Konkani people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 09, 2007)
This article may contain improper references to self-published sources.
Please help improve this article by removing unreliable sources. A self-published source may only be cited as a primary source in an article about the author or source itself and not as an authority.
This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject.

WikiProject Fact and Reference Check may be able to help recruit one.
If a more appropriate WikiProject or portal exists, please adjust this template accordingly.
This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject.

WikiProject Reference Investigation may be able to help recruit one.
If a more appropriate WikiProject or portal exists, please adjust this template accordingly.
This article is about the people who speak Konkani Language. For the people of the Konkan Division of Maharashtra, see People of the Konkan Division.
Konkani people
कोंकणी लोक
Konknni Lok
ಕೊಂಕ್ಣಿ ಲೊಕ್
chaitra p nayak
Total population

7.6 million(approx)

Regions with significant populations
Primary populations in:

Populations in:

Language(s)
Konkani
Religion(s)
Hinduism, Islam, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Indo-Aryans, Marathi people

The Konkani people are a group of people who speak Konkani. The majority are Indo-Aryans while others are Dravidians and some are of Arab extraction. A small section are of African origin.[citation needed] Their mother tongue is Konkani.

The word Konkani derives from kum, meaning 'Mother Earth' and kana, meaning 'piece/part' thereby meaning a strip of land along the western Indian coast beyond the Western Ghat mountains called as Konkan. The language they speak as well as the people itself take the name from the region where it originated.

The Konkani people primarily speak Konkani although a very high percentage are bilingual. This is because Konkanis are spread out across the western coast of India,and dwell in areas where they have to interact with other people on a daily basis. They can be found in the Konkan Division, Goa, Canara and small pockets in Kerala.

Contents

[edit] Names

A person speaking the Konkani Language is called as a Konkani (कोंकणी, IAST:koṃkaṇī). Commonly used variations of the name include: Konknni(IAST:koṃkṇī), Kokni(IAST:koknī) (used among Marathi speakers and Konkani Muslims of costal Maharashtra) and Kongni (IAST:koṃgṇī)(used in Mangalorean Christian dialects).

In Konkani, the masculine form used is Konknno (Devnagri: कोकंणॉ) (IAST:koṃkṇo)(alt:Kongnno) and feminine form is Konknnem(IAST:koṃkṇe). The plural form is Konknne or Konknni. Saraswat Brahmins have an endonym of Amchigello / Amchigelli(Devnagri: आमचीगॆल्लॉ / आमचीगॆल्ली ). This literally means : "Our tongue" or "People speaking our tongue"(Saraswat Konkani)'.

[edit] Origins

The Konkanis are Indo-Aryans who first settled in the Saraswati River basin between the Indus river system and the Gangetic river system. When the river started drying, up they migrated to various places, some to Kashmir, Rajasthan etc. Some came to settle in the region known as Konkan (which at that time referred to the entire western coast of India), particularly in and around Goa.


According to religious belief, the warrior-sage Parashurama threw his axe in the sea and the sea withdrew to the point where the axe fell. This reclaimed strip of land was called Konkan. The Goud Saraswat Brahmins settled in Goa in three areas which later got their names from the number of families settled there: Tiswadi(thirty), Bardesh(twelve) and Saxtty (Sashti) (sixty six).
Image:Parshuramsaraswats.jpg
Lord Parshuram with Saraswat brahmin settlers commanding Lord Varuna to make the seas recede to make the Konkan.


Another hypothesis is that the new settlers came in contact with a tribe called as Kukna(Kokna) who may have been the original inhabitants of the region. The kokna tribe is currently found in North Maharashtra and South Gujarat. This hypothesis suggests that the newcomers adopted the konkani language from the tribals. The facts that the Konkani language is mostly derived from the Indo-aryan prakrit and the absence of the tribe in Goa today opposes this theory, yet many local religious practices and local deities of pre aryan times have undoubtedly been assimilated and aryanised. The importance of local deities and the assimilated animist beliefs in the Hinduism practised today by Goans of all castes and their diaspora along the western coast strongly this assimilation with the aboriginal people in Goa.

[edit] History

The settlers quickly prospered and became cultivators and traders. Many migrated to other areas for trade such as Ratnagiri and Salcette (the island in North Mumbai) and further south to Tuluva-desh and Kerala.

In areas such as Chaul, Kalyan, Malwan, Honnavar and Bhatkal, Arab settlements were founded comprising of sailors and traders, sometimes consisting of refugees from Arab lands. These settlers intermarried with the locals and picked up the language, mixing Islamic practices with local customs.

The community grew in relative peace till the advent of the Bahamani kingdoms. Goa changed hands between Hindu and Muslim rulers frequently; which saw the locals migrating to other areas, during wars.

