In todays NT, Dr. Nandakumar Kamat, under subject titled above, gives explanations to factual realities prevailing during (and before) Portuguese rule in Goa. Read more at:
http://www.navhindtimes.in/opinion/renationalisation-flat-world-iii IT is a myth that the Portuguese had a civilising influence in Goa. Civilisation is not just material wealth, monuments, architecture, drinks and dress. Were the people of Goa living in the dark ages before the Portuguese conquest? Such a statement is an outright insult of the Goan masses which still celebrate Dhalo, Shigmo, Intruz, Divza, Sangod and can teach the Portuguese not less than 5000 culinary recipes. The so-called civilising attempt was the worlds worst and the least discussed form of anthropological engineering. Portuguese Gift of Corruption In his well-researched and remarkable essay, Whiteness in Golden Goa-Linschoten on Phenotype (Indian Ocean Studies, Cultural, Social, and Political Perspectives, Eds. Shanti Moorthy and Ashraf Jamal, Routledge, 2010) anthropologist Mr Arun Saldanha has written, "Let us first concentrate on Linschotens remarks on the phenotypes he encountered. Goa harboured in excess of 60,000 residents by the early seventeenth century. The Itinerario constructs a detailed typology of the Goan populations, thereby demonstrating its role as node in flows of migrants and ideas across the Indian Ocean world: the Portuguese and the mestiços; Brahmins, and Hindus in general; Gujuratis and Banjans from Cambay; Canares and Decanijns, labourers and shop keepers from what is now called Karnataka; Arabs; Abyssinians; "the Black People of Mosambique" (i.e. slaves bought from the Southeast African coast); Malabares and Nayros, labourers and gentry from the Kerala coast; and Jews. Ethnic groups in Goa Linschoten does not discuss as such include Armenian, Bengali, Burmese, Chinese, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, Flemish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Ottoman, Persian, and Sinhalese. Most migrants were poor soldiers and sailors, but some were successful merchants, living in constant tension with the Portuguese rulers and clergy." As pointed out courageously by Professor Ave Cleto Afonso, in his less debated and potentially explosive Introduction to the bilingual new edition of Anotnio De Noronhas The Hindus of Goa and the Portuguese republic (2008) the Goan society as well as the Portuguese have avoided uncomfortable questions. This Introduction needs to be translated in Konkani, Marathi and Hindi and need to be given wide national and international publicity. Portugal, Portuguese and their local collaborators need to be subjected to the same critical analysis which modern historians and scholars apply to other colonial powers. The Portuguese couldnt distinguish between breeding of horses and humans. Colonialism introduced not only the dreaded sexually transmitted diseases but the virus of slave trade as well. Not a single student in Goa today knows that Goa had one of worlds largest slave market for two centuries. The present level of corruption in Goa can easily be traced to the expertise which the Portuguese had in this area. They gifted Goa various forms of corruption. Was this a civilising influence? Treasure Trove that is Konkani Renationalisation is societys spontaneous response against attempts to make it feel alienated and ethnologically and culturally rootless. Human footsteps in Goa date back to paleolithic period. The heartbeats of Indus-Saraswati civilisation were felt in Goa. Before Europeans could spell out Ecotheology, it was being practiced for centuries by the gaonkaris of Goa. Most of the Lusophiles who nostalgically sing the glories of Portuguese colonial rule have deliberately erased their rich pre-Portuguese past. The Gouly from vagheri is not worried about his identity and need not be reminded about his patriotism. The Velips of Gaundogri are deeply rooted in Indian cultural ethos. The Kunbis of Salcete or the gavdes of Carambolim convey the same message-they are clear in their heads about their sense of belonging to this land and soil. The trouble with the Lusophilic section is that they can hardly read, write or express themselves in fluent Konkani. It is a pity that in such hands Goas colonial and post colonial history is getting mischievously re-engineered and published. Idiomatically, where Konkani language stands among 7000 living languages of the world? Given less than five million speakers, Konkani is richly endowed with more than 5000 proverbs, despite linguistic cultural genocide for three centuries. Three centuries of bulldozing did not crush Goas 50 different folk forms. People went on their knees but did not bend their cultural spine. People did not wish to disconnect from their Indian ethos. So the ancient village mand continued with the mando. Ghumot had no objection for Guitar or mandolin. To counter fascist denationalising forces, people continued to renationalise themselves. The liberating form of and for the masses, tiatra was discovered. It was a fitting indigenous cultural shock absorber in post industrial British India and pre-Salazar Goa. Ancient Zagor and modern tiatra could coexist. A systematic destruction of Konkani and prakrit Marathi, perso-arabic and Sanskrit texts was carried out for more than three centuries. Naturally people deprived of their cultural moorings began to feel rootless and rebelled. Goas Rich Pre-Portuguese Heritage As a nation, history of Portugal begins from AD 1140. Let us see what was happening in Goa in AD 1140. An average Goan gaunkari was several times richer than a similar revenue unit in impoverished Portugal. Goa under Kadamba King Jayakeshideva II encompassed Khanapur, Chikodi, Sampagao, Dharwar, Thane, Raigarh, Belgaum, Hangal-an area several times larger than Goa at present. From Goapaka or Goavapuri trade was carried out with littoral countries in Indian Ocean. The prosperity of the reign can be confirmed from the quality of gold coins minted during this period. Many more such examples of Goas rich pre-Portuguese heritage can be given. But pro-colonial historians have brainwashed several generations. Vasco da gama did not really "discover" the sea route to India. Actually when he reached Melinda, near Zanzibar on south eastern African coast he discovered experienced pilots who guided him to Calicut. The Sea king-the peaceful Samudri (corrupted as Zamorin by Portuguese chroniclers) of Calicut had a multicultural trading society which included-Hindus, Nestorian Christians and Muslim/ Mopla merchants. Shaykh Zainuddin Makhdum was an eye witness to the Portuguese atrocities in Malabar. He wrote Tuhfat al-Mujahidin in Arabic in the late sixteenth century which records how the Muslims of Malabar struggled against the Portuguese colonialists from 1498 to 1583 (to be continued).
