[5] A Dominican missionary by the name Jordanus Catalani, who was either Catalan or Occitan (southern French), began evangelising the locals in Sopara, Thana & Kalyan-Dombivli towns of north Konkan in around 1323 AD.

[6] After ushering in the Age of Discovery, Portuguese Armadas under the command of Vasco Da Gama found their way to India in 1498 via the Cape Route.

Although Brahmins and other higher castes were ceremoniously converted by the Portuguese Church, and were treated with favour and distinction,[1][verification needed] most of them continued to engage in agriculture, fishing, and other rural occupations handed down by their ancestors, and received neither secular nor religious education.

From 1534 to 1552, a priest by the name António do Porto converted over 10,000 people, built a dozen churches, convents, and a number of orphanages hospitals and seminaries.

[7] Another notable convert during this period was the Brahmin astrologer Parashuram Joshi, who was baptized on 8 September 1565 with the name Henrique da Cunha.

[8] After the Province of the North came under Maratha occupation in 1739 and Catholicism was under severe threat from the Brahmin Peshwas, the native East Indian clergy under the Vicar General at Kurla managed and nursed the community back to a flourishing population[8] in British Bombay.

[1] A typical Koli house consists of a veranda (oli), used for repairing nets and receiving visitors; a sitting-room (angan), used by women for household work; a kitchen, a central apartment, a bedroom, a devotional room (devaghar) and a detached bathroom.

The author of Trans Bomb Geog Soc, 1836–38, Vol I mentions the dialects spoken by the East Indians of Salsette, Mahim, Matunga & Mazgaon; similar to the dialects spoken by the Kulbis, Kolis, Bhandaris, Palshes, Pathare Prabhus, Somvanshi Kshatriya Pathares (Panchkalshis), Kuparis & Vadvals; this may have been Konkani.

[21] The East Indians were recognised as OBC (other backward Class) status by the Government of Maharashtra on 1 March 2006 by the way of official gazette.

[22] In September 2014, local non-governmental organisations such as the Watchdog Foundation, Mobai Gaothan Panchayat, the Bombay East Indian Association, Vakola Advanced Locality Management, Kalina Civic Forum and the Kolovery Welfare Association founded the Maharashtra Swaraj Party (MSP), to give voice to the community's concerns.

[23] The party, which represents the East Indian community, was expected to support five candidates from Mumbai's suburbs in the 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections.