Beary

The Beary (also known as Byari) are a Dravidian ethnic group concentrated along the southwest coast of India, mostly in the Mangalore district of the south Indian state of Karnataka. Beary are overwhelmingly Muslim and Islam has profoundly influenced their culture and identity alongside other Muslim ethnic groups of coastal India, such as Nawayaths of the North Canara, Moplahs of the Malabar region and the Labbay of the Coromandel. The Beary community of Tulunadu is one among the earliest Muslim inhabitants of India, with a clear history of more than 950 years. One mosque, Masjid Zeenath Baksh was built in the Bunder area of Mangalore by Malik Deenar, an Arab Da'ee, in 644 The word 'Beary' is said to be derived from the Tulu word 'Byara', which means trade or business. Since the major portion of the community was involved in business activities, particularly trading, the local Tulu speaking majority called them as Beary or Byari. According to the census of 1891, Dakshina Kannada had 92,449 businessmen consisting of 90,345 Bearys, 2,104 Nawayaths and 2,551 non-Muslims. This means that the district had 95,000 Individuals involved in business activities. Records prove that, towards the end of the 19th century, the percentage of Muslim traders in the district was as high as 97.3%, and hence the local Tuluvas rightly named this community as Bearys. Another popular theory is that the word "Beary" comes from Arabic word "Bahar" (Arabic: بحر). "Bahar" means "ocean" and "Bahri" (Arabic: بحري) means "sailor or navigator". It is said that the Beary community had trade relations with Arab businessmen travelling to Coastal South India, especially the coastline of Tulunadu Malabar. Inscriptions have been found in Barkur that proves the Arab trade links with Tulunadu. A third theory says that the word "Beary" is derived from the root word "Malabar". The great Islamic Da'ee, Malik bin Deenar had arrived on the coast of Malabar during the 7th century with a group of Da'ees, or Islamic propagators.