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Art. XI.—The Villages of Goa in the Early Sixteenth Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

B. H. Baden-Powell
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Extract

In the following pages I have endeavoured to present an account of the contents of a document, which needs some special acquaintance with the details of village history to understand it, but which possesses considerable interest since it is the earliest known account of a local group of Indian villages written by an European observer.

Type
Original Communications
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , April 1900 , pp. 261 - 291
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1900

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References

page 261 note 1 London, A. Constable, 1899. Mr. Whiteway (late of. the Indian Civil Service) is also the author of the Settlement Report of the Mathura District, N.W.P., so valuable to students of Indian villages.

page 263 note 1 It is hardly necessary to observe that the Foral refers, not to the whole of Goa as it now is (which contains in all 421 villages, many of them not in the condition here described), but only to that portion known as the ‘Ilhas’ or islands acquired sixteen years before the date of the charter. But in 1543 two other tracts, Salsette (Sāśti) and Bardes, were added, and the charter was made applicable to them also. Thus, the 31 villages to which the charter primarily refers, became only part of the area governed by the rules. From the legislation of 1882 we ascertain that at that time the ‘Ilhas’ contained 38 villages, Salsette 53, and Bardes 39. It may be remarked by the way, that the increase of 31 villages in 1526, to 38 in 1882, shows how very unprosperous must have been the condition of affairs, since only so small an increase of cultivation and population took place. The whole tract to which the charter refers is officially known as the ‘Old Conquests’ (Velhas conquistas).

page 263 note 2 I think this is the meaning: the primary right is to a certain land holding, but to this there are subsidiary, customary rights of user, etc.

page 263 note 3 =subjugatorcs or overlords, I apprehend.

page 264 note 1 This is repeated more than once in the charter. Originally in raiyatwāri villages generally, there can hardly be a doubt that the writer (mahato, pāṇḍyā, or kulkarṇi (Karn and Mar) = the Paṭwāri of Northern India) was introduced as part of the hereditary staff, as early as the time when the royal grain-share was first levied from all the cultivators. But in villages founded (as these evidently were) in the waste at a later date, it is quite possible that the writers may have been appointed by the leaders of the colonists.

page 264 note 2 Mr. Whiteway tells me that in the Archivo there is a note stating that on the margin of the original Foral was found an (old) addition, to the effect that in one village (‘Sancoale’ of Salsette) it was the ‘custom’ to allow the nearest Christian heir to take the property (on paying arrears) in preference to others; and that failing such a convert, the natural heirs should take. In either case the absconder, if he returned, was allowed to recover his position.

page 264 note 3 It will be seen, later, that the rules do not recognize collateral, but only direct, succession. Ordinarily ‘the other’ (recognized) Gancars in a village would be collaterals (brothers or cousins) of the absconder, not his sons.

page 265 note 1 I cannot find this (Hindi) word in the Marāthi dictionary; it means a small kerchief to cover the head, or scarf of honour.

page 266 note 1 As no Oriental would receive with his left hand, the explanation is confusing. What is perhaps meant, is that, as the betel-giver is one person, he must necessarily approach one of the two right hands first, and so seem to give one a preference; whereas by arranging that one of the right hands is in a position of some inferiority, the difference is ceremonially neutralized.

page 266 note 2 In Colonel Sykes' account of the Dakhan Villages, he relates a case where the whole of the various privileges attaching to a headmanship had to be partitioned; and it was arranged (by a pançāyat) that some of the honours or precedences should attach to one and some to the other sharers. In the above rule, if such a partition had not been made, and (say) three brothers were all Gancars by birth and so far equal, a solution of the difficulty is provided.

page 267 note 1 The coinage is described in MrWhite-way's, “Rise of the Portuguese Power,” p. 69Google Scholar. The pardāo is valued at 360 reals, which at the time would have been worth rather more than 7s. 6d.If there were several headmen, perhaps as much aa 30s. might be required to buy these scarves; but it is not probable that any very costly article was given.

