According to some scholars, the Mappilas are the oldest settled Muslim community in South Asia.[144][143] The monopoly of overseas spice trade from Malabar Coast was safe with the West Asian shipping magnates of Kerala ports.[145] The Muslims were a major financial power to be reckoned within the kingdoms of Kerala and had great political influence in the Hindu royal courts.[146][145] The Koyilandy Jumu'ah Mosque contains an Old Malayalam inscription written in a mixture of Vatteluttu and Grantha scripts which dates back to 10th century CE.[147] It is a rare surviving document recording patronage by a Kerala king to the Muslims of Kerala.[147] A 13th century granite inscription, written in a mixture of Old Malayalam and Arabic, at Muchundi Mosque in Kozhikode mentions a donation by the king to the mosque.[148] Travellers have recorded the considerably huge presence of Muslim merchants and settlements of sojourning traders in most of the ports of Kerala.