Presence of Muslims and Christians in the two regions has a historical background



Though some Christians and Muslims have been there in Kerala since several centuries, large-scale conversion to Christianity and Islam has happened in relatively recent period. Large numbers were forcibly converted to Islam by Tipu Sultan, when he invaded and conquered the region in the late eighteenth century. Conversion of South Kerala to Christianity happened even later, in the course of the nineteenth century when Travancore and Cochin States came under British control and benignly allowed the spread of English education and Christianity in their domains.



But both Christianity and Islam have expanded considerably during the twentieth century. The rise in their share of the population in southern and northern regions during this period has been much more precipitous than what is indicated by the rise in their aggregate shares in the whole of Kerala, as we see below.



Growth of Christianity and Islam in South Kerala



Christians form 28 percent of the population of South Kerala

In 1901, about a quarter of the population of South Kerala was Christian; their share reached near 32 percent in 1941. After 1941, the share of Christians in this region began to decline and has fallen to 28.2 percent in 2011.



The rise in their share is mitigated by their migration to North



Initially, this decline in the share of Christians was partly due to the migration of Christians, especially Syrian Christians, from South Kerala to the hill areas of North Kerala to set up farms and plantations in the forests there. This migration began from around 1931, but became significantly large after 1941, leading to a considerable decline in the share of Christians during 1941-51. Their share in North Kerala in this period registered a corresponding rise, as seen in the Table below; and, their share in the whole of Kerala kept rising up to 1961.



Muslims have also gained by 7 percentage points



The decline of Christians in South Kerala is to be attributed partly to the higher growth of Muslims. The rise of in the share of Muslims in 1941-51 was probably because of the out-migration of Christians. But the consistently high rise after 1961 is related, in large part, to their relatively higher growth. From 1961 onwards, the share of Christians begins declining both in South and North Kerala, and that of Muslims begins rising in both. In South Kerala, the share of Muslims has grown from less than 7 percent in 1901 to 13.3 percent in 2011; it was only 9.5 percent in 1951.



Indian Religionists suffer a loss of 10 percentage points in their share



The share of Indian Religionists in South Kerala has declined by more than 10 percentage points in this period, from 68.7 percent in 1901 to 58.5 percent in 2011.



Growth of Christianity and Islam in North Kerala

Muslims have gained by 12 percentage points



In North Kerala, there were few Christians in 1901. Muslims at that time formed nearly 30 percent of the population. Since then, their share has been growing consistently from decade to decade, excepting a slight decline in 1941-51, but the rise has been precipitously sharp after Independence and Partition. Muslims now form 43.5 percent of the population of North Kerala; there has been an accretion of nearly 14 percentage points to their share since 1901. Of this, 12 percentage points have been added after 1951.



Christians have added 4.7 percentage points to their share



Christians had a share of somewhat above 1 percent in 1901; and remained at less than 1.5 percent up to 1941. After 1941, their share began rising and it reached up to 6.4 percent in 1981; this was because of the migration of Christians from South Kerala as we have mentioned above; the share of Christians in South Kerala began to decline from then onwards. After 1981, the share of Christians in North Kerala also began declining; now it has come down to 5.8 percent from its peak of 6.4 percent in 1981.



And Indian Religionists have lost by more than 18 percentage points



In the course of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first, the share of Christians in North Kerala has risen by 4.7 and that of Muslims by 13.8 percentage points. Indian Religionists have correspondingly lost 18.4 percentage points from their share in the population of North Kerala. For the mainstream religious community of a region to suffer such a loss in a little more than a century is indeed an alarming historical occurrence. It is worth remarking that more than three-quarters of this loss in the share of Indian Religionists has happened in the period following Independence.



Regions of the highest Muslim Concentration



Malappuram is the heartland of Muslims



As seen in the Map of the share of Muslims and Christians in Kerala below, Malappuram in North Kerala forms the heartland of Muslims. Of 88.9 lakh Muslims in Kerala, 28.9 lakh are in Malappuram. They form 70 percent of the population of this district, and are in a majority in each of its six sub-districts.



Malappuram was carved out as a separate district in 1969 from Kozhikode and Palakkad and taking some parts of Thrissur. Fortunately, the Census of 1971 gave the religious breakup of the population of the new districts from 1911-1961. From that data, it seems that the growth in the proportion of Muslims in this district has been spectacular after Independence, and particularly after 1961. In 1951, they had a share of 54.3 percent, which was only 2 percentage points above their share of 52.3 percent in 1911. In 2011, the share of Muslims in this district is 70.2 percent, marking an accretion of 16 percentage points in the six decades since Independence.