Progenitors of
the status groups
At some time in antiquity two Maldive princesses and their retinue
travelled and settled in Minicoy. Very early in the 11th century
Male was overrun and the then ruling Solar (Aadeettha) Dynasty displaced
by the navy of Raja Rajan the Chola, a Dravidian speaking Indian
ruler. It is possible that the two princesses, Koharathu Kamana
and Kambo Ranin were of the Royal House of Aadeettha.
Few written records of the period exist. With the Islamic conversion
that began in August
AD 1127, the systematic destruction of the magnificent
pre-Islamic past began in earnest. The result was more profound
and devastating than the havoc wreaked by Raja Rajan the Chola a
century and a quarter earlier. A vastly superior civilisation than
the culture that superseded it was lost for ever.
The present population of Minicoy is supposed to be derived from
Koharathu Kamanaa and Kambo Ranin, their direct descendants, and
the descendants of their peers and servants.
The descendants of the princesses became the Bodung. The gentry
and senior officers of their fleet produced the Niyaming. The descendants
of the artisans are the Medhu Kenbing. The royal servants were the
ancestors of the Raavering.
Ancestors |
Status
group |
Title |
Address |
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
The Princesses |
Bodung |
Manikfan |
Manika |
Beyfaanu |
Thaadhafaanu |
Gentry/ Pilots |
Niaming |
Thakurufaanu
|
Beefaanu |
Beybe |
Dhaathifaanu |
Artisans |
Medhukimbing |
Thakuru |
Bibee |
Kaaka |
Dhaatha |
Servants |
Raaveri |
- |
Kambilo |
Kaaka |
Dhaatha |
|
Occupations of the
status groups
The bodung owned land and the bandu-odies (merchant ships) and they
were the vering (rulers)
The niaming were the pilots of the Bandu-odies and while on shore
assisted the bodung in administrative and other leadership functions.
They were the custodians of property and supervised public work.
The medhukimbing and the raavering were the working classes. The
medhukimbing enjoyed a status higher than that of the raavering.
The raavering tapped the coconut palms for toddy. This distinctive
beverage is converted into a sweet palm syrup. The vinegar of coconut
known as raahuiiy is also produced by the raavering.
Parallels with the Laccadives
Many authors, particularly of Indian origin, have attempted to draw
parallels with the status groups of the Laccadive and Amindivi islands
and those of Minicoy. The Minicoy and Amindivi islanders are culturally
similar to the people of the Malabar coast while Minicoy islanders
derive their heritage from the Maldives. The Laccadive Amindivi
status groups are the koyas, the maalimis and the melaccherys.
Minicoy islanders insist that no parallel can be drawn between the
social groups of their island and those of the Laccadive and Amindivi
islands.
Disintegration of the status groups
Following the annexation of Minicoy into the Indian Union in 1956
there has been a drastic change in the social structure of the island.
The bodung lost their stranglehold over the administration. A nominal
rarhu vering (island ruler) continued in office until recently.
The island administration was gradually taken over by Indian government
appointed officers.
The change also affected the role of the niaming who had been assisting
the bodung in the administration. They became alienated and were
compelled to look for other occupations. They appear to have gradually
merged with the thakuru class, who were a working class with a higher
status than that of the raaveri. The title of thakurufaanu is rarely
used now and this may have added to confusion among outside observers
and academics. The thakurufaanu class was addressed as beybe in
the past.
It appears that some thakurus have usurped the mode of address of
beybe whilst others continue to be addressed as kaaka. This has
added to the confusion of outside observers and contributed to the
blurring of the difference between the thakurufaanus and the thakurus.
Matrilineal heritage
There is much evidence that both the Maldives and Minicoy were matrilineal
societies where property, family name and status was passed from
mother to offspring rather than from father to offspring. The Maldive
royal chronicle the Raadhavalhi records only the maternal lineage
of early sovereigns.
Arab colonisation by infiltration starting in 1125 AD has wreaked
much social havoc both in the Maldives and Minicoy. The power of
the petrodollar since the Oil Crises of the 1970s has accelerated
this process. Unlike European colonisation, Arab colonisation in
southern Asia has worked through infiltration with the help of local
collaborators. (See the article Arabisation
of the Maldives).
According to Hadith most of the dwellers of jahannam (the
Koranic hell) are women.
Narrated Abu
Said Al-Khudri:
Once Allah's Apostle went out to the Musalla (to offer the
prayer) o 'Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by
the women and said, "O women! Give alms, as I have seen
that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women)."
They asked, "Why is it so, O Allah's Apostle ?"
He replied, "You curse frequently and are ungrateful
to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in
intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man
could be led astray by some of you." The women asked,
"O Allah's Apostle! What is deficient in our intelligence
and religion?" He said, "Is not the evidence of
two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied
in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency
in her intelligence. Isn't it true that a woman can neither
pray nor fast during her menses?" The women replied in
the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in
her religion."
Source: Sahih Bukhari: Volume
1, Book 6, Number 301 |
A person's Islamic prayers are nullified if a
woman, a donkey or a dog walks in front of him.
Narrated 'Aisha:
The things which annul the prayers were mentioned before
me. They said, "Prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey
and a woman (if they pass in front of the praying people)."
I said, "You have made us (i.e. women) dogs. I saw
the Prophet praying while I used to lie in my bed between
him and the Qibla. Whenever I was in need of something,
I would slip away. for I disliked to face him."
Source: Sahih Bukhari:
Volume 1, Book 9, Number 490
|
Such vile creatures as women, surely, cannot
be allowed to determine the genealogical lineage of men.
"We
are not Laccadive and Amindivi"
Minicoy islanders
insist that the matrilineal system of Minicoy is different
from how inheritance is determined in the Laccadive
and Amindivi Islands.
In the Marumakkatthaayam system of the Laccadive and
Amindivi Islands, the estate passed
to the children of one's sister rather tha to one's
own issue. This was derived from the practice of the
Namboodhiri and Nair clans of Kerala (India). The Marumakkatthaayam
system is still practised in some of the Laccadive and
Amindivi Islands.
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Matrilineality in the Maldives disappeared a
long time ago except in the tiny community of Giraavaru. In the
1960s it was determined by the mullahs that there were not enough
adult men in Giraavaru to form a quorum at the Islamic Friday prayers.
Such a community has no right to exist. The Giraavaru
community was therefore abolished by decree and with
them the last vestige of matrilineality in the Maldives was committed
to oblivion.
According to Minicoy islanders, the Islamic Sharia code determines
personal law of Muslims in Minicoy now. The irony is that it took
a secular state with a Hindu majority (India) to impose the Islamic
personal law in Minicoy.
In spite of this, the family name or the house name of Minicoy islanders
is still passed from mother to sons and daughters rather than from
the father. It is fair to note that although the family name passes
primarily from mother to offspring, in practice, the children of
mixed marriages adopt that of the higher status group. This is in
line with the historical practice of the Minicoy islanders' fellow
Divehi brethren to the south across the Vangaaru channel.
It is refreshing to know that the Divehi culture battles on in the
face of the onslught of Arabisation.
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