Konkan

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A typical view of the Konkan, consisting of white-sand beaches and palm trees (mostly coconut and betel nut).
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A typical view of the Konkan, consisting of white-sand beaches and palm trees (mostly coconut and betel nut).

The Konkan, also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali is the name given to a stretch of rugged and beautiful section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore. It includes Mumbai Region and Thane District. The sapta-Konkan is a slightly larger region described in the Skanda-purana.

Konkan is also one of six divisions of the state of Maharashtra.

Residents of Konkan and their descendants are called Konkanis. The name may also refer specifically to the Konkani people, an ethnic group of the region; most of them speak the Konkani language, which is from the Indo-European family of languages.

The Sanskrit term Konkanastha (कोंकणस्थ), meaning "Resident of Konkan", is used to refer to the Chitpavan, a Brahmin caste of the region.

Rural Konkan
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Rural Konkan

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

The precise definition of Konkan varies, but most include Maharashtra's districts of Raigad, Thane, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, the state of Goa, and the Kanara districts (North and South) of Karnataka. The city of Mumbai is geographically a part of the Konkan.

The sapta-Konkan as depicted in Skanda-purana stretches from southern Gujarat in the north to Kerala in the north. This is actually logical since there are a lot of similarities in the food-habits (rice and fish), crops cultivated (rice, mangoes, cashews and jackfruit) and the physique (tall and well-built) of people dwelling in this area.

[edit] The Konkan division

Map of the districts comprising the Konkan division of Maharashtra.
Map of the districts comprising the Konkan division of Maharashtra.

The Konkan division of Maharashtra comprises the entire coastal region of the state, including Mumbai.

[edit] History of administrative districts in Konkan Division

There have been changes in the names of Districts and has seen also the addition of newer districts after India gained Independence in 1947 and also after the state of Maharashtra was formed.

  • Notable events include the creation of the Sindhudurg from the southern areas of the Ratnagiri district.
  • Second event include the renaming of the erstwhile Kolaba district as Raigad, district.
  • The Thane district is under proposal to be divided and a separate Jhawar (Tribal) district be carved out of existing Thane district

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

     Geography of South Asia     
Himalaya | Western Ghats | Eastern Ghats | Aravalli Range | The Nilgiris | Vindhya Range | Satpura Range | Garo Hills | Shivalik Hills | Khasi Hills | Annamalai Hills | Cardamom Hills | Sulaiman Mountains | Karakoram | Hindu Kush | Chittagong Hill Tracts | Deccan Plateau | Thar Desert | Makran | Chota Nagpur | Naga Hills | Mysore Plateau | Ladakh Plateau
Indo-Gangetic plain | Indus River Delta | Ganga basin | Ganges Delta | Atolls of Maldives | Coromandel Coast | Konkan | Lakshadweep | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Sundarbans | Rann of Kutch
Main India | Pakistan | Nepal | Bhutan | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh | The Maldives | Portal:Himalaya region

[[Category:Konkani


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