The word "Sasashti" (also shortened to "Sashti") is Marathi for "sixty-six," referring to the original "sixty-six villages" on the island. It was inhabited by (Aagri, Kunbi) farmers, agriculturists, (Bhandaris) toddy tappers, (Sutar, Malis) artisans, and (Kolis) fisherfolks who trace their conversion to Christianity back to 55 AD with the arrival of Christ's disciple St. Bartholomew in north Konkan, west Maharashtra. They were converted to Roman Catholicism by four religious orders—Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians and Jesuits—who arrived in the 15th century with the Portuguese. These original natives of Salsette are the East Indian Catholics and Kolis.