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Marakkar
 Modern Marakkar Sailors | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| ~5 million | |
| Religions | |
| Islam | |
| Scriptures | |
| Quran | |
| Languages | |
| Malayalam, Tamil, Sinhala, Bahasa Melayu |
The Marakkars[a] are an Indic ethnic group with historical presence across the Indian Subcontinent and Indonesian Archipelago.[3][4] Their contemporary populations are primarily concentrated in the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the Republic of Maldives, as well as the Western, Central, and Southern provinces of Sri Lanka.[5] Within Southeast Asia, prominent Marakkar communities exist in Malaysia and Singapore.[4]
The Marakkars have maintained their traditional role as a mercantile community from their historical origins to the present day.[5] They are a multilingual community with language use varying by region. In Kerala, they predominantly speak Malayalam, while Tamil Nadu's Marakkar population speaks Tamil.[3] In Sri Lanka, community members are conversant in both Sinhala and Tamil. Religiously, the Marakkars are adherents of Sunni Islam.[5]
The Marakkars achieved particular prominence in the early modern period as the first Indian mercantile community to establish settlements in British Malaya.[6] However, their most significant historical impact was during medieval India. Before the Portuguese Armada's arrival on Indian shores in 1497, the Marakkars exercised substantial control over Indian Ocean trade networks.[7] They later gained distinction as the first Indic ethnic group to mount sustained military resistance against European colonial expansion, engaging in a hundred-year conflict with the Portuguese from 1520 to 1619.[8] This resistance was notably led by Admiral Kunjali Marakkar IV, whom some regard as "the first Indian freedom fighter."[9]
Scholars also suggest that the Marakkars played a very significant role in the spread of Islam throughout the Indonesian Archipelago.[10] Their maritime trade networks and established presence across multiple regions facilitated this religious diffusion, though the exact extent of their influence remains a subject of academic discussion.[10]
- ^ Tschacher, Torsten (2006). "The Impact of Being Tamil on Religious Life Among Tamil Muslins in Singapore" (PDF). Degree of Doctor of Philosophy PhD: 79 – via National University of Singapore.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b V., Kunhali (1986). "Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798". Aligarh Muslim University Journal.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
:5was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c McGilvray, Dennis (1998). "Arabs, Moors and Muslims: Sri Lankan Muslim ethnicity in regional perspective". Contributions to Indian Sociology. 199: 439 to 449.
- ^ Pillai, Patrick (14 October 2015). Yearning to Belong. Ch. 1: “Mamak” and Malaysian: The Indian Muslim Quest for Identity. ISEAS Publishing. ISBN 9789814519687.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Malekandathil, Pius (2013). "INDIAN OCEAN IN THE SHAPING OF LATE MEDIEVAL INDIA". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 74: 178–195.
- ^ STEPHEN, DALE. "The Islamic Frontier in Southwest India: The Shahid as a Cultural Ideal among the Mappillas of Malabar". Modern Asian Studies Journal. II: 41–55.
- ^ SEETHI, KM (7 June 2021). "Lakshadweep: Redlines of Identity, Security and Governance". Journal of the Institute for Global South Studies and Research.
- ^ a b Hall, Kenneth. "Economic Exchange and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia: Perspectives from Prehistory, History, and Ethnography; The Coming of Islam to the Archipelago: A Reassessment". University of Michigan Press: 213–231.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
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