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The Changing Identities of the Tamil Muslims

from the Coromandel Coast to Malaysia: An Etymological Analysis

Shaik Abdullah Hassan Mydin

and Mohammed Siraaj Saidumasudu

School of Distance Education Studies Universiti Sains Malaysia, Jalan Minden, 11800 Penang, Malaysia

inistry of Education of Malaysia

Keywords : Tamil Muslim, Identities, Etymological, Malaysia

Abstract: The Tamil Muslims of the Coromandel Coast, South India are people whose trading networks were founded

in the prominent port cities located within South India as well South East Asia. In the context of the Malay

world, these traders and merchants engaged uncommercial intercourse with the region since the 8th century

C.E. They became well-established and known among both locals and the Europeans with certain unique

characteristics which evolved periodically in South India as well as South East Asia. Designations towards

Tamil Muslims - such as Yavana, Sonakar, Anjuvanam, Chuliar, and Thulukkar - evolved periodically and

in parallel to historical developments as well as demographical changes in South India. In contrast, within

Malaysia, terms such as Keling, Chulia, and Mamak are made in reference to this community. Some of

these terms are predominantly used in Malaysia, which may have derogative connotations and are often

misunderstood by local Malaysians.

1 INTRODUCTION

The word Tamil Muslim denotes a Muslim who

speaks the Tamil language as their mother tongue.

Tamil Muslims consider their root of origin to be

Tamil Nadu, south-east India, lying between the sea

and the Deccan plateau. (More,2004:3).They were

dominantly found residing in the port towns along

the Coromandel coast, including Kalayapatnam,

Karaikal and Cuddalore, from as early as the 8

century C.E.

Islam made its advent in South India through the

sea prior to land expeditions from the Middle East to

North India, which paved ways to the emergence of

Islamic Kingdoms of Delhi (1206-1526 C.E.) and

the Mughal Sultanate (1526-1857 C.E.) The spread

of Islam in South India took place through trading

networks and maritime activities. Some of the

coastal Tamil communities professed Islam as their

faith after becoming Muslims through years of

contact with Arab traders. Arab sailors and traders

established their settlements along the Coromandel

coast in the 8

and 9

Century C.E and the Malabar

coast.

Islam was gradually spread to the hinterland of

South India throughout the 13

and 14

century C.E.

(Bayly, 1989:86). Arab traders used to stay in the

Coromandel coast while handling their trade

activities. While they were there, they married the

local Tamil women. Marriages between Arab traders

and local Tamils brought about the emergence of

Tamil Muslims with Arab blood, known as the Indo-

Arab community. Two groups of seafaring Muslim

merchants emerged- the Malayalam speaking

Muslims of Malabar Coast, the Mapilla, and the

Tamil speaking Muslims of the Coromandel coast,

known as the Marakkayar (More, 17-19). These

Muslim communities eventually grew and were

known for their different sub-divisions, such as the

Marakkayar, Labbai and Rawathar

(Thurston,1907:1),who were later identified

collectively as the Chulia with other South Indians

by the British and probably by other European

powers as well (Arasatnam,1989:3). Their

population increased in number as the growing

importance of the Coromandel ports as international

multi ports became central to the trade activities

between West Asia and Malay Archipelago

(Sanjay,2002:95).

Consequently,Tamil Muslim settlements had

developed over a time along the east coast of South

India, stretching from Pulicat to Colochel in

Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin). The majority of the

650

Hassan Mydin, S. and Saidumasudu, M.

The Changing Identities of the Tamil Muslims from the Coromandel Coast to Malaysia: An Etymological Analysis.

DOI: 10.5220/0008891906500656

In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research (ICMR 2018) - , pages 650-656

ISBN: 978-989-758-437-4

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Muslims resided in the prominent port cities of

Thanjavur, Ramanathapuram and Tirunelveli.

Nevertheless, they also established other port cities

such as Pulicat, Nagapattanam, Kilakkarai and

Kayalpattanam as part of their settlements (Raja

Mohamed, 2004:30). Apart from being prominent,

Tamil Musllim trade activities, centres and

settlements, and the port cities along the

Coromandel coast were also renowned as Islamic

cultural centres in South India during 12

and 13

century (Bayly, 1989:88).

Tamil Muslims had trade as their predominant

profession. The local ruler encouraged this profitable

activity by providing trade facilities to their coastal

areas. There were important ports along the

Coromandel coast, such as Porto Novo,

Nagapattanam, Nagore, Karaikkal, Adirampattanam,

Mandapam, Vedalai, Kilakarrai and Kayalpattanam.

