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

Chapter VII
SOCIAL CUSTOMS
Social history primarily concerns itself with the daily life of the people
and the character of family and household life. It also comprises of human and
economic relation of the different classes to one another, the social stratification
of groups, occupation, culture, arose out of these general conditions and the
reflection of this culture on religion, literature, arts, architecture, learning and
thought. Intimately connected with this there appears the history of ideals and
aspiratlons of manners, customs and beliefs and superstitions.
In Coromandel Islamisation at the very inception of lslam was interlinked to
the commercial enterprises of the coast. The Muslim colonies swelled through
intermarriage of the native women to the Arab migratants and merchants and
multiplied by conversation of the local population by the influence and efforts of the
merchant missionaries and Sufis, the Muslim mystics who enjoyed the liberty of
preaching the faith'.
The activities of the zealous Muslim missionaries, the Sufi Mystics, flourished
on the evils of the Hindu society. When lslam stepped Into the peninsular India,
there was a rigid caste system in the Hindu social order. The caste system divided
the Hindu society into a number of inaccessible and distinct castes which practicaly
prevented any free social mobility among them. The caste system also inflicted
inequality, injustice, inequity, on the so called low caste people. They were meanials
never to rise in economic and social status and they were treated as untouchables,
unapproachables and often harassed by higher caste Hindus2 In this social calamity
the teachings of lslam produced a profound effect on the social and political st~cture
and attracted the population towards its fold
The Tamil country has always been the meeting ground of various cultures
either due to wars or friendly contacts, cultural and commercial. And hence the
Tamil culture has always been one of the synthesis and continuity. The process of
assimilation had no serious difficulties with regard to the people of different region
but with same religious practices. But they had totally different experience when
Islam stepped into this soil. It's simple but definite creed like equallty of all men was
a challenge to the Hindu set up which in actual practice was an antithesis to such a
creed, Interaction between the two led to conversion and as a result two disslmilar and
different cultures attracted each other and led to fusion and mingling oi population.