Municipal Organisation and Policies | Goa State PSC (GPSC) Preparation - GPSC (Goa) PDF Download

 Page 1


Establishment of the city administration
A
FTER CONQUERING GOA, Albuquerque did not delay measures aimed at
consolidating his hold upon the new acquisition. The mixed marriages
which he encouraged had this purpose. They were aimed at generating
manpower acclimatised to India and attached simultaneously to the home
country and to the colonial residence.
Initially Albuquerque encouraged marriages by offering cash dowries at the
cost of the public exchequer and by making grants of lands.
1
To these attrac-
tions he soon added the offer of of?ces pertaining to the city administration.
The Portuguese chronicler Barros writes that before Albuquerque left Goa
for Malacca in January 1512 he had organised the city administration and
selected gentlemen (homens bons) with suf?cient aptitude from among the
married settlers to act as aldermen, market inspectors, justices of peace,
police constables and so on.
2
This account of Barros ?nds con?rmation
in a letter of Albuquerque himself. He wrote to the King of Portugal on
December 3, 1513: “The posts of city captain, head constable and factory
clerk have been given to men sent by Your Majesty, but the other jobs of the
city administration are entrusted to the Portuguese gentlemen married at
Goa” .
3
Although it is not possible to pinpoint the date of the establishment of the
Goa municipal council with the help of the extant records, there is ample
evidence to form a precise idea of its nature and development and policies.
Page 2


Establishment of the city administration
A
FTER CONQUERING GOA, Albuquerque did not delay measures aimed at
consolidating his hold upon the new acquisition. The mixed marriages
which he encouraged had this purpose. They were aimed at generating
manpower acclimatised to India and attached simultaneously to the home
country and to the colonial residence.
Initially Albuquerque encouraged marriages by offering cash dowries at the
cost of the public exchequer and by making grants of lands.
1
To these attrac-
tions he soon added the offer of of?ces pertaining to the city administration.
The Portuguese chronicler Barros writes that before Albuquerque left Goa
for Malacca in January 1512 he had organised the city administration and
selected gentlemen (homens bons) with suf?cient aptitude from among the
married settlers to act as aldermen, market inspectors, justices of peace,
police constables and so on.
2
This account of Barros ?nds con?rmation
in a letter of Albuquerque himself. He wrote to the King of Portugal on
December 3, 1513: “The posts of city captain, head constable and factory
clerk have been given to men sent by Your Majesty, but the other jobs of the
city administration are entrusted to the Portuguese gentlemen married at
Goa” .
3
Although it is not possible to pinpoint the date of the establishment of the
Goa municipal council with the help of the extant records, there is ample
evidence to form a precise idea of its nature and development and policies.
First and foremost, there is a charter of privileges granted by Albuquerque
himself to the city of?cials. This is known through its copy sent to Lisbon
in 1515 for royal con?rmation.
4
The initial clauses of this charter describe
the structure that the municipal organisation was to have, and they indicate
that it was modeled largely after its metropolitan prototype. This fact is
signi?cant because it re?ects the importance that Albuquerque attached
to Goa. There were other municipal councils set up in the Portuguese
eastern empire, but were given constitutions of the municipal councils of
Oporto or Evora.
5
Goa city was also declared to be realenga, which meant
an inalienable possession of the Portuguese Crown, and this was done years
before it was made the headquarters of the Government of the Portuguese
State of India.
6
The charter clauses determining the structure of the municipal adminis-
tration state that the aldermen and justices of the peace should be elected
every year and the market inspectors every month. The artisans are directed
to have a body of twenty-four representatives to direct their affairs, and the
House of Twenty-Four (Caza dos Vinte Quatro) was to elect four representa-
tives to be on the municipal board for promoting the welfare of the working
classes. All the of?cials were entitled to carry red wands of of?ce with the
royal coat-of arms at one end and the wheel of St. Catherine’s martyrdom at
the other end of the wand.
