Origin of palakkad / coimbatore Rawther community

British historians tends to group communities based on social status and language. They consider all tamil muslims of south india as lebbais, malayali muslims as moplah and urdu muslims as dakhnis.

So they consider rawthers and marakkars are occupation name. Those who chose fight as cavalry considered as rawthers. Who ever trading in ships are considered as marakkars. Marakkars are treated as elites during british time due to their affluent trade. Most of the rawthers were mostly figting against british / other European forces. British consider all tamil muslims with warrior history as rawthers which include tamil converts, decedants of tamil woman who married foreign man and decedants of tamil man who married foreign woman.

 The Tamil Rawthars who arrived in and around Palakkad in the 19th century are descendants of the disbanded horsemen of the Mysore Sultans. History records that before joining Hyderali Khan's army, these horsemen served under a middle lord named Yusuf Khan. A majority of the Rawthars are organized converts from the Maravar and Kallar communities. Yusuf Khan was a person who remained devoted to Madurai Meenakshi even after converting from the Vellapillai community and becoming a Muslim. In 1764 he was assassinated by the British with the help of the Nawab of Arcad. About thirty thousand scattered horsemen finally arrived near Haiderali, who was the Faujdar of Dindigul. That is how they became members of Hyderali's army.