Irinaequalliat at 19:35, 23 April 2026

2026-04-23T19:35:02Z

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{{Short description|Muslims of Konkan region}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{For|Konkani Muslims who settled in Pakistan|Muhajir people (disambiguation){{!}}Muhajir}}
[[File:Mahommedans of the Konkan (9735080175).jpg|thumb|''Mahommedans of the Konakan'' (1855-1862)]]

'''Konkani Muslims''' (or ''Kokani'' Muslims) are an [[ethnoreligious]] subgroup of the [[Konkani people]] of the [[Konkan]]i region along the west [[coast of India]], who practice [[Islam in India|Islam]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Bombay Islam: the religious economy of the West Indian Ocean, 1840–1915 |first=Nile |last=Green |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011|isbn=9780521769242}}</ref>{{pn|date=October 2023}} ''[[Nawayath]]'' and "[[Nakhuda]]" Muslims from the [[North Canara]] district of [[Karnataka]] have similar origin as Konkani Muslims, but show a distinct ethnolinguistic identity due to geographical isolation of the [[Canara]] coast from the Konkan coast.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://twocircles.net/2017jun24/411956.html|title = Connecting Konkan with Arabia via Iran: The history of Nawayathi, the language of Bhatkali Muslims|date = 24 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721162130/http://twocircles.net/2017jun24/411956.html|archive-date=21 July 2017|publisher=[[Two Circles]]}}</ref>

== 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]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=The People Of Bombay 1850-1914 (An approach paper) |first=Cynthia |last1=Deshmukh |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=40 |year=1979 |pages=836–840 |jstor=44142034}}</ref> This includes the administrative districts of [[Mumbai]], [[Mumbai Suburban]], [[Palghar district|Palghar]], [[Thane district|Thane]], [[Raigad district|Raigad]], [[Ratnagiri district|Ratnagiri]], and [[Sindhudurg district|Sindhudurg]].

There is a Konkani Muslim community diaspora is based in the [[Persian Gulf]] states,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kokancouncil.org/category/kokani-oraganizations/ |title=Kokani Organisations |access-date=16 July 2017 |archive-date=11 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311021341/http://kokancouncil.org/category/kokani-oraganizations/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Impact of migration to the middle east on Ratnagiri |first1=Sudha |last1=Gogate |editor1-first=M. S. A. |editor1-last=Rao |editor2-first=Chandrashekar |editor2-last=Bhat |editor3-first=Laxmi Narayan |editor3-last=Kadekar |encyclopedia=A Reader in Urban Sociology |publisher=Orient Longman |location=New Delhi |year=1991 |pages=371–388 |isbn=978-0-8631-1151-8}}</ref> the [[United Kingdom]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kokniluton.co.uk/history.htm |title=Kokni Community Luton |access-date=16 July 2017 |archive-date=6 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006154604/http://www.kokniluton.co.uk/history.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kmab.org.uk/About.php |title=Kokni Muslim Association Birmingham |access-date=16 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703105629/http://kmab.org.uk/About.php |archive-date=3 July 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[South Africa]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.kokannews.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2011-Vol-3-No-1-Kokan-News.pdf#page=22 |title=Kokanis in Cape Town, South Africa |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=22–24 |first=Nujmoonnisa |last=Parker |work=Kokan News |access-date=16 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504174250/http://www.kokannews.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2011-Vol-3-No-1-Kokan-News.pdf#page=22 |archive-date=4 May 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Islam for the Indentured Indian: A Muslim Missionary in Colonial South Africa |first=Nile |last=Green |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |volume=71 |issue=3 |year=2008 |pages=529–553 |jstor=40378804 |doi=10.1017/s0041977x08000876|doi-access=free}}</ref> Some Konkani Muslims migrated to [[Pakistan]] after the [[partition of India]] in 1947, and are presently settled in [[Karachi]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tungekar.com/karachikokaniz.html |title=Kokani Muslim Jamat Societies, Karachi |access-date=16 July 2017 |archive-date=10 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710185235/http://www.tungekar.com/karachikokaniz.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> as part of the larger [[Muhajir (Urdu-speaking people)|Muhajir]] community.

== History ==
{{Unreferenced Section|date=April 2026}}
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 from [[Hadhramaut]] (in [[Yemen]] or [[South Arabia]]), some who fled from [[Kufa]] in the Euphrates valley, about the year 700, the North of Indian (Haryana/Punjab) as well as various regions of [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] and broader [[Middle East]]. Others arrived 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]]) and [[Dabhol]] 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 [[Muhammad in Islam|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 (present [[Mumbai]]) began developing.

