Kayalpatnam & Maricar
Maricar's hail from Kayalpatnam, a seashore town in Southern Tamil Nadu, India which is steeped in history. Arab traders had a flourishing business in South India with the Pandian Kingdom (capital at Madurai), the rulers of Malabar (Kerala) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Kayalpatnam was having near a major international port Kulasekharapatnam with trade relations with the Arabs, Europeans & Chinese. The great international traveler of yore, Marco Polo had visited Kayalpatnam in the Middle Ages and described it as a thriving international port.
With the advent of Islam, these Arab traders introduced the new faith in the region. They married amongst the local population and their descendents are the present day population of Kulasekarapatnam, Kayalpatnam, Keezhakkarai, Maricarpatnam, Adirampatnam, Tondi, Karaikal etc. along the Tamil Nadu coast; many settlements on the Malabar / Kerala coast and the southern sea coast of Ceylon like Galle, Batticola.
The main item of trade of the Arabs was natural pearls fished in the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Strait separating Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from South India and horses. These pearls were exchanged with horses brought from Arabia.
The name Maricar / Marikar / Maraicar / Maraikar is a corruption of the Tamil word "maraikkalayar" meaning people engaged in shipping trade. Yes, it was indeed so. The community of Maricars, found amongst settlements along the Tamil Nadu,Kerala and Sri Lankan coast were engaged in international trade in gems, pearls, horses and commodities for centuries. Today, we talk of foreign and global trade, but they were the pioneers. The present generation have not given up their forefathers' tradition of international trade. They can be found all over the world in important trading cities in India, Sri Lanka, South East Asia, China, Far East, Middle East, Africa, Europe and Americas, engaged in a variety of international trade and industries, more so in centers of gems and jewellery.
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