Konkani people

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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.

Konkanis
Total population
c. 2.3 million
Luso-Indians · Marathis · Saurashtrians

The Konkani people are an

Damaon and Kerala.[citation needed] Other Konkani speakers are found in Gujarat state.[citation needed
] A large percentage of Konkani people are
bilingual.[3]

Etymology

The word Koṅkaṇa (कोंकण) and, in turn Koṅkaṇi, is derived from Kuṅkaṇa (कुङ्कण) or Kuṅkaṇu (कुङ्कणु). Different authorities explain etymology of this word differently. Some include:

  • Koṇa (कोण) meaning top of the mountain.
  • Name of aboriginal mother goddess, which is sometimes sanskritised to mean goddess Renuka.
  • Some scholars believe that Koṅkaṇa (कोङ्कण) comes from koṇa (कोण) "corner" and kaṇa (कण) "land".
    Karāvaḷi (करावली; ಕರಾವಳಿ) or the whole of the Koṅkaṇa coast. It is therefore called Paraśurāma-Sṛṩṭi
    (परशुराम सृष्टि).

Thus the name Konkani, comes from the word Konkaṇ, which means the people of Konkan.[7]

Sub-ethnic groups

See also:
People of Konkan division

Endonyms

Goa: a State in India where Konkani is the official language

In general, in Konkani the masculine form used to address a Konkani speaker is Koṅkaṇo and the feminine form is Koṅkaṇe. The plural form is Konkane or Konkani. In Goa Konkano now refers only to Hindus, and Konkani Catholics do not address themselves as Konkanos as they were banned by the Portuguese from referring to themselves this way. Saraswat Brahmins of Canara refer to the Konkanis as Āmcigelo /Āmcigelī. This literally means our tongue or people speaking our tongue. Though this is not common amongst the Goans, they normally refer to Konkani as Āmgelī bhās or our language. Sometimes Āmgele can be used in the Goan context to mean people from my community. [citation needed]

Exonyms

Many of the colonial documents mention them as the Concanees, Canarians, Concanies.[8][9]

History

Prehistory

The then prehistoric region consisting of Modern Goa and some parts of Konkan adjoining Goa were inhabited by the

Homo sapiens in Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic phase i.e. 8000–6000 BC. The rock engraving in many places along the coast has proven the existence of hunter-gathers.[10]
Nothing much is known about these earliest settlers. Figures of
Shamanic religion have been found in Goa.[12]

It is believed that tribes of

anthill or Santer, was started. Anthill is called as Roen (Konkani:रोयण), this word has been derived from the Austric word Rono meaning with holes. The later Indo-Aryan and Dravidian settlers also adopted anthill worship, which was translated to Santara in Prakrit by them.[14]

The later period

The first wave of

Sarasvat tribe consisted of people of all the folds who followed the Vedic fourfold system
and not just Brahmins, as the caste system was not fully developed then, and did not play an important role.(see Gomantak prakruti ani sanskruti, Volume I).

The second wave of Indo-Aryans occurred sometime between 1700 and 1450 BC[

Harappan people a Lothal probably around 1600 BC to escape submergence of their civilisation which thrived on sea-trade.[12] The admixture of several cultures, customs, religions, dialects and beliefs, led to revolutionary change in the formation of early Konkani society.[17]

The classical period

The

Satavahana
rule, similarly a mass migration of Brahmins happened from the north, whom the kings had invited to perform Vedic sacrifices.

The advent of

Scythian
migrations, which later gave its way to the Bhoja kings. According to Vithal Raghavendra Mitragotri, many
Persian origin.[19]

The

Rashtrakutas, Shilaharas ruled the then Konkan-Goa for several years which was responsible for many changes in the society. Later The powerful Kadambas of Goa, came to power. During their rule, the society underwent radical transition. Close contact with the Arabs, Turks, introduction of Jainism, patronising Shaivism, use of Sanskrit and Kannada
, the overseas trade had an overwhelming impact on the people.

13th–19th century AD

Chitpavan community[20][21][22]

Turkic rule

In 1350 CE, Goa was conquered by the

Bijapur Sultanate, who made Goa Velha
their second capital. The Bahamanis demolished many temples, and forced the Hindus to convert to Islam. To avoid this religious persecution, several Goans families fled to the neighbourhood kingdom of Soonda.[23]

Portuguese rule of Goa

The

Christianisation of Goa and its simultaneous Lusitanisation soon followed.[24]

The

Crypto-Jews who emigrated to Goa from the Iberian Peninsula to escape the Spanish Inquisition and the Portuguese Inquisition, were the main cause behind the launch of the Goa Inquisition. Some 16,202 persons were brought to trial by the Inquisition. 57 were sentenced to death and executed in person, another 64 were burned in effigy. Of these, 105 of them were men and 16 women. The rest of those convicted were subjected to lesser punishments or penanced. Those sentenced to various punishments totalled 4,046, out of whom 3,034 were men and 1,012 were women.[25][26]