Economically, they had extensive trade connections

with the Arab peninsular and Indian oceans. In

addition, these ports were important routes to Sri

Lanka, Melaka and other places in Southeast

Asia(Sanjay, 2002:95)

An extensive South Indian trade network with

the Malay Archipelago became the continuing

platform for the Tamil Muslims with Malaya. Tamil

Muslim communities in the Malay Archipelago were

established and made contact with since the 8

Century C.E in the kingdom of Kedah and during

the Sultanate of Melaka throughout the 15

Century

till the early 16

Century(Arasatnam,1989:17).Tamil

Muslim traders and merchants played notable roles

in royal affairs as well as trade till the fall of

Sultanate of Melaka to the Portuguese in 1511 C.E.

After this period, they shifted and extended their

trade and political influence to other Malay states

without the presence of European powers.

Their presence was warmly accepted by Malay

rulers. Moreover, Malay Sultans relied upon them

the most for the progress and well-being of their

states and royal trade activities. Such a scenario

paved ways to the development of Tamil Muslims in

Johor, Perak, Kedah and Acheh in 17

and 18

century. As their importance and influence in trade

act grew, the Sultans of the Malay states and the

aristocrats appointed them as royal merchants or

‘Saudagar Raja’. Furthermore, they were entrusted

to the extent that they even married into royal

families (Andaya,1979:86-87). These Tamil Muslim

trading community who had already established

themselves in other Malay states as well as Kedah,

extended their trade activities to Penang after the

establishment of a newly founded Penangport by

Francis Light in 1786 C.E.(Cullin&Zehnder,1905:5).

Through they traded and migrated in various

forms other than as traders and merchants—such as

sojourners and labourers—the Tamil Muslim

community from different parts and areas of Tamil

Nadu, South India waseventually formed and

developed as part of the early residents of a newly

established Penang port city. Indeed, the existence of

KapitanKeling Mosque, which was dated from 1801

C.E.,stands as a beacon of their presence,

significance and the roles that the community had in

the development of social, economic and cultural

aspects of George Town, Penang.

In the context of culture, Tamil Muslims who

speak Tamil have integrated themselves into Tamil

culture as a shared culture, with some exceptionsto

the majority of Tamil Hindus in Tamil Nadu, South

India. They incorporated themselves within Tamil

culture and traditions,and in fact regard as part of

their own(Mines, 1972:20). They did not consider

themselves an isolated or marginalised community

kept apart from the majority of the Hindu

community in Tamil Nadu, butwere recognised and

respected as a variant of the Tamil community with

some unique identities. Historically, theses

identitiesevolved gradually and contextually over a

period of time from as early astheir establishment

and gradual growth in Tamil Nadu as well as outside

of India, such as in Malaysia.

Particular appellations applied on their identities

and divided into main subdivisions and sub-groups

accordingly to predominant professions, namely

Marakkayar, Labbai and Rawather. In the context of

the discussion within the article, these subdivisions

stand as part of their overall identities, and are not

the main subject of the discourse. Thus, the article

only tends to investigate and explore otheridentities,

apart from subdivisions of Tamil Muslims in Tamil

Nadu and Malaysia.

1.1 Tamil Muslim Identities

Tamil Muslim community was designated with

distinct identities from the time Islam was spread in

South India, as early as 8

and 9

century C.E. Thus,

they emerged as a new community attached to their

new faith, Islam, amongthemajority native Tamils

ofHindu faith. Overtime, Tamil Muslims were

generally identified and addressed chronologically

as Yavana,Sonakar, AnjuvanamandThulakkar in

South India(Raja Mohamed, 2004:61). Apart from

that, Tamil Muslim diasporas that grew in South

East Asia, andin particular Malaysia, have been

addressed with distinctterms which includeKeling,

Chulia and Mamak. In fact, historically, these

The Changing Identities of the Tamil Muslims from the Coromandel Coast to Malaysia: An Etymological Analysis

651

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identities and appellations which evolvedin Malaysia

date back to the pre-Sultanate of Melaka period to

the periodof the European colonial powers and

currently some of the appellations are used

predominantly among the Malaysians. Therefore, the

article investigates these identities of the Tamil

Muslims etymologicallyfrom historical and social

perspectives, which appear salient andexpress an

understanding of theTamil Muslim community.

