I wish to take issue with the following part of the upper caste VF's missive.
On 25-May-2015 12:47 pm, "Frederick FN Noronha फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या *فريدريك نورونيا" <fredericknoro...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Margao: a thumbnail sketch > > EXTRACT | From SOARING SPIRIT BY VALMIKI FALEIRO > valmi...@gmail.com > > Margao was always the principal village of Salcete. > Salcete was always the principal taluka of Goa. > Salcete was Goa's largest, most populous, highest > revenue yielding, path breaking and trendsetting > taluka... always. ('Always' here means from the > start of Goa's recorded history, which is more or > less from the dawn of the era of Anno Domini, AD, > or the Current Era, CE.) Only after the Portuguese > reorganized Goa's talukas in the 19th century, > Salcete lost its preeminence but only on one count, > that of being the largest taluka by area. > > The Portuguese merged the former provinces of Hembarbarshem > and Ashtragar into a single taluka called Sanguem, and > snatched Mormugao from Salcete to form a separate taluka > (:for better administration of the Mormugao port" in the late > 19th century). It was then that Salcete lost on the > yardstick of being the largest taluka by geographical size, > though it continued -- and still does, especially > politically! -- as Goa's foremost taluka on most parameters. > (The merger of Chandravati and Bali into Quepem taluka had no > bearing on the status of Salcete.) > > Of that foremost taluka of Goa, Margao was the capital. > > The very brief story of Margao, Salcete and Goa that follows > may leave more questions than it provides answers. The > interested reader desiring greater detail would need to wait > for a book in the making, From Mathgrām to Margão. > > From Mathgrām to Margão will include a fairly > detailed account of Goa from tribal times to the > 20th century and pan to a bird's eye view of > Salcete (today's Salcete-Mormugao), its present 61 > villages, before zooming into Margao, its history, > lore, legends, and more.. The reader may note that > some parts of the manuscript of that book to-be > have been excerpted here, hence any quote from here > (there is no copyright!) may kindly be done with > attribution. Yes Valmiki, no attribution will be given to you given that you have not attributed much to anyone. After that follows some myth-making rubbish. > > Margao, known as Mathgrām, village of the Mathas > (religious schools or Hindu monasteries) from the > time Indo-Aryans conquered it from its original > tribal settlers, was the chief village of Salcete, > which led the rest of Goa from its ancient Bhoja > capital of Chandrapura (now Chandor) at least from > 325 AD. Chandrapura was Goa's capital for a major > part of Goa's history. The Salcete-based Kadamba > ruler, Jayakesi I (1052-1080) shifted the capital > to Govapuri (roughly the area from Agasaim to the > foothill of Siridao) in 1054 before the Bijapur > rulers adopted Ela (now Old Goa) as the capital in > the late 15th century. The Portuguese shifted the > capital to Panjim in 1843, where it officially > continues to this day even if -- among Goa's > post-1961 ironies -- the seat of government lies > across the river in Bardez taluka (and most of Goa > at sea). > > The first settlers in Goa came over land. They are generally > believed to be the mixed bred Mhars of the Austro-Asiatic > linguistic group. Purebred Austro-Asiatics are found only in > the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, while their ancestors, who had > moved to Australia ages ago, constitute the aborigines of > that continent. > > The generally accepted conjecture is that this first human > settlement in Goa occurred in the post-1500 BC period. Mhars > (from Maraung, "elder family" in the Mundari language) are > believed to have come from the coastal plains of southwest > India, probably Karnataka if not the Malabar. Mhars > worshipped the demon-god Maru and sacrificed buffaloes. They > consumed their flesh and hence were relegated to the class of > untouchable outcastes by the Indo-Aryan dominated society. > Illicit offspring with Mhars was Shvapka (dog eaters). If > visiting caste areas, Mhars had to alert others of their > presence by howling like animals or by ringing a bell worn > around their neck, so that even the shadow of a Mhar would > not 'pollute' the caste gentry. > > Gonvllis (called Dhangars outside Goa) were the > next to arrive. They were a pastoral tribe that > had mastered the skill of domesticating productive > wild animals like cattle, goats and sheep. Between > them were shepherds-cowherds, buffalo keepers and > wool weavers, with a half-division of butchers. > They worshipped nature, including the human > reproductive organs. In Mathgrām, they were > associated with rituals at the Damodar temple of > the presiding deity. Even today, the famous gulal > festival must start with Gonvllis dancing in the > front yard of the temple. They do not use Brahmin > bhatts (priests) in their temples but have their > own, called sikadi. > > The next arrival in Goa of the Gawdas (tribally, Asuras) > marked a shift. While the earlier two tribes had migrated > from south India, Gawdas (and others who would follow them) > came from central India, from the Chota Nagpur region of > Madhya Pradesh-Orissa-south Bihar. From there, they spread to > other areas of south India, particularly Karnataka, whence > some believe they migrated to Goa. Gawdas were basically land > tillers. They subjugated both the Mhars and Gonvllis in Goa. > This tribe is often confused with the Kunbis who followed > them. Gawdas regard themselves socially superior to Kunbis > and do not intermarry. > > The last major pre-Aryan tribe to settle in Goa were the > Kunbis (tribally, Kol or Kurumbar). They followed the Gawdas > into Goa from the same geographical region of Chota Nagpur. > > Kunbis were described as a