Kulasekharapatnam

Marco Polo describes the Pandyan port city of Kulasekharapatnam which even now we can see in the seashore of Kulasekharapatnam that Some Pillars which were used to give the right direction for ships as it is at this city that all the ships touch that come from the west, as from Hormos and from Kis and from Aden, and all Arabia, laden with horses and with other things for sale. And this brings a great concourse of people from the country round about, and so there is great business done in this city.

Now Kulasekarapatnam has Muslim Population as Marakkars or Marakkayars they were doing trade with Ships, they had come from Kerala, it is said Kunjali Marakkar's family members coming from kerala. In Kulsekarapatnam till 1965 the small ships "Dhoni" operated from there. If one town was a port, it must have had a Light House. Kulasekharapatnam even now has a light house in near Manapad. In Kulasekharapatnam, now even called a part of this town Rawthar Paalyam that Rawthar is called to a section of Muslim that their trade with horses. kulasekharapatnam was also an important trade centre even before the arrival of Islam. Since the 8th century AD, This city is inhabited by Muslims belonging to the Indian race.

Kulasekarapatinam Perumal Temple

Maraicar or Maraicayar, Marakayar, Maraicar is a distinctive Tamil and Malayalam-speaking Muslim people of the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in India. The name Marakkar is different from Marakkayar (Marikkar & Maricar are other spellings used in history books). According to many other historians, Moppila or Moplah is Maha Pillai (great son) and Marakkar means (Marakkalam is a wooden boat) ‘boatmen’. Thurston in his Tribes of S India, states the following - The word Marakkar is usually derived from the Arabic ‘Markab’, a boat. The story goes that, when the first immigrants of this class (they were apparently driven from their own country by persecutions) landed on the Indian shores, they were naturally asked who they were, and where they came from. In answer they pointed to their boats, and pronounced the word Markab, and they became in consequence Marakkars, or the people of Markab.[4]

Was it also a titular name for seaborne traders? KVK Iyer clarifies in his history of Kerala that Marakkar was a prized title given by the Zamorin of Calicut. Derived from Marakka Rayar it signifies the captain of a ship Rayar (Captain) of Marakkalam (ship)[4]

Traditionally, the Maricars engaged in mercantile commerce. They can be found along coastal areas of the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in India. They are generally considered to be of Middle Eastern(Arab) origin.[4]

Most of us have heard and read about the famous Kunhali Marakkar and his exploits, but one question remains, where did they come from? There have been many questions about their real origins, were they Moplahs of Arab extract from Pantalayani Kollam (South of Calicut); were they of Sri Lankan origin, were they Tamil Marakkars or were they from Tulunad? The research was quite interesting and the result obtained cannot be termed fully conclusive but was quite revealing. For those here, and only interested in Kunjali’s story, this does not cover the life and times of any of the famous Kunhali’s but hovers only around theories of their possible origin.[4]

The Maraicars can be found in coastal areas of South India, including Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Around the 12th century AD in Arab countries there was a dispute among two kings who belongs to the same royal family which later erupted in war. The defeated members of the royal family were packed in ships and banished with their captains and servants. Those who settled in coastal regions of India [Tamil Nadu and Kerala] are called marakala rayars, [MARAKALAM which means wooden boat and RAYAR which means king in the Tamil language]. The captains of the ships are called malimars (malumiyar comes from the Tamil word MALUMI and YAR, malumi means captain in Tamil) and the ship crew members are called sherangs. Even today malimars [malumiyars], sherangs and Maricars [Marakalrayars] are to be found living only on the coast of Tamil Nadu. Maricars can be found abundance in Maraikayar Pattinam (which is thought to be the ancestral hometown of the early Maricars), Parangipettai (Portonovo), Kulasekharapatnam, Karaikal, Kilakarai, Adirampattinam, Muthupet, Nagore, Nagapattinam, Manjakollai and various other coastal towns.[4]

Kulasekharapatnam Jumma Mosque and Matharasa

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kulasekharapatnam.

• https://web.archive.org/web/20111015080841/http://indianmuslims.in/kunjali-marakkar/
• Kudi Maraikayar of eastern Sri Lanka
• Muslim Identity, Print Culture, and the Dravidian Factor in Tamil Nadu - J. B. Prashant More
• Medieval Seafarers of India - Lakshmi Subramaniam
• India & the Indian Ocean world – Ashin Das Gupta
• Moors of Sri Lanka
• Political Evolution of Muslims in Tamil Nadu and Madras - J. B. Prashant More
• Kerala Muslim History – PA Syed Mohammed
• Tuhfat Al Mujahideen – Zainuddin Makhdum
• Charithrathile Marakkar Sannidhyam – SV Mohammed
• Kunjali Marakkar – Kerala Calling Malabar & the Portuguese – KM Panikkar
• Castes & tribes of S India – Thurston
• Portuguese Cochin & the Maritime trade of India – Pius Malekandathil
• The Career and Legend of Vasco Da Gama - Sanjay Subrahmanyam
• Paramasivan kannan