Konkani Muslims

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For Konkani Muslims who settled in Pakistan, see Muhajir.
Mahommedans of the Konakan (1855-1862)

Konkani Muslims (or Kokani Muslims) are an ethnoreligious subgroup of the Konkani people of the Konkani region along the west coast of India, who practice Islam.[1][page needed] Nawayath and "Nakhuda" 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.[2]

Geography

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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.[3] This includes the administrative districts of Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg.

There is a Konkani Muslim community diaspora is based in the Persian Gulf states,[4][5] the United Kingdom,[6][7] and South Africa.[8][9] Some Konkani Muslims migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947, and are presently settled in Karachi,[10] as part of the larger Muhajir community.

History

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Since antiquity, the Konkan coast has had maritime mercantile relations with major ports on the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. Konkani Muslims can trace their ancestry to traders from Hadhramaut (in Yemen or South Arabia), some who fled from Kufa in the Euphrates valley, about the year 700, the North of Indian (Haryana/Punjab) as well as various regions of Arabia and broader Middle East. others arriving as traders or mercenaries. By the 10th century, Ceul (Chaul), Dabhol had a significant Muslim presence with mosques and self-governance. Subsequent waves of migration were driven by upheavals like the Karmatian revolt (923–926 CE) and Mongol invasions (1258 CE). Despite (Chaul) and Dabhol prominence under the Ahmadnagar kingdom (1490–1626), Muslim rule was never firmly established in Konkan, and forced conversions were absent. Most Konkani Muslims are thus of mixed foreign descent. . According to Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, Muslims first arrived in the Konkan region in 699 CE—less than 70 years after the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 CE.

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.

Demography

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Ancestry formed the basis for social stratification: Konkani people are direct descendants of Arab traders formed an elite class over those who had indirect descent through intermarriages with local women converts to Islam. The Konkani people have a varied ethnic background as most Muslims within the region[11][12][13] are descendants of people who migrated from the Delhi region, Hadhramaut (in Yemen or South Arabia),[14] Iran and other parts of Arabia and the Middle East.[15]

Religion

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Konkani Muslims follow the Shafi’i Islamic jurisprudence This is in contrast to the Deccan regions, where Muslims adhere to the Hanafi school.[16][17]

Language

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Konkanis speak a variety of dialects of Konkani collectively called Maharashtrian Konkani.[16]

Cuisine

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The cuisine of Konkani Muslims is meat and seafood. Its staple food is rice and bread made of rice (preferred at dinners) with meat/fish and lentils or vegetables. It is mainly influenced by Kashmiri people who settled in the late 1800s fleeing tensions in the North of India.[18]

Notable Konkani Muslims

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References

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  1. ^ Green, Nile (2011). Bombay Islam: the religious economy of the West Indian Ocean, 1840–1915. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521769242.
  2. ^ "Connecting Konkan with Arabia via Iran: The history of Nawayathi, the language of Bhatkali Muslims". 24 June 2017.
  3. ^ Deshmukh, Cynthia (1979). "The People Of Bombay 1850-1914 (An approach paper)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 40: 836–840. JSTOR 44142034.
  4. ^ "Kokani Organisations". Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  5. ^ 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 978-0-8631-1151-8.
  6. ^ "Kokni Community Luton". Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Kokni Muslim Association Birmingham". Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "Kokani Muslim Jamat Societies, Karachi". Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  11. ^ "Thane District Gazetteer, Government of Maharashtra". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  12. ^ "Colaba District Gazetteer, Government of Maharashtra". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Ratnagiri District Gazetteer, Government of Maharashtra". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  14. ^ Khalidi, Omar (1996). "The Arabs of Hadramawt in Hyderabad". In Kulkarni; Naeem; De Souza (eds.). Mediaeval Deccan History. Bombay: Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-8-1715-4579-7.
  15. ^ Wink, André (1991). Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World. Brill. p. 68. ISBN 978-9-0040-9249-5.
  16. ^ a b Nasiri, Md. Jalis Akhtar (2010). Indian Muslims: Their Customs and Traditions during Last Fifty Years (Ph.D.). New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ "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.
  19. ^ A. R. Antulay - Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website. Archived 5 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ Chitre, Dilip (3 May 2002). "Remembering Hamid Dalwai, and an age of questioning". Indian Express. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
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  • Media related to Konkani Muslims at Wikimedia Commons
  • Melting pot: Konkani Muslims in Kalyan hold on to their legacy amid urbanisation