Goan Muslims
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The Goan Muslims are a minority community who follow
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
in the Indian coastal state of
Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...
, 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
Goan Goans ( Romi Konkani: , ) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, formerly part of Portuguese India (''Estado Português da Índia''). They form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, ...
s in
Goan Konkani Konkani, (Devanagari: , Konkani in the Roman script, Romi: , Kannada script, Kannada: , Koleluttu: , Nastaliq: ; IAST: , ) formerly Concani or Concanese, is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily i ...
. ''Moir'' is derived from the Portuguese word ''Mouro''. The Portuguese called them ''Mouros'' because they (and the
Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...
) were in contact with the
Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...
, people of predominantly Muslim
Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...
country, who had conquered and colonised the Iberian peninsula for centuries.


History

Although the advent of Muslims in Goa occurred later in history,
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
geographers referred to Goa as ''Sindabur'' and believed that Goa had one of the best ports in
western India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of western states of India, Republic of India. The Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative divisions of India, Adminis ...
. In 554 AH (1159 AD), Sidi Ali Kodupon wrote the Turkish-language book ''Mohit''. In the book, Goa is referred to as ''Kuvah-Sindabur'': a combination of the names ''Kuvah'' (Goa) and ''Sindabur'' ( Chandor). The copper plate of Kadamba Jayakesi I refers to the Muslim Minister named ''Chadma''. While Kadamba ruler Gullhadeva I was sailing towards Somanath, his ship got involved in a naval accident and the mast of his ship broke. His grandson Jayakesi I gave Chadma, the privilege of levying the taxes on small and big boats. The amount collected by way of taxes was utilized for the maintenance of the mosques built in Goa at Merces). Later Muslim sultans from North India migrated to Goa by force of conquest and established their society; this was the first major influx of Muslims into Goa, which led some local Hindus to migrate elsewhere. After Malik Kafur invasion and subsequently during the rule of Sultanate, there were Muslim Officers in Goa like Malik Bahadur. After the downfall of the Goa Kadamba, some Muslims might have migrated to
Bhatkal Bhatkal is a coastal town in the Uttara Kannada District of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bhatkal lies on National Highway 66, which runs between Mumbai and Kanyakumari, and has Bhatkal railway station which is one of the major railway ...
and Honavar. The Nawayaths of Bhatkal are the descendant of Muslim community and once lived in Goa. The
Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.
took over Goa in 1312. In turn, they were forced to surrender Goa by 1370 to Harihara I of
Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () is a city located in Vijayanagara district of Karnataka state in India.Vijayanagara
. The Vijayanagara monarchs ruled Goa for the next hundred years (until 1469), before it passed to the Bahmani sultans of Gulbarga. After the Bahmani Sultanate collapsed the
Adil Shah Ali-qoli Khan (), commonly known by his regnal title Adel Shah (also spelled Adil; , "the Just King") was the second shah of Afsharid Iran, ruling from 1747 to 1748. He was the nephew and successor of Nader Shah (), the founder of the Afsharid d ...
is of Bijapur took over, making Velha Goa their ancillary capital. During this era, Muslim pilgrims from all over India embarked on their journey to
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
from Goa. Thus by this time Muslim community evolved in Goa. By the time the Portuguese arrived in 1510, the population of Tiswadi had a vast number of Muslim population.
Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa ( – 16 December 1515), was a Portuguese general, admiral, statesman and ''conquistador''. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across ...
took the help of Timoji and defeated the ruling Bijapur king Yusuf Adil Shah during the
Portuguese conquest of Goa The Portuguese conquest of Goa occurred when the governor Afonso de Albuquerque captured the city in 1510 from the Sultanate of Bijapur. Old Goa became the capital of Portuguese India, which included territories such as Fort Manuel of Cochin, ...
. The Muslim residents of Goa were exiled (e.g. Benastarim) or killed (e.g. Velha Goa) by the Portuguese and the local Hindus. All the mosques were destroyed and churches were built on them. From 1560 to 1821, the Goa Inquisition was established. One of its primary targets were crypto-Muslims of North African origin who had immigrated to Goa from the Iberian peninsula following the Portuguese conquest. Of the 1,582 persons convicted between 1560 and 1623, 45.2% were convicted for offenses related to Judaism and Islam. However, a compilation of the auto-da-fé statistics of the Goa Inquisition from 1560 to 1821 revealed that a grand total of only 57 persons were burnt in the flesh and 64 in effigy (i.e. a statue resembling the person). All the burnt were convicted as relapsed heretics or for sodomy.


