The community of local Malayalam-speaking Muslims in Kochi identifies themselves as Malabari Muslims. The reason why they have adopted Malabari (People of Malabar) as a part of their identity could either be the presence of other Muslims communities from the various parts of India or their forefathers migrated from various regions of the erstwhile Malabar kingdom. Even before the colonial times Kochi had a healthy trade relationship with the Arabs who might have played an instrumental role in the spread of Islam One of the oldest mosques in the area which was built in XXXX suggest the presence of Islam and Muslims from pre-colonial times. The members of community were into various professions historically. Most of them, in the recent past have been manual labours and petty traders. However, according to the oral accounts of the community members, a few owned or were supervisors of the numerous warehouses in the business districts of Mattancherry.
