Talking about the wars in the Indian subcontinent, Kadamba, Yadava,
etc., doesn't justify anything, because in Europe there were also wars
between the Portuguese and Spanish, Germans and French, Napoleon and
Hitler wanted to invade Russia and were defeated, etc., but these were
wars between neighbors on the same continent. (Europe was responsible
for both world wars).
What do Asians, Africans, native Brazilians, First Nations of Canada,
the USA, Australia, and New Zealand think when Vasco, Albuquerque,
Columbus, Pizarro, and Cortés are mentioned? That they were pirates
who came from afar to steal, enslave, etc. Even today in Hungary and
Poland, the Mongols of Genkis Khan are classified as savages who came
to steal.
The opinions of these people are WORTH MORE THAN the illusory grandeur
of the invaders.
The statues erected of them in the former colonies were torn down
because they celebrated and represented the excruciating suffering of
innocent people. These statues were transferred to museums so that
future generations could learn about the past.
Monuments honoring Josef Stalin disappeared from Eastern European
countries after the fall of the Soviet Union. In 2003, US Army
soldiers destroyed the statue of Saddam Hussein in Karbala after the
invasion of Iraq. In the US, several monuments linked to slavery and
colonialism, such as statues of Columbus, were targeted. In the United
Kingdom, the statue of the trafficker Edward Colston was torn down.
And in São Paulo, protesters set fire to a statue of the bandeirante
Borba Gato - a fugitive from the law, gold smuggler, linked to the
enslavement of Indians and blacks in Brazil and who played a prominent
role in the expeditions into the Brazilian hinterland.
Many of the sailors who accompanied Gama were CRIMINALS RELEASED FROM PRISON.
Even after Angola's independence, for example, a group of far-left
activists from Portugal landed in Luanda and tried to overthrow the
legitimate government of Agostinho Neto. They were repelled and thrown
into a mass grave. This is anti-colonial history.
History is a science based on data, not on public opinion? History is
based on the testimonies of the conquerors/victors, based on
ideologies, racial supremacy, etc. It is not an exact science.
Mathematics is considered an exact science. So, 2 plus 2 equals 4 and
there's no arguing about it, and it's the same throughout the universe.
Alberto
----- Mensagem de Edgar Valles <> ---------
Data: Sun, 4 Jan 2026 09:04:30 +0000
De: Edgar Valles <>
Assunto: Re: [GRN] Vasco da Gama
Para:
Very good and deep explanation , about Portuguese role in Goa, the
one made by John de Figueiredo. I agree with it.
However, the last conclusion may arise controversy:
"The Portuguese only became foreigners in India on August 15, 1947,
the day when the “tryst with Destiny” occurred (to use the famous
expression of Jawaharlal Nehru).".
This would be true if Goa was integrated into British India. But it
was not the case, Goa was a Portuguese colony and the independence
of India didn't change its status.
For example, Indonesia became independent in 1945 and Portugal ruled
Timor Leste until Indonesia invaded it in 1975. Portuguese didn't
become foreigners in Timor Leste in 1945, just because Indonesia
became independent.
By the way, as the people of Timor Leste didn't accept the invasion
by Indonesia and fought, they were able to exercise the right of
self determination in a referendum and on the 2th May 2002
independence was proclaimed. Indonesia , the invasor,was forced to
give up Timor Leste.
According to the principles of Bandung Conference in 1955 and the
United Nation rules, people of a colonial territory should be
allowed to decide their own future. So, if Portuguese presence in
Goa was legimitated till 1947, it didn't become illegitimate just
because India became independent in 1947.
It would be different if Goans expressed the decision to be part of
India at that time. Then, Portuguese would be "foreigners in Goa"
from that year...
My thoughts are not politically motivated, as the past belongs to
the past. ..
