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
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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 processPreface
‘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
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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