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Konkani Muslims (orKokani Muslims) are anethnoreligious subgroup of theKonkani people of theKonkani region along the westcoast of India, who practiceIslam.[1][page needed]Nawayath and "Nakhuda" Muslims from theNorth Canara district ofKarnataka have similar origin as Konkani Muslims, but show a distinct ethnolinguistic identity due to geographical isolation of theCanara coast from the Konkan coast.[2]
The Konkani Muslim community forms a part of the larger Konkani-speaking demographic and are predominantly located in theKonkan division of the Indian state ofMaharashtra.[3] This includes the administrative districts ofMumbai,Mumbai Suburban,Palghar,Thane,Raigad,Ratnagiri, andSindhudurg.
There is a Konkani Muslim community diaspora is based in thePersian Gulf states,[4][5] theUnited Kingdom,[6][7] andSouth Africa.[8][9] Some Konkani Muslims migrated toPakistan after thepartition of India in 1947, and are presently settled inKarachi,[10] as part of the largerMuhajir community.
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 fromHadhramaut (inYemen orSouth Arabia), some who fled fromKufa in the Euphrates valley, about the year 700, the North of Indian (Haryana/Punjab) as well as various regions ofArabia and broaderMiddle 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) andDabhol 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 (presentMumbai) began developing.
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 (inYemen orSouth Arabia),[14] Iran and other parts ofArabia and theMiddle East.[15]
Konkani Muslims follow theShafi’i Islamicjurisprudence This is in contrast to the Deccan regions, where Muslims adhere to theHanafi school.[16][17]
Konkanis speak a variety of dialects ofKonkani collectively calledKonkan Marathi.[16]
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]
Media related toKonkani Muslims at Wikimedia Commons