The arrival of the Portuguese further complicated the scenario. After capturing Goa(and later, large portions of the western coast of India), their first action was to massacre the Muslims in Goa. They set about aggressively spreading Christianity often using coercion and caused a large number of Hindus to flee their territories. Their frequent wars with the Sultan of Bijapur on one side and the Maratha Empire on the other, combined with their repressive policies on religion caused the Goans, alternately Hindus and Christians to flee in large numbers. Hindus fled in large numbers to Canara and Malwan and interior areas such as Belgaum and Dharwad while Christians fled to Canara, particularly Mangalore.

These spread out communities grew in isolation from their homeland and from each other each developing a unique set of rituals, customs and dialects.

A tragic blow to Christian Konkanis came in the form of Tipu's crushing slavery of the Canarese Christians.This was from a fear of the Konkani Christians siding with the English their co-religionists and hence a fear of them possibly being traitorous. An estimated 60,000 - 80,000 Christians were kept in captivity at Srirangapatnam for 15 years. Those who converted were assimilated into the local population and formed soldiers in his army, while the rest were tortured or put to hard labour. Most ended up dying due to epidemics and torture. After Tipu's death only 10,000 came back to Canara without any resources left to their disposal.

[edit] Konkanis Today

The Konkani community however rebound from every setback. With the end of the British and Portuguese Empires in India the community has made significant strides. The Konkanis are well educated and mostly financially well-off.

A large section of the community works in the banking sector, given their background in trade and commerce. However the community has diversified into various professions and made a name for itself in the industrial , technical and medical fields. A high percentage of the Konkanis are now engaged in tertiary occupations as compared to other communities.

A large number migrated to Mumbai and other large cities after Independence. Today nearly half of the Konaknis can be found outside India particularly the Arab states and Anglosphere , either as naturalized citizens or expatriates.

[edit] Communities

Konkanis are a very diverse group of people. The diversity is reflected in the religion, geographical spread, origins and dialects. The Konkani people can be split into many categories based on their location, religion and/or origins . The following are the major groups among the Konkanis:

[edit] Hindus

The Gaud Saraswat Brahmins and the Marathas are the major Hindu Konkani community. Other communities include the the Chitpavan Brahmins, the Daivadnya Brahmins, the Bhandaris and other castes. Konkani Hindus are found all along the Konkan coast from Raigad to Mangalore. Some isolated pockets exist in Kerala in Cochin and Calicut. Hindu surnames are derivatives of their profession or are conferred upon them by their Swami or religious head of the community.

[edit] Kudubis

Kudubis, also known as Kulubis or Kunubis or Kunbis are a tribe from Goa who migratied to Canara during Portuguese rule. They worship Mallikarjuna whose temple is in Canacona. They were originally warriors. Now they mainly work as labourers in farms although they still hunt wildlife[1].

[edit] Marathas

The Konkanashtha Marathas are primarily located in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, Goa and Karwar in Karnataka. The Marathas of south Konkan in Sindhudurg district speak Malvani which is a dialect of Konkani, while those from Goa, known as Gomantak Marathas speak pure Konkani and those from Karnataka speak the Karwari dialect.

[edit] Gaud Saraswat Brahmins

Gaud Saraswat Brahmins are primarily found in south Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka & Kerala.There are considerable Goud Saraswat Brahmins living in Mumbai and other Indian Urban centres too.

[edit] Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins

Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins are an offshoot of the GSB community and are mainly found in Canara, the costal region of Karnataka. They have a math at Shirali, Udupi. Chitrapur saraswats often adopt the names of the towns they live in as their last name as compared to their Goan counterparts.

[edit] Daivadnya Brahmins

The Daivadnya community is a small Brahmin community scattered in Maharashtra, Goa and coastal Karnataka. Daivadnya Brahmins have their own Matha in Karki, Honnavar.

[edit] Bhandaris

The Bhandaris are the trading community, also known as Vaishyas or Wanis. They are mostly concentrated in coastal Maharashtra and Goa.

[edit] Rajapur Saraswat Brahmins

This community gets its name from Rajapur in Ratnagiri district. They are allied to Kavale Mutt in Goa.

[edit] Muslims

Konkani Muslims are found int two main groups and one which is unrelated to each other.

[edit] Konkani Muslims

There are large Konkani Muslim communities in Mumbai, Thane, and Ratnagiri. They are descendants of Arab traders and some Hindu converts. Konkani Muslims are heavily involved in the merchant navy, ship-building, and textile industries in India. They predominantly belong to the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence, unlike North Indian Muslims who generally adhere to the Hanafi school

[edit] Navayath

'Navayath' are a Muslim community of Bhatkal of coastal Karnataka. They are both descendants of Arab traders and also belong to Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence.

[edit] Janjira Siddis

The Siddis are Habashi (an Arabic term for Abbysinia or modern day Ethiopia) warriors who settled near Ratnagiri conducting mainly the slave trade. They quickly organized themselves and gained control of the surrounding territory, becoming mercenaries with soft-ties with the rulers from the hinterland. The Janjira fort in front of Murud was occupied and held by them for a long time. They are Muslims and are found around Ratnagiri and Raigadh.

