Malabars () is a term used for Indians originating from the

Malabar region The Malabar Coast () is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regions of the subcontin ...

. The region includes the northern part of present state of Kerala in India, i.e. the southwestern coast of the country. Captain João Ribeiro in his ''History of Ceylon'' presented to the King of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in 1685 mentions that Jaffnapatam (present-day

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

) is inhabited by Malabars. This designation stemmed from the presence of Tamils in Jaffna, whose customs and religion closely resembled those of the Hindus on the Malabar Coast of India. Additionally, to European traders and scholars, Tamil was commonly known as the Malabar language. In the 18th century, J. P. Fabricius described his Tamil-English Dictionary as the "Dictionary of Malabar and English," wherein he explained words and phrases of the Tamil language, commonly referred to by Europeans as the Malabar language, in English.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malabars History of Réunion Kerala society Malabar Coast

See also

References