Salcete

Salcete or Salcette (Konkani: ''Saxtti''/''Xaxtti'') is a subdivision of the district of South Goa, in the state of Goa, situated by the west coast of India. The Sal River and its backwaters dominate the landscape of Salcete. Historically, the sixty-six settlements south of the Zuari River formed the original Salcette territory. Salcete forms a part of the bigger Konkan region that stretches along the western shoreline of peninsular India.

In erstwhile Portuguese Goa, the Salcette ''concelho'' (county) located in the '' Velhas Conquistas'' (Old Conquests) was co-terminous with the undivided Salcette territory ( Mormugao and Salcete ''talukas''). In 1917, the ''concelho'' was bifurcated into the present-day ''talukas'' of Mormugao and Salcete.

The contemporary Salcete ''taluka'' has been classified as a rurban area. Margao serves as the administrative headquarters of both Salcete ''taluka'' and the South Goa district.

Etymology

"Salcete" is the modern Portuguese spelling of the toponym, "Salcette" being now considered archaic in Portuguese, but still enjoying use in English. This word, "Salcette", has been derived from —a corruption of the . According to the Hindu mythology of the Konkan, the original sixty-six settlements of the Salcette territory were established by sixty-six Saraswat Brahmin clans who had emigrated here from North India. In Goan Konkani, the natives are referred to as ''Saxtticar'' or ''Xaxtticar''; /; . The Salcete Konkani dialect of southern Goa known as "Saxtti" is notably different from the "Antruzi" ( Ponda) and "Bardescari" ( Bardez) dialects of northern Goa.

History

King Viramarmadeva of the Kadamba dynasty issued a copper-plate inscription in 1049 CE concerning a grant of a piece of land called ''Tudukapura'' in ''Kudtarika agrahara'' of ''Chhat sathi desha''. This inscription suggests that ''Chhat sathi'' refers to modern Salcete, known as "''Sāṣṭī''" in the local language.

Salcette territory

Historical Salcette

The original sixty-six settlements of Salcette are as follows:Rodrigues 1990, p. 245

Contemporary Salcete

Salcete taluka comprises nine ''comunidades'': Benaulim, Betalbatim, Colva, Curtorim, Loutolim, Margao, Nuvem, Raia, and Verna.

The sub-district consists of two cities, eleven towns, and thirty-five villages as per the 2011 Census of India.

Demographics

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, Salcete had a population of 294,464 with sex ratio of 1025 females to 1000 males. Salcete Taluka has an average literacy rate of 89.34%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 92.63% and female literacy is 86.15%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 1.17% and 11.06% of the population respectively. 72.15% of the population lives in urban areas.

Religion

Christianity is followed by the majority of population of Salcete Taluka, and forms over 75% of the population in rural areas. Hindus form a significant minority. At the time of the 2011 Census of India 53.57% of the population of the Taluka followed Christianity, 34.61% Hinduism, 11.38% Islam and 0.19% of the population followed other religions or did not state religion.

Languages

Konkani and Hindi are among the most spoken languages in Salcete Taluka.

At the time of 2011 Census of India, 71.73% of the population of Salcete Taluka spoke Konkani, 10.52% Hindi, 4.65% Marathi, 3.82% Kannada and 3.20% Urdu as their first language.

Notes

Citations

References

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External links

South Goa District : Census 2011 data

{{Goa topics

Taluks of Goa
Geography of South Goa district