This monopsonist trader-cum-governor role of Jonakars (“Mamaks”) in the 17th cent. wasn’t limited to the Austronesian world.
It was happening further north in the Tibeto-Burman world too, (at least) along the Tenasserim Range (Lower Burma to Thailand to Peninsular Malaysia).
Fun fact: 5 out of 9 sultanas from Kesultanan Melayu Melaka are Mamak. Tun Mutahir is killed for allegedly favouring a Tamil Muslim, and his daughter, the heroine Tun Fatimah is also a Tamil Muslim. Tun Ali, Tun Seneja, Tun Hasan are all Mamak. And they are all “Melayu”, by right
@americakaran Have you heard of the Malayali soccer play who somehow ended up playing for Pakistan and had all his Punjabi teammates call him Irumban / Iron man?
It's funny just how much of Indian Muslim culture was adopted in Malaysia and Singapore to the point where not only has everyone forgotten that it's not native, but will actually deny that it was introduced by Indians
@WDLD0712 Yea lmao. More substantively, I am very interested in the specific origin of the Sonkgok. In Keelakarai, they wear a blue toppi that is eerily similar to the Songkok. Close up of my uncle from when he attended a wedding there.
@gorgon3211@kanjipanihyena Cuz he married a Burgher, right? His grandkids were සමනල්ලු too, admittedly one of them (Geoff Bawa) was the best of that kind we’ve ever given birth to.
In olden times, the appellation Marakkayar would be preceded by: (i) Nakhuda (Nagoda) or the shipowner, (ii) Malumiyar (or Navigator), (iii) Thandayar (lead sailor), (iv)Sherang (superintendent), (v) Bandari (ship accountant), & (vi) Kalasi (dockworker).
In 1673, the French tried to entice Marakkars to settle in Pondicherry by giving us land west of the Uppar River and subsidizing warehouses. Most did not taken them up. Some families from Parangepttai did move there, however.
I assume MOH Maricar descends from those Marakkayars.
@kanjipanihyena You can find it for free here:
Hilariously, it shows up in the journal literally before Ramanathan’s famous Ethnology of the Moors article (same 1888 edition) haha
https://t.co/dxr3da0rV9
@kanjipanihyena There’s a great article by Geoffrey Bawa’s grandpa, Ahamadu Bawa, written for the Royal Asiatic Society on the Marriage Customs of the Moors of Ceylon from 1888.
Literally 95% of the stuff on here we don’t do and don’t even remember ever doing lol
@kanjipanihyena ethnic relations b/w various ethncities & amongst all the disparate Muslim groups (Malays, Memons and other immigrants) in Colombo.
Because of this, we’ve only forgotten more and more of our culture (and even our language), much less develop new cultural products.
This had to be the most open and shut case of premeditated murder in the history of premeditated murders.
The lawyer making the self-defense claim should be hit w/ a Rule 11 sanction for having the temerity to argue self-defense here.
We are living in an era of truly atrocious self-defense claims. I thought Chud the Builder’s self-defense argument was bad but Karmelo Anthony’s self defense claim was literally “he lightly shoved me with such little force I didn’t leave my feet and it was a reasonable and proportionate response when I took out the folding knife I brought to a school function and stabbed him in the heart”
Last tangent on this: feminine demonym for a Marakkar is “Marakkathi” (at least) in Kochi. I’ve never heard of this in any other place, but it’s interesting.
Sounds like 🌲 🗡️ !
To be clear, the appellation was “Marikan,” as the honorific Marikk-aayar was reserved for traders w/ great wealth.
Only in the city of Karaikal (to my knowledge) do they still use the modest “Maraikan.”
So, like, Muhammed Maraikan Abdulkader Khalasi.
Historical Relavemce of tamil learning on malaccva by father of modern malay literature
*In the mid-19th century, the famous Malacca-born language instructor Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir documented the following account in his autobiography Hikayat Abdullah (Munšī *1849):
"[...] my father sent me to a teacher to learn Tamil, an Indian language, because it had been the custom from the time of our forefathers in Malacca for all the children of good and well-to-do families to learn it. It was useful for doing computations and accounts, and for purposes of conversation because at that time Malacca was crowded with Indian merchants. Many were the men who had become rich by trading in Malacca, so much so that the names of Tamil traders had become famous. All of them made their children learn Tamil." (translation by Hill 1955: 48)//
https://t.co/97LgIdrqtT