Explores the interaction between Europeans and the Mappilas, the Muslims of Malabar in South India, and the influence of the contact on the literature, whether Arabic history, Malayan Text, Portuguese narrative or English fiction. Role of the Mappilas in the Indian enterprises before the arrival of Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama in 1498; Contentious elements of European-Mappila relations; Causes of the tension for European traders in Malabar.