Andhra Muslims is a name given to the Muslims hailing from the regions of Coastal Andhra and
Rayalseema in Andhra Pradesh, India. They are economically and
educationally advanced than most of the Muslims of India as well as the
rest of Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Muslims have a different culture and
traditions and speak a distinct dialect of Urdu, hereafter
hypothetically referred to as South Dakhni for educational purposes
only.Urdu is second official language in Kadapa, Kurnool, Anantapur,
Chittoor and Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh, where Andhra Muslims
are in significant numbers. Their culture owes a lot to the local Telugu
culture and in many forms of secular practice, they hardly differ from
their Andhra Non-Muslim compatriots.
While
Hyderabad is the capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh, the indigenous
Muslim culture of the city is vastly different from the rest of the
State. Due to its position as the capital of one of the most important
Muslim dynasties in India for four centuries, Hyderabad has been a
melting pot of foreign cultures and influences. Consequently, the
imprint of Persian and Arab culture is evident on. Hyderabadi M
uslims.Their mother tongue is Urdu (also known as Dakhni ) and the old
Hyderabadi elite have Persian, Arab and Pathan roots. Apart from
Hyderabad, a sprinkling of Hyderabadi Muslims may be found in
Karimnagar, Kurnool and Vishakhapatnam
The Andhra Muslims
on the other hand have been little influenced by foreign cultures.
Barring a few of the Telungana districts, they almost universally speak a
variant of Dakhni i.e. South Dakhni as their mother tongue and can
communicate in Telugu quite well. However many can manage a smattering of standard Urdu,
largely because of the dominance of Urdu in Islamic publications in
India. In their food habits and other secular practices, they are
indistinguishable from their Non Muslim neighbours.
Religion
Almost
all of the Andhra Muslims are Sunni, and follow the Hanafi school of
Islamic Jurisprudence. Nevertheless, someShia practices like Rajab
(Imam Jafar Sadiq) Ke Kunde / Kheer Pooriyan and fire-walk during
Muharram are prevalent among an insignificant few. Machilipatanam also
known as Bandar, a town in Krihna District has the second largestShia
population in Andhra P radesh after Hyderabad, though.
Language
South
Dakhni is the language spoken by Andhra Muslims. The term South Dakhni
is not cognizant to Andhra Muslims as they simply refer to it as Urdu,
though different from standardUrdu.
South Dakhni is closely related to the more widespread and famous
Hyderabadi Urdu and are mutually intelligible. South Dakhni has some
loan words fromTelugu but its contribution to the later is quite
significant. Though they might not be pronounced the same way as in Urdu
or South Dakhni that is spoken locally, such words inTelugu were
borrowed from Urdu South Dakhni like Hyderabadi Urdu and other Dakhni
dialects is different from traditional Urdu in
many ways. The plural of a word is formed by sufixing 'an' to the word,
the letter 'n' is silent. Eg. pottian (girls), choran (thieves),
machcharan (mosquitoes), naaman (names), kitaban (books) etc. And, the
letter "Qaaf" is pronounced as "Khaa"; 'qabar' (grave) is pronounced as
'khabar' (news) and 'qadam' (foot) is pronounced as 'khadam'.
Some Telugu words in South Dakhni...
- Tippalaan meaning Hardhship; originally tippalu
- Chambu meaning mug, also often used to express Exhaustion
Some Urdu words in Telugu...
- Maaji - originally Maazi, meaning former
- Tareekhu - originally Tareekh, meaning date (Arabic origin)
- Moju - originally Mouj, meaning to have fun
- Raaji Naama - originally Raazi Naama, meaning resignation (Persian origin)
- Jamindaar - originally Zamindaar, meaning land lord
- Kalamu - originally Qalam, meaning pen (Arabic)
- Khaidi - originally Qaidi, meanining inmate (Arabic)
- Jawabu - originally Jawab, meaning answer (Arabic)
- Sawalu - originally Sawal, meaning question (Arabic)
- Tarafu - originally Taraf, meaning direction or on behalf (Arabic)
- Meku - originally Mekh, meaning nail (Persian)
- Kaazhi (Kaali) - originally Khaali, meaning empty (Arabic)
- Munasabu - originally Munsif, meaning judge (Arabic)
- Roju - originally Roz, meaning day (Persian)
Some salient features of South Dakhni...
