Mangalorean Catholics (Konkani: Kōdiyālcheñ Kathōlikā) are an ethno-religious community of Latin Christians from the Diocese of Mangalore and the erstwhile South Canara area, by the southwestern coast of present-day Karnataka, India.

Historically, an agrarian community,[10][11][verification needed] there were migrations of the educated class in the early 20th century, to bigger cities such as the Bombay (Mumbai), Poona (Pune) & Bangalore (Bengaluru).

Even more migrations led to the formation of a Mangalorean diaspora in the Persian Gulf countries and the Anglosphere;[11] thus the younger generation outside of South Canara, is mostly an English-speaking anglo-americanised Konkani sub-culture.

Their captivity at Seringapatam (1784–1799), where many died, were killed, or were converted to Sunni Islam, led to the formation of a separate and common cultural identity among members of the group, who had previously considered themselves an extension of Goans.

[21] During the early part of the 16th century, Krishnadevaraya (1509–1529), the ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire of Deccan, granted commercial privileges to the Portuguese on the Canara coast.

[24] The most prominent local convert was the Brahmin mahant Shankarayya, who in 1751 travelled with his wife from Kallianpur to Goa and was baptised, with the Portuguese viceroy assuming the role of his godfather.

[28] In 1510, a Portuguese fleet under Afonso de Albuquerque, sent by King Manuel I of Portugal, wrested the region of Goa from Sultan Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur.

[31] Other factors that led to mass migrations were disease epidemics, famines, natural calamities, overpopulation, poor living conditions, heavy tax burdens, and social discrimination by the Portuguese.

[35] Those converts who refused to comply were forced to leave Goa and to settle outside the Portuguese dominion,[17] which resulted in the first major wave of migrations towards South Canara.

In his book A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar (1807), he stated that "The princes of the house of Ikkeri had given great encouragement to the Christians, and had induced 80,000 of them to settle in Tuluva.

[37] The taxation policies of the Keladi Nayakas during 1598–1763 enabled the Goan Catholic migrants to emerge as prominent landowning gentry in South Canara.

[47] The Padroado–Propaganda conflict which ensued divided the Catholics of Canara into two sides—those who recognised the authority of the Padroado Archbishop in Goa versus those who supported de Castro.

Migration increased with the fall of the Portuguese "Province of the North" (which included Bassein, Chaul and Salsette) and a direct threat to the very existence of Goa in 1738–40.

[70] To minimise the British threat to his kingdom and in the Sultan-ul-Tawarikh, due to "the rage of Islam that began to boil in his breast",[71] Tipu banished the Mangalorean Catholic community from their lands, and imprisoned them at Seringapatam, the capital of his empire.

[88] Ludwig von Pastor, a German historian, claimed "countless" Mangalorean Catholics were hanged, including women with their children clinging around their necks.

[83] According to Mr. Silva of Gangollim, a survivor of the captivity, if a person who had escaped from Seringapatam was found, Tipu had ordered the cutting off of the ears, nose, the feet, and one hand as punishment.

José Miguel Luis de Mendes, a Goan Catholic priest, was appointed Vicar of Our Lady of Rosary of Mangalore on 7 December 1799.

[106] The opening of the Protestant German Basel Mission of 1834 in Mangalore brought many handicraft industries, such as cotton weaving and tile-manufacturing, to the region and led to a large-scale rise in employment.

Antonio Feliciano de Santa Rita Carvalho, a Portuguese priest, was appointed Archbishop-elect of Goa in September 1836 without authorisation from the then Pope, Gregory XVI.

[135] A notable post-independence era event pertaining to the Mangalorean Catholics that occurred in southern Karnataka, and made national headlines, were the attacks on Christian religious institutions in September 2008.

[citation needed] Some Kannada root words which have disappeared from the Goan dialects due to the influence of Portuguese have re-entered the Mangalorean lexicon.

[188] In 2000, the Mangalore Diocese also released a Konkani Bible in Kannada script entitled Pavitr Pustak (Holy Book), which was made available online on 26 July 2007.

[201] It was a long white piece of cloth with a todop (golden hem) tied around the head like a turban in a particular manner by which they could be easily identified as Catholic Christians.

[190] The bridegroom's dress in early times consisted of a breechcloth (dhoti), with a red and gold hem (todop), a coat (kutanv) & a towel (urmal) on the head.

[213] There were also local converts from Bunt, Beary, Koragas, Holeya, Mogaveera, Billavas, Mansa and other communities due to the social reform and missionary activities of the Jesuits and Capuchins in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

[13] The Hindu uppercastes, including the indigenous Brahmins (mostly belonging to the Shivalli, Havyaka, and Kota sub-groups) and Bunts did not associate with the Catholic Christians and would not admit them into their houses on account of their religion.

[220] According to sociologist Vinay Rajath D, the relationship between caste and occupation was very tenuous among Catholic Christians, as Bamons as well as Sudirs consisted of cultivators, agricultural labourers, traders, masons, and cooks.

[221] The Bamonns and Charodis would invite neighbours and friends belonging to the Sudir and Gaudi castes to special occasions such as weddings and baptisms, although the latter would have to observe certain restrictions with regards to sitting and eating.

[236] Konkani plays, especially religious ones, were written and staged in Mangalore in the 20th century by prominent playwrights such as Pedru John D'Souza, Pascal Sequeira and Bonaventure Tauro.

In ancient times, the wedding songs expressed very lofty sentiments and gave vent to the feelings of the people about the marriage partners and their families, invoking the blessing of God on them.