COASTAL LIFE: THE BEARY MUSLIMS Pride and honore of Mangalore

BEARY MUSLIMS Pride and honore of Mangalore

The Beary (also known as Byari) is a community concentrated mostly along the southwest coast of India, in coastal Dakshina Kannada, a district in the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is an ethnic society, having its own unique traditions and distinct cultural identity. The Beary community holds an important place among the other coastal Muslim communities, like Nawayath's of the Uttara Kannada district, Mappilas (Moplahs) of the Malabar coast and Labbay of the Coromandel coast.

Bearys incorporate the local Tulu culture of Dakshina Kannada and diverse traditions of the Moplahs of the Malabar coast.

The Beary community of Dakshina Kannada or Tulunadu is one among the earliest Muslim inhabitants of India, with a clear history of more than 1350 years. One mosque was built in the Bunder area of Mangalore by Habeeb Bin Malik, an Arab Da'ee, in

ETYMOLOGY

A Beary woman clad in traditional Kuppaya andTuni

The word 'Beary' is said to be derived from the Tulu word 'Byara', which means trade or business. Since the major portion of the community was involved in business activities, particularly trading, the local Tulu speaking majority called them as Beary or Byari.

According to the census of 1891, Dakshina Kannada had 92,449 Muslim businessmen consisting of 90,345 Bearys, 2,104Nawayaths and 2,551 non-Muslims. This means that the district had 95,000 individuals involved in business activities. Records prove that, towards the end of the 19th century, the percentage of Muslim traders in the district was as high as 97.3%, and hence the localTuluvas rightly named this community as Bearys.

Another popular theory is that the word "Beary" comes from Arabic word "Bahar" (Arabic: بحر). "Bahar" means "ocean" and "Bahri" (Arabic: بحري) means "sailor or navigator". It is said that the Beary community had trade relations with Arab businessmen travelling to coastal South India, especially the coastline of Tulunadu and Malabar. Inscriptions have been found in Barkur that proves the Arab trade links with Tulunadu.

A third theory says that the word "Beary" is derived from the root word "Malabar". The great Islamic Da'ee, Malik bin Deenar had arrived on the coast of Malabar during the 7th century with a group of Da'ees, or Islamic propagators. A member from his group, Habeeb bin Malik travelled through Tulunadu and preached Islam. He had also built mosques in Kasaragod, Mangalore andBarkur.

Geographic Distribution

The Bearys make up around 80% of the Dakshina Kannada Muslims, with others scattered in the neighbouring districts ofChikmagalur, Shimoga, Kodagu, Hassan and Uttara Kannada. Mumbai and Goa also have a considerable Beary population. Also, a good number of Bearys are in the Persian Gulf States of the Middle East doing a variety of jobs. The total Beary population numbers about 1.5 million.

he word 'Beary' is said to be derived from the Tulu word 'Byara', which means trade or business. Since the major portion of the community was involved in business activities, particularly trading, the local Tulu speaking majority called them as Beary or Byari.

According to the census of 1891, Dakshina Kannada had 92,449 Muslim businessmen consisting of 90,345 Bearys, 2,104Nawayaths and 2,551 non-Muslims. This means that the district had 95,000 individuals involved in business activities. Records prove that, towards the end of the 19th century, the percentage of Muslim traders in the district was as high as 97.3%, and hence the localTuluvas rightly named this community as Bearys.

Another popular theory is that the word "Beary" comes from Arabic word "Bahar" (Arabic: بحر). "Bahar" means "ocean" and "Bahri" (Arabic: بحري) means "sailor or navigator". It is said that the Beary community had trade relations with Arab businessmen travelling to coastal South India, especially the coastline of Tulunadu and Malabar. Inscriptions have been found in Barkur that proves the Arab trade links with Tulunadu.

History

•Beary community has a history of more than 1,350 years with an ethnic identity and speaking its own dialect called Beary bashe ornakk-nikk, also known as beary palaka.

Bearys used to refer the area south of Mangalore as Maikala or Maikal which is in fact their culture and economic capital. According to historian B. A. Saletore, Maikala was an area in the southern part of Mangalore. It got its name through the Kadri Manjunath Temple, which earlier was a Buddhist temple.^[^{citation needed}^] The Buddhist goddess Tara Bhagavathi was also known asMayadevi.^[^{citation needed}^] In course of time it came to be called as Maikala, or Maikal. Historians are of the opinion that "Maikala" is one of the ancient names of Mangalore.^[9] But today, "Maikala" refers to the whole of Mangalore city covered by the Mangalore City Corporation.

