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 Page 1


N
O COLONIAL EMPIRE was ever established for the bene?t of the native
subjects. The empire initiated by Afonso de Albuquerque in the East
was no exception to this rule.
In his longest and most eloquent letter written to his king on 1st April, 1512,
we see how Goa was for him the key to control the East: There we have a
detailed enumeration of the factors that quali?ed Goa in his eyes for that
place in his strategy.
1
Unlike the planners in distant Portugal envisaging a
?oating empire, Albuquerque sees the need of grounding it: “Your highness
ought not to entrust the safety of India to a ?eet cruising the seas, because
much will be spent on small ?eet for small returns. . . Your highness must
stick to the land and gain a ?rm foothold there, and only then will these
Muslims lose heart.”
2
Hence, the Portuguese maritime empire was not to be very watery in content.
It was to be very much land-based exploiting the land, people and resources
of the Estado da India. It has been tried in this monograph to show this
unfolding of Albuquerque’s vision: The native ganvkars “who were pleased
with the new rulers” , as the Portuguese chronicler of the Discoveries, João
de Barros, tells us, did not have to wait too long to see the beginning of a
systematic usurpation of their lands and exploitation of their labour, skills
and resources.
3
One may point to vast bibliography on ‘Golden Goa’ , but I wish to quote
a recent author, who has rightly, though inadvertently, identi?ed the ben-
e?ciaries of the Portuguese imperial fortunes: “For Latins the city was a
paradise, a lotus eating island of the blest, where you could sit on your veran-
dah listening to music as the breeze blew in from the sea, with humble folk
within call to minister to your every wish. No wonder it was called Golden” .
4
The lot of the native masses is described in a Jesuit report of 1687: “They
are very poor and surviving on the income of labour which brings in just
Page 2


N
O COLONIAL EMPIRE was ever established for the bene?t of the native
subjects. The empire initiated by Afonso de Albuquerque in the East
was no exception to this rule.
In his longest and most eloquent letter written to his king on 1st April, 1512,
we see how Goa was for him the key to control the East: There we have a
detailed enumeration of the factors that quali?ed Goa in his eyes for that
place in his strategy.
1
Unlike the planners in distant Portugal envisaging a
?oating empire, Albuquerque sees the need of grounding it: “Your highness
ought not to entrust the safety of India to a ?eet cruising the seas, because
much will be spent on small ?eet for small returns. . . Your highness must
stick to the land and gain a ?rm foothold there, and only then will these
Muslims lose heart.”
2
Hence, the Portuguese maritime empire was not to be very watery in content.
It was to be very much land-based exploiting the land, people and resources
of the Estado da India. It has been tried in this monograph to show this
unfolding of Albuquerque’s vision: The native ganvkars “who were pleased
with the new rulers” , as the Portuguese chronicler of the Discoveries, João
de Barros, tells us, did not have to wait too long to see the beginning of a
systematic usurpation of their lands and exploitation of their labour, skills
and resources.
3
One may point to vast bibliography on ‘Golden Goa’ , but I wish to quote
a recent author, who has rightly, though inadvertently, identi?ed the ben-
e?ciaries of the Portuguese imperial fortunes: “For Latins the city was a
paradise, a lotus eating island of the blest, where you could sit on your veran-
dah listening to music as the breeze blew in from the sea, with humble folk
within call to minister to your every wish. No wonder it was called Golden” .
4
The lot of the native masses is described in a Jesuit report of 1687: “They
are very poor and surviving on the income of labour which brings in just
enough for bare sustenance” .
5
We have this contrast after two centuries of
Portuguese dispensation and the situation did not change thereafter. Inci-
dentally, the above quote refers to the thoroughly Christianised population
of Salcete taluka and it can make one question whether keeping the natives
poor was a way of realizing the Gospel beatitudes preached to them.
There is evidence in this book to show that not all blame for the native
woes can be laid at the feet of the colonial rulers. Willingness on the part of
the native subjects to collaborate was not lacking, but this factor is being
misinterpreted in the wake of Goa’s liberation from colonialism, threatening
thereby to continue the evils of colonialism and the exploitation of one
section of population by another.
The misinterpretation seeks to identify Goan Christian community with the
former colonial exploiters. It is important to expose this communal under-
current simply because it is there, even though the politicians have their
reasons to play it down or even to deny its existence. Also the chief motive
for re-writing this History of Goa, as stated clearly in the Preface, demands
some clarity of historical analysis in the light of the present situation and
future development of the Goan society.
It is important, therefore, to recall that Goa was captured by Albuquerque
with the active support of the local Hindu population.
6
More recently, late
Prof. Pissurlencar’s well-documented Agentes da Diplomacia Portuguesa
na India tried to prove to the Portuguese rulers in their post-Republican
mood of religious tolerance that the Hindu community of Goa had served
the colonial interests with unremitting zeal and constancy.
7
Such a scholarly
advocacy did help to win for the Hindu community a greater participation
in public service during the concluding decades of the Portuguese regime,
but it also established the truth that may give little comfort to those who
wish to make political capital out of their little knowledge of the past.
8
The native collaboration that we are trying to stress was not limited to mili-
tary, diplomatic and political ?elds; without an all-out collaboration of the
Hindu business community and entrepreneurial houses in the vital areas of
revenue administration and Goa-based trade, the history of Portuguese colo-
nial exploitation of Goa might have been different, if not short-circuited.
9
The purpose of this study has not been to build any case in favour of anyone,
but neither is it intended to add to the bibliography that can be classi?ed
as ‘tourist brochure history’ which would be satis?ed in focusing the stage-
lights upon some surface attractions, leaving in the dark the stark realities
of our colonial legacy.
I do not claim to have done full justice to this purpose, neither can this be
expected in a work of limited scope like a doctoral dissertation. However, it
will have achieved much if it drives home the need of following the trend of
re-orienting the investigation into Goa’s past with a purpose of helping the
reconstruction and development of Goan society.
Page 3