7
The privilege clauses of the same charter determined among other things
that there could be no appeal against the judgement of the market inspec-
tors beyond the municipal board. Married settlers could not be imprisoned
in public jails while in municipal of?ce. The citizens serving in munici-
pality of?ces were granted some kind of private justice. All the citizens
were allowed to navigate freely and to bring foodstuffs and other goods to
the city without paying any import taxes. All the municipal of?ces were
reserved to the Portuguese married settlers, excepting those reserved to
the Crown appointees. Married settlers were exempted from any exclusive
tax impositions or loan demands by the State authorities. They were free
to sell, if they wished, any of their movable and immovable properties, in-
cluding whatever they might have received by way of dowry from the State,
provided the buyers were not Muslims or Hindus. The city captain was to
swear respect to the city privileges on taking of?ce, and he was given two
votes during the proceedings of the municipal council meetings, but he was
instructed also to use his rights and privileges to contribute towards the
smooth administration of the city.
8
All the above provisions of the charter granted by Afonso de Albuquerque
to the citizens of the Goa municipality were con?rmed by the Crown on
March 2, 1518, but with a few clari?cations and reservations. Thus, for in-
stance, the citizens were not granted exemption from contributing to works
of public utility. They were not allowed also to trade freely in prohibited
goods, such as spices. The State authorities were also left with discretionary
Page 3


Establishment of the city administration
A
FTER CONQUERING GOA, Albuquerque did not delay measures aimed at
consolidating his hold upon the new acquisition. The mixed marriages
which he encouraged had this purpose. They were aimed at generating
manpower acclimatised to India and attached simultaneously to the home
country and to the colonial residence.
Initially Albuquerque encouraged marriages by offering cash dowries at the
cost of the public exchequer and by making grants of lands.
1
To these attrac-
tions he soon added the offer of of?ces pertaining to the city administration.
The Portuguese chronicler Barros writes that before Albuquerque left Goa
for Malacca in January 1512 he had organised the city administration and
selected gentlemen (homens bons) with suf?cient aptitude from among the
married settlers to act as aldermen, market inspectors, justices of peace,
police constables and so on.
2
This account of Barros ?nds con?rmation
in a letter of Albuquerque himself. He wrote to the King of Portugal on
December 3, 1513: “The posts of city captain, head constable and factory
clerk have been given to men sent by Your Majesty, but the other jobs of the
city administration are entrusted to the Portuguese gentlemen married at
Goa” .
3
Although it is not possible to pinpoint the date of the establishment of the
Goa municipal council with the help of the extant records, there is ample
evidence to form a precise idea of its nature and development and policies.
First and foremost, there is a charter of privileges granted by Albuquerque
himself to the city of?cials. This is known through its copy sent to Lisbon
in 1515 for royal con?rmation.
4
The initial clauses of this charter describe
the structure that the municipal organisation was to have, and they indicate
that it was modeled largely after its metropolitan prototype. This fact is
signi?cant because it re?ects the importance that Albuquerque attached
to Goa. There were other municipal councils set up in the Portuguese
eastern empire, but were given constitutions of the municipal councils of
Oporto or Evora.
5
Goa city was also declared to be realenga, which meant
an inalienable possession of the Portuguese Crown, and this was done years
before it was made the headquarters of the Government of the Portuguese
State of India.
6
The charter clauses determining the structure of the municipal adminis-
tration state that the aldermen and justices of the peace should be elected
every year and the market inspectors every month. The artisans are directed
to have a body of twenty-four representatives to direct their affairs, and the
House of Twenty-Four (Caza dos Vinte Quatro) was to elect four representa-
tives to be on the municipal board for promoting the welfare of the working
classes. All the of?cials were entitled to carry red wands of of?ce with the
royal coat-of arms at one end and the wheel of St. Catherine’s martyrdom at
the other end of the wand.
7
The privilege clauses of the same charter determined among other things
that there could be no appeal against the judgement of the market inspec-
tors beyond the municipal board. Married settlers could not be imprisoned
in public jails while in municipal of?ce. The citizens serving in munici-
pality of?ces were granted some kind of private justice. All the citizens
were allowed to navigate freely and to bring foodstuffs and other goods to
the city without paying any import taxes. All the municipal of?ces were
reserved to the Portuguese married settlers, excepting those reserved to
the Crown appointees. Married settlers were exempted from any exclusive
tax impositions or loan demands by the State authorities. They were free
to sell, if they wished, any of their movable and immovable properties, in-
cluding whatever they might have received by way of dowry from the State,
provided the buyers were not Muslims or Hindus. The city captain was to
swear respect to the city privileges on taking of?ce, and he was given two
votes during the proceedings of the municipal council meetings, but he was
instructed also to use his rights and privileges to contribute towards the
smooth administration of the city.
