Of Aldona, Siolim, Anjuna and Morjim... circa 1877 By Frederick Noronha [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Would you believe that in 1877, there were as many as 8988 people living in Aldona? Or that Siolim had 9604 residents, and Anjuna, 8508? Even Morjim had a rather significant population of 3853 at that time. On the other hand, villages like Ambeacho-Goval in Sattari taluka had barely 12 persons living there. But that was 1877, at a time when the estimated number of Goans living abroad was just 34,557. Trivia? These loose and seemingly unconnected facts pop out at us from the dusty pages of history stored an interesting yet little-visited library at Alto-Porvorim. If you chance upon the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, you stand the chance of unravelling a lot of secrets of yesterday's life in Goa. For instance, details about how migration affected this small state. Of how the comunidades were run. Or, how valued goldsmiths from Goa were even in the early sixteenth century Portugal. On one of the well-maintained shelves, one can page through original copies of the first newspaper to be published from Goa. Gazeta de Goa was brought out in 1821, and lists political and other "news" across its now-fragile pages. One brief item reports on the war between Russia and Turkey, giving a hint of what readers in Goa got to read in those days. One also comes across facts which everyone seems to have forgotten about the Goa of the yesterdays. "Indian goldsmithery was considered to be of a very high order. The Portuguese were fascinated by it," points out librarian Ms. D'Souza. She points to a book called The Heritage of Rauluchatim. Raulu Chatim was a goldsmith who went to Lisbon to display his art in the early 'sixteenth century, and this book was written only in 1996 by the son of Goa's last Portuguese Governor- General. On other shelves of this library, one can learn a whole vast amoung of interesting tid-bits about Goa. For instance, you could check out the number of persons -- single, married or widowed -- in the villages of Assolna, Benaulim or Betalbatim in the year 1881. There's a very useful tide-table, using which one can determine the high and low-tides simply by looking at the phases of the moons. Similarly, in those days when nature ruled, there is a full year's of information about the sunrise and sunset timings. Goan and Portuguese authors also took some pains in trying to understand the significance of Hindu festivals, both regional and national. Maybe one might find the spellings used to describe these festivals rather quaint today -- Makarsakranti, Mahashivratri, Shimga, Vorshpratipad, Ram Navam.... Looking through some other books, one could get an interesting collection of information. It might seem like tit-bits of trivia, but surely meant a lot in those days. Even today, this information could give an insight into the lives and times that our grandparents went through. Take for instance, the details about the functioning of the Bombay Tramway Co. Ltd. It's speed was restricted to six miles per hour, and five miles per hour in the Abdul Rehman Street. Ticket rates are published, from Sassoon Dock to Parel via the Portuguese Church and Grant Road. There are long lists of rules governing the functioning of the comunidades. One can find out statistics about what was then called the West of India Portuguese Railway (now part of the South Central Railway). Even the teachers who taught at village schools were listed -- obviously there were only a handful, in those days when literacy was something only a few could attain. It's interesting to see the manner in which migration out of this state was slowly taking root. For instance, in the late nineteenth century itself, there were a number of "clubs" set up by people from Goa across the country. Some examples from Bombay: the Club Lusitano da Associacao Dramatica on Picket Road, Goa National Dramatic Company on Girgaum Road, the Indo-Portuguese Cricket Club of Bombay, the Instituto Luso-Indiano at Agyari Street and the Instituto de Sto. Antonio (the old Anglo-Portuguese School). In Calcutta, one comes across the St. Anthony's Girls School, and there's the Goa Portuguese Association at Karachi alongwith the Goa Portuguese Association Cricket Club. There are many other clubs and institutions in Pune and even an institution called the Goan Death Benefit Association! Goa-linked commercial firms are also listed in destinations as remote as Ahmedabad, Amravati, Baroda, Bellary, Bhusawal, Bombay, Calcutta, "Cawnpur" (Kanpur), and Karachi. In that early age itself, Goans seem to have got involved in a number of various commercial firms -- ranging from printing works to tailoring, philately, Catholic religious books, wines, pharmacies and handling passenger baggage. Quadrille Band Suppliers of Calcutta had the distinction of being listed along with a hint of its patrons in high places. It goes down as an "estabelecimento musical fundado em 1865, sob o distincto patrocinio de sua excia. o vicerei da India e de sua alteza of governador da Bengala". XCHR's book collection has been steadily growing. From 1993 to 1995, for instance, it grew from 13,000 to 16,000. You can see from the above that one doesn't need to be a historian to appreciate the useful facts that emerge from its library and treasure-house of past information. Besides its many books, XCHR has rare atlases, maps, dissertations and bibliographies, newspapers clippings and some 200 cyclostyled volumes of government reports and seminar papers. It also has photocopies of inaccessible documents and articles. XCHR also houses around 200,000 Mhamai House documents. (In the eighteenth century, the Mhamais were engaged in business at Old Goa, before they shifted to Panjim in 1759. They were tobacco revenue farmers, but faced bankruptcy in 1818. Besides other activities, they ran an agency house for the French, and counted the state shipyard as one of their clients.) It has received donations of books from as far apart as Lisbon, Porvorim, Delhi, Candolim, Margao, US, Anjuna and England. Computer printouts of the indexes of XCHR are available, while there is also a microfilm reader on hand. In keeping with the wealth of information this centre contains, even the prestigious US Library of Congress has evinced interest in its information. It's another fact that people from in and around Goa have not taken full benefit of this useful collection. But scholars like Prof. Philomena Antony of Chowgule College have undertaken interesting work -- for example, on the relations between colonial Brazil and colonial Goa -- through this centre. Some other interesting exhibits have also found their way to this centre. For instance, the family of the late Dr. Manuel F. de Albuquerque of Anjuna, gave a quaint gift to the XCHR. Dr. de Albuquerque was the personal physician to the former Sultan of Zanzibar. His family donated to the centre's museum three swords, including the gloden sword won by the Goan doctor for his discovery and combat of the bubonic plague in distant Africa in 1903! [This article was written some years back, and is being recirculated. The writer is a Goa-based independent journalist.] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GOANET-READER WELCOMES contributions from its readers, by way of essays, reviews, features and think-pieces. We share quality Goa-related writing among the 7000-strong readership of the Goanet/Goanet-news network of mailing lists. If you appreciated the thoughts expressed above, please send in your feedback to the writer. 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