Umaru Pulavar was a

Tamil Muslim Tamil Muslims are Tamils who practise Islam. The community is 5.7 million in India, primarily in the state of Tamil Nadu where 70% of the Muslim community identified themselves as Tamils. The Tamil-speaking Muslims are descendants of marriage ...

poet from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Umaru Pulavar was born in 1642 in the town of

Nagalapuram Nagalapuram is a Mandal Headquarter in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Nagalapuram mandal in Srikalahasti revenue division. This town is home to Vedanarayana Temple, where the presidin ...

Thoothukudi district Thoothukudi District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The district was formed by bifurcation of Tirunelveli district on 20 October 1986. Thoothukudi is the district headquarters and largest city of the distric ...

. He is celebrated as one of the greatest Islamic poets of India.

Early life and family

The forefathers of the poet came to Tamil Nadu to sell perfumes and settled in Nagalapuram, before moving to Ettayapuram where the poet was born. Umaru Pulavar's literary talents flourished under Kadikai Muthu Pulavar that is only in Tamil language ( ta, கடிகை முத்து புலவர்), court poet of the

Ettayapuram Ettayapuram is a panchayat town in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the birthplace of Tamil poets Mahakavi Bharathiar and Umaru Pulavar. Muthuswami Dikshitar, one of the triads of Carnatic music, was patronized in his final years ...

Zamin. At the age of 16, Umaru Pulavar stole the national limelight by winning a literary debate with Vallai Varundhi, a renowned poet from North India. Umaru Pulavar was then made the court poet of the Ettayapuram Zamin. But he was not able to learn Arabic grammar. While learning the Arabic language his master went for his essential work for earning money. His family and heirs were awarded with Pulavar title by government of Tamil Nadu, and they carry the initial before their bio initial. Pulavar died on 28 July 1703. PF Nazeer, one of his last heirs with some unpublished work poems died recently of cancer. His family has set up a trust for education and social reforms for poor people on his anniversary.

Literary works

He was commissioned by Seethakaathi, the altruist son of entrepreneur Periya Thambi Nainar Marakkayar, to pen ''Seerapuranam'' considered to be one of the best works in Tamil Muslim literature until date, depicting the biography of

Nabi Nabi may refer to: People * Adil Nabi (born 1994), English footballer *Heiki Nabi (born 1985), Estonian wrestler *Isadore Nabi, satirical pseudonym of Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin, scientists in the 1960s *Mohammad Nabi (born 1985), Afghan ...

. It contains 5,027 poems in three ‘Kandams’ (parts), which are Vilathathu Kandam, Noobuvathu Kandam and Hijurathu Kandam. Each of the ‘Kandams’ narrates various stages of the life of Nabi. ''Muthu Mozhil Malai'' and ''Sethakathi wedding poems'' are among his other literary works.

Legacy

His memorial at Ettayapuram in Tuticorin district was renovated by the government of Tamil Nadu and was declared open by the then Speaker of legislative assembly and the then ministers. The Umaru pulavar Tamil language center in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

named after the scholar strives for providing quality education in Tamil language in Singapore. A social welfare trust established by Professor Muhammadu Sathik Raja on 14 August 2014 named as "Omar - Bharathi Educational Trust" is constituted at Thirupuvanam Pudur in the regard of both the poets from Ettayapuram. The trust has also opened branches in

Ariyalur district Ariyalur district is an administrative district, one of the Districts of Tamil Nadu, 38 districts in the Indian state, state of Tamil Nadu in India. The district headquarters is located at Ariyalur. The district encompasses an area of 1,949.31& ...

and in Theni district. The Islamiya ilakkiya kazhagam gives award every year to eminent Tamil scholars in the name of Umaru Pulavar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pulavar, Umaru Swaminatha Iyer, U.V. Thoothukudi Dravidologists Year of death unknown Muslim poets Indian Muslims 1642 births 1703 deaths