Seventy-one

autos da fe were recorded. In the first few years alone, over 4000 people were arrested.[citation needed] According to the Chronista de Tissuary (Chronicles of Tiswadi), the last auto da fe was held in Goa on 7 February 1773.[25]

The Inquisition was set as a tribunal, headed by an Inquisitor, sent to Goa from Portugal and was assisted by two more judges. These three judges were answerable only to the Portuguese Inquisition in Lisbon and handed down punishments according to the Inquisition Laws. The Laws filled 230 pages and the palace where the Inquisition was conducted was known as the Big House and the Inquisition proceedings were always conducted behind closed shutters and closed doors, to prevent outside interference while the accused was being interrogated.[26]

In 1567, the campaign of destroying temples in Bardez was completed after the majority of the local Hindus had converted to Christianity. At the end of it, 300 Hindu temples were destroyed. Laws were enacted from 4 December 1567 prohibiting the public performance of Hindu rituals such as marriages, sacred thread wearing and cremation. All persons above 15 years of age were compelled to listen to Christian preaching, failing which they were punished. In 1583, Hindu temples at Assolna and Cuncolim were also destroyed by the Portuguese after the majority of the locals had converted.[25]

One person convicted by the Goa Inquisition was a French physician-cum-spy named Charles Dellon.[27] He published a book in 1687 describing his experiences, titled Relation de l'Inquisition de Goa.[27]

The remaining few Hindus who wanted to keep their Hindu religion did so, by emigrating to the neighbouring territories that continued to be ruled by Bijapur, where these Hindus again had to pay

jizya tax.[28]

Ironically, the Inquisition was a compelling factor for the emigration of some Portuguese immigrant soldiers who, although raised Roman Catholic, wanted to lead a Hindu-style way of life with multiple native Hindu concubines. These men went on to seek their fortunes as mercenaries in the courts of different Indian kings, where their services were employed usually as gunners or cavalrymen.[29]

Impact on culture and language

Konkani language had originally been studied and Roman Konkani promoted by Catholic missionaries in Goa (e.g. Thomas Stephens) as a communication medium during the 16th century. The Maratha threat was compounded by their attacks on native Catholics and destruction of local churches during their repeated attacks on Goa in the 17th century. This led the Portuguese government to initiate a positive programme for the suppression of Konkani in Goa, in order to make native Catholic Goans identify fully with the Portuguese Empire.[30] As a result, Konkani was suppressed and rendered unprivileged in Goa by the enforcement of Portuguese.[31] Urged by the

Franciscans, the Portuguese viceroy forbade the use of Konkani on 27 June 1684 and further decreed that within three years, the local people in general would speak the Portuguese language and use it in all their contacts and contracts made in Portuguese territories. The penalties for violation would be imprisonment. The decree was confirmed by the king on 17 March 1687.[30] However, according to the Inquisitor António Amaral Coutinho's letter to the Portuguese monarch João V
in 1731, these draconian measures were unsuccessful.

The fall of the "Province of the North" (which included

Salsette) in 1739 led to the suppression of Konkani gaining new strength. On 21 November 1745, the Archbishop of Goa, Lourenço de Santa Maria e Melo (O.F.M.), decreed that fluency in Portuguese was mandatory for the Goan applicants to the priesthood, and also for all their immediate relatives (men as well as women). This language fluency would be confirmed via rigorous examinations by ordained priests. Furthermore, the Bamonns and Chardos
were required to learn Portuguese within six months, failing which they would be denied the right to marriage.

The Jesuits, who had historically been the greatest advocates of Konkani, were expelled from Goa by the Marquis of Pombal in 1761. In 1812, the Archbishop decreed that children should be prohibited from speaking Konkani in schools. In 1847, this rule was extended to seminaries. In 1869, Konkani was completely banned in schools until Portugal became a Republic in 1910.[30]