N
O COLONIAL EMPIRE was ever established for the bene?t of the native
subjects. The empire initiated by Afonso de Albuquerque in the East
was no exception to this rule.
In his longest and most eloquent letter written to his king on 1st April, 1512,
we see how Goa was for him the key to control the East: There we have a
detailed enumeration of the factors that quali?ed Goa in his eyes for that
place in his strategy.
1
Unlike the planners in distant Portugal envisaging a
?oating empire, Albuquerque sees the need of grounding it: “Your highness
ought not to entrust the safety of India to a ?eet cruising the seas, because
much will be spent on small ?eet for small returns. . . Your highness must
stick to the land and gain a ?rm foothold there, and only then will these
Muslims lose heart.”
2
Hence, the Portuguese maritime empire was not to be very watery in content.
It was to be very much land-based exploiting the land, people and resources
of the Estado da India. It has been tried in this monograph to show this
unfolding of Albuquerque’s vision: The native ganvkars “who were pleased
with the new rulers” , as the Portuguese chronicler of the Discoveries, João
de Barros, tells us, did not have to wait too long to see the beginning of a
systematic usurpation of their lands and exploitation of their labour, skills
and resources.
3
One may point to vast bibliography on ‘Golden Goa’ , but I wish to quote
a recent author, who has rightly, though inadvertently, identi?ed the ben-
e?ciaries of the Portuguese imperial fortunes: “For Latins the city was a
paradise, a lotus eating island of the blest, where you could sit on your veran-
dah listening to music as the breeze blew in from the sea, with humble folk
within call to minister to your every wish. No wonder it was called Golden” .
4
The lot of the native masses is described in a Jesuit report of 1687: “They
are very poor and surviving on the income of labour which brings in just
enough for bare sustenance” .
5
We have this contrast after two centuries of
Portuguese dispensation and the situation did not change thereafter. Inci-
dentally, the above quote refers to the thoroughly Christianised population
of Salcete taluka and it can make one question whether keeping the natives
poor was a way of realizing the Gospel beatitudes preached to them.
There is evidence in this book to show that not all blame for the native
woes can be laid at the feet of the colonial rulers. Willingness on the part of
the native subjects to collaborate was not lacking, but this factor is being
misinterpreted in the wake of Goa’s liberation from colonialism, threatening
thereby to continue the evils of colonialism and the exploitation of one
section of population by another.
The misinterpretation seeks to identify Goan Christian community with the
former colonial exploiters. It is important to expose this communal under-
current simply because it is there, even though the politicians have their
reasons to play it down or even to deny its existence. Also the chief motive
for re-writing this History of Goa, as stated clearly in the Preface, demands
some clarity of historical analysis in the light of the present situation and
future development of the Goan society.
It is important, therefore, to recall that Goa was captured by Albuquerque
with the active support of the local Hindu population.
6
More recently, late
Prof. Pissurlencar’s well-documented Agentes da Diplomacia Portuguesa
na India tried to prove to the Portuguese rulers in their post-Republican
mood of religious tolerance that the Hindu community of Goa had served
the colonial interests with unremitting zeal and constancy.
7
Such a scholarly
advocacy did help to win for the Hindu community a greater participation
in public service during the concluding decades of the Portuguese regime,
but it also established the truth that may give little comfort to those who
wish to make political capital out of their little knowledge of the past.
8
The native collaboration that we are trying to stress was not limited to mili-
tary, diplomatic and political ?elds; without an all-out collaboration of the
Hindu business community and entrepreneurial houses in the vital areas of
revenue administration and Goa-based trade, the history of Portuguese colo-
nial exploitation of Goa might have been different, if not short-circuited.
9
The purpose of this study has not been to build any case in favour of anyone,
but neither is it intended to add to the bibliography that can be classi?ed
as ‘tourist brochure history’ which would be satis?ed in focusing the stage-
lights upon some surface attractions, leaving in the dark the stark realities
of our colonial legacy.
I do not claim to have done full justice to this purpose, neither can this be
expected in a work of limited scope like a doctoral dissertation. However, it
will have achieved much if it drives home the need of following the trend of
re-orienting the investigation into Goa’s past with a purpose of helping the
reconstruction and development of Goan society.
Medieval Goa has only a modest goal, namely to set a research trend and
to begin a discussion that may help us to cease to remain medieval. It can
be hoped that the Goa University will be interested in promoting wider and
deeper analysis into the socio-economic past of Goa in order to help the
efforts at socio-economic reconstruction of liberated Goa.
We need to recognise that in the course of the two decades after liberation,
Goans have been awakened from their medieval slumber. Also measures
have been adopted or initiated to do away with some socio-economic struc-
tures that have clearly outlived their usefulness, or appear positively harmful
in the new context. But there is still a long way to go, and a better under-
standing of our past should help us to move further and quicker without
fearing the danger of having to retrace our steps.