1.2 Yavana and Sonakar

Yavana was the initial identity of Tamil Muslims in

South India. According to the ancient Sangam

Literature of Tamil kingdoms in 2

century C.E.,

there was a group of people called Yavana(More,

2004:4).The term Yavana is a Sanskrit word which

refers to Greeks, foreigners and barbarians.

Historically, the term Yavanais only used to refer to

theearly-period Greeks and Romans.In the later

periods, the Arabs, Persians and evenJews

werereferred asYavanaor Yona(Hunter, 2013:172-

173). According to More (2004)in the middle and

modern Tamil era, only the Arabs or Muslims,which

probably also included Tamil Muslims, were

referred as Yavana.Prominent Tamil Muslim

researcher and author, Raja Mohamed (2004) claims

that Yavana supposedly and rightfully should refer

to the Arabs solely and not to Greeks or Romans. He

argues that the trade activities between pre-Islamic

Arabs with India coincided with the existence of

Arab colonies in coastal areas of India as early as 2

century B.C.

Meanwhile, trade contact of India with Romans

took place after this period and was only proven by

Roman coins that were unearthed in many parts of

South India. He decisively stresses that the Roman

coins dated between 27 B.C to 161 B.C. were most

probably brought into South India by the Arabs as

they played a salient role as the middlemen of the

south seas and used foreign gold coins as a medium

of exchange. Furthermore, throughout the period of

Pliny and Periplus and even at the height of their

power, Romans were not able to extend their

influence over Indian trade, which for years

remained under the control of the Arabs.

According to Raja Mohamed (2004),the word

Yavana tracesits origin to the Arabic

termYavanwhich is a place name in Yemen, South

Arabia. The word Yavan, which stood as a place,

name must have been the strong hold of Yavanas. In

some old Tamil poems, Yavanam is said to be one of

the fifty-six countries around India and it denotes

Arabia. From the foregoing discussion it is

convincing that the word Yavana may denote the

Arabs.After the initial conversion to Islam, the

Tamil Muslim community certainly experienced and

went through aprocess of integration and

assimilation with the local Tamils socially and

culturally. Thus, culturally the Tamil Muslims

integratedintoTamil culture, compared to the intact

Arabian identities or culture. As a consequence,

locally Tamil Muslims were not addressed as

Yavana since 8

C.E.

Later, from the 8

century C.E. onward, Tamil

Muslims of the Coromandel coast were being

calledSonakar,Sonakan or Jonakan.Sonakar is a

Tamil word formed fromthe corruption of the word

Yonakar, which refers to the descendants of the

Arabs. Sonakam in Tamil refers to Arabia and its

people or those who hailed from the place called

Sonakar. The usage of Sonakarwas also found in

Malabar among the Mappila Muslims. They were

addressed as SonakaMapilla.Furthermore, official

records of Ceylon call the Muslim

populationSonakar(Raja Mohamed,2004:68)

1.3 Anjuvanam

Anjuvanam was another term used to refer the Tamil

Muslims. Anjumanis derived from Persian word

which literally denotes “congregation”. This term

was related to the Tamil Muslims’ profession as

traders. As a trading community, Tamil Muslims

that resided at port towns along the Coromandel

coastestablished guilds and associations thatcatered

to their trading members. Due to this fact, Tamil

Muslims were also generally addressed as

Anjuvanam. The word Anjuvanam was found on

copper plates and inscriptions dated to 12

-13

C.E.,

which referred to Muslim guilds. Moreover, a

mosque in the Tenkasi area of the Tirunelveli

District, Tamil Nadu is known as

theAnjuvanamPallivasalto thisvery day,

strengthening this argument. Anjuvanamor Muslim

merchant guilds operated from areas like Kottayam,

Thirhamanapuram and Nagapattanam to promote

their trading activities (Raja Mohamed, 72:2004)

1.4 Thullukar

Tamil Muslims were also referred to as Thulukkar or

Thurukkar. This term literally meansa native of the

Turkic region, or Turkic people. Though not all the

Muslims who frequented the Coromandel coast had

come from Turkey, this term is very commonly and

popularly applied to all Tamil Muslims by the

dominantTamil Hindu community to this day.

