or Kandavī
is a
Brahmic script
The Brahmic scripts, also known as Indic scripts, are a family of abugida writing systems. They are used throughout South Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of East Asia. They are descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India and are used b ...
that was once used in the territory 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 ...
to write
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 ...
and sometimes
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
**Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...
in the
Konkan coast. Similarly, it was used by the trading
Saraswat and
Daivajna families along with the
Modi script
Modi (, 𑘦𑘻𑘚𑘲, , ) is a script used to write the Marathi language, which is the primary language spoken in the state of Maharashtra, India. There are multiple theories concerning its origin. The Modi script was used alongside the ...
to maintain their accounts.
Overview
Goykanadi was used in Goa since the times of the
Kadambas
The Kadamba dynasty were an ancient royal family from modern Karnataka, India, that ruled northern Karnataka and the Konkan from Banavasi in present-day Uttara Kannada, Uttara Kannada district in India. The kingdom was founded by Mayurash ...
, although it lost its popularity after the 17th century. Goykanadi is very different from the
Old Kannada script, with strikingly similar features.
Unlike Old Kannada, Kandevi/Goykanadi letters were usually written with a distinctive horizontal bar, like the Nagari scripts. This script may have been evolved out of the
Kadamba script, which was extensively used in Goa and Konkan.
Usage and extinction
The
inquisition of Goa is seen as a blot in the history of the Konkani language. According to the orders of the Goa inquisition it was an offence to remain in possession of books in the local languages. All books, whatever their subject matter, written in Konkani, Marathi and 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, sciences, etc., were destroyed indiscriminately as a consequence. For instance, even before the inquisition orders in a letter dated 24 November 1548, D Fr Joao de Albuquerque proudly reports his achievement in this direction.
Many Konkani manuscripts which are now found in museums in Portugal are Roman transliterations of Kandavi manuscripts of Hindu epics.
The earliest document written in this script is found in a petition addressed by Ravala Śeṭī, a
Gaunkar of Caraim in the islands of Goa, to the king of Portugal. This 15th-century document bears a signature in Konkani which says: Ravala Śeṭī baraha (Translation: ''writing of Ravala Sethi'').
It is believed that most of the pre-Portuguese documents and books in Kandavi were burnt by the Portuguese missionaries.
References
Works cited
*
{{list of writing systems
Brahmic scripts
Konkani