Edgar Valles
Lisbon
JOHN DE FIGUEIREDO <[email protected]> escreveu (domingo,
4/01/2026 à(s) 06:42):
Let us not be elitist when judging Vasco da Gama. If he came
from a lower social class (meaning, I trust, that he came from a
poor family with a low educational level), then my admiration for
him is even greater. Clearly, he had to overcome a significant
social disadvantage to master and excel in the science and art of
navigation and to convince his King that a “commoner” like him was
up to the extraordinary mission of commanding a fleet from Portugal
to India and back. And he did this, not once or twice, but 5 times.
He connected the dots and demonstrated how this could be achieved.
Was he helped by others? Sure. He was helped by the discovery of
Bartolomeu Dias that Africa had an end and by the Arab pilot who
guided him from East Africa to India. But so were Watson and Crick
in their discovery of the structure of DNA. They were helped by the
previous discoveries of Erwin Chargaff and Rosalind Franklin. This
is how human knowledge advances, step by step, one discovery
leading to the next one. His important achievement set the stage
for an unprecedented globalization of knowledge. Was he perfect?
Far from it. Understanding something is not the same as excusing
it. What he did to the Muslim pilgrims is abominable by today’s
standards, but it was (as Frederick said) fair game in his time. In
1469, Virupaksha I, Emperor of Vijayanagara, ordered the massacre
of thousands of Muslims in Bhatkal. The few who survived fled to
(guess where) Goa, where they found a home and thrived. Let us not
be harsher in our judgment of Vasco da Gama just because he was a
European or he was from a “lower class.” It really does not matter
what Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, or Parsis think of Vasco da
Gama. History is a science based on data, not on public opinion. My
point is that as Viceroy of India, his message to fellow Europeans
was: “If you are corrupt and steal from the public treasury, I will
punish you.” And that is exactly what he did, and this is why we,
Goans, should respect and admire Vasco da Gama as a person with
integrity. It was a risky decision. With the benefit of hindsight,
we can say that several of his successors as Governors or Viceroys
(including our own Barnardo Peres da Silva) were deposed by
military coups when they attempted to do what he did. A Secretary
of State (European), who was, like Gama, a person with integrity,
was assassinated in plain daylight in front of the Government
Palace in Panjim by some fellow Europeans who saw him as an
obstacle to their schemes and scams. Imagine a scenario in which
Vasco da Gama looked the other way and may have even pocketed some
money himself. Today, we would correctly say that he was a thief
and a party to a cover-up. But that is not what he did.
Why did the Portuguese occupy and settle in Goa? Good
question. The last time I heard this question was from my friend
Luiz de Camoes. He had Vasco da Gama being asked: “Quem te trouxe a
estoutro mundo, tão longe da tua Pátria Lusitana?” (“Who brought
you to this other world, so far away from your Lusitanian
Motherland? "). This question raises all sorts of other questions.
What made the Kadambas infiltrate Goa after they were defeated by
the Chalukyas and conquer Goa, defeating its legitimate Goan Kings?
What made the Yadavas conquer Goa, terrorize the Goans, and impose
their language (Marathi) on the Goans? What made the Bahmanis and
the Delhi Muslims invade Goa and terrorize the Goans? What made
Vijayanagara conquer Goa? What forced Goa into the Sultanate of
Bijapur? The only answer that comes to my mind is what my teacher
of History at the Liceu, Rev. Dr. Antonio Garcia, S.J., used to
say: “Just like in the big ocean the big fish eat the small fish,
so the stronger peoples invade and conquer the weaker ones.”
Happens even to this day, right under our noses. It seems to me
that the fundamental misconception in this conversation is to view
the Portuguese in Vasco da Gama’s time as foreigners. In fact, they
were not “more foreigners” or “less foreigners” in Gama’s time than
the Kadambas, the Yadavas, and all those other guys. The Portuguese
only became foreigners in India on August 15, 1947, the day when
the “tryst with Destiny” occurred (to use the famous expression of
Jawaharlal Nehru). This is why an agent of Vijayanagara approached
Afonso de Albuquerque with the assent of some Goans and asked him
to free Goa from Bijapur.
Sorry for this long note.
John M. de Figueiredo
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