The result of this linguistic displacement was that Konkani in Goa became the língua de criados (language of the servants).[32] Hindu and Catholic elites turned to Marathi and Portuguese, respectively. Ironically, Konkani is at present the 'cement' that binds all Goans across caste, religion and class and is affectionately termed Konkani Mai (Mother Konkani).[31] Due to negative propaganda from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Marathi was made the official language of Goa following the Annexation of Goa in 1961. Konkani received official recognition only in February 1987, when the Indian government recognised Konkani as the official language of Goa.[33]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  2. ^ "Commissioner Linguistic Minorities (originally from Indian Census, 2001)". Archived from the original on 8 October 2007.
  3. ^ "Language in India". languageinindia.com. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  4. ^ Shastri Gaytonde, Gajanan (ed.). Shree Scanda Puran (Sayadri Khandha) (in Marathi). Mumbai: Shree Katyani Publication.
  5. ^ Satoskar, B. D. Gomantak Prakruti ani Sanskruti. Part 1 (in Marathi). Shubhada Publication. p. 206.
  6. ^ See https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/कोंकण or https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/कोङ्कण for etymology.
  7. ISBN 9788172016647
    .
  8. ^ Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1859). House of Commons papers, Volume 5 By Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Great Britain: HMSO, 1859.
  9. ^ Krishnat P. Padmanabha Menon; Jacobus Canter Visscher (1924). History of Kerala: a history of Kerala written in the form of notes on Visscher's letters from Malabar, Volume 1. Asian Educational Services. pp. see page 196.
  10. ISBN 9788120814646.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  11. ^ Goa (India : State). Directorate of Archives and Archaeology, Goa University (2001). Goa in the Indian sub-continent: seminar papers. Goa: Directorate of Archives and Archaeology, Govt. of Goa. pp. 211 pages (see page 24).
  12. ^ a b c d Kamat, Nandkumar. "Prehistoric Goan Shamanism". The navahind times. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  13. ISBN 9788170225041
    .
  14. ^ a b Dhume, Anant Ramkrishna (1986). The cultural history of Goa from 10000 B.C.-1352 A.D. Ramesh Anant S. Dhume. pp. 355 pages (see pages 53, 94, 83, 95).
  15. ^ Gomes, Olivinho (1987). Village Goa: a study of Goan social structure and change. S. Chand. pp. 426 pages.
  16. ISBN 9788170222637
    .
  17. ^ a b Dhume, Anant Ramkrishna (1986). The cultural history of Goa from 10000 B.C.-1352 A.D. Ramesh Anant S. Dhume. pp. 355 pages (see pages 100–185).
  18. ^ Moraes, Prof. George. "PRE-PORTUGUESE CULTURE OF GOA". Published in the Proceedings of the International Goan Convention. Published in the Proceedings of the International Goan Convention. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  19. ^ Satoskar, Ba.Da (1982). Gomantak prakruti ani sanskuti, khand II, in Marathi. Pune: Shubhda publishers. p. 106.
  20. ISBN 9788170998396
    . Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  21. ISBN 9780202369334
    . Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  22. ISBN 9780520255593
    . Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  23. ^ Karnataka State Gazetteer by Karnataka (India), K. Abhishankar, Sūryanātha Kāmat, Published by Printed by the Director of Print, Stationery and Publications at the Govt. Press, 1990, Page:251
  24. ^ Roger Crowley (2015). Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire. Faber and Faber.
  25. ^ a b c Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians, Alan Machado Prabhu, I.J.A. Publications, 1999
  26. ^ a b Salomon, H. P. and Sassoon, I. S. D., in Saraiva, Antonio Jose. The Marrano Factory. The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians, 1536–1765 (Brill, 2001), pp. 345–7.
  27. ^
    ISBN 9782906462281
    .
  28. ^ The Cambridge history of seventeenth-century music, By Tim Carter, John Butt, pg. 105
  29. ^ Dalrymple, William, White Mughals (2006), p. 14
  30. ^ a b c Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians, Alan Machado Prabhu, I.J.A. Publications, 1999, pp. 133–134
  31. ^ a b Newman, Robert S. (1999), The Struggle for a Goan Identity, in Dantas, N., The Transformation of Goa, Mapusa: Other India Press, p. 17
  32. ^ Routledge, Paul (22 July 2000), "Consuming Goa, Tourist Site as Dispensable space", Economic and Political Weekly, 35, Economic and Political Weekly, p. 264
  33. ^ Goa battles to preserve its identity – Times of India, 16 May 2010

Bibliography

  • Hindu Temples and deities by Rui Pereira Gomes
  • Bharatiya Samaj Vighatak Jati Varna Vyavastha by P.P. Shirodkar, published by Kalika Prakashan Vishwast Mandal
  • Gazetteer of the Union Territory Goa, Daman and Diu: district gazetteer by Vithal Trimbak Gune, Goa, Daman and Diu (India). Gazetteer Dept, Published by Gazetteer Dept., Govt. of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu, 1979
  • The Village Communities. A Historical and legal Perspective – Souza de, Carmo. In: Borges, Charles J. 2000: 112 and Velinkar, Joseph. Village Communities in Goa and their Evolution
  • Caste and race in India by Govind Sadashiv Ghurye
  • The cultural history of Goa from 10000 B.C.-1352 A.D. by Anant Ramkrishna Sinai Dhume

External links

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