Kayalpatnam is an ancient historical city of India. It lies in the southeast part of Indian peninsula, on the shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is a Muslim dominant town situated in Thoothukudi district and formally it was in Tirunelveli district. It is about 400 miles from Madras and 100 miles from Tiruvandrum and Madurai.
Kayalpatnam was chief trade emporium even before the advent of Islam and it was chief port of Malabar to which Arabs and Greeks were frequent visitors. During the lifetime of our beloved holy prophet Muhammad (Sallalahu alaihi wa sallam.) Islamic missionaries were sent to Malabar to preach the peace mission of Islam.
The First settlement in Kayalpatnam occurred in 633 A.D. (Hijiri 12). The first settlers were from Mecca and Medina and landed here during the reign of the first caliph, the successor of our prophet Muhammad (Sallalahu alaihi wa sallam), Ameerul momeneen Hazarat seyedna Abubakar Siddeeq (Rali).
From 1980 onwards I closely inspected the archaeological remains of Kayalpatnam as well studied the available oldest documents in papers, leaves, and metals. I have seriously studied the various rare inscriptions found in Kayalpatnam and consulted some expert archaeologists with the contents of inscriptions and obtained their opinions. According to the eminent Historians, Greeks, Romans and Arabs visited Kayal even before the advent of Muslim missionaries of Arabia.
Through our ancient saintly scholar's records, we made out the first Muslim settlement in Kayalpatnam happened during the lifetime of Hazarath Abu Bakar Siddeeq (Raliallahu anhu). In 1998, Abdur Rahman Walliyullah of Cumbum, a close associate of Kayalpatnam Omar Walliyullah and Peria Muthu Wappa Waliyullah, while discussing about the early history of Kayalpatnam, confirmed Islam entered Kayalpatnam through Arab traders and Muslim missionaries during the reign of the first Caliph Hazarth Abu Bakar Siddeeq (Rali allahu anhu). Further he said that Sea Shore Masjid (Kadal Karai Palli) was the first mosque and added saints who ever visited Kayalpatnam never missed to pray at this mosque.
The Second settlement took place in 842 A.D. (Hijiri 227). They came from Cairo in Egypt during the tyrannical rule of Abbasi caliph Al-Multhazim (841 A.D.) and the beginning of caliph Al-Wadiq's rule, (842 A.D.), under the leadership of Muhammad Khalji (Raliallahu anhu). Big Jamiah mosque (Kuthba Periya Palli) was built by Muhammad Khalji in 843 A.D. (Hijiri 228). Kayal was the name of the place till the advent of Muhammad Khalji. After his arrival, the southern part of Kayal is named as Kahirfathan after the name of his own town "Kahira" in Egypt. Kahirfathan in Arabic is slowly changed into Kayalpatnam in Tamil. The northern part of Kayal is called Old Kayal (Palaiya Kayal and Punna Kayal).
The Third batch of Arabs (third settlement) came from Arabia in 1284 A.D under the leadership of Sultan Jamaluddin, who was a descendant of holy prophet Muhammad (Sallalahu alaihi wa sallam.), a business magnate, a statesman and a famous ruler of Pandiyan kingdom. His descendants are still living in Kayalpatnam and they have their genealogical table from Sultan Jamaluddin.
Indian historians and many famous foreign travelers and historians of the west perfectly made known that Kayalpatnam is situated near the Tamira Parani river about a mile from its mouth in Tirunelvelli district presently Tuticorin district and Kayalpatnam is also distinctly identified with Islam from 8th century.
Kail, was long a famous port on the coast of what is now the Tirunelveli district of the Madras presidency. It is mentioned as part of Malabar by Polo's contemporary Rashiduddin. Kail is definitely the one situated on the Tamraparani River about 1 & half miles from its mouth. (Travels of Marco polo translated by Sir Henry Yule). Famous travelers and historians like Abdullah Wasaf, Rasheeduddin, Ibn Batuta and Marco Polo gave some information about Kayalpatnam in their books. The works of Dr. Rev. Bishop Caldwell, Sir Elliot, Col-Henry Yule, Sir John Emerson Tennant, Sir Simon Casio Chitty and Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, incidentally, the latter mentioned six writers, substantiate, the view that the Arabs had settled first at Kayalpatnam and there from spread to the other parts of eastern coast of India and Ceylon.
A historical Atlas of South Asia edited by J.E. Schwartzberg, University of Chicago press, Chicago, printed in 1928, shows that famous Korkai and Kayal were situated on the delta of the Tamira Parani. Bishop R. Caldwell writes in his book "History of Tirunelvelli" that both places are situated on the delta of Tamira Parani. Korkai within five miles, Kayal within two miles on the sea but each was originally on the seacoast. A well known Indian historian K.A. Nilakanda Sastri narrates in his book "History of south India" that once the wealthy commercial cities of Korkai and Kayal on the Tirunelvelli coast, which were flourishing in thirteenth century are now buried under sand dunes miles from the sea. According to Vascodagama, Kayal was on the Tirunelvelli coast where pearls were found. It was under Mussalman King. (His book'Reteriro) Travelers like Masudi and Ibn Batuata testify to the presence of Muslims and mosques all along the west coast. There were Muslim settlements on the east coast of which Kayalpatnam and Nagore were the most important. (History of India' Nilakanda Sastri)
