Ashti, Khed
Ashti is a small village on the banks of the Jagbudi River in the region of the Western Ghats (also known as the Sahyadri mountains, in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the Khed taluka of Ratnagiri district, and is from the town of Khed.
The population of Ashti is 2000, with around 150 dwellings. Most of the people are engaged in farming and fisheries, but some have also expatriated to countries in the Middle East and Africa to work. The main religion followed is Islam.
History
Since antiquity, the Konkan coast has had maritime mercantile relations with major ports on the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Konkani Muslims can trace their ancestry to traders from Hadhramaut, some who fled from Kufa in the Euphrates valley, about the year 700, the North of Indian as well as various regions of Arabia and broader Middle East. others arriving as traders or mercenaries. By the 10th century, Ceul, Dabhol had a significant Muslim presence with mosques and self-governance. Subsequent waves of migration were driven by upheavals like the Karmatian revolt and Mongol invasions. Despite and Dabhol prominence under the Ahmadnagar kingdom, Muslim rule was never firmly established in Konkan, and forced conversions were absent. Most Konkani Muslims are thus of mixed foreign descent.. According to Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, Muslims first arrived in the Konkan region in 699 CE—less than 70 years after the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 CE.In the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Konkani Muslims became influential sailors, merchants, and government employees as the port city of Bombay began developing.