| Indian literature |
|---|
| Ancient |
| Early Medieval |
| Medieval to early Modern |
Konkani literature is literature in the Konkani language, mostly produced in three scripts: Roman, Devanagari and Kannada. Konkani literature is eligible for the Sahitya Akademi Award.
While the earliest inscriptions in Konkani date from around the end of the first millennium, the first writer in the history of Konkani language known to us today is Shamaraja; who was also known as Krishnadas Shama as he was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna. He was born in the 15th century AD in the village of Quelossim in Goa. As per the date mentioned in his Shrikrishnacharitrakatha, he began writing his book on 13th of the Vaishakha month of the Hindu lunar calendar, which is 25 April 1526, according to the Gregorian calendar. He authored Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Krishnacharitrakatha in prose style. The manuscripts have not been found, although transliterations in Roman script are found in Braga in Portugal. The script used by him for his work still remains a mystery. [1]
According to the orders of the Goa Inquisition, which commenced in 1560, it was an offence to remain in possession of books in local languages. All books, whatever their subject matter, written in Konkani, Marathi, or Sanskrit, were seized by the inquisition and burnt on the suspicion that they might deal with idolatry. It is probable that valuable non-religious literature dealing with art, literature, and sciences were destroyed indiscriminately as a consequence. For instance, even before the inquisition orders, in a letter dated 24 November 1548, Fr. Joao de Albuquerque proudly reports his achievement in this direction. [2]
Vishnudas Nama who also used pen names like Vaishampayana and Parameshvaraco Sharanagat Nama, authored Bhishmaparva and Adiparva, transliterations of which are found in the public library of Braga in northern Portugal. [3] Another copy of Ramayana does not bear any author's name, although the name of a certain "Sadashiva" has been mentioned. [3]
The Jesuits established the first printing press in Asia in Goa in 1556. [4] The first known printed book in Konkani was written by an English Jesuit priest, Fr. Thomas Stephens in 1622, and entitled Doutrina Christam em Lingoa Bramana Canarim (Old Portuguese for: Christian Doctrine in the Canarese Brahman Language). The first book exclusively on Konkani grammar, Arte da Lingoa Canarim , was printed in 1640 by Father Stephens in Portuguese. [5] Similarly, a book named A Konkani Grammar, was printed in the year 1882 in Mangalore by Angelo Francesco Saverio Maffei, and describes Canara Konkani grammar. [6]
The late nineteenth century saw the emergence of Konkani as a modern literary language, particularly through the pioneering work of the Goan writers Shenoi Goembab (1877–1946) and later Ravindra Kelekar (1925–2010), who wrote some of the twentieth century's foremost Konkani literature. [7] Alongside these writers, a wave of pulp fiction began around the 1930s, with writers including Caridade Damaciano Fernandes, Reginald Fernandes, and Eliot Ely. [8] The first Konkani novel to be translated into English was the 1977 Acchev by Pundalik Naik (1952–).
Konkani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language of the Indian state of Goa. It is also spoken in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat as well as Damaon, Diu & Silvassa.
Kamat or Kamath is a surname from Goa, Maharashtra and coastal Karnataka in India. It is found among Hindus of the Goud Saraswat Brahmin, Saraswat and Rajapur Saraswat Brahmin communities following Madhva Sampradaya of either Gokarna Matha or Kashi Matha.
The Culture of Goan Catholics is a blend of Portuguese and Konkani cultures, with the former having a more dominant role because the Portuguese ruled Goa directly from 1510 to 1961.
Goan Catholic literature is diverse.
O Heraldo is a century-old English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published in Panaji, the capital of the Indian state of Goa.
Ravindra Kelekar was a noted Indian author who wrote primarily in the Konkani language, though he also wrote in Marathi and Hindi. A Gandhian activist, freedom fighter and a pioneer in the modern Konkani movement, he was a well known Konkani scholar, linguist, and creative thinker. Kelekar was a participant in the Indian freedom movement, Goa's liberation movement, and later the campaign against the merger of the newly formed Goa with Maharashtra. He played a key role in the founding of the Konkani Bhasha Mandal, which lead the literary campaign for the recognition of Konkani as a full-fledged language, and its reinstatement as the state language of Goa. He authored nearly 100 books in the Konkani language, including Amchi Bhas Konkaneech, Shalent Konkani Kityak, Bahu-bhashik Bharatant Bhashenche Samajshastra and Himalayant, and also edited Jaag magazine for more than two decades.
