Coastal India is a geo-cultural region in theIndian subcontinent that spans the entire coastline of India.[1]
Indian total coastline is estimated to 11,098 km.[2]
Gujarat has the longest coastline with 2340 km. Second longest coastline belongs toAndra pradesh with 973 km.Tamilnadu comes third with 906 km.(Odisha has 485 km )&West Bengal has the 158 km coastline. It's the 4th longest coastline inIndia.
The linguistic diversity of Coastal India includes languages of theDravidian language family includingMalayalam,Tamil,Telugu,Tulu,Beary andKannada; languages belonging to the western zone ofIndo Iranian language families includingGujarati,Marathi,Konkani, languages belonging to the central zone of the Indo-Iranian language families includingUrdu andPersian and languages belonging to the eastern zone of Indo Iranian language family includingOdia andBengali. The region also has speakers ofSemitic languages likeArabic,Hebrew andAramaic. The common elements of the people of coastal India includescuisine that consists of agrarian and coastal products and clothing that involves long flowing drapes with bare midriff for both men and women suited for humid and warm climate.[17] Throughout coastal India women wear drapes calledsaree in various styles.[17] In the western corner of the region the drapes are called asDhoti for men.[17] andChaniya choli for women,[17] further southwards the drapes are called aslungi ormundu for men.[17] andveshti for women.[17] Towards the southernmost tip of coastal south western India the social system of inheritance was once matrilineal.[17][18][19][20][21] There are various festivals celebrated in the coastal states centered on deities.[22]
^abcBjorn Landstrom (1964) "The Quest for India",Doubleday (publisher) English Edition, Stockholm.
^abcMiller, J. Innes. (1969). The Spice Trade of The Roman Empire: 29 B.C. to A.D. 641. Oxford University Press. Special edition for Sandpiper Books. 1998.ISBN0-19-814264-1.
^abcThomas Puthiakunnel, (1973) "Jewish colonies of India paved the way for St. Thomas", The Saint Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, ed. George Menachery, Vol. II., Trichur.
^Periplus Maris Erythraei "The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea", (trans). Wilfred Schoff (1912), reprinted South Asia Books 1995ISBN81-215-0699-9
^Hodivala, S. (1920), Studies in Parsi History, Bombay
^The Dawoodi Bohras: an anthropological perspective, by Shibani Roy. Published by B.R. Publishing, 1984.
^Sargon, J(1987) 'Baghdadi Jews of India and the Sassoons' in Jewish Daily Israel Today, Perspectiv/Opinion; Tuesday 25 August
^abcBindu Malieckal (2005) Muslims, Matriliny, and A Midsummer Night's Dream: European Encounters with the Mappilas of Malabar, India; The Muslim World Volume 95 Issue 2
^abKoder S. "History of the Jews of Kerala".The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Ed. G. Menachery,1973.
^abLeslie Brown, (1956)The Indian Christians of St. Thomas. An Account of the Ancient Syrian Church of Malabar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1956, 1982 (repr.)
^abMenachery G (1973) The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, B.N.K. Press, vol. 2,ISBN81-87132-06-X, Lib. Cong. Cat. Card. No. 73-905568; B.N.K. Press
^K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, K.A (1984) [1935]. The CōĻas. Madras: University of Madras.
^Keay, John. India: A History. New Delhi: Harper Collins Publishers.ISBN0-00-255717-7.
^Hermann, Kulke; Rothermund D (2001) [2000]. A History of India. Routledge.ISBN0-415-32920-5.
^abcdefgBoulanger, Chantal; (1997) Saris: An Illustrated Guide to the Indian Art of Draping, Shakti Press International, New York.ISBN0-9661496-1-0
^Craddock, Norma. 1994. Anthills, Split Mothers, and Sacrifice: Conceptions of Female Power in the Mariyamman Tradition. Dissertation, U. of California, Berkeley.
^Trawick, Margaret. 1990a. Notes on Love in a Tamil Family. Berkeley: U. of California Press.
^Wadley, Susan, ed. 1980. The Powers of Tamil Women. Syracuse: Syracuse U. Press.
^Smith R.T. (2002) Matrifocality, in International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences (eds) Smelser & Baltes, vol 14, pp 9416.
^Dikshitar, V. R. Ramachandra, The Lalita Cult, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd. (Delhi, 1942, 2d ed. 1991, 3d ed. 1999).
