Nathan Shah and ravuttans

The Musalmans started their religious propaganda as soon

as they had settled down in some numbers. Many of the Islamic

communities of the south trace their origin to these times. The

Ravuttans of Madura and Trichinopoly believe that they were

persuaded to change their religion by Nathad Vali whose tomb

exists at Trichinopoly and bears the date of his death 417 A.H.

(1039 A.D.).*^ The tradition about Nathad is that he was a

Sayyid prince who held territory in Turkey, but abandoned

his state and became an ascetic and missionary of Islam. He

wandered through Arabia, Persia and Northern India until he

reached the city of Trisura. the modem Trichinopoly. Here he

setded down and passed the remaining years of his life in prayer

and works of charity, converting a leurge number of Hindus to

the religion of Muhammad. His successor was Sajryid Ibrahim

Shahid, who was bom at Medina (about 1 162 A.D.) and who

headed a militant mission to the Pandyan kingdom in his forty-

second year. He is said to have defeated the Pandya king and

ruled for over twelve years, but he was at last overthrown and

slain. He lies buried at Ervadi. The DudekuUs attribute

their conversion to Baba Fakhr Uddin the saint of Pennukonda.

He became a disciple of Nathad Vali, converted the Raja of

Pennukonda and built a mosque there. The date of his death,

according to Thurston, was 564 A. H.

In Madura^^ the Musalmans made their entrance in

1050 A.D. under the leadership of Malik-uI-Mtduk, who was

accomipcuiied by a great saint, Hazrat ^Aliyar Shah Sahib,

whose remains were buried near the Huzur iCacheri at Madura.

At the village of Goripaleiyan there is a mosque which acquired