Early history The Mukkuvars historically were inhabitants of the
Neithal (coastal) lands of Malabar coast in Chera kingdom. As suggested by their name they were involved in diving to sunk the enemy ships during the Chera dynasty. They were maritime inhabitants of the Present day
Malabar Coast,
who were involved in naval activities, boatbuilding, fishing, among other maritime activities. Mukkuvars were brought into Vizhinjam region by the Chera and Venad Kings to attack Raja Raja Cholan's navy ships during the 10th century when the Cholas conquered Vizhinjam and Kollam. Thus the Mukkuvars from present day Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kannur migrated to Venad region of present-day Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Kanyakumari districts and few settled over there. Mukkuvars were hired as mercenaries in Sri Lanka from 12th century and few settled there from then. According to the legend of the Mukkuvar from Kerala, they emigrated to and from Sri Lanka. The
Mattakallappu Manmiyam text and other local
palm-leaf manuscripts in Sri Lanka attribute the emigration of the Sri Lankan Mukkuvar from
South India under the rule of
Kalinga Magha in 12th century AD, who delegates the power to local petty kings whose successors are identified as belonging to
Kukankulam.
Medieval history In the 8th century made mercantile
Arabs appearances in Kerala, where they among other married natives such as those from the Mukkuvar community, and formed social groups such as the
Mappilas. The Mukkuvars were in addition to fishing and seafaring, involved in
warfare. Later rulers such as the
Zamorin of Calicut promoted Mukkuvars in conversion to
Islam in order to man their
navies. Up to 1000 AD were the Mukkuvars recruited to the naval fleets of the
Chera dynasty. South Indian communities were often invited to
Sri Lanka as mercenaries. The
Sinhala text known as
Dambadeni Asna refers to Mukkuvar warriors serving in the army of
Parakramabahu II of Dambadeniya. As mentioned in
Mattakallappu Manmiyam, they also served in the 13th century in the army of the invader
Kalinga Magha, who seized control of northern and eastern parts of
Sri Lanka. The Kerala-derived Mukkuvars, whose descendants are the
Sri Lankan Mukkuvars, under
Kalinga Magha were made chieftains known as
Vanniar in the
Batticaloa region, where they also formed
matrilinear landlords known as
Podiyar and exhibited significant political domination. Mukkuvars in alliance with Arabs encamped at the
Puttalam region where in a campaign initiated by
Parakramabahu VI of Kotte, battled and chased away by
Karaiyar mercenaries, mentioned in
Mukkara Hatana (meaning Mukkuvar war). Mukkuvar women intermarried with their allied Arabs, whose descendants reside in the
Sri Lankan Moor ethnicity. == References ==