[saligaonet] Communidadse de Saligao-IX

[Nascimen]

Communidade de Saligao---IX.   In the Communidade de Saligao, the alimony corresponding to one ‘zon’ is paid to the only son of a deceased ganvkar. When the male children are more than one, the eldest(son, malgoddo) receives the ‘ zon’ in full and the others receive one half each. This alimony was also extended to the sons of ‘kulacharins’in Saligao Communidade. Some few members of the first five Vangodds of the community of Saligao had, to the exclusion of the other members, the right to celebrate the’ Festa de Novidades’ or Novem( Harvest Festival)in August( my time on 7th August ,after the feast of Novem at Salvador do Mundo celebrated on 6th August). In my younger days at least two of my friends (both living) Mr. Caetano Antonio dos Remedios from Tabravaddo now residing in Donvaddo and Mel D’Souza from Arrarim/Canada, were Presidents of ‘Festa de Novidades.’ It is also celebrated now but without the president and if I am not mistaken on 15th August( Vide, ‘Goa Gaunkari The Old Village Associations Vol II’ by Rui Gomes Pereira, 1981, pp 59, 116 and also Books of the Communidade de Saligao). My comments. The pre-portuguese name of our Village was *Sallganv.In Christianity from XVI century it was *Saliganv( due to cultivation of a rice called *Sali, according to Monsehor Rodolfo Dalgado) and then from XVIII century we got a nickname with the plantation of Sugar canes *” Uxelantle Kole”*  to distinguish from the nick name of Kolo to another family of Saligao,  Now the people from Goa simply call us  Sauganvkars * kole*. I have still not got an answer as to why only some families of the first  five Vangodd with the exclusion of others, as said by Rui Gomes Pereira, celebrated the Feast of Novidade. Weren’t others agriculturists or was it due this exclusion, the others began to cultivate surgarcane in wards like Mudd’davaddi, Mollebhatt, Donvaddo etc till 1945 and earned us a nickname?. The sugar cane plantation certainly took longer period to produce surgarcanes than paddy plantation. I do not know if Mr. Jose Remedios from Tabravaddo/Santa Cruz, Mumbai has celebrated the feast of Novidade .I need his explanation as he knows more about these matters than I. There are different private rules and regulations for inscription of names for ‘ matricula de jonos’ in Communidades in Goa. Saligao has its own private rules for our Communidade and they  are unique to our village as well as the age of inscription for both Ganvkars and Kukachars. I have given the surnames of the “12 Vangodd” of Saligao and also of “Kulacharins”. Now the name of a person of that particular surname may not appear in the list of ‘joneiros’ of that year if he not written his name in person on through proxy and that is why we may not find the names of the particular surname of the person in the list of zonnkars of that particular year.   I gave the names on No.VIII posting as found in the matricula de jonos on various Books of the Comunidade de Saligao. Now comes the Souzas in various Vangodds and it is a very big problem. Unless the ganvkars of surname Souza can tell us to which vangor they belong to, then only we will be able to understand who is who in the different Vangodd of Souza surnameProbably the ‘ escrivao’of saligao Communidade may solve part of the problem. However could Souzas reading this posting help me to record their vangodds for posterity? Kindly give me the baptismal name and surname and vaddo  with indentification of vaddo if possible. I hope some one will take this topic for a paper or even for a degree like PHD…. To be continued. Fr, Nascimento Mhas.