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Other Word This was one of the earlier titles we had published, back in 2007. Our prime focus has been to document South India's rich political and cultural history, the past and present narratives of the people, mostly forgotten and unnoticed by mainstream historians. To bring their voices out, with a subaltern commitment, of course, was never easy. From the title you hold now, Mappila Muslims : A Study on Society and Anticolonial Struggles, Other Books has traveled and explored farther. As part of documenting the life and struggles of Mappila Muslims in Kerala, we have so far published seminal titles including Tuhfat Al-Mujahidin by Sheikh Zainuddin Makhdum, Fat’h al-Mubin by Qadi Muhammed, Tahridby Sheikh Zainuddin Makhdoom I, Arab Geographers’ Knowledge of Southern India by Dr. Muhammed Hu- sain Nainar, Origin and Early History of the Muslims of Keralam by JBP More, Mappila Muslims - A Study in Islamic Trends by Rolland E Miller (in Malayalam), Pracheena Malabar by Shamsullah Qadiri and a few other local history projects. This work addresses general readers who are interested in the various junctures -spiritual, cultural, political- the Muslims in |9 10 MAPPILA MUSLIMS Malabar have experienced, It gives an elaborate description of the anti-imperialist struggles and the unique societal life of the Muslim community, The author analyses the history of the people and region, from their Sufi lineage to anti-colonial struggles, presenting facts and figures. How faith and “ideology” enabled Mappilas to resist the empires are documented here, so are the heroic struggles organised by people in Malabar against colonial invaders as well as love and amity maintained by the community in a multi-cultural setting. The author has utlised regional sources in Arabic and local dailects, be- sides going through official and colonial documents. We are thankful to the author Dr. Husain Randathani, while bring- ing outthis second edition. We remember Jasbeer Musthafa, who took pains to go through the work and edit it. Though Ubaid engaged in this projectas a lay-out artist, his involvement went far beyond itand his creative labour has been very helpful to the editorial team, We also remember the involvement of our editorial assistants CS Siddiq, Muhammed Shan and Muhammed Afsal in facilitating the process Preface ‘The present book is primarily meant for general readers who have interest in history and lives of Indian Muslim communities. It surveys the social and political history of Mappila Muslims, a community that lives on the Southwestern coast of India, generally known as Malabar. The book is based on research carried out for my thesis on the ‘Social and Cultural Life of Mappila Muslims Society’ submitted to the University of Calicut. Special attention has been given in the book to the anti imperial- ist struggles led by the community and on how religion had provided an ideology for the struggles. The book also shows the evolution of the Mappila Muslim culture through the synthesis of Islamic culture with the indigenous one. Mappila history played an important role on the collective community life and brought about remarkable changes in the cast- ridden structure of Malabar society. express my gratitude to Dr. Kunhali.V, of the Department of His- tory, University of Calicut who went through the draft of the book. His suggestions and insight have helped me a great deal. Iam also thankful to Dr. K.K.N. Kurup, former Vice Chancellor of University jaa 12 of Calicut, for providing me with priceless documents and assistance in collecting materials from different Centres. I owe special thanks to Mr. Muhammed Ali Musliar and Late Mr. KK. Muhammed Abdul Kareem, native historians, for providing me with raw information in my study. I do not know how to adequately express my thanks to Dr. Auswaf Ahsan and his colleagues from Other Books, who took the initiative to publish the work. Randathani 30 April 2007 Dr. Hussain Randathani

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