Goa - The Second Capital of Adil Shahs


The first kingdom that ruled Goa belonged to the Bhoja dynasty who formed a part of the Mauryan Empire. Later other dynasties like Silahara Dynasty, Kadamba Dynasty, and finally Hoysalas also ruled Goa from 1022 to 1342 A.D. The first half of the 14th century saw the forces of Ala-ud-din Khilji and Mohammed Bin Tughlaq marching into Goa. They ravaged and destroyed everything that came into their way and carried back a large amount of bounty. The Kadamabas, who were a prime power at that point of time started to loose hold and finally succumbed to the Muslim dynasty of Deccan, the Bahamani. The major threats to the Bahamani dominance now was the Vijaynagar Empire that was on an expansionist spree. Between the period of 1356 -78, the two powers constantly struggled to gain control of region and finally at the end of it Goa came under the patronage of the mighty Vijaynagar Empire.

Goa Port was now renowned as a rich horse trading centre. This was probably the reason that made Madhav Mantri (Vijaynagar General) pursue vigorously the task of including Goa in the Vijaynagar Empire as a province. He later became the Viceroy of Goa and worked tremendously towards its cultural and commercial development. This was the time when Salcete, Pernem, Sattari, Bardez, Sawantwadi, Bicholim and Ponda were included in the province of Goa. The horse trade also took another leap forward with a large number of Arab Steed being imported.

The ever increasing prosperity of Goa again attracted the attention of the Bahamani rulers and they captured it again, however, their control did not continue for long and the Sultan of newly founded Sultanate of Bijaipur (carved out of Bahamani Empire itself), Adil Shah established himself as the ruler of Goa. Adil Shah made Ela (old Goa) his capital and developed its port a lot. Trade at this point of time flourished a lot with the import of Arab Steeds and export of calicoes, muslin, arceanut, spices and rice.

The First Viceroy D. Francisco de Almeida and Angediva:
Following Vasco da Gama, Pedro Alvares Cabral, who had been sent with a navy of 13 vessels and 1,500 men to Calicut, found bad weather on the way and harboured at Angediva. The stay extended over a period of 23 days and he found 20 Hindus who were converted to Christianity.

While dealing with the stay of Gama at Angediva, we mentioned that he was surprised by a fleet of eight boats, which however were driven off by the Europeans. These ships belonged to one Timaya, called Timoja by the Portuguese.

Whether Timaya was a pirate or not, the fact is that he perceived at quite an early time the threat that the Portuguese posed to the entire trade in this Konkan coast.

But the battles between the two continued. In 1503 a severe battle led the Portuguese to pursue Timaya’s fleet across the Honavar Creek. On entering the creek, however, the Portuguese were faced with fire of small arms and arrows. This made them disembark, which forced the men of Timaya to leave their ships on the shore and flee in panic. The Portuguese burnt the ships and destroyed their goods. The squadron of the Portuguese navy then retreated to Angediva.

True or not, the first Viceroy D. Francisco de Almeida came to India with a “Regimento” that ordered him to undertake the construction of a fort at Angediva. So important was the task for Almeida that he refused to accept the invitation of the King of Bisnaga (Vijayanagar), who proved in the course of history to be such a loyal ally of the Portuguese.

For him the construction of the fort was the most important task to be undertaken. Timaya, however, was not to keep the Portuguese in peace. Almeida was ill received when he visited Honavar and, in reply, attacked it. But the people defended themselves bravely and Almeida was wounded. The Portuguese ships were bombarded and caught fire.

On a pincer movement, D. Lourenço, the Viceroy’s son, tried to attack the town from behind and was about to be defeated, but for a timely intervention of his father.

Seeing the resistance and perseverence of the Portuguese, Timaya, the Governor of Honavar, surrendered on his own behalf and that of his ruler Adil Shah of Bijapur, and turned out to be a loyal vassal of the Portuguese.

Angediva thus proved to be an extremely good base for these military manoeuvres. The fort built by D. Francisco de Almeida at Angediva was no more than a wall of clay and stone. This was on account of the shortage of material on the island, such as lime and stones.

