Konkani, so that local Christians (Padvals) had to learn Konkani to converse with them. After this migration, the skilled Goan Catholic agriculturists were offered various land grants by the native Bednore rulers of South Canara. They observed their cultural Hindu customs in conjunction with the newfound Western Catholic faith, and preserved their lifestyle. Most migrants were people from the lower economic strata who had been left out of government and economic jobs; their lands had been confiscated due to heavy taxation under the Portuguese in Goa. As a consequence of the wealth and privileges which these Goan migrants enjoyed in Mangalore, they began feeling superior to their landless kindred in Goa. Their captivity at Seringapatam (1784–1799), where many died, were killed, or were forcibly 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. They no longer self-identified as Goan Catholics. The majority of Mangalorean Catholics are Roman Catholic Brahmins of Saraswat lineage. Historian Alan Machado Prabhu estimates that almost 95 per cent of Mangalorean Catholics have Goan origins. History Pre-migration era All records of an early existence of Christians in South Canara were lost at the time of their deportation by Tipu Sultan in 1784. Hence, it is not known exactly when Christianity was introduced in South Canara, although it is possible that Syrian Christians settled in South Canara, just as they did in Kerala, a state just south of Canara. The Italian traveller Marco Polo recorded that there were considerable trading activities between the Red Sea and the Canara coast in the 13th century. It can be surmised that foreign Christian merchants were visiting the coastal towns of South Canara during that period for commerce; it is possible some Christian priests might have accompanied them for evangelistic work. In April 1321 the French Dominican friar Jordanus Catalani of Severac (in south-western France) landed at Thana with four other friars. He then travelled to Bhatkal in North Canara, a port town on the coastal route from Thana to Quilon. Being the first bishop of India and the Quilon Diocese, he was entrusted the spiritual nourishment of Christian community in Mangalore and other parts of India by Pope John XXII. According to historian Severine Silva, no concrete evidence has yet been found that there were any permanent settlements of Christians in