You all would like to hear this true story which has an element of surprise in store. I am taking you back to the year 1956 when I assumed charge as the Collector & District Magistrate of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. As has been the habit with me, one of the first things I did was to visit the office library. Strange as it may seem an old book that held my attention was the 'English-Konkani Dictionary', by Fr. A.F.X. Maffei, published in 1883. As I picked-it up to have a good look at it, the learned librarian who was taking me round the library was quick to point out: "Sir, this dictionary is of a dead language and I do not quite see why we should not weed it out in order to make room for current literature". I had to politely point out to this expert librarian that Konkani happens to be my mother tongue and there are more than 3 million (at that time) in India and countries overseas who still speak what he called a 'dead language'. This was 40 years ago, when the existence of Konkani was little known to people outside Konkan and its immediate neighborhood. Since then, much water has flown under the bridge. Today there are more than 5 million people speaking Konkani. Substantial contributions have been made by a comparatively large number of Konkani speaking people in language, literature, education as also in the political economic and cultural spheres of the country's development. A notable event was when in 1975 the Sahitya Academy gave recognition to Konkani as one of the living independent languages of India. The Government of India In turn responded to the call of the Konkani speaking people when it took the long awaited step In 1992 to include Konkani in the VIII th schedule Of the Constitution of India.

Konkan, the Land

The origin of the name of the language 'Konkani' has to be traced back of 'Konkan' which is the name of a distinct tract of land, by and large on the western part of the Deccan peninsula. In his monumental work 'The history of the Dakshinatya Saraswats', the late V.N. Kudva of the I.C.S. has recorded that the tract known as Konkan is referred to by this name in the Mahabharata (Bhishma Parva Chapter IX) in Brihat-Samhita of Varahamihira and Dashakumara Charita of Dandin (both of 6th Century A.D.). The Chinese chronicler Hieun Tsang, who came to India in the 7th Century A.D. gives an account of a tract called Kong-kona-pulo (presumably Konkana-pura).

Kalhana in his Raja-tarangini (1148 AD) refers to Konkana and Sapta Konkana which also find mention in several inscriptions of the Chalukyas who held sway over a vast territory of the Deccan peninsula Sapta Konkana consisted of seven deshas which, according to Sahyadri Khanda of Skanda Purana(Uttarardha Chapter VII 25), were created when Parasurama stood on top of the Sahyadri and threw his axe to make the sea recede and give forth land. Of these seven deshas, Goa-rashtra and Konkana are of particular relevance to the Konkani language. Even as early as the 2nd Century A.D., Ptolemy referred to a city named 'Kouba' in the west coast of India, which has been identified as a reference to Goa. As a sea-port, Goa was an important centre of trade, and it served as the secondary capital of the Kadamba dynasty of Banavasi. It was known as Gopala-pur) under the S-laharas and as Gopala-Pattana It served as the capital of the later Kadambas. In a copper plate inscription of King Harihara if of Vijayanagar it is referred to as the capital of Konkana ("Govabhidanam Konkana Rajadhanim). According to another inscription Goa was described as so beautiful that it "surpassed lndra's heaven". Apart from Goa-rashtra which has been the home of konkani speaking people, there Is the rest of Konkan which stretched out from Rajapur in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra in the north to the Kanara District of Karnataka and the part of Sawantwadi in the south where most communities speak Konkani:

Konkani People: their origin & migration

I have already made a reference to the Mahabharata and other Puranas and ancient works like Dashakumara Charita. From these it Would appear that the Konkani people are migrants of Aryan origin, from Central Asia. There is evidence to suggest that around 4000 BC. they were among the people who settled to an agrarian life on the banks of the river Saraswati which was a tributary possibly of the river lndus. Sometime around 2500 BC the Saraswati river either went underground or changed its course causing its inhabitants to migrate to Trihotrapura which has been identified as modern Tirhoot in Biharr. Another cycle of migration is believed to have taken place when the Saraswat Brahmans who were among the people who had migrated into Trihotra responded to the behest of Parashurama and moved to Konkan on the western part of the Deccan peninsula.

The main Communities Today

As pointed out by Jerome A Saldanha in a 1938 reprint of "Indian Castes, - Vol. 1, Konkani or Goan castes" published in 1904, the most important of the Konkani speaking communities are:

1)The Konkaani Shenvi,or Saraswat/Gaud Saraswat Brahmins
(2)Non-brahmins such as Sonars, Bhandaris etc
3)Mohammedan navayts and
4)Catholic Christians of Goa, Kanara and Ratnagiri.

