A Eureka moment (Part 2). Please refresh yourself with the issues in part 1 which are summarized below.
In the absence of hard data from 500 years ago, we are left with piecing together clues for a reasoned-unbiased reader to draw their own conclusions. I had the god fortune to undertake some history-reading; since this is the 500th anniversary of Portuguese gaining a foothold in Goa on the island of Tiswadi. Pre - 1510 AD / CE Muslim rule in Goa started in 1356, when the Delhi Sultanate defeated Goa's Kadambas. For the next 200 years, Goa was under the domination of several Muslim and Hindu rulers. Each victorious army devastated the native population to become the new landowners - a military practice since the time of Alexander the Great (350 BCE). Similar practice in America (after Revolutionary War and Civil War in the 18th and 19th century respectively ) was termed homesteading. Goa was continuously under the Bijapur Sultans' rule for 70 to 100 years before the Portuguese acquired the Isle of Goa (Tiswadi) in 1510, and later, Bardez and Salcette in 1543. Hence, prior to 1510, Goa's native population was likely majority Muslim. Timoja and his men from Hanavar (North Kanara) hoped to displace the natives and acquire their land. In the late 15th century, the Portuguese had reinvented naval warfare; which till then was the same as since the time of Julius Caesar. New inventions were a stable ship-based cannon firing through a gun-port, newly designed ships with axle rudders and multiple masts bearing lateen (triangular) sails. There were better ropes (making sail-handling easier) and fabrics for sail cloth. Sailing technology also introduced multi-layered hulls (water-tight compartments of the ship) and compass to assists in navigation. Cannons and a Portuguese galleon made bow and arrow obsolete. In 1506, Alfonso de Albuquerque was appointed 2nd Portuguese Viceroy to the Indies, and dispatched with specific instructions to acquire beach-heads and build forts in the Middle-East, along India's west coast and in the Malacca straits in Southeast Asia. With these, the Portuguese could have territory to consolidate their positions, store their cargo, repair their ships and more aggressively defend their shipping lanes. Goa was not on the Portuguese radar! Aside from a protected (inland) port, the Isle of Goa had few government buildings, and some (historical) villages given the strategic location of the island in relation to the rivers of Goa and the Indian ocean. Most of Tiswadi was marshland, hills, fishing villages and garrison-forts to protect the port; which was the kingdom's most prized possession, second only to the capital at Bijapur (capital of the Muslim-Sultanate kingdom) or Hampi (capital of Hindu-Vijayanagar kingdom). In keeping with the times of Medieval India and Middle Ages in Europe, people had a life-expectancy of 40 years. Native population was sparse (compared to today); supported by primitive agricultural methods (of Medieval India), and victims of frequent wars, epidemics, famines and non-existent health-care. 1510 AD / CE Timoja, an enterprising privateer, sailed to Hormuz to instigate and support Albuquerque, the new Viceroy, to change his plans and battle for Goa. After all, Portuguese merely needed a safe and secure trading port, or so Timoja thought. The year 1510 saw three consecutive battles for Goa. The first battle was a short-lived victory for the Portuguese in May, after a three month fight. History documents Albuquerque did not see the "uprising of the disgruntled native Hindu population." Perhaps there was no native Hindu population in any sizable numbers to stage an uprising. The second battle was in August when the Bijapur Sultanate mounted a counter-attack and the Portuguese lost Goa. The Portuguese and Timoja retreated to Anjediva Island. There, Albuquerque repaired his remaining ships, weathered the monsoons and waited for reinforcements. The third battle was the decisive victory for the Portuguese on November 25, 1510. Timoja was appointed "Aguazil" (administrator) of the new territory - the island of Tiswadi. Portuguese galleons (500-ton warships) were equipped with demi-culverin (medium length) canons that fired 8-9 pound balls with a range of 1,800 feet. These were very effective to demolish walls and buildings. From a safe distance, the canons destroyed all in its path - forts, bridges, encampments, any buildings, other ships. A 'heated shot' fired at flammable targets would set them on fire and panic the occupants. The strategy was effective against wooden forts, buildings and ships commonly seen in sixteenth