8
All the above provisions of the charter granted by Afonso de Albuquerque
to the citizens of the Goa municipality were con?rmed by the Crown on
March 2, 1518, but with a few clari?cations and reservations. Thus, for in-
stance, the citizens were not granted exemption from contributing to works
of public utility. They were not allowed also to trade freely in prohibited
goods, such as spices. The State authorities were also left with discretionary
powers to deprive a citizen of his of?ce and to con?scate his belongings, but
only in such cases for which those punishments were normally in?icted in
Portugal.
9
Municipal evolution at Goa in the 16th century
Goa city developed great administrative complexity after the transfer of
the seat of Government from Cochin to Goa in 1530. The city also grew in
size, in population, and in commercial traf?c. This growth led to a kind of
identity crisis on the part of the municipal administrators, who began facing
challenges to their privileges and decisions. There was a strong central Gov-
ernment established now as the headquarters of the entire Portuguese State
of India, which extended from East Africa to the Far East, including all the
Portuguese centres of in?uence situated therein. The city councilors were
?nding many of their demands being rejected on the part of the Government
authorities as preposterous and irreconcilable with the wider interests of
the State. This situation re?ected the con?ict that was common in Medieval
Europe of the mercantilist age between the municipal exclusivism of the
towns and the nationalism of the developing States.
10
As a result of such con?icts and crises the city council in Goa got its powers
and privileges de?ned with greater clarity and precision. A revised charter
of privileges was issued by King Sebastian in 1559. It declared inter alia that
the citizens elected to hold any post in the city administration would have
the right to be treated as members of the royal family as regards the privilege
of exemption from imprisonment in public jail. The charter recognised
the judicial control of the city elders over those appointed by them to any
city of?ce, but it left the aggrieved party to seek redress through the regular
channels of State judiciary. The clerks of the municipality and the clerks
of the attorneys for the orphans were empowered to act as public notaries
in matters pertaining to their of?ces. The city council could assign places
or streets to the city artisans and merchants, and it could enact necessary
market regulations. Vessels bringing goods and food supplies to the city
could not be diverted by the State authorities to any other place unless
it was so required by urgent needs of the empire. The city aldermen and
other of?cials, including workers’ representatives, could decide in council
meetings to make grants of waste lands that were not requisitioned by the
State. The city elders were also granted jurisdiction over all cases of verbal
offences within the city limits.
11
After the city had obtained the con?rmation of its privileges, it sought to do
away with the recurring doubts regarding the election procedures and func-
tions of the city councilors and of various other subordinate of?cials of the
city administration. This was done by sending a 12-point questionnaire to
the municipal council of Lisbon.
12
The answers received from Lisbon do not
Page 4


Establishment of the city administration
A
FTER CONQUERING GOA, Albuquerque did not delay measures aimed at
consolidating his hold upon the new acquisition. The mixed marriages
which he encouraged had this purpose. They were aimed at generating
manpower acclimatised to India and attached simultaneously to the home
country and to the colonial residence.
Initially Albuquerque encouraged marriages by offering cash dowries at the
cost of the public exchequer and by making grants of lands.
1
To these attrac-
tions he soon added the offer of of?ces pertaining to the city administration.
The Portuguese chronicler Barros writes that before Albuquerque left Goa
for Malacca in January 1512 he had organised the city administration and
selected gentlemen (homens bons) with suf?cient aptitude from among the
married settlers to act as aldermen, market inspectors, justices of peace,
police constables and so on.
2
This account of Barros ?nds con?rmation
in a letter of Albuquerque himself. He wrote to the King of Portugal on
December 3, 1513: “The posts of city captain, head constable and factory
clerk have been given to men sent by Your Majesty, but the other jobs of the
city administration are entrusted to the Portuguese gentlemen married at
Goa” .
3
Although it is not possible to pinpoint the date of the establishment of the
Goa municipal council with the help of the extant records, there is ample
evidence to form a precise idea of its nature and development and policies.
First and foremost, there is a charter of privileges granted by Albuquerque
himself to the city of?cials. This is known through its copy sent to Lisbon
in 1515 for royal con?rmation.
4
The initial clauses of this charter describe
the structure that the municipal organisation was to have, and they indicate
that it was modeled largely after its metropolitan prototype. This fact is
signi?cant because it re?ects the importance that Albuquerque attached
to Goa. There were other municipal councils set up in the Portuguese
eastern empire, but were given constitutions of the municipal councils of
Oporto or Evora.
