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Communidade de Saligao—IV. We have read in the last posting that Plates of the Konkan Maurya king Anirjitavarman belonging to the sixth or seventh centuries after Christ have been found at Bandora. They concern the ownership of the land by an unnamed Rashtrakuta; the area is distinctively named Kumarzuem and Bardez--- and precisely described using terms such as khazan land which make it unmistakably Goan. Maria Aurora Couto goes further to tell ‘that the Bahmanis moved towards Konkan to safeguard Muslim trading vessels. The powerful Rayas of Khelna and Sangameshwar on the west coast to the north of Goa sent hundreds of boats to attack Muslim ships and plunder pilgrims going to Mecca. These practical raids led to the decline in maritime commerce of the time. Finally the Bahmani emperor sent Mahmad Gavan to the Konkan and Goa was annexed in 1472. The area was then divided into provinces, each with a governor. Some of them revolted, and Yusuf Adil Khan founded the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur in 1489. The squabbling generals divided the spoils of the Bahmani among themselves. In 1500, Goa was unequivocally settled as part of the Adil Shah kingdom after having been buffeted between Vijaynagar and the Bahmanis for several decades. Administration was left to the village ganvkars, and ancient chiefs of ‘ mahals’( akin to modern taluka) like ‘ sardessais’ and ‘ dessais’ were confirmed in their offices. Dessai is the title of a chieftain which is a corruption of ruler of desh ( territory). They were chieftains appointed by the Adil Shah to look after the various mahals. Their duties included maintaining law and order and collecting revenues. Their position was, however, below that of a governor. But this, too, was to last only one decade. The European invasion began in 1510. Albuquerque’s armies, followed by traders from all parts of the continent, made Goa their home finding here a lucrative way of life and adventurism. It was from Adil Shah that the Portuguese, under Afonso de Albuquerque, conquered Tiswadi, the island of Goa, in 1510 in collusion with Goan Brahmin chieftains and traders whose fortunes were being affected by Turkish traders’ monopoly of transoceanic trade, specially in horses. The leaders of this group have been identified as Mhall Pai Vernekar, a powerful and popular sardessai of Verna, and Tamaji, the governor of Honavar and a Vijayanagar admiral. Although Mahall Pai was given a land grant near the capital city, the Portuguese had no intention of sharing power. Twenty-five years later, frustrated ambitions and religious persecution made him conspire with Adil Shah to overthrow the Portuguese. His betrayal was discovered and he had to flee to Cochin where he lived in exile until his death. Timaji was clearly the more wily of the two. Historians are yet to agree whether he was a Maratha, a Kannadiga or a Goan; a Hindu or a Jain; a pirate, a leader of robbers, a man of low birth, a high-ranking officer of the Vijayanagar king who was married to the Princess of Gersoppa, a good man as Albuquerque believed him to be, a willing collaborator, or a quisling. Before Albuquerque had arrived on the scene, Timaji had attempted an investigation of Vasco da Gama’s fleet anchored near Anjediva for repairs and provisioning. He had established cordial relations with the first viceroy, Francisco de Almeida, who had no territorial ambitions for the Portuguese. Was Timaji interested in the Portuguese as an ally for Vijayanagar against the Muslim rulers?. Whatever his reasons, he made peace with them and won for himself a ‘ cartaz’, a permit to sail the waters freely’ (4) To be continued…. Compiled by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas (40. COUTO, Maria Aurora, in, op. cit., pp 80 & 85, |
