Konkani people
Encyclopedia : K : KO : KON : Konkani people
The Konkani people are an Indian ethnic group. According to some, the word derives from "kum", meaning 'Mother Earth' and "Kana", meaning 'dust' or 'atom'. The Konkani within the Indian state of Goa have been principally a farming community through most of their history, though now moving increasingly towards tourism. The Konkani people in other states are mainly a business community.
Their current centre is in Goa and are thought by some to have settled there around the 11th century CE. Outside of Goa, Konkani people are also settled along the Konkan coast with concentrated population in Mangalore, south coastal Maharashtra, north coastal Kerala and northern Karnataka.
The Konkani families are known to be large and extended. Most of the families have names like Kamath, Nayak,Bhat, Shanbhag, Puranik, Pai, Kini, Shenoy, Baliga, Acharya and Prabhu. Some of these names are derivatives of their profession or are conferred upon them by their Swami or religious head of the community. The Kamaths, Pais and the Shanbhags are known for their restaurants and hotels which are spread across the country.
Some, though not all, Konkani Hindu Brahmins are known to eat fish. These are primarily Saraswat and Gowda Saraswat Brahmins. There are also populations of Konkani Catholics, converted by the Portuguese starting from the 16th century..
Descendants of Konkan Muslims can be found in South Africa [link]. 'Navayath' a muslim community of Bhatkal of coastal Karnataka speaks Konkani. Recent immigrations have resulted in a large number of Konkanis immigrating to the United States and other Western countries. A large number of Goan Konkanis also work in the oil and service industries in the Arab Gulf States.
Some Konkani population are called Daivadyna Brahmins who stay at the Karnataka-Goa border. Surnames start with Shet, Revankar, Palankar, Vernekar, Raikar. Most of them are traditional jewellers.
Eminent Konkanis
- Dr. Zakir Naik - Islamic Scholar. International Speaker on Islam and Comparitive Religion. TV channel - Peace TV.
- Abbe Faria - Pioneer in the study of hypnotism and auto-suggestion
- Susie Coelho - Leading home style guru in the United States
- Joseph Vaz - Apostle of Ceylon
- Guru Dutt - Indian Actor and filmmaker
- George Fernandes - Indian Union leader and Defense Minister
- Dom Moraes - Celebrated Indian Poet, Writer and Journalist
- Nandan Nilekeni - CEO, Infosys, Indian technology giant
- A.M. Naik - CEO, Larsen & Toubro
- TVR Shenoy - Indian Journalist and Columnist
- Dinesh D'Souza - Conservative American Commentator and Writer
- Reita Faira - First Indian woman to win Miss World title
- Dev Benegal - Indian Filmmaker
- Shyam Benegal - Indian Filmmaker
- Remo Fernandes - Indian Pop Singer
- Victor Menezes - Banker and Vice Chairman of Citigroup
- MV Kamath - Indian Journalist, Editor and Columnist
- Professor Ashley Tellis - Indian American Policy Analyst
- Keith Vaz - British Politician and MP
External links
- [GSB Konkani User group]
- [All you want to know about GSB & Konkani, updated daily(*****)]
- [North American Konkani Youth Forum]
- [Konkani Catholics Blog - About the Catholic Konkani People and their faith (Regularly Updated)]
- [Information on the 2006 North American Konkani Convention]
- [Online Community for Konkani Catholics]
- [News on Konkani communities around the world]
- [Emphasizes news events of Konkani communities in the US]
- [The Kanara Saraswat Association - A vital social link for uniting the scattered units of the Konkani speaking Chitrapur Saraswat Community]
- [About the roots of the Konkani speaking Saraswat Brahmin community]
- [History of Mangalorean Konkani Christians]
- [A Welfare organisation of Konkani Muslim or Kokni Muslim in the Gulf]
- [Konkani Cuisines from Mangalore]
- [http://www.daivajna.org
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.