5
Goa city was also declared to be realenga, which meant
an inalienable possession of the Portuguese Crown, and this was done years
before it was made the headquarters of the Government of the Portuguese
State of India.
6
The charter clauses determining the structure of the municipal adminis-
tration state that the aldermen and justices of the peace should be elected
every year and the market inspectors every month. The artisans are directed
to have a body of twenty-four representatives to direct their affairs, and the
House of Twenty-Four (Caza dos Vinte Quatro) was to elect four representa-
tives to be on the municipal board for promoting the welfare of the working
classes. All the of?cials were entitled to carry red wands of of?ce with the
royal coat-of arms at one end and the wheel of St. Catherine’s martyrdom at
the other end of the wand.
7
The privilege clauses of the same charter determined among other things
that there could be no appeal against the judgement of the market inspec-
tors beyond the municipal board. Married settlers could not be imprisoned
in public jails while in municipal of?ce. The citizens serving in munici-
pality of?ces were granted some kind of private justice. All the citizens
were allowed to navigate freely and to bring foodstuffs and other goods to
the city without paying any import taxes. All the municipal of?ces were
reserved to the Portuguese married settlers, excepting those reserved to
the Crown appointees. Married settlers were exempted from any exclusive
tax impositions or loan demands by the State authorities. They were free
to sell, if they wished, any of their movable and immovable properties, in-
cluding whatever they might have received by way of dowry from the State,
provided the buyers were not Muslims or Hindus. The city captain was to
swear respect to the city privileges on taking of?ce, and he was given two
votes during the proceedings of the municipal council meetings, but he was
instructed also to use his rights and privileges to contribute towards the
smooth administration of the city.
8
All the above provisions of the charter granted by Afonso de Albuquerque
to the citizens of the Goa municipality were con?rmed by the Crown on
March 2, 1518, but with a few clari?cations and reservations. Thus, for in-
stance, the citizens were not granted exemption from contributing to works
of public utility. They were not allowed also to trade freely in prohibited
goods, such as spices. The State authorities were also left with discretionary
powers to deprive a citizen of his of?ce and to con?scate his belongings, but
only in such cases for which those punishments were normally in?icted in
Portugal.
9
Municipal evolution at Goa in the 16th century
Goa city developed great administrative complexity after the transfer of
the seat of Government from Cochin to Goa in 1530. The city also grew in
size, in population, and in commercial traf?c. This growth led to a kind of
identity crisis on the part of the municipal administrators, who began facing
challenges to their privileges and decisions. There was a strong central Gov-
ernment established now as the headquarters of the entire Portuguese State
of India, which extended from East Africa to the Far East, including all the
Portuguese centres of in?uence situated therein. The city councilors were
?nding many of their demands being rejected on the part of the Government
authorities as preposterous and irreconcilable with the wider interests of
the State. This situation re?ected the con?ict that was common in Medieval
Europe of the mercantilist age between the municipal exclusivism of the
towns and the nationalism of the developing States.
10
As a result of such con?icts and crises the city council in Goa got its powers
and privileges de?ned with greater clarity and precision. A revised charter
of privileges was issued by King Sebastian in 1559. It declared inter alia that
the citizens elected to hold any post in the city administration would have
the right to be treated as members of the royal family as regards the privilege
of exemption from imprisonment in public jail. The charter recognised
the judicial control of the city elders over those appointed by them to any
city of?ce, but it left the aggrieved party to seek redress through the regular
channels of State judiciary. The clerks of the municipality and the clerks
of the attorneys for the orphans were empowered to act as public notaries
in matters pertaining to their of?ces. The city council could assign places
or streets to the city artisans and merchants, and it could enact necessary
market regulations. Vessels bringing goods and food supplies to the city
could not be diverted by the State authorities to any other place unless
it was so required by urgent needs of the empire. The city aldermen and
other of?cials, including workers’ representatives, could decide in council
meetings to make grants of waste lands that were not requisitioned by the
State. The city elders were also granted jurisdiction over all cases of verbal
offences within the city limits.
11
After the city had obtained the con?rmation of its privileges, it sought to do
away with the recurring doubts regarding the election procedures and func-
tions of the city councilors and of various other subordinate of?cials of the
city administration. This was done by sending a 12-point questionnaire to
the municipal council of Lisbon.
