Konkani Muslims
Konkani Muslims (also known as Kokani Muslims}) are an ethnoreligious subgroup of the Konkani (Kokani) people primarily living in the Konkan region of western India, who practise Islam.[1] Indigenous Muslims from the districts of Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Raigad, Mumbai (Bombay) city and suburb, and Thane are generally regarded as Konkani Muslims.[2] Karwari Konkani Muslims of Bhatkal, situated at the southern border of Konkan in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka are known as Nawayaths[3]
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] Many Konkani Muslims migrated to Pakistan after the independence in 1947 and have settled in Karachi[11] as part of the 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 traders who visited the coast in the medieval era.[12] 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.[13][14][15] Many have Hindu surnames as a result of entitlement or area they belong.
Religion
Konkani Muslims follow the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic law. This is in contrast to the rest of North India and Deccan regions whose Sunni Muslims adhere to the Hanafi school.[16][17]
Language
Konkani Muslims speak a variety of dialects of Marathi collectively called Maharashtrian Konkani.[16] 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.[18] The southern portion of Konkan region has Malvani cuisine which overlaps with Maharashtrian and Goan cuisines.
Notable Konkani Muslims
- Abdul Rehman Antulay - Indian politician, ex-Chief Minister of Maharashtra[19]
- Hamid Dalwai - Writer and Social reformer[20][21]
- Husain Dalwai - Member of Parliament
- Ghulam Parkar-Former Indian Cricketer
- Shafi Inamdar - Hindi film actor[22]
- Mukri - Hindi film actor[23]
- Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar - Terrorist and crime lord; wanted by Interpol, FBI and Indian authorities[24]
- Imran Yusuf - Comedian
- Zakir Naik - Comedian.
- Rafiq Zakaria - Politician and religious scholar
- Fareed Zakaria - CNN anchor and political commentator. son of Rafiq Zakaria
- Arif Zakaria - Actor, nephew of Rafiq Zakaria
- Anjum Fakih - Actress and Model
References
- Green, Nile (2011). Bombay Islam: the religious economy of the West Indian Ocean, 1840–1915. Cambridge University Press.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- http://twocircles.net/2017jun24/411956.html
- Deshmukh, Cynthia (1979). "The People Of Bombay 1850-1914 (An approach paper)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 40: 836–840. JSTOR 44142034.
- "Kokani Organisations". Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- Gogate, Sudha (1991). Rao, M. S. A.; Bhat, Chandrashekar; Kadekar, Laxmi Narayan (eds.). "Impact of migration to the middle east on Ratnagiri". A Reader in Urban Sociology. New Delhi: Orient Longman: 371–388.
- "Kokni Community Luton". Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- "Kokni Muslim Association Birmingham". Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- Parker, Nujmoonnisa. "Kokanis in Cape Town, South Africa" (PDF). 3 (1). Kokan News. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- 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.
- "Kokani Muslim Jamat Societies, Karachi". Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- Dr Omar Khalidi. "History". www.ikonkani.com. i-konkani. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- "Thane District Gazetteer, Government of Maharashtra". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- "Colaba District Gazetteer, Government of Maharashtra". Archived from the original on 3 February 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- "Ratnagiri District Gazetteer, Government of Maharashtra". Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- Nasiri, Md. Jalis Akhtar (2010). Indian Muslims: Their Customs and Traditions during Last Fifty Years (Ph.D.). New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University.
- 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.
- "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.
- A. R. Antulay - Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website. Archived 5 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- "Founder - Hamid Dalwai". Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal.
- Chitre, Dilip (3 May 2002). "Remembering Hamid Dalwai, and an age of questioning". Indian Express. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- "Shafi Inamdar (1945–1996)". IMDb - Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- "Mukri (1922–2000)". IMDb - Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- "10 things to know about Dawood Ibrahim". Hindustan Times. 5 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