G’BYE GOA: INDO-ARYANS-4 By Valmiki Faleiro A comparatively colossal number of Indo-Aryans from Gujarat and North India, this time comprising of Saraswats, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, migrated into Goa during “The Second Wave.” It was not a single wave but a series of smaller waves, over several centuries, which is collectively called the ‘Second Wave.’ Among the first of these was in the 5th century AD, when the Sharmas of Cortalim came here after their native Punjab was overrun by the Huns. More waves would have occurred from the 8th century AD onwards, from the reign of the Chalukya, Vikramaditya-II, when Arabs began invading the Gujarat coast. Indo-Aryans from the Kutch region are known to have migrated to Goa during this period. Malbarao Sardesai, the Hindustani musician and musicologist from Savoiverem- Ponda, hailing from one of Goa’s old Saraswat families, traced his ancestors had migrated from Kanauj in the 9th/10th century AD. The period around the 10th Century AD was a time of peace when Goa was securely under the Goa Kadambas, who ruled either on their own or as feudatories of powerful neighbouring kings. It was during this era that maximum Indo-Aryan in-migration occurred in Goa. More Indo-Aryan migrants would have arrived from the 11th century onwards, with Muslim invasions and conquests in North India – for instance, in 1018, when Muhammad of Ghazni razed Kanauj. And more in the 12th century, when the forces of Qutub-ud-din Aibuk invaded the Tirhut region of Bihar in 1193 AD and plundered and completely destroyed Kanauj in 1194. The ‘Mangesh Mahatmya’ says that the second wave of Indo-Aryan migration took place during the Muslim conquest of Kanauj and Bihar. Such migration of Indo-Aryans into Goa is believed to have taken place upto the late-13th to early-14th centuries AD. It was during this collective “Second Wave,” between the 5th and 14th centuries AD, that bulk of the Indo-Aryan migration to Goa took place. The “First Wave” was almost insignificant, if numbers matter. Latter day arrivals were welcomed by their predecessors already here. Villagers of Verna gave part of their land to newcomers, which was added to Nagoa. Later, the villagers of Nagoa, together with those of Sancoale, parted with some of their lands to more newcomers, to form the village of Cortalim. The villagers of Loutulim similarly gave part of their land to form the village of Quelossim. (Remember Verna, Sancoale, Nagoa and Loutulim were among the eight oldest Indo-Aryan settlements in Goa – of the pioneering Bhargavas.) Such new settlements were not called villages but “gifted lands” – ‘Agraharas,’ not Grams. Original settlers of the first wave were called ‘Mhalgades,’ after ‘Mahal’ (province.) The provincial council of Salcete Mahal, the first Indo-Aryan and the biggest in Goa, comprised of 20 representatives from 10 principal villages. Each village nominated two delegates, one from the senior-most clan (or the first Vangor) and the other from the family of the village accountants (Kulkarnis.) The principal deities worshipped as ‘kuldaivats’ (family deities) by Goan Saraswats were those of Mahadev, Mahalaxmi, Mahalsa, Manguesh, Nagesh, Saptakoteshwar and Shantadurga. Later, when some Shaivas became Vaishnavas, they began to worship deities like Damodar (Margao/Zambaulim), Narasimha (Sancoale/Veling), Ravalnath (Guirdolim or Macasana/Marcel), and Ramnath (Loutulim/Bandora.) Saraswats also settled in the north of Goa – like ‘Kudaldeshkars’ and ‘Pednekars.’ Centuries later, Deccani Marathas descended on Sattari/Bicholim and enslaved the original settlers known as Shabara or Hebars, to become the new masters. In what volumes Indo-Aryans migrated into Goa, and to what extent they subjugated the original tribals, can be gauged from the village demography of Salcete. Of 60 villages I can count from the original 66, only three are Kol villages (Khola, then in Salcete now in Canacona, Davorlim, even if one of 15 its Vangors is Kshatriya, and Dicarpale.) Sudras have two villages (Dramapur, though one of its five Vangors is Brahmin, and Telaulim.) Of the balance 55 villages, 18 are Brahmin, 36 Kshatriya, and one – Aquem – shared by the two! (Concludes.) P.S.: Quite a few readers sought more on GSB history. I’d recommend the ‘Skanda Purana’ (esp its Sahyadri Khanda, chapter, which deals with Goa/Konkan Saraswats) by Dr. Jose Gerson da Cunha. Dr. Cunha (1844-1900), native of Arpora-Bardez, studied and practiced medicine in Bombay, but his abiding interest in history took him scouring the west coast from Gujarat to Kerala. From old temple manuscripts and other records, he produced the monumental 1877 work. (ENDS.) The Valmiki Faleiro weekly column at: http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=330 ====================================================================== The above article appeared in the June 28, 2009 edition of the Herald, Goa