The first captain to be appointed was Manuel Peçanha, with a garrison of 80 men, one galley and two brigantines. A factory was established under Duarte Pereira, who was the provost and had under him three clerks and other subordinate officers.

But Adil Shah of Bijapur was not to reconcile himself to the alliance between the Portuguese and Timaya. A fleet was sent from Goa, commanded by a renegade Portuguese Christian, António Fernandes, who succeeded in landing his troops at Angediva at night. They managed to take a hillock facing the sea. D. Lourenço, Almeida’s son, knowing that the fort was too weak to sustain such an attack, took to the sea with his fleet.

The enemy, placed in a strategic position, kept bombarding the Portuguese positions. D. Lourenço, in reply, kept such a deadly fire that after four days of siege and bombardment the forces of Adil Shah were forced to retire. The attack led to a rethinking, on the part of the Portuguese, as regards the defence of Angediva.

In May 1506 a council was held at Angediva. The rainy season was drawing closer. Cochin, the base of D. Francisco, was too far to supply any quick reinforcements to help the garrison at the island. It was prone to attacks from the Muslims across the straight, on the coast. It was therefore decided to abandon it, and so it remained till the advent of Albuquerque in India. A legend states that the Viceroy destroyed it, as he considered it unlucky since it was completed on 13th September, this number not being a prosperous one. But this remains a legend, not borne by historical facts or testimonial evidence.

Angediva and Afonso de Albuquerque
The island shot again to prominence when Afonso de Albuquerque, the successor of D. Francisco de Almeida, came to India.

The first time that Albuquerque stopped at Angediva was when he lost contact with and subsequently undertook a search for one of his captains, Diogo de Melo. Angediva was a suitable place for rest and supplies. At the end of a stay of 3 days he proceeded to Cananor, where he found the missing captain. It was again Angediva that turned out to be a base for the assembly of a powerful navy of 23 ships, captained by his nephew D. António de Noronha. As a matter of fact, the first aim of this fleet was to proceed to the Red Sea, to fight another equally strong group of vessels of the “Grão Soldão”, an Arab fleet that wanted to challenge the Portuguese, their competitors in the trade of the East. The King of Portugal had instructed Albuquerque to destroy this fleet at all costs, even if he had to reach Suez.
Timoja (Timaya) however informed him that the situation had changed for the better. The captain of the “Grão Soldão” fleet had to face an onslaught of D. Francisco de Almeida’s fleet, and what remained of it had reached Goa.

But here too the situation was no better for them as, with the death of the ruler “Sabaio” (i.e. Adil Shah), his son Adil Khan – or “Hidalcão” for the Portuguese – was a child and unable to rule. The confused situation in Bijapur itself, with internal dissensions, offered the right moment for an attack on Goa.

A twin attack on Goa, conducted both by sea and land, was undertaken. Timaya first attacked the fortress of Cintacora which was found abandoned. Here, from a Muslim arrested by Timaya, Albuquerque was able to ascertain the poor state of the Goa defences. Timaya then proceeded to attack the Panjim fortress by land, while D. António de Noronha, one of Albuquerque’s captains, attacked it by sea, starting from Angediva where the fleet had assembled. Angediva worked out as a good springing point for the conquest of Goa in February 1510. But Goa was soon to slip from Albuquerque’s hands under a counter-offensive by the Bijapur forces. The ruler of Bijapur had in fact proposed to Albuquerque an exchange of Goa for Cintacora (or Chitakul), with all its lands, a good harbour and all its revenues - so precious was Goa to them. Chitakul had the protection of Angediva and, with its good fortress, was an excellent point for the protection of the Portuguese trade routes. But Goa was the jewel of the crown. Where persuasion failed, force was to succeed. Bijapur conquered it in July 1510.

