No. 36. — 1888.] THE MOORS OF CEYLON. 



245 



disregarded, and there is still a very large admixture of Hindu 

 practice." This quotation, while showing that the Musalman 

 religion was introduced into the Western Punjab in the 

 thirteenth and into the Eastern Punjab in the seventeenth 

 century, serves also to show that even in the premier province 

 of Islam, the highway of all Muhammadan conquerors, its 

 votaries are mostly converts from the Hindu races, which 

 occupy that part of the country, without an appreciable 

 admixture of blood with that of the foreigners. It furthei 

 shows that favouring times and a succession of a few but 

 zealous missionaries may effect in less than five, indeed two, 

 centuries the conversion of hundreds of thousands, nay 

 millions, of people, for the Punjab has nearly twelve millions 

 of Muhammadans against nearly ten millions of Hindus. 



The Islam of the Mapillas in South India has an almost 

 similar but earlier history. The tradition among them, as 

 reported in the Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1 is that in A.c. 

 844 an Arab ship, or bagala, was wrecked on the island of 

 Chaliyam formed by the Beypur and Kadelundi rivers, and 

 that the local Hindu ruler, whose policy was to foster trade, 

 received kindly the thirteen Arabs who were saved, and 

 granted them lands, whereupon other Muhammadans arrived, 

 together with a few enthusiastic missionaries. The Mapillas, 

 says the same authority, are Malaiyalam converts to Islam from 

 various castes. "A sea-faring life, trade with Arabia, and Arab 

 missionaries, led to extensive conversion among the Malabar 

 fishing races. At one time, after the European nations 

 appeared in Eastern seas, conversion was largely promoted by 

 the Zamorin of Calicut, with a view to procure seamen to 

 defend the towns on the coast." 2 The reason of the conver- 

 sion is correctly given in the following passage: — "Hindus 

 found an easy refuge from their own stringent caste laws, 

 which debarred them from sea-faring pursuits, in the open 

 arms of Islam." 3 Quilon was the principal port of Malabar 



1 Vol. VI., p. 247, and vol. II., p. 330 (1st edition). 



2 Vol. IX., p. 23 (2nd edition). 



3 Vol. VI., p. 247 (1st edition). 