TIPU SULTHA Tiger of Mysore

SULTHAN BETHERY

Bekal Fort Kerala

Iggha Masjid light hill Road Bahvta Gude

Tagore Park

Idgaha very Old Picture

Origin

. The origin of the Beary community is still uncertain. History reveals that there were many rich traders, from the Malabar coastal belt, dealing with the traders of the Middle East through the Arabian Sea. Arab merchants have been visiting the coastal regions for business purposes even before the time of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam

Da'wah of islam history

The first Muslim missionaries to Mangalore can be traced to Malik Bin Deenar, an Arab trader said to be the kith and kin of Sahaba(companions of Prophet Muhammad). He is said to have visited Malabar and landed near Manjeshwar in the northern Malabar coast. He constructed the first mosque in Kasargod, the Malik Dinar Mosque (where his shrine is still present). Also the Masjid Zeenath Baksh popularly known as Jumma Masjid or beliye palli, in the Bunder area is said to have been established in Mangalore by Habeeb bin Malik in AD 644, and the first Qadhi (Qazi) appointed was Hazarath Moosa Bin Malik, son of Malik Bin Abdullah. Records reveal this Mosque was inaugurated on Friday the 22nd of the month of Jumadil Awwal (fifth month of the Islamic Calendar) in year 22 of Hijri

In present day

JAMATH ISLAMI HIND Da'wah WORKS

JAMATH ISLAMI HIND MANGALORE FOR COMMUNAL HARMONY

JAMATH ISLAMI HIND MANGALORE

Participation in the freedom struggle

The Bearys of the coast actively participated in the Indian freedom struggle against Portugal and British colonialism. There were a number of Beary men who served in the naval force, and also as soldiers and military commanders in the army of brave queen of Chowta dynasty, Rani Abbakka (Kannada: ರಾಣಿ ಅಬ್ಬಕ್ಕ) who ruled in the Ullal region. The Bearys had also joined the army of Nawab Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Historians and researchers have enlisted famous Beary personalities who participated in the freedom struggle of India. Many such freedom fighters were imprisoned by British, and a few died during imprisonmen

Chowta dynasty, Rani Abbakka (Kannada: ರಾಣಿ ಅಬ್ಬಕ್ಕ) who ruled in the Ullal region

A sixteenth-century Arabic work of Malabar, Tuhfah al Mujahideen or Tuhafat Ul Mujahideen compiled by Shaikh Zainuddin Makhdoom II (grand son of Shaikh Zainuddin Makhdoom I) had motivated Malabar Muslims which had influence on Bearys of the Tulunadu as well to fight the foreign invaders. Thus the Bearys had actively participated in the freedom struggle against Portugal and British rule.

Language

Main article: Beary bashe

The dialect spoken by Beary (Byaris), is known as Beary Bashe.While Muslims of Uttara Kannada, called Nawayaths, speak a dialect of Konkani, and the Mappilas of Kerala speak Malayalam (Mappila Malayalam), the Bearys spoke a language made of Malayalam idioms with Tulu phonology and grammar. This dialect was traditionally known as Mappila Malayalam because of Bearys close contact with Mappilas.Due to vast influence of Tulu for centuries, it is today considered as a language, close to Malayalam and Tulu.

Beary bashe is largely influenced by the Arabic language. Most of the Bearys especially in coastal area still use a lot of Bearified Arabic words during their daily transactions.Saan, Pinhana, Gubboosu, Dabboosu, Pattir, Rakkasi, Seintaan, Kayeen, are the few words used in Beary bashe that have their roots in Arabic language. Beary Bashe also has words related to Tamil and Malayalam. Tamil and Malayalam speakers can understand Beary by about 75%.

'Beary Sahitya Sammelana (Literary Summit of Bearys)'[edit]

Total Four Beary Sahitya Sammelanas (The Beary Literature Summit) have been taken place so far. Cultural activities, exhibition related to Beary culture and society, talks on Beary society by Beary scholars, publications and Beary literature stalls are the centre of attraction during any Beary Sahitya Sammelana.

The first Beary Sahitya Sammelana, held on November 11, 1998 at Town hall Mangalore, was presided by B.M. Iddinabba, Poet and Former Member of Legislative Assembly, Ullal constituency, Karnataka State.

The second Beary Sahitya Sammelana, held on November 21, 1999 at the Indian Auditorium, Bantwal, was presided by Golthamajalu Abdul Khader Haji.

The third Beary Sahitya Sammelana, held on October 28,2001 at the Halima Sabju Auditorium, Udyavara, udupi, was presided by Beary research scholar Prof. B.M. Ichlangod.

The Fourth Beary Sahitya Sammelana was presided by novelist Fakir Mohammed Katpady. Fourth Beary Sahitya Sammelana[edit] The Fourth Beary Sahitya Sammelana (The Fourth Beary Literary Summit), held at Vokkaligara Samaja Bhavana in the city of Chikmagalur on 27 February 2007 which demanded that the state government establish a Beary Sahitya Academy. The Sammelana was jointly organized by Kendra Beary Sahitya Parishat, Mangalore, and Chickmagalur Bearygala Okkoota. Chikmagalur is the district that harbors the second largest Beary population, next to Dakshina Kannada.

The theme of the Sammelana was Prosperity through Literature, Development through Education and Integrity for Security

The sammelana also took up issues such as official recognition to the Beary Bashe by the State Government, setting up of Beary Sahitya Academy, and recognition to the community as linguistic minority. It is said that Beary Bashe is as old as Tulu and spoken by more than 1,500,000 people around the world. The history of this dialect is at least 1200 years old.

BOOKS OF BEARY LANGUAGE