== Demography ==
Ancestry formed the basis for social stratification: Konkani people are direct descendants of Arab traders who 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<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/Thane/Religion.html |title=Thane District Gazetteer, Government of Maharashtra |access-date=17 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://raigad.gov.in/DG/1964/people_muslims.html |title=Colaba District Gazetteer, Government of Maharashtra |access-date=17 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ratnagiri.nic.in/gazetter/gom/people_muslims.html |title=Ratnagiri District Gazetteer, Government of Maharashtra |access-date=17 July 2017}}</ref> are descendants of people who migrated from the Delhi region, [[Hadhramaut]] (in [[Yemen]] or [[South Arabia]]),<ref name="Khalidi1996">{{cite book |last=Khalidi |first=Omar |author-link=Omar Khalidi |title=Mediaeval Deccan History |publisher=Popular Prakashan |year=1996 |isbn=978-8-1715-4579-7 |editor1=Kulkarni |location=[[Mumbai|Bombay]] |chapter=The Arabs of Hadramawt in Hyderabad |editor2=Naeem |editor3=De Souza |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O_WNqSH4ByQC&pg=PA52}}</ref> Iran and other parts of [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] and the [[Middle East]].<ref name="Wink1991">{{Cite book |last=Wink |first=André |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC |title=Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World |year=1991 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-9-0040-9249-5 |page=68 |language=en}}</ref>

== Religion ==
Konkani Muslims follow the [[Shafi’i]] Islamic [[Fiqh|jurisprudence]]. This is in contrast to the Deccan regions, where Muslims adhere to the [[Hanafi]] school.<ref name="jnu_phd">{{cite thesis |type=Ph.D. |first=Md. Jalis Akhtar |last=Nasiri |year=2010 |title=Indian Muslims: Their Customs and Traditions during Last Fifty Years |publisher=Jawaharlal Nehru University |location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter=Margins or Center? Konkani Sufis, India and "Arabastan" |first=Deepra |last=Dandekar |pages=141–156 |title=Area Studies at the Crossroads: Knowledge Production after the Mobility Turn |editor1-first=Katja |editor1-last=Mielke |editor2-first=Anna-Katharina |editor2-last=Hornidge |year=2017 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan}}</ref>

== Language ==
Konkanis speak a variety of dialects of [[Konkani language|Konkani]] collectively called [[Maharashtrian Konkani|Konkan Marathi]].<ref name="jnu_phd"/>

==Cuisine ==
The cuisine of Konkani Muslims is meat and seafood. Its staple food is rice and [[Rice bread|bread made of rice]] (preferred at dinners) with meat/fish and [[Lentil|lentils]] or vegetables. It is mainly influenced by Kashmiri people who settled in the late 1800s, fleeing tensions in the North of India.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-food-konkani-muslim-pop-up-seafood-coconut-weekend/17983168 |title=Mumbai Food: Konkani-Muslim pop-up celebrates all things seafood and coconut |website=www.mid-day.com |publisher=[[Mid-Day]] |date=2017-02-10 |access-date=17 July 2017|archive-date=8 March 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250308015815/http://www.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-food-konkani-muslim-pop-up-seafood-coconut-weekend/17983168}}</ref>

== Notable Konkani Muslims ==

* [[Rafiq Zakaria]] - Indian politician, ex-Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha & Cabinet Minister in Maharashtra State
* [[Abdul Rehman Antulay]] - Indian politician, ex-Chief Minister of Maharashtra<ref name=Sketch>[http://164.100.24.209/newls/Biography.aspx?mpsno=3236 A. R. Antulay - Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005012429/http://164.100.24.209/newls/Biography.aspx?mpsno=3236 |date=5 October 2008 }}</ref>
* [[Hamid Dalwai]] - writer and social reformer<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/1957/ |title=Remembering Hamid Dalwai, and an age of questioning |first=Dilip |last=Chitre |author-link=Dilip Chitre |date=2002-05-03 |work=Indian Express |access-date=17 July 2017}}</ref>
* [[Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar]], Indian crime boss and terrorist
* [[Zakir Naik]] - Islamic comparative theologian
* [[Fareed Zakaria]] - journalist

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commonscatinline}}
* [http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/melting-pot-konkani-muslims-in-kalyan-hold-on-to-their-legacy-amid-urbanisation-2946901/ Melting pot: Konkani Muslims in Kalyan hold on to their legacy amid urbanisation]
* {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWrzioNujQg |title=Konkan traditional weeding song, kokani Muslim Shaadi geet, kogona geet |date=2018-11-10 |last=Kokni Tradition |access-date=2025-11-14 |via=YouTube}}

{{Ethnic and social groups of Goa and the Konkan}}
{{Indian Muslim}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Konkani Muslims| ]]
[[Category:Konkani|Muslims]]
[[Category:Social groups of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Karnataka]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Karnataka]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora in South Africa]]
[[Category:Arab diaspora in India]]
[[Category:Sub-ethnic groups]]
[[Category:Sunni Muslim ethnoreligious groups]]
[[Category:Ethnoreligious groups in India]]
[[Category:Hadhrami diaspora]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Arabs in Pakistan]]

Konkani Muslims - Revision history

Irinaequalliat at 19:35, 23 April 2026