1. The Shenvi or Saraswat Brahmins

The Saraswat/Gaud Saraswat Brahmins form the subject of an interesting episode in the Mahabharata: In the Gada Parva, it is stated that on the banks of Saraswati there lived Rishi Dadichi's son, Saraswat. While a severe famine raged in Bharat Varsha for 12 years, Saraswat weathered the famine by feeding on the fish of the river Saraswati till it dried up. His example was followed by the 60,000 i.e. Shatsahasra Brahmins who were his disciples. This could well be the reason why the Saraswats/Gaud Saraswats are among the few Brahmins who traditionally have no taboo against eating fish as a part of their otherwise vegetarian diet.

How and when the Saraswat Brahmins who had earlier migrated to Trihotra happened to move to the tract in western India which came to be known as Konkan may be deduced from what appears in the Skanda Purana, Mangesh Mahatmya, Konkanakhyana and other chronicles. Parashurama is stated to have brought sixty six or Shahashast families of Brahmins from Trihotra with their family deities and granted them the most fertile and beautiful part of the land he reclaimed from the Sea. These families spread themselves over the districts of Bardesh, Pedne, Kudalmahal and other parts of Gomantaka or Goa and the South Konkan. They came to be known by the names of the villages like Kushasthali and the names of their districts like Bardesh; Shenvis being those who settled In 96 or Shahannav villages.

As observed by V.N. Kudva in the 'History of the Dakshinatya Sarawats', the first inroad Into the territory, the life and traditions of the Brahmins settled in Goa took place in 1351 AD when Hasan Gangu Jaffar Khan who founded the Bahmani Kingdom invaded Goa. On his death in 1357, his son and successor, the cruel Ghazni Mohammad, persecuted the Brahmins, destroyed their Temples and caused havoc in Goa. Though the Muslims were driven out of Goa in 1366 when it became at part of the Vijayanagar Empire in 1469, Goa was reconquered by Mohammad Gawan for the Bahmani Kingdom.

Cruelties against the inhabitants of Goa mounted during its administration by a Turkish favourite of Yusuf Adil Shah, the King of Bijapur. This is what led Mhala Pai, the Sardesai of Verne, to seek the intervention of the Portuguese: a move from frying pan to the fire.

On the 26th February 1510, Goa and the province of Salsett including Marmugoa and Bardesh, fell to the combined armies of thePortuguese Commander Alphonso de Albuquerque and Thimmayya Nayak, with the surrender of the Muslim intruders. Goa, no doubt gained in importance and became the capital of the Portuguese empire in the East but the Portuguese rulers let loose their extreme fanaticism and started a reign of persecution against the Hindus of Goa. This forced a large number of Saraswat families to migrate from Goa into malvan, Vengurla, Ratnagiri and other districts of Maharashtra and into the Kanaras and even into Kerala. A number of Brahmins also set sail by ships to land in Cochin in the far south. In fact even some of the families who had been converted to the Catholic faith left Goa to settle down with their Hindu kinsmen In Kanara as the Portuguese Viceroy, Don Francisco de Tavora, had passed a law forbidding Christians of Goa from continuing to observe traditional customs and practices to whicht they were habituated while they were in the Hindu fold.

2.Konkani Non Brahmin Hindus

Konkani non brahmin Hindus who formed professional castes left Goa, some time after it was taken by the Muslims and others after it came into the suzerainty of the Portuguese. They includes Kalavantis (Dancing girt families), Sonars (goldsmiths), Konkani Vanis (traders), Sheragers (messengers), Sutars (Carpenters), Konkani Kunbis, Bhandaris (Palm-tappers or liquor distillers), Konkani Kharves/Kolis (fishermen) or Mahars, Hulsavars or Palits who are laborers by profession.

3.Konkani Christians of Goa, Kanara, Malabar & Coorg

Konkani Christians of Goa and Kanara had grown into prosperous communities under the patronage of the Bednore Kings and Hyder Ali. Soon after the treaty of Mangalore in 1784, however, Tipu Sultan issued orders to all stations in Kerala to seize the Christians, confiscate their estates and deport them to Seringapatnam. Not more than 15,000 of the exiled Konkani Christians survived their exile of 15 years when in 1799 Seringapatnam fell. At the behest of General Wellesley, about 1000 of them were sent to Malabar, a few hundreds settled in Coorg, while over 10,000 returned to Kanara. It is the descendents of these survivors that constitute the present lot of Konkani Catholics in Kaanara, Malabar and Coorg.

