kerala has a two-thousand-year-old association with arabia. in malayalam, "thangal" is an honorific muslim title almost equivalent to the arabic term sayyid, which is given to males believed to be descendants of muhammad. the present-day thangals are supposed to be descended from sayyid families who migrated from the historic city of tarim, in the hadhramaut province, yemen, during the 17th century in order to propagate islam on the malabar coast. sayyids selected coastal areas to settle. the royal family of arakkal in kerala had thangal origins.