Konkani Muslims

Konkani Muslims (or Kokani Muslims) are an ethnoreligious subgroup of the Konkani people of the Konkan region along the west coast of India, who practice Islam.[1][2] Nawayath Muslims from the North Canara district of Karnataka have similar origin as Konkani Muslims, but show a distinct ethnolinguistic identity due to geographical isolation of the Canara coast from the Konkan coast.[3]

For Konkani Muslims who settled in Pakistan, see Muhajir.

Geography

The Konkani Muslim community forms a part of the larger Konkani speaking demographic and are predominantly located in the Konkan division of the Indian state of Maharashtra.[4] This includes the administrative districts of Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.

There is a diaspora Konkani Muslim community based in Persian Gulf states,[5][6] United Kingdom[7][8] and South Africa.[9][10] Some Konkani Muslims migrated to Pakistan during the Partition of India in 1947 and are presently settled in Karachi[11] as part of the larger Muhajir community.

History

Since antiquity, the Konkan coast has had mercantile relations with major ports on the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. Konkani Muslims can trace their ancestry to Arab Muslim traders who visited the Konkan coast between seventh and eighth centuries AD, during the rule of the Chalukya and Rashtrakuta dynasties.[12] Some Konkani Muslim settlements between thirteenth and eighteenth centuries at the former ports of Dabhol and Chaul have been documented by chroniclers such as Ibn Battuta and Firishta.[13] In the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Konkani Muslims became influential sailors, merchants and government employees as the port city of Bombay (present Mumbai) began developing.[14]

Demography

Ancestry formed the basis for social stratification: direct descendants of Arab traders formed an elite class over those who had indirect descent through intermarriages with local converts to Islam.[15][16][17]

Religion

Konkani Muslims follow the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. This is in contrast to the rest of North India and Deccan regions whose Sunni Muslims adhere to the Hanafi school.[18][19]

Language

Konkani Muslims speak a variety of dialects of Marathi collectively called Maharashtrian Konkani.[18] Some of the dialects include Parabhi, Kunbi, Karadhi, Sangameshwari and Bankoti. These form a gradual linguistic continuum between standard Marathi in regions around Mumbai and Konkani language in regions around Goa.

In addition, the Muslims from south Sindhudurg, near Malvan, and the former princely state of Sawantwadi speak the Malvani Konkani dialect of the Konkani language.

Cuisine

The cuisine of Konkani Muslims is non-vegetarian, mostly seafood. Its staple food is rice and bread made of rice (preferred at dinners) with fish and lentils or vegetables. It is mainly influenced by Maharashtrian cuisine.[20] The southern portion of Konkan region has Malvani cuisine which overlaps with Maharashtrian and Goan cuisines.

Notable Konkani Muslims

References
  1. Green, Nile (2011). Bombay Islam: the religious economy of the West Indian Ocean, 1840–1915. Cambridge University Press.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Connecting Konkan with Arabia via Iran: The history of Nawayathi, the language of Bhatkali Muslims". 24 June 2017.
  4. Deshmukh, Cynthia (1979). "The People Of Bombay 1850-1914 (An approach paper)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 40: 836–840. JSTOR 44142034.
  5. "Kokani Organisations". Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  6. Gogate, Sudha (1991). "Impact of migration to the middle east on Ratnagiri". In Rao, M. S. A.; Bhat, Chandrashekar; Kadekar, Laxmi Narayan (eds.). A Reader in Urban Sociology. New Delhi: Orient Longman. pp. 371–388. ISBN 9780863111518.
  7. "Kokni Community Luton". Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  8. "Kokni Muslim Association Birmingham". Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  9. Parker, Nujmoonnisa. "Kokanis in Cape Town, South Africa" (PDF). Kokan News. Vol. 3, no. 1. pp. 22–24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  10. Green, Nile (2008). "Islam for the Indentured Indian: A Muslim Missionary in Colonial South Africa". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 71 (3): 529–553. doi:10.1017/s0041977x08000876. JSTOR 40378804.
  11. "Kokani Muslim Jamat Societies, Karachi". Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  12. Dr Omar Khalidi. "History". www.ikonkani.com. i-konkani. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  13. Nairne, A. K.; Bandora, C. S. (1873). "Musalman Remains in the South Konkan". The Indian Antiquary, Volume 2. pp. 278–283. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  14. Dobbin, Christine E. (1972). Urban leadership in Western India: politics and communities in Bombay city, 1840-1885. p. 7. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  15. "Thane District Gazetteer, Government of Maharashtra". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  16. "Colaba District Gazetteer, Government of Maharashtra". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  17. "Ratnagiri District Gazetteer, Government of Maharashtra". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  18. Nasiri, Md. Jalis Akhtar (2010). Indian Muslims: Their Customs and Traditions during Last Fifty Years (Ph.D.). New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University.
  19. Dandekar, Deepra (2017). "Margins or Center? Konkani Sufis, India and "Arabastan"". In Mielke, Katja; Hornidge, Anna-Katharina (eds.). Area Studies at the Crossroads: Knowledge Production after the Mobility Turn. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 141–156.
  20. "Mumbai Food: Konkani-Muslim pop-up celebrates all things seafood and coconut". www.mid-day.com. Mid-Day. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  21. A. R. Antulay - Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website. Archived 5 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  22. "Founder - Hamid Dalwai". Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal.
  23. Chitre, Dilip (3 May 2002). "Remembering Hamid Dalwai, and an age of questioning". Indian Express. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  24. "Shafi Inamdar (1945–1996)". IMDb - Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  25. "Mukri (1922–2000)". IMDb - Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  26. "10 things to know about Dawood Ibrahim". Hindustan Times. 5 May 2015. Archived from the original on 6 May 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2017.

25 Gazetteer of the Bombay. Presidency. Vol. X: Ratnagiri. and Savantwadi https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/handle/10973/19585?show=full

  • 26 Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency. Vol. XVIII. Part. I: Poona

https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/handle/10973/45500

  • 27 Gazetteers Kolaba District

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.7503/page/n1/mode/2up

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