page 267 note 2 The distinction here, I think, is between the various holders of fixed or hereditary land and the cultivators of rice-lands (clause 20, post), who merely take the land at an auction for the year or harvest, or who otherwise have no hereditary holding.

page 267 note 3 Apparently this is the udhaḍjamabandi, so common in the Bombay territories, where the holder is (for one reason or another) allowed to have a fixed lump sum assessed, which does not alter under any circumstances.

page 268 note 1 Rendeiro in Portuguese may mean either one who receives, or one who pays, a rent or other charge or dues. I am unable to suggest definitely what person, regarded as one of the village staff, is meant. But it is quite possible that some ‘bailiff’ or other collector of the various imposts and levies was required (though not belonging to the original ‘balute’ staff), and so was put in and rewarded with a ‘watan.’ Such a person is alluded to in later documents as saccador, and it may be that the charter means the same thing by rendeiro.

page 270 note 2 ‘Chocarreiro’ means a buffoon or jester—always implying jests of a low and coarse character. (So I am informed by an excellent Portuguese scholar at Lisbon.) I have never heard of any such person being one of the village staff. But the ‘Mahār’ (see J.R.A.S., April, 1897, p. 258) is constantly found; and in Marāthi (according to Molesworth) the Mahār is often alluded to as ‘Chokhāmelā’ (after the name of one of their tribal holy men). It seems to me possible that a Portuguese scribe hearing this word and not understanding it, may have put it down as ‘Chocarreiro.’ The Mahārs are always holders of watan land, and they are not otherwise mentioned in this list, though indispensable to the villages. There are generally several of them.

page 269 note 1 Apparently wet land (suited for rice) is not included, as that is disposed of in another way (clause 20, post). Apparently also the ‘dry’ crop of the Dakhan (jirāit) is not known in the Goa climate; rice, vegetables, etc., palm-groves, and betel-gardens are the staple.

page 269 note 2 These gardens for the aromatic leaf (betel) (Piper betle), used with areca-nut for chewing, can only be made in favourable soil and with careful irrigation. They are very profitable. The (climbing) plants are often protected overhead with mats.

page 269 note 3 Low-lying and flooded lands only suited for rice, which is here the chief crop.

page 270 note 1 Nothing is said as to when ‘the eight’ and when the whole body of cultivators in the island (not holding free, or at any fixed rates) can be called on. Probably the headmen will decide, according to which gives the best prospect of making up the deficit.

page 271 note 1 No notice is taken of the ordinary rule, that failing the downward or upward direct line, the collaterals come in, brothers and brothers' sons. These are thus disinherited by the rules, which claim everything for the Crown.

page 271 note 2 See also clause 19 (which includes “other persons” as well as Gancars) regarding revenue-free land.

page 272 note 1 “The islands” of old Goa territory are here (and elsewhere) mentioned as Tissuary, Diwary, Chorão, and Jua. (See note to the Preamble.)

page 273 note 1 What this means, I cannot ascertain. Mr. Whiteway has also been unable to interpret it.

page 274 note 1 Mr. Whiteway kindly informs me that this means either the half is to go towards the fund for redeeming captives in the hands of ‘the Moors’(a frequent provision), or else to help support the Goa prisoners, who depended on charity. The former is more prohable, and the clause was perhaps slipped in at Lisbon, as an improvement on the original.

page 275 note 1 The Marāthi is Pātīl; Gāṅwkār (Karn). In other countries where the raiyatwāri form is indigenous, there are also many local names—Maṇḍal, Mānki, Gauḍā, etc., etc. In the northern form of joint-village no headman—properly so-called—exists, and there is no indigenous name or word. The (official) headman recognized by the administration is known either by the Arabic word muqaddam, introduced by the Moslem revenue officers, or by our (half-English) word lambar-dār (number-holder).

page 275 note 1 J.R.A.S., April, 1897, p. 241 foll.

