Arwi

Letters unique to Arwi.

Arwi (لسان الأروي Lisān-ul-Arwī ; அரபு-தமிழ் Arabu-Tamil ; Arabic-Tamil) is an Arabic-influenced Tamil dialect that was used extensively by the Muslim minority of Tamil Nadu state of India and Sri Lanka. As a spoken language it is extinct. The Arwi alphabet utilises the Arabic alphabet together with the addition of 13 letters unique to Arwi.

Arwi is an outcome of the cultural synthesis between Arabs and Tamil speaking Muslims of Tamil Nadu. It is generally believed that most Muslims in Tamil Nadu and the Sri Lankan Moors are the descendents of Arabs who settled in the southern part of India and Sri Lanka as these places had extensive links with Arab traders. Arwi can be considered the Dravidian equivalent of Urdu and has a rich body of work which unfortuntately has not been preserved for posterity as Arwi as a language is virtually extinct, except for the fact that a few madrasas still teach the basics of the language as part of their curriculae.

There are historical records of the prevalence of Arwi in far Eastern countries, such as Indonesia and Thailand, up until the 1970s. Even today, there are Arwi schools functioning in Malaysia, Myanmar and Pakistan.

The strength of Arwi as a language is exemplified by the literature that has been produced in, for example, jurisprudence, belief, sufism, law, medicine, and sexology. Many authentic hadith kithabs (Arwi for books) have also been found. Most of the Fiqh books, particularly those of Imaam Shaafi and Imaam Abu Hanifa have also been found in Arabu-Tamil. There was even a translation of the Bible into Arwi in 1926. The Arwi language contributed immensely to the education and progression of Muslim women in South India and Sri Lanka. The majority of Sri Lankan Muslims are Moors and most Sri Lankan madrasas imparted knowledge in Arabu-Tamil. The Arwi educated women were active participants in the social fabric of society playing vital roles in education, medicine and even politics. The decline of Arwi in the latter half of the 20th century has seen a steady decline of the education of Muslim women in that region.

Large proportions of Arwi works were lost in two periods of time:

16th century – The arrival of the Portuguese. This is the most tragic period in the history Arwi language. Amongst other atrocities, their destruction of Arwi literature meant that an entire corpus of knowledge was lost.

20th century – The arrival of the mainstream printing press. Using the Arabic script meant that Arwi could not jump onto print easily. A slow but sure demise of Arwi began. Presently, there are invaluable manuscripts being eaten away by termites in homes, private, public and institutional libraries. Efforts are underway to halt the decline and revive the language.

Arwi still has a place among the more traditional Indian-Tamil Muslim and Sri Lanka Moor families, where a lot of Arabu Tamil or Arwi words are still used. Some of the words that constitute daily conversations among Muslims which belong to the class of Arabu Tamil are: Museebah,Mowth,janazah,balaah, Raahat, Shifaa, Khair, Wallahi, Ta'lim, Kithaab, Shaitaan, Sharbath, Sahan, Dafs, Baith, Bayaah, shirk, Tayyib and Ikhlaas.

References

• Shu’ayb, Tayka. Arabic, Arwi and Persian in Sarandib and Tamil Nadu. Madras: Imāmul 'Arūs Trust, 1993.
• Tschacher, Torsten. Arwi (Arabic-Tamil) — A Brief Report . newKOLAM, 5&6, 2000.

External Links

'Arusi branch of the Qadiri path