12
The answers received from Lisbon do not
conform in all things with the procedure that prevailed in Goa, although the
instructions received from Lisbon were enforced by a decree of the viceroy
Dom Luis de Ataide “in full and without alteration” .
13
This same decree was
con?rmed in 1577, in 1582, and again in 1641.
14
The Lisbon system was sub-
stantially followed in Goa, but the records of the Goa municipality help us to
describe the organisation and working of the municipality administration
with its regional peculiarities and variations.
Composition, functions of the municipal council
The presence of the city captain in the municipal council of Goa was one of
its peculiarities. The city captain was an ex-of?cio member of the council
with the right to two votes. His presence, however, was not very much appre-
ciated by his colleagues in the municipal council. In a letter written to the
Crown in 1602 the councilors explained that the city captain invited to join
the city council in olden times when there were few citizens to administer
the city and there was also the need of using the position of the city captain
to uphold more effectively the privileges and rights of the citizens. In the
course of time, they wrote that the presence of the city captain had become
more a hindrance than a help for the good administration of the city. Two
reasons were put forth to justify this complaint. Firstly, the city captain used
his two votes, as a rule, to provide city jobs to his own favourites. And, sec-
ondly he often acted as an agent of the viceroy by revealing to him matters
discussed in the municipality chamber and things written to the Crown in
secrecy regarding the State administration.
15
In spite of the above complaints of the other councillors, the city captain
continued to participate in the city administration with his rights and privi-
leges as before. The only concession made in favour of the other councillors
was a permission granted to them in 1655 by the viceroy Count of Sarzedas
to effect appointments to the city of?ces even if the captain was not present
at the meetings after a prior intimation.
16
The other of?cials that constituted the municipal council and enjoyed
decision-making powers were altogether ten in number and were elected
once a year. These were: Three aldermen (vereadores), two justices of peace
(juizes ordinários), one city attorney (procurador da cidade), and four work-
ers’ representatives (procurodores dos mesteres).
The ?rst six of the above ten of?cials were elected through a complicated
system of balloting. General elections were conducted every three years. All
citizens were summoned to the Town Hall by the secretary of the council
during the last week of the last month of the year. The Crown judge of the city
(corregedor da comarca or ouvidor geral) of?ciated over the proceedings and
six electors were chosen by the majority vote of the assembly of the citizens.
Page 5


Establishment of the city administration
A
FTER CONQUERING GOA, Albuquerque did not delay measures aimed at
consolidating his hold upon the new acquisition. The mixed marriages
which he encouraged had this purpose. They were aimed at generating
manpower acclimatised to India and attached simultaneously to the home
country and to the colonial residence.
Initially Albuquerque encouraged marriages by offering cash dowries at the
cost of the public exchequer and by making grants of lands.
1
To these attrac-
tions he soon added the offer of of?ces pertaining to the city administration.
The Portuguese chronicler Barros writes that before Albuquerque left Goa
for Malacca in January 1512 he had organised the city administration and
selected gentlemen (homens bons) with suf?cient aptitude from among the
married settlers to act as aldermen, market inspectors, justices of peace,
police constables and so on.
2
This account of Barros ?nds con?rmation
in a letter of Albuquerque himself. He wrote to the King of Portugal on
December 3, 1513: “The posts of city captain, head constable and factory
clerk have been given to men sent by Your Majesty, but the other jobs of the
city administration are entrusted to the Portuguese gentlemen married at
Goa” .
3
Although it is not possible to pinpoint the date of the establishment of the
Goa municipal council with the help of the extant records, there is ample
evidence to form a precise idea of its nature and development and policies.
First and foremost, there is a charter of privileges granted by Albuquerque
himself to the city of?cials. This is known through its copy sent to Lisbon
in 1515 for royal con?rmation.
4
The initial clauses of this charter describe
the structure that the municipal organisation was to have, and they indicate
that it was modeled largely after its metropolitan prototype. This fact is
signi?cant because it re?ects the importance that Albuquerque attached
to Goa. There were other municipal councils set up in the Portuguese
eastern empire, but were given constitutions of the municipal councils of
Oporto or Evora.
5
Goa city was also declared to be realenga, which meant
an inalienable possession of the Portuguese Crown, and this was done years
before it was made the headquarters of the Government of the Portuguese
State of India.
