By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,
Kozhikode: Elaborating on strong bond from the 800-odd years in building a township called Kozhikode, historian MGS Narayanan, said the immense support offered by the Zamorians to the Koyas – term refers to Muslims in the city – was a gesture of gratitude for their efforts in building this town.
“Zamorins built mosques in return and helped bringing them to the mainstream society. By a recent flood of money, the ancient mosques were destroyed by Muslims themselves and renovated, losing its architectural beauty. Cheraman mosque is a rare exception,” Narayanan said while delivering the key note address at a seminar organized to discuss the inseparable historic bond between the Zamorins and Koyas here.
The seminar was organized by the Muslim Educational Society (MES) at the town hall here, to celebrate the organisation’s golden jubilee. MES is on a mission to make youngsters aware of the contributions of Muslims to the development of the nation through nearly 200 seminars across the nation. M K Raghavan MP inaugurated the celebration and honoured Zamorin Unni Anujan Raja by draping a ponnada (ceremonial dhoti).
MGS explained how Kunjali Marakkar was separated from the Zamorins by the crookedness of the Portuguese. “During my intermediate days at Zamorin’s college, a number of Muslim students studied there. Why … because it was the only college in town offering the same status to Sanskrit and Arabic. This was due to the strong bond of companionship the Zamorins shared with the Koyas,” he said.
Due to the temple style of architecture of the mosques, many mistake that these were conquered and transformed into mosque, he said adding, “This was proved by the later findings of inscriptions stating that they were built with the help of Zamorins.”
He also reminisced about the revolutionary orders of Zamorins that requested the Hindu women to accept the Muslims to form families, indicating the secular nature of the land. The function was presided over by MES district president C T Sakkeer Hussain; representing the legendary Koya families Irumanam Veettil Usman Koya was honoured and MES district secretary P K Abdul Latheef, K V Kunjahammed Koya and MES district treasurer N P C Abdul Rahiman spoke at the event.