Mappila Paattu or Mappila Song is a folklore Muslim song genre rendered to lyrics in colloquial Mappila dialect of Malayalam laced with Arabic, by the Mappilas of Malabar. Mappila songs have a distinct cultural identity, while at the same time, remain closely linked to the cultural practices of Kerala. The songs often used words from Persian, Urdu, Tamil, Hindi apart from Arabic and Malayalam, but the grammatical syntax was always based on Malayalam. They deal with themes such as religion, love, satire and heroism, and are often sung at occasions of birth, marriage and death. Mappila Paattu form an integral part of the heritage of Malayalam literature today and is regarded by some as the most popular branch of Malayalam literature, enjoyed by all communities in Kerala.

History

Mappila songs have been in circulation or over seven centuries, with the first dated work Muhyidheen Mala atrributed to Qadi Muhammad of Kozhikode in 1607 A.D. Thereafter a large number of literary materials was produced in this medium; one authority has calculated that of these more than 1600 items, complete or fragmentary, are known as of 1976. Over the centuries, various types of Mappila Pattu were composed, in accordance with the religious and political surroundings in the lives of the Mappilas of Malabar. The early centuries were primarily based on devotional works, while the colonial era was marked by the battle song genre called Padappattu. Various other categories also grew during the centuries with subjects ranging from romantic ballads and marriage songs to philosophical ideas, sea journeys and even flood ordeals.
Early works

The earliest known dated works in Mappilappattu belong to the 17th century and primarily belonged to the Mala genre.

Malappattu

The mala genre of Mappila songs, generally written in Arabi-Malayalam script are praises of pious personalities of Islam who were supposed to have gained high spiritual status. Generally, though most such works were themed on the lives of Sufi saints (Auliya) . Most of these songs narrate "superhuman" deeds of these saints. The songs became popular in an era when Sufism gained a strong foothold amongst the Mappilas. Each Mala often corresponded to the leader of a Sufi order called Thareeqath, who was abundantly showered praises in the poetry, often well-exceeding the limits of human capabilities. Popular among these are the Muhyidheen Mala, the Rifai mala, the Shaduli Mala, the Ajmeer Mala, and the Nafeesath mala. Each of these corresponded to their respective Sufi orders while the last is about Nafeesathul Misriyya, a woman Sufi saint of Egypt more commonly known as Sayyida Nafeesa.

Qadi Muhammad

Qadi Muhammad Ibn Abdul Aziz (d 1616), popularly known as Qadi Muhammad was the Qadi of Calicut in the sixteenth century and is considered as the author of the earliest dated work in Mappilappattu literature. His Muhyiddeen Mala is composed in the Arabi-Malayalam script in a mixture of Arabic, Malayalam and Tamil languages. 43% of the words used in it are from Arabic language, while another 25-30 percent show an influence of Tamil vocabulary. It deals with the life of Abdul Qadir Jilani, the famous Sufi saint of Baghdad. The book was held in high religious esteem by the Mappilas till the 20th century. Qadi Muhammad also authored the Fath-Al Mubeen, an Arabic poetic composition narrating the "perfect victory" of the combined native forces of the Zamorin, the Kunhali Marakkars and the Kolathiri against the Portuguese invaders at the Battle of Chaliyam in 1571. He also authored almost 50 other works in Arabic.

The seventeenth century also witnessed the composition of other popular works in the Malappattu genre, namely the Rifai Mala (1623) by Ahammadul Kabeer, Uswath Mala (1628) and Valiya Naseehath Mala (1674) by Manantakath Kunhikoya Thangal.

18th century

Songs of the 18th century were primarily of the Kissa genre, narrating stories of the prophets of Islam or Sufi saints. Examples of such songs include the Ibrahim Nabi Qissa and the Ibrahim Ibn Adham Kissa. Songs like the kappappattu and Safalamaala by Shujayi Moidu Musaliyar conveyed ideological messages to the community in the era of post-Portuguese years when the identity and existence of the Mappilas were in a shattered state.