page 276 note 1 It will be remembered that the Goa territory in question had been under ‘Hindu’ (Kadamba) kings of Banavāsi, up to A.D. 1312. Then for some 60 years it was under early Moslem rule; after that, Hindu rule (but under Vijayanagar) was restored till A.D. 1449; when Moslem supremacy, first under the united Dakhan kingdom, and then under the separate Bijāpur (‘Ādil Shāhi) dynasty, was once more established. There is nothing to indicate that the villages of the ‘Ilhas’ are very ancient; rather they seem to have been the result of a colonizing enterprise, headed by a few energetic men who founded the first villages. And we can fairly form some general idea of time which elapsed from the founding up to A.D. 1526, by allowing time for the increase of the first four or eight villages to the then existing number of 31. Nevertheless, the form of the village, as exhibited in the rules, is very much the same as that of the oldest ‘raiyatwāri’ villages in Central and Western India that are traceable. The headman, the privileged holdings, and the revenue paid to the king, are features mentioned in inscriptions and literary references of unquestionably ancient date.

page 277 note 1 As (e.g.) when the Vijayanagar minister insisted on having the share paid in husked rice instead of ‘paddy,’ which of course largely increased the real payment without ostensibly altering the share.

page 278 note 1 J.R.A.S., April, 1897, p. 268.

page 278 note 2 It is curious to remark in the Imperial Gazetteer (in the note on Goa compiled from Dr. J. N. da Fonseca's account) it is mentioned that when Albuquerque made his entry into Goa after the conquest (March 1st, 1510) “eight leading men” presented him with the keys. But all the early historians agree that these eight were Muhammadans, so that it could not refer to the ‘Gancares.’

page 279 note 1 Cf. J.R.A.S., April, 1897, p. 254.

page 279 note 2 Goa never knew Mahrātha rule, as the Dakhan did; had it done so, these headmen would probably have been repressed and not allowed to act in the way we shall afterwards see they did.

page 280 note 1 We are quite familiar with this process in Northern India, where the parent site is called kheṛa, etc., and the offshoot villages, majrā, garhi, etc. See my “Indian Village Community” (Longmans, 1896), p. 276 follGoogle Scholar.

page 280 note 2 It is possible, however, that ‘custom’ may to some extent have justified the rule, if the villages, having developed out of an original central location, atill regarded themselves as (in some sense) all one great village.

page 282 note 1 Quoted, J.R.A.S., April, 1897, p. 269.

page 284 note 1 This, as a well-known fact, is the origin of a not inconsiderable number of villages (of this particular class) in the N.W.P.

page 284 note 2 This shows how much revenue management depends on the character and customs of the people; liabilities cannot be created by administrative measures. And doubtless in Bombay the general prevalence of the raiyatwāri management served as an example to these villages, making them desire it. The poverty had been largely promoted by the exactions of the Mahrātha rulers and the Chief of Bālāsinūr; but was also due to excessive subdivision of the land among the families.

page 287 note 1 MrWhiteway, refers to the “Oriente Conquistado,” vol. i, 171Google Scholar; but the suggested explanation there offered is quite meaningless. Other writers frankly confess their ignorance.

page 288 note 1 This is suggested by references to different kinds or classes of income, e.g., ‘tangas de gutoga,’ ‘tangos de raxy’ (which latter is said to include certain items, as recamo, vantem, serodio). It is impossible (and the dictionaries give no help) to find what either these distorted native or the Portuguese words mean. ‘Gutta’ (or Gutaka) in Marāthi (by the way) means a monopoly or sale, for a fixed annual payment, of a right to certain variable amounts from a given source. ‘Raxy’ (Rākhi or Rākshi) might mean some tax levied for protection of the place against enemies.

page 289 note 1 He would then have to account to the various ‘sharers’ for the money each was entitled to; and if he was fortunate in his bid he would find the actual collections sufficient to satisfy the revenue and the sharers, and have a little over for himself.

page 289 note 1 Evidently the ‘sharers’ had to be responsible for the revenue among themselves; or some official saw the revenue payment taken, before the ‘sharers’ were allowed to touch the balance.

page 290 note 1 What with vacant holdings, the unappropriated rice-lands, the resumed grants, and the escheated lands, the area actually held by hereditary cultivators (with a certain customary assessment to pay) must have become quite a minor portion of the whole area.