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WHERE WAS GREAT GRANDDAD? MUSINGS 150 YEARS AFTER CAWNPORE
By Chhotebhai
noronha_kp at dataone.in
The months of May and June 2007 have been a time of turmoil
for me. On May 9, I was sitting in Nanarao Park, in my home
town Kanpur. I was not afflicted by the scorching heat, but
by concern about my great grandfather, Manuel Xavier de
Noronha (MX). No, he wasn't kidnapped, but I was wondering
where he was on that day in 1857 -- 150 years ago.
That was the eve of the First War of Independence, which the
British termed the "Sepoy Mutiny". We were, 150 years later,
commemorating the martyrs who had laid down their lives for
the freedom of the country.
Present with us was one of the descendants of Tantya Tope,
who along with Nanarao Peshwa, led the revolt in Kanpur on
the night of 4th June 1857. The memorial service was held in
the shadow of the old Banyan Tree where the British hanged
150 freedom fighters, after they had recaptured Kanpur (then
known as Cawnpore). That was the spot where the Bibighar once
stood, the place where British women and children were
quartered, and later slaughtered, by the freedom fighters.
Before that, Nansaheb had granted safe passage to the British
to sail along the Ganga to Allahabad. The British had
embarked on their boats with their families, when the Indian
troops fired on them, quite literally massacring them. The
place came to be known as Massacre Ghat.
On reconquering Kanpur, the British first made the
mutineers/revolutionaries lick the blood on the parapet of
the well where the British women and children had been
slaughtered, before they hanged them.
And there I was sitting, with other citizens, all eulogising
the bravery of the freedom fighters, and condemning the
cruelty of the Gora Sahibs. All very politically correct; but
how true? As Dan Brown of 'The Da Vinci Code' notoriety very
correctly says, "History is written by the winners." In 1857
the British finally won, and they wrote the history of the
uprising, quite obviously from a very British point of view.
There were no Indian historians around, to record the Indian
version. May and June saw many contemporary historians
writing about the tumultuous events of 1857, and refuting the
British versions.
In their writings, it is the British who were cruel and
ruthless. Whichever side we take, there was bloodshed and
killing, mostly of innocent persons, including women and
children.
I am a believer in Gandhian non-violence, and recall how
Gandhiji suspended the freedom movement after the violence in
Chaurichaura. Never mind the historians. Gandhiji always
insisted that the ends do not justify the means. Violence has
no winners -- only losers, mostly the innocent.
Where was MX in all this? He had learnt
photography from the Portuguese in his native
village of Aldona in Goa. Family legend says that
he led a caravan of 300 bullock carts. He travelled
to courts of Rajas and Nawabs, taking their
photographs. He reportedly charged the princely sum
of Rs 200 per photograph a hundred and fifty years
ago!
This was before the invention of celluloid or cameras. He
fabricated his own cameras, and gold and silver nitrate
solutions, for making the positives and negatives on plate
glass. The negatives looked like ghosts, so he was sometimes
beaten up for removing the "souls" of the royal subjects!
In the course of his travels, and three years after he left
Aldona, MX's caravan arrived in Cawnpore in 1857. He
immediately got sucked into the vortex of the violence. He
reportedly took photographs, which are unfortunately lost to
posterity. What was MX's role in 1857? What of the retinue
of 300 bullock carts, or whatever remained of it after three
years of intrepid adventure? How many people were with him?
Were they Konkani-speaking Goans like MX? Were they Catholics
or Hindus? My father, who was born in 1897 (just 40 years
after the war, and therefore a credible testator) told me
that at that point in history Christians were identified with
the British, and given protection by them. So where was MX?
On which side was he, if at all he did take sides.
There are two strands of written evidence.
The first is a souvenir published by the Aldona Association
of Bombay in 1943. It mentions three persons on the village's
Roll of Honour. Two were patriots or martyrs, and sandwiched
between their names is that of MX.
It states that he saved 80 lives during the 1857 war, and was
mentioned in the writings of Rudyard Kipling (of Mowgli
fame). Kipling does write about an elephant going berserk in
the house of a Goan family in Cawnpore. That was MX's family.
But which 80 lives did MX save? Were they his native Goans,
his fellow Indians, or the British? I really don?t know;
which is why I am in turmoil.
The other shred of historical evidence is a letter dated the
July 3, 1880, written by one Col Mowbray Thomson, Resident
with the ex-King of Oudh, and Superintendent, Government
Pensions. He states that one Col. Wilson of the 64th Foot was
mortally wounded in a skirmish with the Gwalior Contingent,
and "Noronha behaved gallantly as well as compassionately in
staying with him till he was safely carried off the field and
into the Fort where he died a short time afterwards."
Gallantry and compassion are words that are seldom used in
tandem, much less in war! So MX must have been an exceptional
person. It would seem that human life was more precious to
him than violence, no matter how highly motivated.
But the mystery of MX still deepens. He was born in
Aldona on October 30, 1825. So he would have been
just 29 years of age when he left Goa; and 32 when
he arrived in Cawnpore. He established business in
Cawnpore in 1858 under the name and style of M/s. M
X de Noronha & Son. From photography he branched
out into auctioneering, printing, brick kilns,
running the post and telegraphs, generating and
supplying electricity, real estate, etc. This is
what we know about MX.
What we still don't know is what happened to him and his
retinue between 1857 and 1858? He did not return to Goa
then. So where was he? The British fled to Allahabad. Had he
been a British supporter he would have been killed by the
freedom fighters. Sitting in Nanarao Park, commemorating the
martyrs, thoughts were swirling around my head. Then I got a
brain-wave. Nanarao Peshwa and Tantya Tope were Marathas, and
spoke Marathi. MX was a Goan and spoke Konkani, akin to
Marathi. So did Nanarao find in MX a kindred spirit, and
grant him and his retinue protection?
I would love to know the answer.
Perhaps the people of Aldona, and Goa, would find MX's story
inspiring and intriguing. But going by the records, MX had
imbibed the spirit of adventure and entrepreneurship from his
native village of Aldona.
In the 1943 Aldona Souvenir, Dr. Thomas C D'Silva MBBS
writes, "In trade and commerce, the Aldonense (Aldonkar
today) has usually blazed the trail; he may be called the
pioneer among Goans."
In the same souvenir, Luis Jose D'Souza MA, MSc,
writes: "At a time when the so-called Novas
Conquistas (New Conquests) were as unknown to the
Goans as Bombay was, the Aldonense with his
characteristic daring and unsurpassed spirit of
pioneering, penetrated the 'unchartered area'. He
went as a businessman. Their means of transport
were the oxen.
Many of us still remember the caravans of oxen with bags
slung across their backs and bells jingling from their necks,
trudging their way wearily over hills through malaria-ridden
jungles plying their trade. They left us a legacy of daring,
love of work, integrity of character, unsurpassed qualities
of leadership, and above all a marvellous spirit of
self-confidence.
I don't have all the answers to the questions about my great
granddad. But I know enough to follow in his footsteps. May
his life and struggles be an inspiration to the youth of
today, especially of his native Goa, in this sesquicentennial
year of his arrival in what was then Cawnpore.
--
The writer aka Alan Noronha is a Gandhian social activist;
community leader, and a businessman by profession.
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