Thangal

Short description: Social group among the Muslims of Kerala

The thangals (also spelled tangals) are a social group[3] among the Muslims of Kerala, south India.[1] The thangals are often regarded as roughly equivalent to the more general Sayyids or Sharifs, or the descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, of the wider Islamic culture.[2][3] Most members of the community practices endogamy and rarely marry outside from their community.[4][5]

The thangal families are numerous in Kerala, all receive recognition, but some are considered as saints.[2] The thangal identification brings much 'reverence and attention' in the Kerala Muslim community (which predominantly identifies with Shafi'i madhab).[6] Some individuals take advice from the thangals on crucial matters.[3] A number of thangals in Kerala 'treat' people for illness and to 'ward off evils'.[3]

Thangal families have many gradations of status on social and economic scale. Influential of the thangals generally come from prominent business families. They usually exercise their influence through commerce and politics.[2]

## Contents

* 1 Major thangal families in north Kerala
* 2 Notes
* 3 References
* 4 Further reading
* 5 External links

## Major thangal families in north Kerala

Syed Muhammedali Shihab Thangal (1936 - 2009)

* Tharamal family (Mambram)[7][8]
* Sayyid Jifri Thangal (mid-1700s)
* Hassan Jifri Thangal (mid-1700s)
* Syed Alavi Thangal (1749 - 1843)[8]
* Syed Fazl Thangal

* Pukkoya family (Panakkad-Kodappanakkal House)[7]
* Sayyid Ali Thangal
* Sayyid Husain ibn Muhlar (1812-1882)
* P. M. S. A. Pukkoya Thangal (d. 1975)
* Muhammedali Shihab Thangal (1936 - 2009)
* Hyderali Shihab Thangal (1947 - 2022)

* Velluvangad Thangal family[7]
* Syed Muhammed Imbichi Koya Thangal Al Buhari[8]

* Kondotty Thangal family[7]
* Muhammad Shah Thangal[8]

* Bafaki Thangal family (Calicut)[7]
* Syed Bafaqy Thangal (d. 1973)

## Notes

1.^ Only some scholars consider the thangals as a 'community' among the Muslims of Kerala.[1]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kunhali, V. "Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798" PhD Dissertation Aligarh Muslim University (1986) [1]
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Miller, Roland E., Mappila Muslim Culture. New York, State University of New York Press, 2015. pp. 268-271.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Meethal, Amiya (2016-04-25). "Thangals All Set to Test Popularity in Malappuram" (in en). https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/politics/250416/thangals-all-set-to-test-popularity-in-malappuram.html.
4. ↑ Lang, Claudia (2014-12-01). "Muslim Thangals, Psychologisation and Pragmatic Realism in Northern Kerala, India" (in en). Transcultural Psychiatry 51 (6): 904–923. doi:10.1177/1363461514525221. PMID 24637733. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461514525221.
5. ↑ Kunhali, V. "Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798" PhD Dissertation Aligarh Muslim University (1986) [2]
6. ↑ "Caste system exists among Muslims though not overtly". https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2019/sep/01/caste-system-exists-among-muslims-though-not-overtly-2027243.html.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Miller, Roland E., Mappila Muslim Culture. New York, State University of New York Press, 2015. pp. 268-271.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Miller, Roland. E., "Mappila" in "The Encyclopedia of Islam". Volume VI. E. J. Brill, Leiden. 1987 pp. 458-56.

## Further reading

* Miller, Roland E. (2015). Mappila Muslim Culture: How a Historic Muslim Community in India Has Blended Tradition and Modernity. State University of New York Press. https://sunypress.edu/Books/M/Mappila-Muslim-Culture.
* Dale, Stephen F. (1980). "Islamic Society on the South Asian Frontier: The Mappilas of Malabar 1498–1922". Modern Asian Studies (Clarendon Press Oxford) 18 (1): 157–161. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00011276. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/abs/islamic-society-on-the-south-asian-frontier-the-mappilas-of-malabar-14981922-by-stephen-frederic-dale-clarendon-press-oxford-1980-pp-xvii-290-7-plates-8-maps/4579DEFFF56EC4F9123861504A8041E7.

## External links

* Kunhali, V. (1986). "Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798". Aligarh Muslim University. http://ir.amu.ac.in/2736/1/T 5242.pdf.
* Claudia Lang. "Muslim Thangals, Psychologisation and Pragmatic Realism in Northern Kerala, India". Transcultural Psychiatry 2014, Vol. 51(6). pp. 904–923. https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/59122/1/1363461514525221.pdf.

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