Kerala Muslims or Malayali Muslims from north Kerala are generally referred to as Mappilas. Mappilas are but one among the many communities that forms the Muslim population of Kerala. As per some studies, the term "Mappila" denotes not a single community but a variety of Malayali Muslims from Kerala (former Malabar District) of different origins. Native Muslims of Kerala were known as Mouros da Terra, or Mouros Malabares in medieval period. Settled foreign Muslims of Kerala were known as Mouros da Arabia/Mouros de Meca.Very much like other parts of South Asia, the caste system does exist among the Muslims of Kerala. A number of different communities, some of them having distant ethnic roots, exist as status groups in Kerala