Kunhayan Musaliyar

Kunhayan Musaliyar was a courtier in the Zamorin's court in the early 18th century. He authored the popular works titled Nool Mala or Nool Mad'h (1721 A.D.) and Kappappattu. While the former was a devotional work of 666 lines composed in 16 different ishalukal (tunes), the latter consisted of 600 lines composed in a single tune. Narrating with wit and humour, the voyage of the human body through the journey of life is portrayed here as a vessel in the ocean voyaging through the seas. The Kappa Pattu remained hugely popular for centuries, next only to the Muhyiddeen Mala.

Umar Qadi

Veliyankode Umar Qadi, (1757-1852) was a scholar, poet and freedom fighter from Veliyankode, near Ponnani, well known for his tax non-cooperation movement against the British rule in the Malabar. He composed songs of various subjects, ranging from the Cheraman Perumal to Arabic grammar. Other poems of his criticized the wrongdoings of members of his own community. He also wrote many poems in Arabic.

19th century and early 20th century

The dawn of the 19th century saw the advent of British rule in the Malabar. The songs of this era are marked by the rising anti-British feelings in the Mappila society in the backdrop of the agrarian tenancy discontent against the British backed Jenmi landlords. Most of the songs of the era fall under the Padappattu ( battle songs) genre.

Padappattu

The first dated work in this genre was the Zaqqoom Padappattu dated 1836. This song was actually an Arabi-Malayalam translation of the Tamil work Zakkoon Padayppor composed by Varishay Mukiyudheen Poolavar of Madurai in 1686. Alim Umar Labba, a Mappila religious scholar from Kayalpattanam translated it into Arabi-Malayalam. Many of the tunes (Ishals)of Zakoon Padayppor have been largely utilized by famous Arabi Malayalam poet, Moin Kutty Vaidyar, especially in his master piece work, Badre Padappattu.

The songs of the Padapattu genre can be classified into four different types:

Islamic folk tales : These songs have no relation to actual historic events but either from a folk tale, a legend or simply an imaginary story related to Islamic traditions. Songs of this category include the Zaqqum Padappattu and the Jinn Padappattu. The former is a story about an imaginary confrontation of King Zaqqum of Iraq and Prophet Muhammed of Arabia while the latter is story about the Jinns, the other creation parallel to human beings as taught by the Qur'an.

Islamic history : These songs narrated events from the early years of Islam, and in particular the early battles of Islam. The Badar padappattu, the Hunayn Padappattu and the Karbala padappattu are characteristic of this category.

Mappila history : Songs of this type typically narrated the heroic deeds of the Muslims of Kerala and eulogize the martyrs among them, especially in their battles against the Portuguese and British colonial powers and local Jenmi landlords.Typical among these are the Kotturpalli Mala, Moyinkutty Vaidyar's Malappuram Padappattu(1883) etc. and the Cherur Padappattu.] The first depicts the heroism of Veliyankode Kunhi Marakkar, a warrior who saves a 17-year old Mappila girl from the hands of Portuguese kidnappers but is martyred at the end of the battle. The eulogy here is enhanced with the simultaneity of the character's death with his hour of marriage. The other two narrate stories of Mappila attacks on the British and the Jenmi landlords during the 19th century. The Cherur Padappattu, composed by two poets named Mammad Kutti and Muhyidheen in 1841, refers to a battle between Mappila rebels and the army of the East India Company. The rebels had assassinated Kaprat Krishna Panikkar, the adhikari of Tirurangadi and sought refuge in a deserted house. The soldiers later surround them and in the ensuing battle, seven Mappilas and 20 of the Company army lost their lives. The Cherur Padappattu narrates this story praising the "martyrs" amongst the Mappillas in this battle.

Fictional songs: These songs were about purely imaginary subjects. The elippada which narrates a 3-day imaginary battle between rats and cats based on a Panchatantra story falls under this category.

The common feature of all these songs were their pattern of narration of the bravery of the heroes depicted.

While the battle songs roused the feelings of the community against the authorities, this era also witnessed the popularization of romantic ballads like Moyinkutty Vaidyar's Badarul Muneer Husnul Jamal and Chettuvayi Pareekkutty's Soubhagya Sundari. One of the notable aspects of both these works were the age of the authors at the time of the composition; Vaidyar was said to have been 17 or (by some reports) 20 at the time and so was Pareekkutty.

For more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mappila_Paattu