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Historically, the attachment of the term with the

Tamil Muslims took place as a result of the

influence ofthe subjugation of the South IndianDelhi

Sultanate in the 14

century. Hence, the Sultanate of

Madurai formed and ruled Madurai in the 14

century C.E.(1323 to 1378 C.E.) for 55 yearsafter

ending the rule of Vijayanagar of the Pandyan

Dynasty. The natives of Madurai called the

SultanateThulukkaniamorThulukkavanam. Since this

period, Tamil speaking Muslims have been

addressedas Thulukkaror Thulukkan, due tothe

similarity of Islamic faith between the Sultanate of

Madurai and the Muslims(More, 13:2004), while

their women-folk are calledThulukkachi(Raja

Mohamed, 70: 2004).

Chronologically, Thulukkaris the latest

appellation that refers to Tamil Muslims which

emerged in South India as mentioned above. Thus,

the term is used by the Tamil diasporas in Malaysia

as part of their linguistic traditions. As a matter of

fact, todaythe term Thulukkar or Thulukkanare used

by Malaysian Indians of Hindu faith to address

Tamil Muslims. Indeed, the termis generally

regarded as derogative by some Muslims.Perhapsthe

historical events and foundation of the birth of the

term may serve as factor to this sentiment or it was

due tothe sentiment of disagreement and detestation

among the people of Madurai who lived formerly

under the rule of the Vijayanagar Kingdom against

the Sultanate of Madurai.

In any case,the term has been applied to the

Tamil Muslims to this widely, andwith solely

different perceptions by Malaysian Indians. Without

prejudice, it is believed that the term only serves as a

demarcating symbol in terms of identitybetween the

Muslims and non-Muslimsamong the Tamil

community in Malaysia. Without doubt, properand

factual understanding about the etymology of the

term Thulukkaris likely important in eradicating any

misunderstanding and negative sentimentsbetween

people of similar ethnicities with different faiths.

1.5 Chulia

The word Chulia appears in the works of South Asia

and Southeast Asia authors and researchers based on

Dutch and British records. Chulia is in fact a

prominent term that was widely used by the British

in particular to address and refer to the Tamil

Muslims and other South Indians in their official

documents and records. Generally, the term has

different spelling;Cholia,Choliar, Chuliar and

Choolia (Sandhu, 1969:118; Campell&Samuel,

1801: 16-17)

The term Chulia was originally a territorial

name, meaning an inhabitant of Chola or Cola-

Mandalam, referring to the Coromandel coast in

South India (Wink1991: 309) This area was known

to the Arabs as Ma’bar,the term used to address

Tamil people regardless of their internal sub-ethnic

divisions, castes and religions. Hence, all Tamil

Muslims, Tamil Hindus and others from the

Coromandel coast were called Chulia. This

argument is based on 19

century British sources,

which refer to both Muslims and Hindus as Chulia.

In any case, in due course of time, Tamil

Muslimswere more dominantly referred to as Chulia

in Ceylon, Burma and Southeast Asia as a result of

their dominance in trade activities in these

areas(Raja Mohamed, 2004:71). In certain

situations, Chulia was applied to refer to a sub-

division of the Tamil Muslim community with

certainshared identities and backgrounds. For

instance, as mentioned by Sanjay Subramaniam

(2001),it is found that Chulia is also used as an

identifier of Tamil Muslims of Marakkayar,though

they are only a sub-division of the Tamil Muslim

trading community.Today, the term Chulia is not in

use as it was the sole identity created by the British

to address the Tamil Muslims and wasthus external

in nature.

1.6 Keling or Kling

The term Keling is a Malay word which refers to

South Indian people. In British records and

documents, the term Kling is used to refer to the

Malay version of Keling(Cullin&Zehnder,1905:9).

In SejarahMelayu or theTheMalay Annal, the term

Keling is used widely to refer South Indian traders

and merchants.In terms of faith, both Muslims and

Hindus are called Keling. Thisis due to it being the

name of a place of origin rather than other values or

measurements before the end of 19

century. The

Malay literature of the 17

century such as The

Malay Annal and HikayatMunshi Abdullah refer to

South India as BenuaKeling(“Keling Continent”)

and Tanah Keling (“Keling Soil”) (Hamzah

Hamdani,2007:4; Shellabear, 1977:163). The word

BenuaKelingand Kalinga are depicted often in the

texts of SejarahMelayu referring to South India. The

following quotation from The Malay Annal depicts

the tradition of addressing South India as Benua

Keling among the Malays in Melaka.