[edit] Christians

Christians form a major group among Konkanis.They are primarily concentrated in Goa and Mangalore. Most can trace their ancestry to the first converted Christians from the Velhas Conquistas of Old Goa. They primarily have Lusitanian surnames although a few use their former Hindu names either in pen-names or Hyphenated-names.

[edit] Goan Catholics

The Goan Catholics were converted by the Portuguese after the conquest of Goa. They belong to diverse castes, and speak a different dialects. Goan Konkani has significantly higher Portuguese loan-words. this is also true for thee Goan Hindus. Konkani has liberally adopted Portuguese words but this seems to be thing of the past. Today Goan Catholics have all strata of the society conversing in English and in fact taking pride in the same. Goan Catholics do have the elite people who do continue speaking Portuguese. Goan Catholics have another set of people who are pursuing this language just for the love for it.

[edit] Canarite Catholics

Canarite Catholics are descendants of Goan Catholics who fled Goa during the Portuguese-Maratha Wars and the Goan Inquisition. A vey few of them are descendants of local converts to Christianity who were over the time assimilated into Konkani culture. The majority of Canarite Catholics are located around South Canara (Mangalore) and Mangalore Archdiocese and mostly refer to themselves as Mangaloreans or Mangalorean Catholics.

[edit] Others

[edit] Yellapur Siddis

These Siddis are descendants of african slaves (and african soldiers) of the Portuguese. After the abolishment of slavery, they migrate into the neighboring jungles at Yellapur and Karwar and proceeded to lead a communal existence while retaining the Christian faith and Lusitanian names imparted by the Portuguese.

[edit] Eminent Konkanis

[edit] Entertainment & Culture:

[edit] Scientists and Scholars

  • V. S. Borkar
  • Dr. Mangalore Vivekanada Bhatt - Organic Chemist

[edit] Politicians

  • Abdul Rehman Antulay - MP. Former CM, Maharashtra
  • George Fernandes - Indian Union leader and former Defence Minister
  • T. M. A. Pai - Educationist, Banker, Huminatarian, Founder of Manipal
  • Keith Vaz - British politician and Member of Parliament
  • Barristor Nath Pai- MP, Freedom fighter, Socialist labour leader
  • U. Srinivas Mallya - Indian politician and Member of Parliament
  • Benegal Narasing Rao - Member of the Constitution Committee. Wrote the Constitution of India.
  • T.A. Pai - Banker, Former CMD Syndicate Bank, Former Chairman LIC, Former MP- Minister for Heavy Industry.[1]
  • Oscar Fernandes - Union Minister for sports
  • Margaret Alva - General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee.
  • Abdul Kadir Hafizka - Former ambbassador to Saudi Arabia, Former president of Bombay Pradesh Congress Committee.
  • Siddiqa Mohammed Yahya - Former Minister of Karnataka holding various portfolios like Finance, Industries, Fisheries, Power, Education, Higher Education, Wakf etc.
  • Sumati Bhalchandra Madiman-Former Indian politician and former speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

[edit] Commerce

  • Benegal Rama Rau - First Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
  • K. V. Kamath - CEO, ICICI Bank.
  • Nandan Nilekani - CEO, Infosys, Indian technology giant
  • Victor Menezes - banker and Vice-Chairman of Citigroup
  • Vijay Mallya - Chairman, United Breweries/ Kingfisher Airlines
  • Amembal Subba Rao Pai - Founder Canara Bank
  • Iqbal Surve - CEO, Sekunjalo Investments Ltd
  • J. P. Nayak - President - Operations, Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

[edit] Journalism

  • Frank Moraes - Legend of Indian journalism and editor of Indian Express
  • Gerard Da Cunha - Indian architect.
  • Fareed Zakaria - Editor, Newsweek magazine.
  • Dom Moraes - Celebrated Indian poet, writer and journalist
  • M. V. Kamath - Indian Journalist, Editor and Columnist
  • Aftab Hussain Kola - Currently Sub-editor of Oman Times. Certified as Youngest Editor of any registered nespaper in India by Limca Book of Records
  • Walter Prakash D'souza, popularly known as Walter Nandalike- Director of Daijiworld media pvt ltd and editor in chief of www.daijiworld.com , tvdaijiworld a well known news portal.

[edit] Religious

[edit] Sports

[edit] Medicine

  • Dr. Ramadas M. Pai - Medicine, Education [2]
  • Dr. A. R. Fakih - Doctor Cancer specialist
  • Dr. Nadeem Rais - Doctor Diabetes specialist

[edit] Information Technology

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/people/kudubis/index.htm Kamat.com article on Kudubi Tribe
  2. ^ http://www.konkaniworld.com/eminents/index.asp?id=6&cat=Legends&cat1=LG

[edit] External links

pt:Concanis sh:Konkani (narod)

Retrieved from "http://india.smashits.com/wikipedia/Konkani_people"
Views
Personal tools

Toolbox