Nawayath
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2017) |
The Nawayath (also spelled as Navayath and Nawayat) are an Indian community and a subgroup of Konkani Muslims. They have also been called Nait, Naiti and Naita.
The 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 the Arabian Peninsula and the Yamen and Persian Gulf regions, where they were mariners and merchants. One group is based mainly in Bhatkal, Tonse, Malpe, Shiroor, Gangolli, Sagar, Kumta, Kandlur and Murdeshwar villages in Karnataka, while another is found in Chennai around Royapettah who have moved from Meenambur, a small village located between Gingee and Villupuram in Villupuram District in the State of Tamil Nadu. The third group are generally known today as Konkani Muslims, after the region in which they live.[1]
History
Nawayats are migrants predominantly from Yamen and Persia, who married into another trading community of India, the Jains who had been converted to Islam more than 1,000 years ago.[2][3] With this a new caste system emerged, as the Nawayats marry within the community.[4]
References
- ^ Khalidi, Omar (2006). Muslims in the Deccan: A Historical Survey. New Delhi: Global Media Publications. pp. 17–18.
- ^ "Don't hold a few bad apples against us, says Bhatkal". Business Standard. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ "How prosperous Bhatkal town earned terror tag". The Times of India. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ "Indians rarely married outside after caste system came into being". The New Indian Express. 19 August 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2017.