Prutha Goa

The book Public History of Goa – Evolving Politics, Culture and Identity edited by Fr Savio Abreu SJ, Fr Anthony da Silva SJ and Fr Rinald D'Souza SJ was released on 10th of April 2019, at Xavier Centre, Porvorim by the Vice Chancellor of Goa University Dr Varun Sahni. Public History of Goa is a collection of selected History Hour lectures held at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research (XCHR). XCHR is a renowned research institution established in 1977 that holds a vast treasure house of historical manuscripts from the 18 th and 19 th centuries, some even older. Of particular significance are the manuscripts from the House of Mhamai in Panjim. One of the Centre’s main aims is to draw scholars as well as the common man to open democratic discussions on various topics. The History Hour at XCHR, which is one such avenue for intellectual discussions, was introduced by former director Fr Délio Mendonça SJ with the support of Goan journalist Frederick Noronha. This was meant for

Eccentric scholars do not abound in Goa and most recently she lost one of her most enigmatic sons. Tenacious in his pursuit of refined scholarship, José Pereira formed the fourth member of an intellectual group (Mario Miranda, Alban Couto and Eusebio Rodrigues) that had sworn to resurrect intellectual endeavours so dominant in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries, but perhaps hindered by the censorship imposed by Portuguese dictator, Salazar. He passed away after completing 84 years of age, on the 26 th of January in the USA. Though a native of Curtorim, Goa, José Pereira was born in Mumbai and spent much of his life outside the realm of his ancestry. His literary contribution is vast, amounting to 145 articles and 24 books. His knowledge spanned a range of subjects, including theology, architecture, literature and ethnomusicology. Some of his books are Hindu Theology and Golden Goa’s Art. José Pereira’s illustrious academic career began with an honours degree in Sanskrit f

German anthropologist Alexander Henn spoke at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Porvorim, about his fascination with the existence of a cross cultural climate in Goa and its depiction in his book Hindu-Catholic Encounters in Goa: Religion, Colonialism, and Modernity . As a cultural anthropologist, his interest in the effects of the cultural differences, how they can be constructive and how they can be challenging, how they work between people and so on, is completely satisfied by the cultural diversity that is present in Goa. With its historical and cultural connections with Portugal and other European countries, and the presence of Hinduism and Catholicism existing side by side, Goa is an extremely potent region for anthropological studies. Henn’s focus while researching his book was the effect of religion on cultural diversity. He says, ‘One of my findings in the book is that I discovered over the years I was studying something surprisingly unexpected, in the sense that commo

Goa certainly has an interesting history, with significant rulers vying for control over the prosperous coastal region. Two rulers of note are Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. Alan Machado spoke at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research on their differing policies with regard to Goans who had migrated to Kanara. When Hyder Ali came to power in 1761 as the de facto ruler of the kingdom of Mysore, Goa was reeling from 150 years of a traumatic economic downturn owing to skirmishes with the Dutch. This had led to the end of overseas trade. Goans struggled with hardships related to famine as agriculture had also collapsed. The people of Goa began to depend on Kanara for rice. To add to their woes, the Marathas constantly attempted to gain Goan territory and in 1739 Goa lost its Northern territories. Owing to all these problems the people of Goa, primarily agriculturists in search of a livelihood, began migrating to Kanara. Goa responded to this situation by building a disciplined, profe

After the first official Goan newspaper Gazeta de Goa (1822) was stopped in 1826, Bernardo Francisco da Costa, impressed by the power of the press in Europe, launched the first private newspaper in 1859 called O Ultramar . He achieved much good through the newspaper by reducing taxes and doing away with the health tax. Since the paper was the voice of Partido Ultramarino,the party da Costa belonged to, O Partido Indiano, the opposing party, began A India Portuguesa . The mid nineteenth and early twentieth century was the era of migrations to British India. Bombay became home to many Goans at this time and consequently there rose the strong presence of the Goan press in the city. From 1831 to 1861 there appeared newspapers such as O Investigador Portuguez em Bombaim , O Indio Impartial , O Observador , A Abelha de Bombaim and others to keep the Goan immigrants abreast of political happenings, fire up nationalistic zeal and feed the need for constitutionalism. One of the longest runnin

Professor Lucio Rodrigues is another one in a long line of literary geniuses that Goa has produced. He may have long departed this world but nevertheless his legacy of literature lives on through his writing and his students. An authority on Goan folklore, Prof Lucio Rodrigues was not only a visiting professor of folklore at the Indiana University, USA in 1969; his essays in English, as well as those translated from Konkani, were published as Of Soil and Soul and Konkani Folktales after his death in 1973. It was the revised edition of this compilation, renamed Abolim , which was released at the commemoration of this exceptional son of Goa’s birth centenary (15th April, 2015) at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Porvorim. Professor Lucio Rodrigues was exactly the type of teacher students would recall with awe and affection for the profound impact he had on their lives. He had a an expansive career as a professor of English literature at Ramnarain Ruia College, Siddharth College

Amita Kanekar, an architectural historian who teaches at the Goa College of Architecture, is also known for her historical novel Spoke in the Wheel . The novel deals with the Buddha and early Buddhism. Raised as an atheist, her interest in Buddhism is far from a spiritual search but an exercise in unveiling revolutionary movements and their implications. Amita Kanekar elucidated her topic "Buddhism: The Beginning" at Xavier Centre for Historical Research. Citing her sources as Romila Thappar, Nalin Swaris, BR Ambedkar, Debiprasad Chathopadhya, Uma Chavravati and others, Kanekar admitted to relying on secondary sources as she is not a scholar of Pali, which would enable her to translate primary sources. The birth of Buddhism was the outcome of the second urbanisation that took place in 6th century BCE in South Asia. South Nepal, Bihar Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand were the areas that rapidly underwent a transformation during the time of the Buddha. This was a time when the conce

Eccentric scholars do not abound in Goa and most recently she lost one of her most enigmatic sons. Tenacious in his pursuit of refined scholarship, José Pereira formed the fourth member of an intellectual group (Mario Miranda, Alban Couto and Eusebio Rodrigues) that had sworn to resurrect intellectual endeavours so dominant in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but perhaps hindered by the censorship imposed by Portuguese dictator, Salazar. He passed away after completing 84 years of age, on the 26th of January in the USA. Though a native of Curtorim, Goa, José Pereira was born in Mumbai and spent much of his life outside the realm of his ancestry. His literary contribution is vast, amounting to 145 articles and 24 books. His knowledge spanned a range of subjects, including theology, architecture, literature and ethnomusicology. Some of his books are Hindu Theology and Golden Goa’s Art . José Pereira’s illustrious academic career began with an honours degree in Sanskrit from Sidda

Mr Bijon Shaha, engineer and polyglot, introduced his topic of discussion, the history and growth of Esperanto - the universal auxiliary language, with much enthusiasm at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research. ‘How many of you would you like to learn a language that is an all-purpose international language, that is super easy to learn and master, that is super convenient to use, that is super creative to express your ideas, that is super-efficient for everyday use and that is super neutral, not being part of a particular group of people or country?’ queried Mr Shaha. The answer is Esperanto, which means one who hopes. The world’s most widely spoken constructed language derives its name from the pseudonym of its creator, Dr L L Zamenhof. Though the world claims universal brotherhood, we know this to be far from true. Blood is shed daily on the basis of race and religion, wealth and social status, and one of the primary culprits to stir turmoil along with these factors is language. It