Kupari

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Kupari(Meaning God Father(Portuguese) Word derived from Kumpari ^[1]compadre^[2]^[3] ) The name may have also been derived from the croatian city of Dubrovnik which has a town called kupari.^[4],since the croats (republic of ragusa) and venetians (republic of venice) had a considerable amount of influence on the region before their defeat at battle of diu by the portuguese.^[5] This can be seen through the similarities found with the comparison made between traditional costumes and jewelry of the people living in present day kupari town of croatia and the kupari community of northern bassein ^[6] ^[7]^[8].This community is concentrated mostly in Bassein BAÇAIM(Vasai)^[9], India, which is about 60 kilometers north of Mumbai. The population is about 40,000 to 45,000. The language spoken by the Kupari community is called Kadodi or Samvedic^[10], which is a mixed dialect of Marathi, Konkani, and Marwari with very few words derived from Portuguese, and which is similar to the language spoken by their counterparts the Samvedic Brahmin community. 97% of this population is Roman Catholic^[11], and the remaining minority is a mixed population of various Christian Protestant sects. The community came into existence during the Portuguese rule of Vasai during 15th century when most of the Samvedic Brahmins were converted to Christianity. The traditional costume of Kupari consists of a dhoti, white shirt black sleeveless jacket and a red cap with earring pierced in the left ear for men, and a red blouse with red checkered kashta (a type of sari) for women.^[12] Till the late 1960s and early 1970s the population was highly dependent on farming, but in recent years it has shown a drastic transition towards various other sectors of the society including engineering, medicine, and corporate enterprises. The considerable amount of Kupari population has also moved to the United States, Europe, and Australia.