Kodava Maaple
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (87,274 : The Total Muslim population in Kodagu, including Kodava Maaple, Syeds, Sheikhs, Beary and Malayali Mappila according to the 2011 census) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Kodagu (Coorg) | |
| Languages | |
| Kodava takk | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Kodavas, Amma Kodava, Kodagu Heggade, Kodagu Gowda, Beary, Mappila |
The Kodava Maaple, also known as Jamma Maaple, is a Muslim community residing in Kodagu district of Karnataka in southern India. They are descendants of Kodavas who were forcibly converted to Islam during their captivity at Seringapatam in the late 18th century. They are Sunnis of the Shafi'i madhab, and contract marriage alliances with Mappilas and Bearys. They have maintained their original Kodava clan names and dress habits and speak Kodava takk, although now they do follow some Mappila and Beary customs also.
The origin of this community dates back to the late 18th century. When the Kingdom of Mysore invaded and annexed Coorg, its inhabitants, the Kodava, rebelled. During a number of attempts to suppress their rebellion in the 1780s, a number of Kodava Hindus were captured and imprisoned by Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore. These captives were forcibly deported, some of them were converted and some were killed. The estimated numbers of the captives vary according to different sources, from 500 (according to Punganuri) to 85,000 (according to B. L. Rice). To the Kodava Hindus, Tipu’s invasion of their homeland and subsequent persecution of their people remains a lingering historical wound. During the Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789–1792) 5,000 Kodava men along with their families, amounting to 12,000 people escaped from captivity in Seringapatam and returned to Coorg. With Coorg depopulated of its original inhabitants, Tipu sought to Islamize it with Muslim settlements. To this end, he brought in 7,000 men from the Shaikh and Sayyid clans, along with their families. However, this attempt proved to be partly successful, as many of them were eventually slain or fled after Tipu lost Coorg. A few continued to remain on in Coorg as they were on amiable terms with the Kodagu Raja and the Kodavas and they speak Urdu today. The Coorg capital of Madikeri had been renamed to Zafarabad by the Sultan in the meanwhile. The Muslim descendants of the Kodavas who were forcibly converted into Islam, after Tipu Sultan's army on various forays into Coorg had captured them and thrown them into the Seringapatam prison, are called Kodava Mappila.
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