According to Jerome A. Saldanha, the Konkani Christians are divided into castes. Bahmons (Brahmins), Chaddos, Sudirs, Madivals, Gavdis, Renders. Kumbars and other classes corresponding to the Hindu castes from which they had been converted. Inter-marriages between these castes are not forbidden, but take place, if at all, rarely. They are Christians by religion, but Hindus by race and customs. This happy blend of Hindu race and customs, Christian religion and European civilization is a delightful combination that can be noticed even to this day.

4.The Konkani Muslims or Navayts

The Navayts are believed to be the descendants of the Muslims who are said to have fled from Goa in the eighth century AD to escape the persecution by the authoritarian Governor, Hajee Bin Yusuf. They use a number of Persian or Arabic words in their Konkani. Their stronghold is Bhatkal.

Konkani Language

Konkani is the language spoken by the people who are predominantly found in Goa and the stretch of land along the Arabian Sea on the western side of the Deccan Peninsula which has been referred to as Konkan. Dr. S.R.Dalgado, Polyglot Professor of Sanskrit at the university of Lisbon, observed that Konkani language "represented the old 'Saraswati' which the orientalists consider as extinguished and it would corroborate the oral and written evidence also based on ethical affinities about the migration of Brahmins from (Saraswat Mandal through)..... Trihotra to Gomanchala (modern Goa)".

According to Dr.Taraporewala of the Calcutta University and other scholars who have made a deep study of the Konkani and allied languages, Konkani like Sindhi, Punjabi and Nepali, shows a good deal of 'paisachi prakrit' influence. The language of Trihotra which was in the migratory route of the Saraswat Brahmins was 'Magadhi Prakrit'. As they migrated in successive groups from Trihotra to Gomantak, they brought with them the 'Magadhi Prakrit' with a strong 'paisachi' element which may be traced in the konkani spoken in Goa and in the Konkani settlements in Maharashtra, Kanara and even Kerala.

Dr- Jose Pereira, Research associate in the American Academy at Banares observed that "Konkani was the first modern Indo-Aryan speech to crystallize out of Prakrits and Apabhramsas, as it is older than Marathi itself". Some eminent scholar like Prof. A.K.Priolkar, Dr Irawati Karve and Dr V.T. Gune have held the view that "Konkani is the remnant of the old Marathi" on the ground that they find various Konkani expressions in old Marathi works like 'Jnaneshwari'. Their view, however, cannot be maintained as words in 'Jnaneshwari' are not used by the present day Marathi writers. On the contrary, it would appear that it is the influence of Konkani over Marathi in those days that resulted in copious use of Konkani expressions in Marathi words like Jnaneshwari.

Eminent scholars like Sir William Elliot,Ellis, Lassen, Maffei and many more have given Konkani the status of an independent language(see India Antiquary, Tribes and Languages of Bombay Presidency, Vol. III, 1874). R.C. Nigam who did the reclassification of languages which had been formerly classified in the Linguistic Survey of India by Dr G,A. Grierson observed "Subsequent research on Konkani has badly shaken the notion that it is a dialect of Marathi. Konkani has now been sought to be established as a separate language of the Southern group of the outer sub-group of the Indo-Aryan subfamily and not a Marathi dialect as classified in the linguistic survey.... (vide 1961 census Vol. I Part Iic (ii), language table).

Growth of Konkani

Konkani flourished under the fostering care of the Hindu rulers. It evolved its own dramatical form and expression. It developed its own rich folklore, proverbs, lullabies, nursery rhymes etc., In no way inferior to Marathi, The language was used in an inscription of 1187 AD of the Silhara King Abarajita II of North Konkan. There is a stone tablet with a Konkani inscription of 1474 in front of the Nagesh temple of Bandiwada. From Dr G.A. Grierson's observations in the linguistic Survey of India it was clear that Konkani had developed its own indigenous literature. During the Hindu rulers, it was clear that Konkani was written in the Nagari script. At some stage of its development there appeared to have been a minor association with the Brahmi script but predominantly the script used for Konkani was the Nagari script. The Silahara inscriptions dating back to the 12th century AD were in Konkani written in the Nagari script. During the Dutch Interlude in certain parts of India, it was observed that the Dutch held Nagari as the 'lipi' for Konkani. The introduction to 'Hortus lndicus Malabaricus' by Van Rheedes which was printed in Amsterdam in 1678 AD was in Konkani with the Devnagari script. Another important Konkani work was the translation of the Bible by William Carey in 1808 which is in the Nagari script. The earliest known block printing in the Konkani language has been in the Devnagari script.

