The Konkani language agitations were a series of protests and demonstrations in India, concerning the uncertain future and the official status of the Konkani language. They were held by Goans in the then union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu governed at the time by the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. The protests involved citizen journalism, student activism and political demonstrations. History Pre-Portuguese Goa Historically, Konkani was neither the official nor the administrative language of the pre-Portuguese rulers. Under the Kadambas (c. 960 – 1310), the court language was Kannada. When under Muslim rule (1312 - 1370 and 1469 - 1510), the official and cultural language was Persian. Various stones in the Archaeological Museum and Portrait Gallery from the period are inscribed in Kannada and Persian. During the period in between the two periods of Muslim rule, the Vijayanagara Empire, which had control of the state, mandated the use of Kannada and Telugu. Portuguese Goa Konkani language had originally been studied and Roman Konkani promoted by Catholic missionaries in Goa (e.g. Thomas Stephens) as a communication medium during the 16th century. The Maratha threat was compounded by their attacks on native Catholics and destruction of local churches during their repeated attacks on Goa in the 17th century. This led the Portuguese government to initiate a positive programme for the suppression of Konkani in Goa, in order to make native Catholic Goans identify fully with the Portuguese Empire. As a result, Konkani was suppressed and rendered unprivileged in Goa by the enforcement of Portuguese. Urged by the Franciscans, the Portuguese viceroy forbade the use of Konkani on 27 June 1684 and further decreed that within three years, the local people in general would speak the Portuguese language and use it in all their contacts and contracts made in Portuguese territories. The penalties for violation would be imprisonment. The decree was confirmed by the king on 17 March 1687. However, according to the Inquisitor António Amaral Coutinho's letter to the Portuguese monarch João V in 1731, these draconian measures were unsuccessful. The fall of the "Province of the North" (which included Bassein, Chaul and Salsette) in 1739 led to the suppression of Konkani gaining new strength. On 21 November 1745, the Archbishop of Goa, Lourenço de Santa Maria e Melo (O.F.M.), decreed that fluency in Portuguese was mandatory for the Goan applicants to the priesthood, and also for all their immediate relatives (men as