The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau to the east. The hinterland east of the coast has numerous river valleys, riverine islands and the hilly slopes known as the Western Ghats; that lead up into the tablelands of the Deccan. The region has been recognised by name, since at least the time of Strabo in the third century CE. It had a thriving mercantile port with Arab tradesmen from the 10th century. The best-known islands of Konkan are Ilhas de Goa, the site of the Goa state's capital at Panjim and the Seven Islands of Bombay, on which lies Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra and the headquarters of Konkan Division.
Margao is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It stands on the banks of the Sal river and is the administrative headquarters of Salcete sub-district and South Goa district. It is Goa's second largest city by population after Vasco.
The Konkani people are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the Konkan region of the Indian subcontinent who speak various dialects of the Konkani language. Konkani is the state language of Goa and also spoken by populations in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Damaon and Kerala. Other Konkani speakers are found in Gujarat state. A large percentage of Konkani people are bilingual.
Chorão, also known as Choddnnem or Chodan, is an island along the Mandovi River near Tiswadi, Goa, India. It is the largest among other 17 islands of Goa. It is located 5 kilometres away from the state capital, the city of Panaji and 10 kilometres away from the city of Mapusa.
Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) are a Hindu Brahmin community, who are part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community that migrated to Konkan from Gaud, as per the Skanda Purana in ancient India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmins group. They primarily speak Konkani and its various dialects as their mother tongue.
The caste system in Goa consists of various Jātis or sub-castes found among Hindus belonging to the four varnas, as well as those outside of them. A variation of the traditional Hindu caste system was also retained by the Goan Catholic community.
The Daivadnya,, is a Konkani community, who claim to have descended from Vishwakarma, Hindu architect god and part of larger Vishwakarma community. They are native to the Konkan and are mainly found in the states of Goa and Damaon, Canara, coastal Maharashtra, and Kerala.
Karekar is one of the common surnames of the Daivajna community, predominantly residing in Goa, some parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra. They originally hail from Caraim, a village on Chorão island in coastal Indian state of Goa. They belong to various brahminical Gotras and use different surnames and titles and worship Gajantalakshmi Ravalanatha in the village of Mashel, in Goa as their Tutelary deity. Historically many of them were wealthy merchants who formed themselves into guilds or Shreni, and also functioned as Mahajans and Ganvkars of the Ganvkari system.
Padhye Brahmin community hails from Goa, commonly known as "Bhatt", they speak a unique dialect of Konkani known as "Bhati Bhasha".
Shett is a surname and title of the Daivajna subcaste of Konkani people, residing along the coast of the Konkan region in western India. It is also an honorific used by them in Goa, Damaon, Konkan division of Maharashtra, and Kanara subregion of Karnataka.
Roman Catholic Brahmin is a caste among the Goan, Bombay East Indian and Mangalorean Catholics who are descendants of Konkani Brahmin converts to the Latin Catholic Church, in parts of the Konkan region that were annexed into the Portuguese East Indies, with the capital (metropole) at Velha Goa, while Bombay was the largest territory (province) of Portuguese India. They retain some of the ethno-social values and customs of their ancestors, and most of them exhibit a noticeable hybrid Latino-Concanic culture. They were known as the Brahmins among the "New Christians".
A Goan temple is known as a dēvūḷ (देवूळ) or sansthān (संस्थान) in the Konkani language. These temples were once the centres of villages, cities, and all the other social, cultural and economic gatherings in Goa. These were known as grāmasansthās (ग्रामसंस्था) in Konkani.
Kulpurush is believed to be the progenitor of a clan. Kul literally could mean lineage, race, family, or clan and Purusha could mean man, soul, spirit or even chief.
Kudaldeshkar Gaud Brahmin is a Brahmin sub-caste from the western coast of India, residing in the Konkan division of Maharashtra and Goa. They also known as Kudaldeshkar Aadya Gaud Brahmin, Kudaldeshkar and sometimes Kudalkar Brahmins. They speak Marathi, Malwani dialect of Konkani.
Mangueshi is a village in Priol, Ponda, Goa, India. Mangueshi/Mangueshim are other variations for the same name.
V. N. Shirodkar or Vithal Nagesh Shirodkar was an Indian obstetrician and gynaecologist, hailing from the State of Goa.
Roman Catholic Kshatriyas are a modern Christianised caste among Goan, Bombay East Indian, Mangalorean, Kudali & Karwari Catholics. They are the patrilineal descendants of Kshatriya and Vaishya Vani converts to the Latin Church, in parts of the Konkan region that were under Portuguese Goan rule. They are known as Chardo in Goan Konkani, Charodi in Canarese Konkani & as Sandori or Vadval in Damanese and Mahraashtrian Konkani, while others also identify as Khatri in the Bombay East Indian dialect. The well known households and well to do individuals among them, have mostly been endogamous.
The Christian population of Goa is almost entirely Goan Catholics, whose ancestors converted to Christianity during the Portuguese rule in India. Christianisation followed the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510, which was followed by the Goa Inquisition from 1560 onwards. The Hindu population is mostly descended from immigrants from other states of India, who have been arriving in Goa since the last century There is a higher proportion of Christians in Velhas Conquistas than in Novas Conquistas.
The Konkani language agitations were a series of protests and demonstrations in India, concerning the uncertain future and the official status of the Konkani language. They were held by Goans in the then union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu under the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. The protests involved citizen journalism, student activism and political demonstrations.
The Goan Muslims are a minority community who follow Islam in the Indian coastal state of Goa, some are also present in the union territory of Damaon, Diu & Silvassa. They are native to Goa, unlike recent Muslim migrants from mainland India and are commonly referred to as Moir by Goans in Goan Konkani. Moir is derived from the Portuguese word Mouro. The Portuguese called them Mouros because they were in contact with the Moors, people of predominantly Muslim Maghreb country, who had conquered and colonised the Iberian peninsula for centuries.
