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A script called Arabi Malayalam developed as a result of the Arab settlements in Kerala. The script used was Arabic but additional letters were added to enable the pronunciation of local words. The grammar was that of Malayalam and some words were used from Arabic and Persian as well.

It produced great literal works highly acclaimed for their poetic and philosophic fervor. Most of the woks were related to Islamic sciences and hymns. But there were novels and poetries as well. Moinkutty Vaidyar is considered the greatest poet. The novel “Zainaba” is the first ever written novel in Malayalam (and not Induleka as supposed by some).

Arabi Malayalam was used actively in writing letters, maintaining accounts and even in publishing newspapers. in 1901, a newspaper called Salahul Ikhwan was published from Tirur by a man called Saidalikutty.

Dr. Kamal Pasha, the head of History at the PSMO College at Tirurangadi, told me about an advertisement in the same paper that aroused his interest. He noticed an ad that said ‘for those interested in going for Hajj via train, contact . . . ‘

A preliminary study showed that railroads were prevalent in Hijaz until the fall of Ottoman Caliphate. It was the ruthless European agents who destroyed the rail paths using guerilla warfare tactics. They used to dress up like the native Bedouins and bomb the rails.

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When we analyze the historical records, we find that in the pre-Islamic period, the ancient Arabian poet Umrul Qais (before the advent of Islam), has mentioned the relationship between Pepper, Kerala and Arabia in his poem. He has compared the bird droppings found on the courtyard of his lover to the pepper in Kerala.

The Greek and Roman medical record of those days has described pepper as the Indian Medicine. Arabs referred Kerala as the land of pepper. The word Malabar, used by Arabs, is partially a Persian word. The coins found at archaeological sites of Southern Kerala indicate that trade relations existed between Kerala and Rome, Egypt and China before Christ.

Swami Dayananda is if the opinion that Arabic scholars were present even during the era of Mahabharata. ‘In Mahabharata, when Kauravs plotted to kill Pandavs by burning them, Vidhuran informed Yudhishtar in Arabic language. Yudhishtar responded in the same language.’ At the time of King Solomon, gold used to be exported from a port called Ophir. A large section of historians say that Ophir was the same as Bepur at Calicut. Others say that Ophir was Poothar at Trivandrum. It was with the help of Ahmed bin Majid, a naval expert of Ras Al Khaimah, that Vasco Da Gama reached India. ( This has been proved wrong by Dr. Sheikh Sultan : Who guided Vasco Da Gama to India ? Not an An Arab !) The remains of Failaka Island at Kuwait reveal interesting facts about the Indo Arab relations. The artifacts discovered in 1958 by the Qanih archaeological team of the utensils, furniture etc were similar to those found at Calicut. This shows that there was a cordial trade and cultural relations between India and Arabia for more than 2000 years.