HISTORY | Significant contributions of M'sian Tamil Muslims

HISTORY | Very little has been written about the substantial contributions of the Malaysian Tamil Muslims towards nation-building.

Originating from Tamil Nadu, India, and renowned as an entrepreneurial community with astute business acumen, the Tamil Muslims played a major role in promoting the nation’s early trade and commerce, pioneering Malay publications, establishing mosques, and bequeathing religious endowments.

Tamil Muslims who immigrated to what is currently Malaysia can be divided into three main groups: Marakkayar, a maritime trading community tracing their origins to Arab seafarers who married Indian women from the coastal regions of South India; Rowther, an originally landowning community famous for their cavalry and horse trade; and Lebbai, who were primarily engaged in religious scholarship.

Two other groups of Tamil Muslims came to Penang together with their families around the turn of the 20th century: Kadayanallur and Tenkasi Muslims, both being communities of handloom weavers, from the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.

Tracing back to the community’s earliest presence in the Malay Peninsula, there were Tamil Muslim traders in Kedah as early as the ninth century. These traders exchanged Indian textiles and rice for tin, pepper, and aromatic woods.

Subsequently, during the 15th century, Tamil Muslims...