No. 36. — 1888.] THE MOOES OF CEYLON. 247 



tradition there — and indeed in Ceylon — is, that a colony there- 

 from settled at Beruwala, near Kalutara, which is admittedly 

 one of the earliest centres, if not the very earliest centre, of 

 Islam in the Island. In 1290 the condition of this town is 

 described as follows by Marco Polo : — " Cail is a great and 

 noble city and belongs to Ashar, the eldest of the five brother 

 kings. It is at this city that all the ships touch that come 

 from the west, as from Hormos and from Kis (an island in 

 the Persian Gulf), and from Aden and all Arabia, laden with 

 horses and with other things for sale. And this brings a 

 great concourse of people from the country round about, and 

 so there is great business done in this city of Cail." 1 Bishop 

 Caldwell, commenting on this passage, says : — " Kayal stood 

 originally on or near the sea-beach, but it is now about a 

 mile and a half inland, the sand carried down by the river 

 (Tamraparni, on which it stands) having silted up the ancient 

 harbour and formed a waste sandy tract between the sea 

 and the town. It has now shrunk into a petty village." 

 Consequent upon the desertion of the sea, another town 

 had to be founded, which bears the same name, Kayal. Dr. 

 Caldwell observes that it is admitted by its inhabitants that 

 the name of Kdyal-paddanam has been given to it as a 

 reminiscence of the older city, and that its original name 

 was Chonakar-paddanarn, or "the town of the Chonakar," 

 which, I have said, is the name applied by the Tamils to the 

 Mapillas, Lebbes, and Moors, and assumed by these 

 communities to distinguish themselves from the other 

 religionists of Tamil India. 



It appears to me that Kayal contains the keystone of the 

 history of the Tamil Muhammadans, just as Quilon and 

 Calicut contain that of the Malaiyalam Muhammadans. The 

 tradition in Kayal is, that a few missionaries or teachers from 

 Cairo landed there and made it their headquarters in the 

 early part of the ninth century. In fact, it is said that Kayal, 



1 Col. Yule's translation, vol. II., p. 357. 



