Archiving The Historical And Cultural Documents Of Mappilas: A Descriptive Account On Arabimalayalam Publications And Its Importance.

Abstract

Mappila Muslims of Malabar have developed a unique community language called Arabimalayalam. Precisely, Arabimalayalam means writing Malayalam by using Arabic and modified Arabic letters. The language developed due to the trade relationship of Malabar with the Arabian world. This article first contextualises historically the trade relationship of Malabar and the Arabian world. For more than six hundred years, the language has been in use. This study is exploratory in nature and, therefore, provides a descriptive explanation of major Arabimalayalam publications, especially those before independence. The article focuses on the descriptive account of major verse texts, prose texts, Newspapers and magazines. The study argues that these historical and cultural documents should be archived and preserved systematically to facilitate social science research especially anthropological studies, since the language is waning from its usage.