“Hattamaka Sultan Mahmud

pun

hendakmenyuruhkebenuaKe

lingmembelikainserasahem

The Changing Identities of the Tamil Muslims from the Coromandel Coast to Malaysia: An Etymological Analysis

653

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patpuluhbagai….Maka

Hang

Nadimdititahbagindakebenu

aKelingmembelikainitu…M

aka Hang

Nadimpergilahnaikkapal

Hang Isap…”

(Shellabear, 1977:163)

This appellation was not only used by the Malays

in Malaya but it wasobserved that the people of the

Malay archipelago also labelled the South Indians as

Keling in antiquity.The term Kelinghas its origin

from the name Kalinga, an ancient Buddhist

kingdom in South India(KhooSalmah, 2009:47).

Sarkar (1986) extracted details from Chinese records

that depict the arrival of people from Kalinga

atcentral Java.The Kalinga people formed a kingdom

with the name of Ho-Ling in central Java in 674 C.E.

(Sarkar, 1986:71)

According to Chinese records,the term Ho-ling is

a Chinese word which refers to Kalinga. Moreover,

information from some inscriptions prove that most

of the people from South India were known as Ho-

ling, in reference to Kalinga. Based on this

argument, it is evident that Kalinga people became

the dominant community among the Indians as

residents or traders in Central Java. Later, the term

Kalinga was gradually applied to address the Tamils

from South India.

The appellation of the term Keling applied to

Tamil Muslims traders only later after the decline

ofHindu traders in the Malay Archipelago

(Fujimoto, 1988:9).During the occupation and rule

of Melaka by thePortuguese in the 16

century, the

term Keling was addressed towards Hindu traders

mainly. This was due to the decline of Tamil

Muslim trading activities in the port of

Melaka.However, Keling referred not only to the

Tamil Muslim community but extensively to Indian

Muslims and other South Indian communities

generally(McPherson,1990: 44)

From the context of Indian Muslims and in

particular Tamil Muslims, the term Kelingwas

applied in different forms and contexts in Malaysia.

The term was applied towards the community with a

diverse definition and perspective by the Malay

community in different regions. For instance, in the

northern region of Peninsular Malaysia that

comprises Penang, Kedah and Perlis, the term

Keling is an exclusive term referringto the Indian

Muslim community, whereas in other parts of the

country, Keling is used by the locals to address

Indians with of the Hindu faith rather than Indian

Muslims(HalimahMohd Said & Zainab Abdul

Majid,2004:18)

As a matter of fact, Keling is a sensitive term and

highly regarded as derogative byboth Muslims and

Hindu Indians in Malaysia. For instance, some

community members in Malaysia insisted Kelingbe

deleted permanently from dictionaries. From July

2003, Selangor and Federal Territory Angkatan

Pelapor India Muslim (APIM), a non-government

organization issued asummonagainst Dewan Bahasa

dan Pustaka (DBP) due to the entry of the word

Keling in the DBP dictionary, the KamusDewan

Third Edition. They demanded that the sensitive

word to be stroke out from the dictionary. APIM

claimed that the wordKelingand its variant meanings

and metaphorsimply bad connotations,cause chaos,

disturb the peace and incite hatred, animosity, riots,

disharmony as well asdisunity. Their appeal, which

wentto the High Court of Malaysia was however

dismissed in 2009. Thecourt ruled that the use of the

word Keling is allowed in the KamusDewan Third

Edition as the word in the dictionary is for learning

purposes(The Star,2009:5).

Assuming the above event as a case study and an

example, here we would like to look at the reality

and sensitivity that created by the term Keling. Why

do Indians, both Muslims and non-Muslims,

perceive the term as derogative? If we take a

historical perspective, the appellation Kelingbecame

derogative by the early 20

century C.E. Perhaps the

main factor is the arrival of South Indian indentured

labours to Malaya brought by the British to work in

rubber estates. Most probably their poor socio-

economic status associated negative values to the

term Keling among the locals, particularly in the

hinterlands of Malay states.

Such a change of perception, which was

impacted by historical changes and migrations, was

contradictionto the respected and well-accepted

value associated with the term Keling by the Indians

prior to early 20

century. It is most probably due to

the fact that the Tamil Muslims mostly had contact

with locals as traders and merchants, whereas the

former Indians from South India came as labours.

In light of the discussion above, changes of

professions and forms of migrations by the Tamil

traders implied socio-economic status. Such factors

playvital roles as moulding factorsthat create

stereotypes and set values as well as social

measurementsamong the local Malaysians towards

the Indians.Another essential aspect which strikes us

in the light ofthis discussion is that the terms and

identities are contextual in nature. These terms

measure differently according to different contexts

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654

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historically. Hence, it is possible for the

termKelingto have its preceding status before 19

century,thought of here asits ’dignity’, based on the

transformation of the socio-economic status of the

Indian community. Furthermore, the changing

attitudes of other ethnically diverseMalaysiansmay

transform their perceptions towards this sensitive

term in the future.

