Goans
| ||||||||||
| Regions with significant populations | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outside India | ~300,000[1] | |||||||||
| Languages | ||||||||||
|
Primarily: Konkani Additionally: English, Marathi, Portuguese, Swahili and others | ||||||||||
| Religion | ||||||||||
|
Predominantly: Christianity (Roman Catholicism) and Hinduism Minority: Islam and others | ||||||||||
Goan (Konkani: गोंयकार Goenkar) is the demonym used to describe the people of the Indian state of Goa, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and Austro-Asiatic ethnic and/or linguistic ancestries.[2][3] They speak different dialects of Konkani natively. Goan Hindus refer to themselves as Konkane (Devanagari:कोंकणे), meaning the residents of Konkan.[4] Goanese is an incorrect usage for Goans.[5]
Epigraphical evidence
A copperplate dating early 4th century AD found in Shiroda, Goa,mentions one Devaraja of the Gominas,which is a reference to the Bhoja king ruling from Chandor,who is hailed as the ruler of the Goans or Gominas.[6]
Language
Goans speak the Konkani language, a Prakrit based language belonging to the Southern group of Indo-Aryan Languages. Various dialects of Konkani spoken by the Goans include Bardeskari, Sashtikari, Pednekari, Antruj bhasha, whereas Konkani spoken by the Catholics is notably different from those of the Hindus, with a lot of Portuguese influence in its vocabulary. Konkani was suppressed under the Portuguese rule, playing a minor part in education of the past generations. They are mostly multilingual and Marathi has played a significant role for Hindus. Most Goans were educated in Portuguese in the past. There is a very small minority of descendants of the Portuguese, most of whom are of mixed descent and speak Portuguese.[7]
They use Devanagari and Latin script for education as well as communication (personal, formal and religious). In the past Goykanadi, Modi, Kannada scripts were also used which later fell into disuse owing to many social, political and religious reasons.[8][9]
Religion
Goans are a predominantly Hindu population followed by Roman Catholic population and small Muslim community.Hindus in Goa are divided into many different castes and sub-castes, known as Jatis. They use their village names to identify their clans, some of them use titles. Some are known by the occupation their ancestors have been practicing; Nayak, Borkar, Raikar, Prabhu, Kamat, Lotlikar, Chodankar, Naik, Bhat, Tari, Gaude are few examples. The Catholics display a strong Portuguese influence, because of the 451 years as a Portuguese colony. Portuguese names are common among the Christians. The Caste system is either not followed by Goan Catholics or followed to a lesser degree as compared to other Indians.[10] Very few Catholic families also share Indo-Portuguese ancestry.
The native Muslims are small in number and are popularly known as Moir (Konkani: मैर ).[10]
Geographical distribution
Goans have been migrating all along the coast and across the world for the last six centuries because of many socio-religious and economic reasons, the diaspora are commonly known as the Konkani people, residing in the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala who do not refer to themselves as Goans. Many Goans have settled in Mumbai (Bombay) in the last century and still identify themselves as Goans. India's Goan population is mainly concentrated in the mega cities like Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Pune.[11]
Until the early 1970s there were substantial populations of Goans in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Goans in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique and Angola. The end of colonial rule and the subsequent waves of explusion of Indians from Kenya and Uganda forced the community to migrate elsewhere.[11] The Gulf News put the number of Goans residing outside India as approximately 300,000.[1]
See also
- Goan Catholics
- Goan Hindus
- Caste system in Goa
- Goan cuisine
- Konkani people
- List of people from Goa
- Goan houses
References
 |
Look up Goan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Young NRIs trace their roots in Goa". Gulf News. December 8, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ↑ Pereira, José (2000). Song of Goa: mandos of yearning. Aryan Books International. pp. 234 pages. ISBN 9788173051661.
- ↑ Cabral e Sá, Mário (1997). Wind of fire: the music and musicians of Goa. Promilla & Co. pp. 373 pages(see page 62). ISBN 9788185002194.
- ↑ Kulakarṇī, Indian Council of Historical Research, A. Rā (2006). Explorations in the Deccan history Volume 9 of Monograph series. Pragati Publications in association with Indian Council of Historical Research. pp. 217 pages(see page 129). ISBN 9788173071089.
- ↑ Pinto, Cecil (2003-11-07). "Goanese & non-Goans". Goa Today magazine. Goa Publications. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
- ↑ De Souza, Teotonio R. (1990). Goa Through the Ages: An economic history, Volume 2. Concept Publishing Company. p. 8 Extra
|pages=or|at=(help). ISBN 8170222591,9788170222590 Length Check|isbn=value (help). - ↑ Sakshena, R.N. (2003). Goa: Into the Mainstream. Abhinav Publications. pp. 156 pages(page:9). ISBN 9788170170051.
- ↑ Indian archives. Volume 34. National Archives of India. National Archives of India. p. 1985.
- ↑ Kamat, Krishnanand Kamat. "The origin and development of Konkani language". www.kamat.com. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Śiroḍakara, Mandal,, Pra. Pā,H. K. ,Anthropological Survey of India. People of India: Goa Volume 21 of People of India, Kumar Suresh Singh Volume 21 of State Series, Kumar Suresh Singh. 1993: Anthropological Survey of India. pp. 283 pages. ISBN 9788171547609.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 De Souza, Teotonio R. (1989). Essays in Goan history. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 219 pages(see pages 187–190). ISBN 9788170222637.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||