6
The charter clauses determining the structure of the municipal adminis-
tration state that the aldermen and justices of the peace should be elected
every year and the market inspectors every month. The artisans are directed
to have a body of twenty-four representatives to direct their affairs, and the
House of Twenty-Four (Caza dos Vinte Quatro) was to elect four representa-
tives to be on the municipal board for promoting the welfare of the working
classes. All the of?cials were entitled to carry red wands of of?ce with the
royal coat-of arms at one end and the wheel of St. Catherine’s martyrdom at
the other end of the wand.
7
The privilege clauses of the same charter determined among other things
that there could be no appeal against the judgement of the market inspec-
tors beyond the municipal board. Married settlers could not be imprisoned
in public jails while in municipal of?ce. The citizens serving in munici-
pality of?ces were granted some kind of private justice. All the citizens
were allowed to navigate freely and to bring foodstuffs and other goods to
the city without paying any import taxes. All the municipal of?ces were
reserved to the Portuguese married settlers, excepting those reserved to
the Crown appointees. Married settlers were exempted from any exclusive
tax impositions or loan demands by the State authorities. They were free
to sell, if they wished, any of their movable and immovable properties, in-
cluding whatever they might have received by way of dowry from the State,
provided the buyers were not Muslims or Hindus. The city captain was to
swear respect to the city privileges on taking of?ce, and he was given two
votes during the proceedings of the municipal council meetings, but he was
instructed also to use his rights and privileges to contribute towards the
smooth administration of the city.
8
All the above provisions of the charter granted by Afonso de Albuquerque
to the citizens of the Goa municipality were con?rmed by the Crown on
March 2, 1518, but with a few clari?cations and reservations. Thus, for in-
stance, the citizens were not granted exemption from contributing to works
of public utility. They were not allowed also to trade freely in prohibited
goods, such as spices. The State authorities were also left with discretionary
powers to deprive a citizen of his of?ce and to con?scate his belongings, but
only in such cases for which those punishments were normally in?icted in
Portugal.
9
Municipal evolution at Goa in the 16th century
Goa city developed great administrative complexity after the transfer of
the seat of Government from Cochin to Goa in 1530. The city also grew in
size, in population, and in commercial traf?c. This growth led to a kind of
identity crisis on the part of the municipal administrators, who began facing
challenges to their privileges and decisions. There was a strong central Gov-
ernment established now as the headquarters of the entire Portuguese State
of India, which extended from East Africa to the Far East, including all the
Portuguese centres of in?uence situated therein. The city councilors were
?nding many of their demands being rejected on the part of the Government
authorities as preposterous and irreconcilable with the wider interests of
the State. This situation re?ected the con?ict that was common in Medieval
Europe of the mercantilist age between the municipal exclusivism of the
towns and the nationalism of the developing States.
10
As a result of such con?icts and crises the city council in Goa got its powers
and privileges de?ned with greater clarity and precision. A revised charter
of privileges was issued by King Sebastian in 1559. It declared inter alia that
the citizens elected to hold any post in the city administration would have
the right to be treated as members of the royal family as regards the privilege
of exemption from imprisonment in public jail. The charter recognised
the judicial control of the city elders over those appointed by them to any
city of?ce, but it left the aggrieved party to seek redress through the regular
channels of State judiciary. The clerks of the municipality and the clerks
of the attorneys for the orphans were empowered to act as public notaries
in matters pertaining to their of?ces. The city council could assign places
or streets to the city artisans and merchants, and it could enact necessary
market regulations. Vessels bringing goods and food supplies to the city
could not be diverted by the State authorities to any other place unless
it was so required by urgent needs of the empire. The city aldermen and
other of?cials, including workers’ representatives, could decide in council
meetings to make grants of waste lands that were not requisitioned by the
State. The city elders were also granted jurisdiction over all cases of verbal
offences within the city limits.
11
After the city had obtained the con?rmation of its privileges, it sought to do
away with the recurring doubts regarding the election procedures and func-
tions of the city councilors and of various other subordinate of?cials of the
city administration. This was done by sending a 12-point questionnaire to
the municipal council of Lisbon.
12
The answers received from Lisbon do not
conform in all things with the procedure that prevailed in Goa, although the
instructions received from Lisbon were enforced by a decree of the viceroy
Dom Luis de Ataide “in full and without alteration” .
13
This same decree was
con?rmed in 1577, in 1582, and again in 1641.
14
The Lisbon system was sub-
stantially followed in Goa, but the records of the Goa municipality help us to
describe the organisation and working of the municipality administration
with its regional peculiarities and variations.
