Arabi-Malayalam Script, Manuscripts and Literature: Preservation and Digitization of Malabar’s Cultural Heritage

Authors

  • Salmanul Faris T P Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi, India

Keywords:

Linguistic & Communication Informatics, Cultural & Heritage InformaticsArabi-Malayalam, Digitization, OCR, Malabar, Unicode

Abstract

Arabi-Malayalam, an adaptation of the Arabic script for Malayalam, represents a vital yet understudied element of Malabar’s cultural and intellectual heritage. Despite its rich literary tradition, scholarly attention remains limited. This study traces its historical evolution, examining its linguistic and literary roles across manuscript and print cultures, and its decline within broader socio-linguistic shifts. It also reviews contemporary preservation and digitisation efforts, including initiatives like the Mappila Heritage Library, while critiquing image-based digitisation for its lack of searchable text. Emphasis is placed on recent advances in Unicode-based standardization, including keyboard design, font development, and annotated bibliographic work, as essential for creating accessible digital resources. The study further evaluates current Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and AI-driven text recognition technologies, highlighting persistent technical challenges. It argues that overcoming these limitations is key to meaningful digital transformation and calls for focused research in OCR development and corpus creation to ensure sustainable preservation and wider accessibility.

Author Biography

  • Salmanul Faris T P, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi, India
    Salmanul Faris T.P. is a multilingual language professional with an academic background in Political Science, Arabic, and Urdu. He specializes in Malayalam translation and content development. He has served as a Senior Malayalam Translator at Reverie Language Technologies and as a Language Consultant at Crystal Hues Limited. His academic and research engagements include work with the Mappila Heritage Library (CH Chair, University of Calicut) and the Grace Educational Association, where he has contributed to research, documentation, and the development of scholarly resources. He has also served as Associate Editor of Thelitcham Monthly. As a core contributor, he played a significant role in the development of a keyboard and font system for Arabi-Malayalam. Additionally, he contributed to the compilation of the Arabi-Malayalam Bibliography, an important initiative toward the digitisation and systematic documentation of Arabi-Malayalam literature.

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Language Technology

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Published

2026-03-22

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 1 (2026): Language Technology

Section

Articles

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