Around 1700 B.C., the Brahmins living on the banks of the Saraswat River were threatened by drought. Consequently, they migrated south to the Sahyadri mountains. This went on until about 1300 BC. They called this place “Konkana”, meaning “safe corner”. And the language spoken by the Saraswats was known as “Konkani.”
Over the years, many historical events influenced the language. Some linguists believe that Konkani came from Maharashtrian languages. Konkani inscriptions have been found throughout history. One example would be the Shravana Belagola inscription in the Tenth century A.D.
Due to the rule of different people from different places at different times, Konkani borrowed words from other languages. Between the tenth and twelfth centuries, Goans traded with the Arabs. Ergo, some words from Persian and Arabic found their way to Konkani. Around the same period, the Kadamba kings ruled Goa. So, Konkani absorbed Kannada words, too. The Portuguese came to Goa in the Sixteenth-century. Since then, Goans have used Portuguese words in Konkani.
After the Portuguese came to Goa, many were forced to convert to Christianity. That led to mass migrations toward Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Kerala. These places already had Konkani-speaking people who had migrated earlier, but it was large this time. Now there are pockets of Konkani-speaking people throughout the coastal region –– from Gujarat to Kerala.
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