MINOR RESEARCH PROJECT SPONSORED BY U.G.C, NEW DELHI.

ON

"DEVELOPMENT OF URDU IN KERALA- A HISTORICAL STUDY"

  SUMMARY OF THE FINDING

                 Once the state of Kerala and nearby regions were not known to the invaders and intruders from the other parts of the country. The climate, thick forests and other geographical features prevented them from reaching Kerala. Following the Arabs, who came to Kerala for its exotic commodities, the Kachi Memans from Gujarat, the Sultans of Srirangapatnam, the Bora Muslims , the Dakhanies and the Nawayathis also came to this land either for commerce or political reasons. They came with their native language -Urdu.

                The people of Kerala, part of the Dravidian belt, used Malayalam. The natives of the neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka used Tamil and Kannada respectively. The Urdu speakers settled down on a large scale in Kerala when the Sultans train and followers inhabited the area from Mangalore to Trivandrum, strengthening the number of Urdu native speakers in addition to the commercial groups who were native Urdu speakers like Nawayathis, Boras , Dakhanies and Kachi Memans.

                 The contributions and influences of these classes were unknown to the literary men and historians of Urdu who believed that the people of Kerala , neglected Urdu language. But when the research work proceeded, it was astonishing to piece of informations that numerous poets and literary men like Syed Muhammed Sarwar, Abdul Kareem Sait Aktar, Aysha Bai, Zulaikha Hussain, Sabir Sait , Aboobacker Munshi Fazil were notable names in this field. The Urdu monthly 'Naralijisthan' and weekly 'Malabari Awaz' were pioneers in the field of publication. The associations like Anjuman Islahul Esan, Tharbiyathul Islam and Inthisharul Islam were notable in this field.

                    The minor research is an earnest attempt in this regard to trace the course of development and flowering of Urdu language by the contributions of individuals and organizations which came for commercial and political endeavours.

Prof.(Dr:)R.I.RIYAZ AHAMED,

DEPARTMENT OF URDU,

FAROOK COLLEGE,

CALICUT.                                                                                                S/d.