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 Konkani Muslims (or ''Kokani'' Muslims) are an ethnoreligious subgroup of the Konkani people of the Konkani region along the west coast of India, who practice Islam. ''Nawayath'' Muslims from the North Canara district of Karnataka have similar ...

. They speak the

Nawayathi dialect Nawayathi, also spelled as Nawayati, is a dialect of 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 Navayath language uses Persian script for w ...

of Konkani. The term, as described by

Qanoon-e-Islam ''Qanoon-e-Islam: or, the Customs of the Moosulmans of India'' (later published as ''The Qānūn-i-Islām; the customs of the Musalmāns of India'') is a book describing the culture and rituals of Indian Muslim Islam is India's second-l ...

Mark Wilks Colonel Mark Wilks (1759 – 19 September 1831) was a Manx soldier, historian and East India Company administrator who worked in southern India principally in the princely state of Mysore. He was the acting Resident at the Wodeyar Court. Life ...

and

The Imperial Gazetteer of India ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...

, 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

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

and

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

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

Bhatkal Bhatkal, is a coastal town in the Uttara Kannada District of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bhatkal lies on National Highway 66, which runs between Mumbai and Kanyakumari, and has Bhatkal railway station which is one of the major railway s ...

Tonse Tonse is a combined village, which include Tonse West and Tonse East situated about from Udupi on the western coast of South India, between the Arabian Sea and Western Ghats. Tonse village is about to the north of Mangalore. Location Tons ...

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 Gangolli (also Ganguli) is a village in Kundapur Taluk of Udupi district in Karnataka state. It is situated at the estuary of the Panchagangavalli River. It is located on a peninsula on the west coast of Karnataka. It is bordered by the river ...

, Sagar,

Kumta Kumta is a town and taluk in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India. It is one of the important stations along the Konkan Railway line running between Mumbai and Mangalore. Geography The city of Kumta is located on the Arabia ...

, Kandlur and Murdeshwar villages in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, while another is found in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

around

Royapettah Royapettah is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India. Location Royapettah is located at the central part of the city of Chennai, with an elevation of 9 m (29 ft.) above mean sea level. The neighbourhood comes under Teynampet Zone (numbe ...

who have moved from Meenambur, a small village located between

Gingee Gingee, also known as Senji or Jinji and originally called Singapuri, is a panchayat town in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Gingee is located between three hills covering a perimeter of 3 km, and lies west of the Sa ...

and

Villupuram Viluppuram, Villupuram, or Vizhuppuram () is a Municipality and the administrative headquarters of Viluppuram district. Located south west of a Tiruvannamalai and north west of Cuddalore null The town serves as a major railway junction, ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. The third group are generally known today as

, 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

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

s who had been converted to Islam more than 1,000 years ago. With this a new caste system emerged, as the Nawayats marry within the community.

References

{{Indian Muslim Muslim communities of India Social groups of Goa Social groups of Karnataka Muslim communities of Karnataka Persian people Konkani Muslims Indian people of Arab descent Indian people of Iranian descent