191, ibid 192 lbld p 192. 193. S. A
Page 123 and 124: in the m t h centuxy A.D.. the Atab
Page 125 and 126: The religious ties and associations
Page 127 and 128: found it extremely difficult to com
Page 129 and 130: His ships sailed to Pulicat, PortoN
Page 131 and 132: The English records from 1686 menti
Page 133 and 134: MARITIME TRADE At the beginning of
Page 135 and 136: Similarly the Cholia Muslim were we
Page 137 and 138: Some of the Muslim traders were so
Page 139 and 140: When the amount due to the merchant
Page 141 and 142: S i Moharned, and lbmhim ~agudha~'.
Page 143 and 144: The decline of opportunities in shi
Page 145 and 146: Even in the kt decatk of the nbwtem
Page 147 and 148: Malabar and Bengal ports. This fami
Page 149 and 150: He had business connection in Singa
Page 151 and 152: At Kulasekarapuram , Hassankhan Sir
Page 153 and 154: and there were no Marakkayar trader
Page 155 and 156: Thus it will be seen tha there was
Page 157 and 158: Korkai of Sangam period gave way to
Page 159 and 160: The Dutch took over the pearl fishe
Page 161 and 162: was fished in the coastal belt of T
Page 163 and 164: At KikWcarai a certain wnMbution of
Page 165 and 166: A considerable population of Muslim
Page 167: withstand the strong mansoon winds
Page 171 and 172: On thei anival at Commandel the Dut
Page 173 and 174: in defence and tradeZz5. This is an
Page 175 and 176: and others they could not get inter
Page 177: There was lack of creativity and in
Page 180 and 181: References Pratandha Thjrnttu, Dr.
Page 182 and 183: Chief of PortoNovo to the chief of
Page 184 and 185: Somerset Playne, op.cit. p.4686; Pa
Page 186 and 187: TNA Judicial Consultation, Vol 242
Page 188 and 189: TNA Madurai District Record, Vo1.47
Page 190 and 191: Sarada Raju. op. cit pp.200 - 201.
Page 192 and 193: The Arabic word lslam cannotes subm
Page 194 and 195: the Shariath by Ulamas and Alims le
Page 196 and 197: equal status. Ranking as in caste s
Page 198 and 199: Tho elaborate rituals and ceremonie
Page 200 and 201: On arrival at the bride's residence
Page 202 and 203: at present. In many families among
Page 204 and 205: and hw described about each and eve
Page 206 and 207: tho idontlty of the Muvllms and to
Page 208 and 209: Puberty ceremony is generally celeb
Page 210 and 211: Lunch and dinner is mostly rice Non
Page 212 and 213: where we find references to the orn
Page 214 and 215: The purdha system is widely in prac
Page 216 and 217: The girls were married at a very ea
Page 218 and 219:
The Muslims attach much importance
Page 220 and 221:
and also to the poor in Mecca and ~
Page 222 and 223:
The Mira) or Mihura) night is consi
Page 224 and 225:
The worship that takes place in the
Page 226:
Such festivals were celebrated with
Page 229 and 230:
(Though this is a good study to int
Page 231 and 232:
Dargah worship is much familiar amo
Page 233 and 234:
indigenous languages can understand
Page 235 and 236:
Kinship term Marakkayar Labbai Rowt
Page 237 and 238:
Muslims have enriched the voccabula
Page 239 and 240:
Edward William Lane, Arabian Societ
Page 241 and 242:
Particular collected in Interviews
Page 243 and 244:
Chapter Vlll CONCLUSION The Period
Page 245 and 246:
The Coromandel Muslims did not atta
Page 247 and 248:
think that the Coromandel Muslim so
Page 249 and 250:
&@ cqhnwm~ch nw&m g m ~ 6 m @ mCw@
Page 251 and 252:
Imam Maulavl Mauzln Mdadun Nabi Nar
Page 253 and 254:
BIBLIOGRAPHY Intensive field studie
Page 255 and 256:
Kambaramayanarn Kandar Alankaram Ka
Page 257 and 258:
Report of Customs Committee, Madras
Page 259 and 260:
Magbul Ahamed. S.. lndo Arab Relati
Page 261 and 262:
WUkr. Col.. Historical sketches of
Page 263 and 264:
Sarlri . B.S., " P o w in South Irl
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