Byari
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (1,500,000+) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Tulunadu, Dakshina Kannada, Chikmagalur district, Kodagu, Shimoga district, Hassan district, Uttara Kannada, Mumbai, Goa, Persian Gulf States | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Nawayath, Mappilas, Labbay |
The Beary (also known as Byari) is a community concentrated mostly along the southwest coast of India, in coastal Dakshina Kannada, a district in the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is an ethnic society, having its own unique traditions and distinct cultural identity. The Beary community holds an important place among the other coastal Muslim communities, like Nawayath's of the Uttara Kannada district, Mappilas (Moplahs) of the Malabar coast and Labbay of the Coromandel coast.
Bearys incorporate the local Tulu culture of Dakshina Kannada and diverse traditions of the Moplahs of the Malabar coast.
The Beary community of Dakshina Kannada or Tulunadu is one among the earliest Muslim inhabitants of India, with a clear history of more than 1350 years. One mosque was built in the Bunder area of Mangalore by Habeeb Bin Malik, an Arab Da'ee, in 644 A.D.
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.
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