Composition, functions of the municipal council
The presence of the city captain in the municipal council of Goa was one of
its peculiarities. The city captain was an ex-of?cio member of the council
with the right to two votes. His presence, however, was not very much appre-
ciated by his colleagues in the municipal council. In a letter written to the
Crown in 1602 the councilors explained that the city captain invited to join
the city council in olden times when there were few citizens to administer
the city and there was also the need of using the position of the city captain
to uphold more effectively the privileges and rights of the citizens. In the
course of time, they wrote that the presence of the city captain had become
more a hindrance than a help for the good administration of the city. Two
reasons were put forth to justify this complaint. Firstly, the city captain used
his two votes, as a rule, to provide city jobs to his own favourites. And, sec-
ondly he often acted as an agent of the viceroy by revealing to him matters
discussed in the municipality chamber and things written to the Crown in
secrecy regarding the State administration.
15
In spite of the above complaints of the other councillors, the city captain
continued to participate in the city administration with his rights and privi-
leges as before. The only concession made in favour of the other councillors
was a permission granted to them in 1655 by the viceroy Count of Sarzedas
to effect appointments to the city of?ces even if the captain was not present
at the meetings after a prior intimation.
16
The other of?cials that constituted the municipal council and enjoyed
decision-making powers were altogether ten in number and were elected
once a year. These were: Three aldermen (vereadores), two justices of peace
(juizes ordinários), one city attorney (procurador da cidade), and four work-
ers’ representatives (procurodores dos mesteres).
The ?rst six of the above ten of?cials were elected through a complicated
system of balloting. General elections were conducted every three years. All
citizens were summoned to the Town Hall by the secretary of the council
during the last week of the last month of the year. The Crown judge of the city
(corregedor da comarca or ouvidor geral) of?ciated over the proceedings and
six electors were chosen by the majority vote of the assembly of the citizens.
These six electors were generally from among the prominent citizens and
they were administered the oath of the Holy Gospels. The six electors were
then separated into three batches of two each and instructed to draw up
three lists (Pautas) of the candidates for the various city posts during the
three years to come.
17
The lists were collected and scrutinised by the Crown
judge to ensure that none of the persons nominated for of?ce in any given
year were closely related to each other by ties of blood or of interest.
18
The
lists were then sealed with red sealing wax by the secretary of the council
and taken to the viceroy who had the right to inspect them once again.
Sometimes the viceroys did not just inspect them, but would even introduce
their own candidates or determine which candidates should serve during
each of the three years.
19
The triennial election lists were kept in an election coffer of the municipality
house. It was opened once a year on New Year’s Day or on New Year’s Eve to
determine who would replace the outgoing of?cials at the end of the year.
A young Portuguese lad was asked to draw the names inscribed in paper
slips from different bags representing different categories of the municipal
of?ces. The new of?cials were then inducted into of?ce with an oath on
the Holy Gospels and with a promise to safeguard the rights of the people,
to attend truthfully to the service of God and of the Crown, and to observe
secrecy regarding matters discussed in the municipality chamber.
20
From the point of view of class domination, the city administration was a
preserve of the white settlers. A royal edict of 1542 had made it very clear
that “the of?ces of aldermen, judges, procurator, secretary, almotacels, and
workers’ representatives in whom the control and the administration of
the city of Goa are vested, should always be taken from among the mar-
ried men and heads of households, who are Portuguese by nationality and
birth and not from among those of any other nationality, birth, and quality
whatsoever.”
21
In addition to the above quali?cations, it was also required that the candi-
dates should be old Christians and not of Jewish descent. However, in spite
of these clear injunctions, convert Jews were not always kept out of the city
administration, and the of?ces were often retained within closed circles.
22
There is evidence also of con?ict between the ?dalgos (nobility of blood)
and the noblemen (nobility of service) in the city of Goa, and the latter did
not look happily at the superiority complex of the former.
23
It was also determined by a municipality accord that in order to be elected
alderman a candidate should have served earlier as market inspector and
justice of peace, or as city attorney. This pre-requisite was not applicable to
the ?dalgos from among whom was elected one of the three aldermen.
24
Anyone elected to serve in any of?ce of the municipality was not free to
accept it or to decline the offer.
25
The above mentioned accord of the mu-
nicipality had also enacted that a citizen who refused to take up the of?ce