ABSTRACT
The mention o f the Moplahs in the foregoing paragraph induces me to suggest, a different derivation o f the word to that generally received. Duncan supposes it to be contracted from Mahapilla, or “ child o f Mocha,” in Arabia, from which country they originally came, as, in the language o f Malabar, Maha means Mocha, and pilla, child. ( T h o r n t o n ’ s Gazetteer, sub voce Malabar.) I am inclined to think that the name is either a corruption o f the Arabic MUjlih, (from the root fdlaha, to till the soil,) meaning prosperous or victorious,— in which sense it would apply to the successful establishments o f these foreign Mussul mans on the western coast of India ; or, that it is a similar corruption of MdfHh, (the active participial form o f the same verb,) an agriculturist, — a still more appropriate designation of the Moplahs, who, according to Buchanan, are both traders and farmers. In the latter sense, the term, though not usually so applied among the Arabs, would be iden tical with Felldh, which is also a derivative from the triliteral root fdlaha.