Goa was a prestigious possession and would remain so down the ages.
It is surprising that Adil Shah, who knew the strategic importance of Goa, so much so that its fort was protected by soldiers on foot and on horse, should have made such an offer. It might have been to placate the powerful Portuguese. These could turn out to be the worst enemies, by allying themselves with his arch-rival, the ruler of Vijayanagar, as it happened at a later stage.

An interesting fact to be mentioned at this point is that Angediva was left unoccupied, in spite of its strategic position. This will be looked at while discussing the contemporary history of the island.

It was again to Angediva that Albuquerque proceeded on the 10th of August, 1510. On his way he noticed some ships. It was a fleet handled by Diogo Mendes, who had just arrived from Portugal on his way to Malacca, as also Francisco Marecas, “Capitão do Bretam da Armada do Marechal”, who had spent the winter in Mozambique.

Both were asked to proceed to Angediva. Here Albuquerque was informed by Diogo Mendes of his orders to proceed to Malacca. He was carrying a letter to Albuquerque and another to Timoja. The King of Portugal requested them to supply Mendes with pilots for his onwards journey. Albuquerque agreed in spite of the paucity of pilots that he himself faced; but he informed Mendes of his intention to recapture Goa – the time was ripe for such an endeavour.
In 1508, Adil Shah allowed Muslim immigrants from Vijaynagar ports of Honvar and Bhatkal, Naites to settle down at Ela. The Naites had a reputation of doing good business with counterpart Arab Merchants. As navayties were also got an Arab origin. That causes problem in local Hindus merchants. Since the former had been known to lead in business the latter. As such, their settlement in Goa did not go very well with the Hindu population. One of the prominent Hindu leaders, Mhall Pai, the Sardessai of Verna, together with the Vijaynagar Admiral, Timmaya invited the Portuguese to come and take over the control f Goa.

This was the invitation that brought the Portuguese Admiral, Afonso Albuquerque to the port of Goa and marked the beginning of the long Portuguese rule in Goa.
The Portuguese Era
The Portuguese nurtured hatred towards the Muslims because the former had been a victim of Islamic supremacy. When Alfonso Albuquerque received an invitation to conquer Goa, he was on his way to take on the Egyptians in the Persian Gulf. However, Thimmaya managed to convince him that he should head towards Goa instead. Alfonso took his advice and proceeded to conquer Goa. In the absence of Adil Shah, this became a smooth process and Goa came under the domination of the Portuguese without the loss of a single soldier. Adil Shah was not the sort to accept defeat so easily and soon he regained control over Goa. However, after his death, which was soon after, Goa came back into the hands of Alfonso.

In his first stint, Alfonso was very liberal with the locals but the scene was vastly different this time round. The Muslims, who had been responsible for his defeat against Adil Shah lost their lives in large numbers. Also, a large mosque built by Adil Shah was demolished and in its place Se Cathedral was built to commemorate the day when Goa was captured by the Portuguese. It was St Catherine's Day and hence the church built was named after her. Albuquerque strengthened the Indian trade with Europe, Gulf and Africa. He also saw to it that his dominance over Ormuz was complete since it was vital for his unrestricted trade activities between Red Sea and India. Before his death, Albuquerque established the Portuguese hold over Goa.
It was during this period that Christianity spread enormously in Goa. This was a period when forced conversion and Inquisition process forced many Hindus to leave Goa and move to other parts of India. It was the worst period of the Goan history. Inquisition finally ended in the 18th century and Hindus who had left Goa returned to it. However, the Portuguese rule also had its positive aspects. Markets, buildings, churches and cathedrals sprang up and trade boomed for a while too. The rise of French, British and Dutch decreased the power of the Portuguese. Old Goa gave way to Panjim which now became the capital of Goa. Also, new provinces like Sanquem, Canacona, Satari and Pernem were added to bring Goa to its present size. The Portuguese rule itself ended only after Indian independence and that also in the year 1961- nearly after around 400 years.

The Goa of post independence exudes a remarkable blend of the Portuguese and the native culture. Tourism soon took over and western tourists began to frequent Goa in large numbers. In the 1987, Goa was declared a state and today, it is one of the prime cultural and tourists centre of India.

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