- Kaiku - why instead of Kyon in traditional Urdu Eg. Kaiku gaya un? (Why did he go? )
- Mujhe - me instead of Mereku in Hyderabadi Urdu Eg. Mujhe malum nai. (I don't know. )
- Tujhe - you instead of Tereku in Hyderabadi Urdu Eg. Tujhe malum kya? (Do you know? )
- Un/In - he/she instead of Woh/Yeh in traditional Urdu Eg. Un kidhar gaya? (Where did he go? )
- Ku - for instead of Ko in traditional Urdu Eg. Iqbal ku khana hona kate. (Iqbal wants food. )
- Ko - Ke in traditional Urdu Eg. Iqbal ku deko aavo. (Iqbal ko deke aavo in traditional Urdu meaning Give it to Iqbal and come back here. )
- Po - on instead of Pe or Per in traditional Urdu Eg. Kitab table po hai. ( The book is on the table. )
- Si - from instead of Se in traditional Urdu Eg. Sab si alag hai un. ( He's different from everyone. )
- Nakko - an alternate (and informal) negative generally indicating "no thanks" or "do not". Can be (and is often) used in place of mat.
- Naheen, naa and mat (from traditional Urdu) are still used where nakko is inappropriate for the context or in polite situations. Eg. Khana nakko mujhe. ( I don't want food. )
- Hau or Ho - for yes, instead of "Haan".
- Potti - (slang; rather offensive) - Girl
- Potta - (slang; rather offensive) - Boy
- Khan - Man Eg. Chalao khan. ( Let's go, man.)
- Halka - Slow Eg. Zara halka chalo bawa. ( Will you walk a bit slow? )
- Kate – it is hard to describe the actual meaning as its used in various sentences under various circumstances. Eg. Kaiku kate? ( Why? ); Iqbal ku khana hona kate. (Iqbal wants food.)
History
The
spread of Islam in Andhra Pradesh has been the gradual result of
centuries of Muslim rule. Consequently there is no specific time period
from which the spread of Islam here may be dated. A useful indicator
would be the invasion of Malik Kafur in 1312. Proselytization was
carried out by individual Sufi saints and major shrines may be found in
Ksdapa and Penukonda. Major medieval forts like Kondavid Fort, Vinukonda
and Gurramkonda also have a significant resident Muslim population
that descends from their garrison. Many of them claim North Indian or
even Persian ancestry.
Population
According
to the Census of 2001, Andhra Pradesh has a population of approximately
7 million Muslims who form around a little under 9% of the State's
population. Out of this around a million and a half live in Hyderabad.
Therefore an approximate figure for Andhra Muslims would be somewhere
around 6 million. The sex ratio is around 960 females per 1000 males,
higher than the national average of 933. The literacy rate stands at
68%, again higher than the
Distribution
Andhra
Muslims are found fairly spread over the State. However their greatest
concentration is in Kurnool district where they number around 600,000
and form 17% of the district's population. Important populations are
also found in Kadapa, Nizamabad, Guntur and Anantapur. Like the Muslims
of North India, Andhra Muslims are also concentrated in the cities with
much smaller rural populations.Nizamabad town is around 36% Muslim
while Kadapa and Anantapur follow with around 30% and 25% respectively.
North Coastal Andhra has very few Muslims.
Occupational Structure
Most
Andhra Muslims like rest of Andhra population are agriculturists. Many
Andhra Muslims are also found in various crafts, some passed on for
generations. Significant number are involved in small businesses and
what is known as "Kutir Parishrama". Due to lack of higher education
among Andhra muslims their representation among executive level jobs are
limited, however many Andhra Muslims have held distinguished posts with
in state and private sector.
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