Indian Muslims who followed Shafi'i from the coastal state of Kerala � which borders Tamilnadu � were forced by Portuguese brutal attacks on their villages in the 16th century to flee into the rural interior. There they began migrating to the villages near Tirulnelveli  Tamilnadu. Many of the present-day Tirulnelveli Muslims claim to be descended from the Kerala mapillais (�grooms�), follow Malabari religious teachers and social culture.

        Kadayanallur is one of many traditional Muslim weaving villages in Tirulnelveli, a district in the state of Tamilnadu. Practically every household in Kadayanallur worked a handloom, and the occupation was passed down from generation to generation. But in the 19th century, the weaving industry in South India was twice transformed because of the industrial revolution in Britain. In the early 19th century, India�s hand-spinning industry was destroyed by the import of machine-spun yarn from Britain and the establishment of local spinning mills. With a plentiful supply of cheap yarn, however, the handloom sector flourished until about 1860, when the East India Company imposed a handloom tax to suppress competition to the British textile industry. Many of the traditional weavers (nesavali) found themselves without income and were forced to migrate to places like Penang, Singapore. By one estimate, there are about 20,000 Kadayanallur Muslims in Penang itself today.

        Today, Kadayanallur itself is transformed into a township. Still there are very little number of household that work in handloom. But most of the household depend on the income from jobs in Middle East.

        The name Kadayanallur comes from "Kadayaleeswara", the name of the presiding deity of Kadayaleeswarar kovil, a Hindu temple located in Kadayanallur.