Growth arrested

Muslim domination had an adverse effect on the growth of Konkani. One result was that the Muslim converts, the Navayts, mostly in the Bhatkal areas, started adopting the Persian/Arabic script. This was followed by the Portuguese conquest of Goa which dealt a serious blow to the development of Konkani language and literature. From the observations of Dr G.A.Grierson, it is seen that side by side, with the conquest which inter alia aimed at the introduction of Christianity, there was a Jealous burning of old manuscripts in the belief that they contained pagan doctrines. The zeal of the invaders and their missionaries caused the temples to be burnt and old literature to be destroyed so that there would be no traces left. Dr Grierson adds that the invaders even tried to exterminate the language by issuing a royal proclamation in 1684 forbidding the use of Konkani by the native population. Those devout Saraswats who were forced to flee from Goa during the Inquisition into Southern Maharashtra, Kanara and Kerala found it wise to master Marathi, Kannada and Malayalam respectively as these were the languages in use in administration, business and legal affairs. A redeeming facet of this development, however, was that the Konkani speaking people having found it useful to learn languages having their own script and literature like Marathi, Kannada and Malayalam tended to be trilingual or even multilingual. Saraswats and other Hindus who were left in Goa and those who moved elsewhere as a seqel to the proselytisation and persecution by the invaders thus allowed other languages like Marathi, Kannada and Malayalam to make inroads into their language. Over the years, well known Saraswat writers like Tukaram Baba Varde, Bhatkal Appayya and Kaikini Shivayya wrote their important works in Marathi. The swamijis of Kavle and Gokarn Mutts wrote for their disciples in Marathi. The Swamijis of Kashi and Chitrapur Mutts used Konkani but often in Malayalam and Kannada scripts.

Variations in Konkani

One of the side effects of this kind of polyglottism among the diverse sections of Konkani speaking people has been the incursion of the large number of words from Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam and even Portuguese -and Persian or Arabic into Konkani spoken today in the different tracts. For example the konkani spoken by the Saraswats and other Hindus in Goa and in the districts of Maharastra into which they spread out has my words and expressions borrowed from Marathi. Already it has been observed that the Navayts of Bhatkal and its neighborhood have Persian or Arabic influence in the language they used. The language spoken by the Christians in Goa has many words drawn from Portuguese language. The Konkani spoken in the Kanara districts has many Kannada words in it, especially, in the Konkani spoken by the Samartha Saraswats who settled more in the interior areas. The language spoken by the Catholic Christians of Mangalore whose priests were recruited for a long time from Goa, has less Kannada than found in the language used by the Saraswats and other Hindus and fewer Portuguese words than in the Konkani spoken by the Catholic Christians in Goa. The Konkani spoken by the Saraswats and other migrants from Konkan into Kerala incorporates many Malayalam words and even their pronunciations tend to have a distinct malayalee accent.

Towards revival of Konkani

Even as the Saraswats and other Hindus who were left in Goa and more so those myriads who had to migrate out to Goa were unwittingly getting weaned away from Konkani into the use of other languages during the Inquisition by the Portuguese and its aftermath, strange as it may seem, the seeds of revival of Konkani are being sown. Side by side with the persecution of the Konkani language in Goa by the Portuguese who forbade the use of any, language other than Portuguese for State and religious purposes, many padres realized the value of Konkani for the propagation of Christianity. They found it wise to study and sermonise in Konkani and even Compose its grammar. A new range of Christian literature developed in Konkani from the labours of Portuguese missionaries and the Indian converts. Many hymns, lyrics, biographies of Christian-Saints and other books propagating Christianity got written in Konkani language using mostly the Roman script. Books on Konkani vocabulary, grammar and dictionaries were prepared by Fr Francisco Xavier Maffei and other Portuguese and Indian Christians like Dr Sebastino Rodolpho Dalgado, which clearly led to the revival of Konkani though mostly in Roman script. Jerome A Saldanha who in 1938 resorted to an updated reprint of 'Indian Castes Vol.1 Konkani or Goan castes' published in 1904 observed: "Advantageous as a foreign tongue may be, it cannot be denied that it is an artificial and exotic substitute for what ought to be natural and indigenous........ In any case the mother tongue is bound to prevail among the mass of the Konkani speaking people, and for their sake, as they are our kinsmen, countrymen and co-religionists, it behoves us to promote the cultivation of the language that is ours and is bound to be ours to the end of time..... what it deserves and calls for from us is that it should be restored to its birth right and the inheritance it rightly owns". Father Maffei observed "As Konkani itself is a beautiful language, but is reduced to servitude, it can become or rather can be shown to be a beautiful language, if taking pity on it, we deliver it from slavery".

Resurgence