Vincent John Peter Saldanha was an Indian Konkani language littérateur, dramatist, novelist, short-story writer and poet. He made significant contributions to Konkani literature as a poet, dramatist, novelist, and a litterateur.
The art of printing first entered India through Goa. In a letter to St. Ignatius of Loyola, written on April 30, 1556, Father Gasper Caleza speaks of a ship carrying a printing press setting sail for Abyssinia from Portugal, with the purpose of helping missionary work in Abyssinia. Circumstances prevented this printing press from leaving India, and consequently, printing was initiated in the country.
St. Paul's College was a Jesuit school, and later college, founded circa 1542 by saint Francis Xavier, at Old Goa. It was once the main Jesuit institution in the whole of Asia. It housed the first printing press in India, having published the first books in 1556. The original building, however, was abandoned progressively after the outbreak of plague in 1578, and went into disuse as the college moved to new building known as the New College of Saint Paul. It is an ASI protected Monument of National Importance in Goa.
Konkani in the Roman script, commonly known as Roman Konkani or Romi Konknni refers to the writing of the Konkani language in the Roman script. While Konkani is written in five different scripts altogether, Roman Konkani is widely used. Roman Konkani is known to be the oldest preserved and protected literary tradition beginning from the 16th century AD.
Chandrakant Keni was an Indian Konkani language writer and journalist. He was the editor of Marathi Daily Rashtramath and Konkani Daily Sunaparant. Keni won Sahitya Academy Award for his Konkani book Ashad Pawali.
Goykānaḍī or Kandavī is a Brahmic script that was once used in the territory of Goa to write Konkani and sometimes Marathi in the Konkan coast. Similarly, it was used by the trading Saraswat and Daivajna families along with the Modi script to maintain their accounts.
Canarese Konkani are a set of dialects spoken by minority Konkani people of the Canara sub-region of Karnataka, and also in Kassergode of Kerala that was part of South Canara.
José Gerson da Cunha was a Goan physician who achieved international renown as an indologist, historian, linguist and numismatist.
The Arte da Lingoa Canarim, the grammar of the Konkani language, was composed by the 16th-century English Jesuit priest Father Thomas Stephens, thus making Konkani the first among the modern Indian languages to have its grammar codified and described. The system was expanded upon by Diogo Ribeiro and four other Jesuits and printed in Rachol in the year 1640. A second edition was then developed and introduced in 1857 by J.H. da Cunha Rivara, who possessed a great passion for Konkani. Consequently, three versions of the Arte exist:
Mariano Jose Luis de Gonzaga Saldanha was a Goan teacher based in Lisbon, Portugal. Born in Uskai (Ucassaim) village in Goa, he studied medicine and pharmacy, but went on to become a teacher of Marathi and Sanskrit at the Lyceum in Goa (1915–1929) and of Sanskrit and Konkani at Lisbon, at the University and at the Advanced School of Colonial Administration (1929–1946). In 1946-48 he was Deputy Director of the new institute of African and Oriental languages in Lisbon.
Étienne de la Croix SJ, was a French Jesuit, missionary to India and author of a life of St Peter in Marathi: Discurso sobre a vida do Apostolo Sam Pedro em que se refuta os principaes erros do gentilismo.
Krishnadas Shama was a Goan author belonging to the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community. He was born in the village of Quelossim in Goa and was the author of Krishna Charitrakatha. According to verses (ovis) 245–250 of this work, it was commenced on 25 April 1526, or Vaishakh Shukla of shake 1448 according to the Hindu calendar. The original manuscript of this work was discovered by Mariano Saldanha in the Public Library of Braga in Portugal. The work consists of 19 chapters (ovesvaru) and 3,123 verses (ovis). It is a rendering of the Tenth canto (Adhyaya) of the Bhagavata Purana and may be the first extant prose work by a Goan in the Marathi language.
Jayanti Naik is an Indian Konkani writer, folklore researcher, short story writer, dramatist, children's writer, folklorist, and translator. She was the first person to earn a doctorate from the Goa University's Department of Konkani. She is also a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award. In her career of some three decades, she has produced on average, a book a year.
Paresh Narendra Kamat is an Indian Konkani poet.