Hi Eugene, I am amazed to observe through the years, that ill-informed Bardezkars always claim a priority over the Sashtikars as far as links to Europe and Europeans are concerned. These ill-informed beliefs are exemplified in your note which states that "These families were possibly Aryans, who first came to India from central Asia. Or is it central Europe?"
Well here are the facts of Our History - Goa was a beautiful, idyllic place with sunkissed beaches that was originally inhabited by the Kunbis, Gavdas, Kannadigas, etc for a few centuries. The Chardos (Kshatriyas) arrived in Goa centuries later, but earlier than the Gaud Saraswats since they took a shorter, more direct route to Goa from Kashmir from west of the Vindhya mountains. Much later we had the westward migration to Goa by the Gaud Saraswats from Bengal (Gaud means Bengal, Saraswat is from the Saraswati river which flowed from the present day Gulf of Cambay(Khambhatt) northwards through Gujarat, Rajasthan - it is dried up now) but this group survived their first eastward journey from Kashmir to Bengal by eating fish from the Saraswati river, as they were fleeing to Bengal to aviod a famine in North India. After residing in Bengal for a few centuries, these Gaud Saraswats migrated westwards to Goa. It is mentioned in history that Goa's then ruler Mayuravarman (Chardo) changed his name to Mayurasarman (Brahmin) after studying at Kanchi and Pataliputra and welcomed the Gaud Saraswats to settle in Goa. On the way to Goa, the Gaud Saraswats picked up their diety Monghyr-sa (from Monghyr in Bihar) which has since been corrupted to Mangesha in Goan Konkani. 12 GSB families settled in the north - that is why the place os known as Bar-desh (for Bara = 12) 30 GSB families settled in the central area - that is why the place is known as Tiswadi (for Tis = 30) 66 GSB families settled in the south - that is why the area is known as Salcete or Sashti for 66. (GSB = Gaud Saraswat Brahmins) Due to their migration from Bengal, there is a strong relationship between Bengali and Goan Konkani eg 'Busa' means 'sit' in Marathi - but it is 'bos' in Bengali and Konkani. You should also remember, that the Gaud Saraswats were the latter-day Goans. They were greeted in Goa by the Chardos who were already flourishing there. So where is the European Connection ? Sheesh you Palpon Re Bardezkars with your Palponos and your 'Aao Portugues' podhi and patrade, claim to have an European Connection at every turn of history !! First it was the more recent Fish Mayonaise and now its the Gaud Saraswat migration of 12 GSB families to North Goa ! How crazy ! Remember India has a far glorious history than Europe which was in the Dark Ages for a long time. You all got to get over your 'Aao Portugues' podhi and patrade and this hero worship of the damn Europeans who just plundered India. REFERENCE: D'Cruz, Carmo A. - 'Re-Discovering Goa' - a second Master's Thesis (just for the love of Goa) in the Department of Portuguese Culture and Language - in partial fulfillment of the non-business requirements for the MBA degree - University of Texas at Austin - 1989. Best Regards, Dr. Carmo D'Cruz, Sashtikar, Proud Velkar Even More Proud to be a Goenkar ! INDIAn Harbour Beach, Florida _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