1.7 Mamak

One of the most interesting cultural refinements of

the Tamil Muslim community is the Mamak-man,

who is famed for his tehtarik(“pulled milk tea”). In

fact, the term mamak denotes an Indian Muslim man

and a Malay of Indian or Tamil Muslim ancestry

(HalimahMohd Said & Zainab Abdul Majid,

2004:17).

According to SejarahMelayu, Indian Muslims,

mostly Tamil speaking Muslims, played a salient

and significant role in the court of Melaka and in

later periods in Malay states as ministers or

Bendaharas and advisors (A.Bakar Hamid, 1983:

106). In such situations and positions, they married

women from royal families and became in-laws to

the Sultan, who then called them mamak, which

means “father-in-law” in Tamil. Sometimes, the

sultan married the daughter of a Bendaharaand

during their royal court session, the Sultan would

call the Bendahara“MamakBendahara”. or “Mamak

Menteri”.

For instance, in the Sultanate of Melaka, the term

mamak was applied to refer to the Bendahara of

Melaka of Tamil Muslim descendent and was

addressed as “MamakBendahara”. It is evident that

in some texts of The Malay Annals and Hikayat

Hang Tuah, the appellation “MamakBendahara” are

found in some dialogs and quotations between the

Sultan and Bendahara of Melaka in the texts. One of

the dialogs in the text of Hikayat Hang Tuahdepicts

is as follows:

“SatelahbagindamendengarsembahP

atehKermaWijayaitu,

makatitahbagindapadaBendaharaPa

duka Raja, “YamamakBendahara,

berilahtempatPatehKermaWijyainiha

mpirdengan kampong mamak.”

MakasembahBendahara,”Daulattuan

ku.”

(Shellabear, 1977: 63).

The term mamak is a corruption ofthe Tamil

word mama, which means maternal uncle and it also

refers to a father-in-law(New English-English-Tamil

Dictionary,2006:212). Traditionally the term is used

in Malaysia among the Tamil Muslims and to an

extent the Indians to address elderly men or

strangers to show respect to them.Apart frommamak,

some local Malaysians, especially in Penang,

conventionally apply the word mamu instead

ofmamak.Mamu is a variant of the term mamak,

which perhaps come to usage among the locals due

to the process of assimilation between the Indian

Muslims and Malays through marriages(Wilkinson,

1908:139). This process gave birth to the

JawiPeranakan community or hybrid Malays from

century C.E. onward in Penang. To some Indian

Muslims, mamak is assumed as a slightly derogatory

term (Gaik Cheng Khoo, 2010:112). This is due to

the tendency of some Malaysians to imply the term

referring to a second-class citizen, which is a

consequence of misunderstanding the etymology of

the term and the firminfluence of Malaysia’s

derogative stereotype of the term. Taken seriously,

the term mamak appears to be an exclusive term

referring to the Tamil and Indian Muslim

community, which is Malaysian-oriented in form,

whereas other terms such as Keling and Chulia have

shared identities between the Indians generally.

2 CONCLUSION

The paper’s etymological analysis and its

conclusions of the identities of the Tamil Muslims,

both in Tamil Nadu and in Malaysia, have an

academic foundation and are supported by social and

historical facts. As etymology traces the history of a

word from its most recent form to its earliest known

source, it is essential to avoid misleading

perceptions towards the Tamil Muslim community,

which may be propagated through its usage in

traditions or folk tales.

Of great importance in this analysis is that it

attaches to one the ability to analyse the roots of

certain terminologies such as Chulia, Kelingand

Mamak, which are crucial to mould mindset and

avoid misleading perceptions among locals in

particular about such terms.

This paper hopefully acts as solution to the

misunderstandings among multi-racial Malaysians

about these terms. Therefore, the article may debunk

the stereotypes and misleading claims which had

long formed among the locals against the Tamil

Muslim community. Such an understanding is

crucial in eradicating negative ethnic sentiments and

The Changing Identities of the Tamil Muslims from the Coromandel Coast to Malaysia: An Etymological Analysis

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for promoting respect among Malaysians for the

sake of national unity and harmony.

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