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The Kudumbi, also referred to as the Kunubis, the Kurumbi, or the Kunbi (), are traditionally a Konkani language-speaking farming community residing in Kerala, India. They are a branch of the kudumban/kudumbiyar (Devendra Kula velalar) of Tamilnadu.
The Kudumbi were forced to migrate from Goa following religious persecution by the Portuguese during the Goa Inquisition, which sought to suppress Hinduism. The Kudumbis, along with Gouda Saraswat Brahmins, and who wanted to preserve their religious and cultural identity, migrated from Goa along the west coast of India, primarily through sea voyages.
Some of the groups that fled Goa landed in coastal districts of state of Karnataka, that is, the Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, and some groups voyaged further to Kerala.
The sociologist Y. R. Rao (2003) conducted fieldwork among the Kudubis from Goa who were living in a region of Karnataka. He studied a wide range of behaviours including those related to their food habits, taboos, language, economy, political organisation, kinship and marriage. He identifies Hinduisation, Sanskritisation and Modernisation as three factors that might influence behavioural changes.Arora, Meghna (2004) Tribal tradition and change: A study of Kudubis of south India by Y. Ravindranath Rao - Book Review, Sociological Bulletin, Vol. 53, No. 2 (May-August), pp. 305-306
V. K. Valath says that the main agricultural labourers in the islands around Kochi have been from the Pulaya and Kudumbi castes. He adds that, whilst many people of the Pulaya and Mukkuvar castes converted to Christianity during the Portuguese period, the Kudumbis retained their traditional religious beliefs.V. V. K. Valath (1991). Keralathile Stala Charitrangal, Eranakulam Jilla. Second Edition, 2006, published by Kerala Sahitya Academy.
The community is officially classified as being within the Socially and Economically Backward Communities (SEBC). SEBC list of Kerala State Govt
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