Demography

Native Goan Muslims are concentrated in the Novas Conquistas regions of Sattari, Bicholim, Sanguem, Ponda, Betul, Salcete, Tiswadi, Canacona, Pilar, Old Goa, Bardez and some areas of the coast of Vasco Da Gama. Their language parallels Dakhini of the
Deccan Plateau The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura Range, Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound ...
. This dialect of
Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
has heavy
Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...
influence and may be considered the "Konkani slang" of Goan Muslims. Goan Muslims are
bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...
(speaking Konkani outside the home); mostly are educated in Portuguese, and they use the
Perso-Arabic The Persian alphabet (), also known as the Perso-Arabic script, is the right-to-left script, right-to-left alphabet used for the Persian language. It is a variation of the Arabic script with four additional letters: (the sounds 'g', 'zh', ' ...
and
Devanagari Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets, writing system), based on the ancient ''Brāhmī script, Brā ...
scripts for written communication. Muslims resident in Goa constituted 8.33% of Goa population in 2011, but of these only a tiny minority are native Goans.


Culture


Castes

The majority of Goan Muslims follow
Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...
, the predominant groups being that of: * Mulla's (Mulam/Mullam in Portuguese), * Muzawar's (Muzavor in Portuguese), * Sayyid's (Soiada/Soid in Portuguese), * Shaikh's (Xec in Portuguese), * Khan's (Can in Portuguese), * Shaa's (Xaa in Portuguese), * Kazi's (Cazi in Portuguese). * Beig's (BEC in Portuguese),


Festivals

They observe all Muslim holidays and festivals such as
Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
,
Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...
,
Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second of the two main festivals in Islam alongside Eid al-Fitr. It falls on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar. Celebrations and observances are generally carried forward to the ...
and Eid-e-Milad.


Inter-Communal Relations

Goan Muslims are vastly outnumbered in Goa by non-Goan Muslims, because of the mass immigration taking place from other states of India since the
Annexation of Goa The Annexation of Goa was the process in which the India, Republic of India annexed the Portuguese State of India, the then Portuguese Indian territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, starting with the armed action carried out by the Indian Armed ...
in 1961. Muslims have generally been tolerated in Goa until this century. Anti-Muslim riots broke out after a local Hindu mob demolished a madrassa on 2–3 March 2006, which had been constructed by Muslim immigrants from Karnataka on the outskirts of Sanvordem- Curchorem. The anti-Muslim violence, which continued for three days before the Central Industrial Security Force stepped in, saw property worth crores of rupees destroyed.


Law

Goan Muslims as well as
Goans Goans ( Romi Konkani: , ) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, formerly part of Portuguese India (''Estado Português da Índia''). They form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, ...
from other religions are governed by
Portuguese Civil code
based on the progressive old Portuguese Family Laws. Unsuccessful attempts were made for a change towards enforcing Muslim personal law since the early 1970s. Personal law of Hindus and Muslims is not recognized in Goa.


Cuisine

Like Goans of other faiths, Goan Muslims' staple foods are rice and fish. Sea food is preferred to
mutton Lamb and mutton, collectively sheep meat (or sheepmeat) is one of the most common meats around the world, taken from the domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries'', and generally divided into lamb, from sheep in their first year, hogget, from sheep in thei ...
and
biryani Biryani () is a mixed rice dish originating in South Asia, made with rice, meat (chicken, goat, lamb, beef) or seafood (prawns or fish), and spices. To cater to vegetarians, the meat or seafood can be substituted with vegetables or pane ...
is a delicacy only during festivals like Eid.


Notes

*''Hindu, Kristao, Moir, sogle bhau'' ()


References

{{anchor, Exonym Konkani Social groups of Goa Muslim communities of India