Kerala has a 2,000-year-old association with Arabia. In Malayalam, Thangal is an honorific Muslim title that is almost equivalent to Sayyid and is given to males whom are 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.