Malabar Demography

As a result of the vibrant trade, the Malabar region mingled with many ancient cultures and each of these cultures left their mark in the culture of the region. The area has a mix of native Hindus, native mapila Muslims, and native Jains and migrant Christian communities and is well known for their religious harmony.

Some peculiar practices among the people of this region set them apart from the surrounding regions. Among them, was the practice of Matriliniarity, where the man’s sister’s sons where the heir and not his own sons. This was practiced among Muslims, Nambudiris, Nayars and Thiyars. Women generally had greater status and importance in the family and society.

The main festival in this region is Vishu as opposed to Onam in other parts of Kerala. As this region mainly follows the Malayalam calendar, Vishu is celebrated as the New Year.

Malabar is very different from the rest of Kerala, Hindu natives of the region cook and eat non-vegetarian food during festivals of Vishu and Onam and even during marriages.

The style of preparation in the Malabar region is also different as there is extensive use of coconut paste in dishes such as sambar, fish curry etc. This region also offers a wide range of dishes like kalathappan, Kinnathappam, pathiri, chatty pathiti, Kozhikkodan Halwa, Mutta maala, Podutholu, Unnakkaya and other varities of pancakes and steam cakes.

The bakery was first introduced and became popular in the areas in and around Thalasseri. The natives of this region dominate in the bakery sector in the whole of south India.

The Malabar region is also a politically sensitive area due to the strong sense of socio-political aspirations of the people here.

Textile, Beedi, hand-weaving, plywood and coir represent important industries while cashew, Cinnamon and pepper are important cash crops.

The malabar has also been the longest serving gateway of the region in interacting with the diverse cultures of the world such as Portuguese, Dutch, French, British, Arab, Chinese, Persians, Greek, Chalukyas, Hoysalas, Tuluvas, Rashtrakutas, Kodavas, Tulus etc.

North Malabar is also home to many dialects (Such as Kasaragod Malayalam, Mappila dialect of Malayalam etc.) and loan words, apart from the large number of words from Sanskrit and Tamil; it also has origins from foreign languages due to the many years of trade relations with Arabia, Persia, Israel, China, South Canara , Mysore, Kodagu and European colonial powers.