century Asia; where masonry structures and iron were uncommon and expensive. Direct and collateral damage to structures made the new European weaponry superior for Asian defenses. In each of the three separate fight-to-the-end battles, both sides threw-in their-all in materiel and men. History documents massive destruction of military forces during and after each battle. Fighting battles on-land in ruble (with cannons, muskets and bayonets) is a strategic advantage to one side or the other - to flush-out the enemy or serve as a shield. During 1510, the civilians had plenty of time and three separate occasions (reasons) to evacuate. What ever the population (number and demographics) of the island in January, it was VERY DIFFERENT by December. Now there was likely little civilian population left (except the infirm and spouses of some soldiers, who did not / could not cross the rivers to safer ground) and totally or partially damaged standing structures left on the Isle of Goa. Property destruction from initial naval and later land warfare resulted from targeted and collateral hits (of cannon balls from both sides) and fires; which likely damaged or destroyed all residential homes, government buildings, and places of worship - Hindu temples, Muslim mosques, Jewish synagogues, Syrian Orthodox churches, etc - which some claim existed in Tiswadi prior to the Portuguese arrival. Clearly any structure occupying the vantage point of hilltops would be prime targets to attack and occupy from a military-strategic perspective. Battle for Goa was a learning-lesson for military planning - if it needed re-learning. After a short celebration, the victorious army had to get to the immediate task to repair the forts and other structures or build new ones to defend themselves in a counter-attack. To repair and / or reconstruct the fortifications, readily available material was needed and utilized. If Goa taught strategists of-the-period, it was: the only good building material was masonry; as wood is flammable. Timber could be a major liability with a single spark from a "hot shot" cannon ball. With three consecutive / sequential repairs and reconstructions in 1510 of the various military structures in Tiswadi, likely very little recyclable material was left to build other structures, like homes or churches, as some have written. Hope the analysis does not significantly contradict any of the well-repeated dogmas of what happened in Goa (Tiswadi) in 1510 and in its aftermath. I am neither a full-time student of military strategy or history. Individuals whose "intuitions and speculations" have been contradicted, can look on this article as building on their endeavors. I would sincerely appreciate feedback and comments, backed by facts and devoid of supercilious remarks. Thanks. Regards, GL -------- Hindu Temple on the Mount on the Isle of Goa - Tiswadi - Part 1 (summary) A thread on Goanet few months ago in which I participated. One issue on the topic left me pondering - the destruction of a mountain-top Hindu temple in Tiswadi, whose existence was claimed to be well documented. One opinion: Albuquerque being allied to Hindus would not destroy it. The author attributed the temple destruction to the prior owners of the island - the Muslim Sultan of Bijapur. Another opinion: Destruction of Hindu temples is attributed to Portuguese and Christian missionaries; as an anti-Hindu campaign to force conversions. These views proceeded to claim the goal of temple-destruction was "to build a church on top of the temple". This writer, on goanet, claimed this practice of Christians targeting temples and using their building materials to build their own place of worship as occurring "even prior to 1540" - i.e. prior to Portuguese acquiring any territory beyond Tiswadi. So the views of these Goan writers contradict each other. And if Goans are confused, the "bhaile" / foreign writers are left to form their own theories; which may be recycled by native journalists as "authoritative" or "reference". Seeking the quest for the right facts 500 years ago is always difficult. From a scientific investigation perspective, the best sources would be an eye-witness account of a unbiased observer, who documented these facts in real-time. Preferably one would seek corroborative real-time accounts from MULTIPLE independent sources based on INDEPENDENT data of cause and effect. This is as opposed to conclusions based on one person's opinion, which may be biased or poorly informed; which is then referenced and quoted by other authors in their written articles, books, fictional novels, or PhD thesis.
