The Nawayath (also spelled as Navayath and Nawayat and also called Nait, Naiti, Naithee and Naita) are an Indian community and a subgroup of Konkani Muslims. They speak the

Nawayathi dialect Nawayathi, also spelled Nawayati, is a language similar to Konkani spoken by Nawayaths of the southwestern coast of India. It is an amalgam of Persian, Arabic and Marathi, with Konkani as its base. The Nawayathi language uses Persian scrip ...

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 ...

. The term, as described by Qanoon-e-Islam, Mark Wilks and The Imperial Gazetteer of India, means "new comers" in Persian, referring to Arab emigrants in India. Indian historian Omar Khalidi says they are one of three groups of Indian Muslims who have used the Nawayath name. These groups have common origins in

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

and

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

and

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

regions, where they were mariners and merchants. One group is based mainly in Bhatkal, manki, Tonse,

Malpe Malpe is a natural port in the Udupi District in Karnataka, India. Located at the mouth of the Malpe River about six kilometers to the west of Udupi, it is an important port and a major fishing harbor on the Karnataka coast. The town of Malpe i ...

, Shiroor, Gangolli, Sagar, Kumta, Kandlur and Murdeshwar villages in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, while another is found in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. The third group are generally known today as Konkani Muslims, after the region in which they live.

History

Nawayats are migrants predominantly from Yemen and Persia, who married into another trading community of India, the Jains who had been converted to

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 ...

more than 1,000 years ago. With this a new caste system emerged, as the Nawayats marry within the community. Saadatullah Khan I, a Nawayat Konkani Muslim was the Nawab of the Carnatic under the Mughal Empire.

References

{{Indian Muslim Muslim communities of India Social groups of Goa Social groups of Karnataka Muslim communities of Karnataka Konkani Muslims Arab diaspora in India