uniformly dark-skinned, fierce, > semi-savage hunting tribe (kol in the Mundari language meant > a wild pig). Also credited to be the most intelligent, they > were now land tillers. The Anthropological Survey of India > holds that the tribe name derives from kun (people) and bi > (seeds). Kunbis are said to have developed Goa's mud flats, > including the khazans. They developed tools and implements > made of wood and stone -- pointed, sharp-edged or blunted, as > per need. > > Kunbis subjugated all other tribes that preceded > them in Goa (and also the few that followed, like > Mundaris and Kharvis). Such was their hegemony > that almost everything in agrarian Goa began with > their tribe name ku -- from kumeri > (slash-burn-cultivate farming) to units of > measuring volume like kudov, khandi, kumbh. > > This, in short, was tribal Goa. Together with the Dravidians, > the tribes occupied most of India. Dravidians were a highly > evolved race that developed the ancient Indus Valley > Civilization. This was seen from a few sites excavated in the > early 20th century like Mohenjo Daro in Sind, Harappa in West > Punjab, Chanhu Daro in Sind, Nandowari in Balochistan, > Tharowaro Daro in Sind, Lakhueenjo Daro in Sind, Gunweriwala > in west Punjab, Rakhigarhi in Haryana, Dholavira in the Rann > of Kutch and Lothal in Gujarat -- to date, more than 2,500 > civilizational sites have been identified in present day > India and Pakistan. > > Then the Indo-Aryans, an altogether different race, arrived > in India. Indo-Aryans, or Indo-European Aryans as formerly > known, were European by racial stock. They are believed to > have originated in the Steppes, north and east of the Caspian > Sea, or present southeast Russia and west Kazakhstan. Ancient > scrolls at the Vaishnava Matha at Partagal-Canacona, which > tell the story of Saraswat migration to Goa, trace the > Indo-Aryan origin to Sintashta-Petrovka and Arkaim regions of > modern Lower Central Russia near the border of Kazakhstan. > > A semi-migratory race, Indo-Aryans lived, among > other things, by plundering wealth especially > cattle from settled people. They moved into the > southern parts of Central Asia before arriving at > the world's cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia. > At the northernmost of Mesopotamia's five states > was Assyria, a kingdom that grew out of a seaside > centre called Assur circa 2500 BC. The Indo-Aryans > were no match for the Semitic Assyrians whose > supreme national god, Assur, was the god of war. > > The Assyrians promptly seized and enslaved the Indo-Aryans. > In bondage, they yearned for their freedom to wander, but the > only freedom their captors allowed were visits to the city's > markets and port. The Aryans were dazzled with they saw. > Merchandise in the city's emporia was magnificent. They > learnt that the goods were brought by a people called Pani, > in large ships. They learnt that the Panis came from a nation > called Suryarastra or Surastra, land of the sun. They decided > that they would one day break free from the Assyrians and go > to this land of the sun and her dazzling merchandise. > > That land in the sun was Saurashtra, in the south Kathiawar > peninsula in modern day Gujarat. It was the southern part of > the Dravidian civilization centred around the Indus Valley. > This civilization was famous for shipping. Archaeological > finds in both places indicate that Saurashtra traded with > Mesopotamia. From Saurashtra came sail ships laden with gold, > carnelian, copper, ivory and timber. > > Indra, leader of the enslaved Indo-Aryans, would be their > Moses. To deliver them from Assyrian captivity, he first > prospected the land of promise stowaway-ing with two > families, the Turvashas and the Yadus, in a ship of the Panis > returning home. They landed in Surastra and, with permission > of the ruler, Indra settled the two families and returned to > Assyria with the Panis. > > He dreamt of a mass exodus of his people to India by the land > route. But, he had the mighty Vrthra, the Assyrian ruler, to > contend with. Indra carefully planned an escape operation. He > had keenly studied the city's system of river dykes, which so > helped bring prosperity to the land. When his people were > ready, Indra challenged and killed Vrthra. As his people > began to flee, Indra broke the dykes, creating a river that > prevented enemy soldiers from pursuing those in flight. > > The long eastward march toward the Iranian Plateau was > replete with upheavals. In a battle with a settlement in > Turkistan (Turkmenistan), Indra perished. A larger part of > his grateful tribe decided to deify Indra. But one section > refused to accept him, a mortal like them, as god. It broke > away and stayed back in the region, and later moved southward > into Persia, today's Iran, to become the Indo-Iranian Aryans. > > (Deification of humans and ancestor worship was to become an > Indo-Aryan tradition in Hindu India, where the institution of > Purush -- the cult of an ancestral head of a family, clan or > tribe -- got firmly embedded. Instances are the legendary Ram > or Parashuram, creator of Goa, and Damodar, the presiding > deity of Margao. Indra, one of the chief gods in the Rig Veda > was later adapted as a manifestation of Lord Shiva. Shiva is > today revered, among his many incarnations, as Lord Somnath > because he loved the sacrificial drink soma, which gave him > strength to go to battle. On learning of Indra's fate, the > Turvashas and Yadus built the Somnath temple in Gujarat that > was destroyed by Muslims and rebuilt by Hindus several times > over from the late Middle Age.) > > The Indo-Aryans arrived in India probably via the > Bolan Pass around 2000-1700 BC. They settled in > the region of Saptasindhu, extending from Kabul > River in the northwest to the plains of the > Sarasvati and Upper Ganga-Yamuna in the southeast. > They named the country Aryavarta (later > Bharatvarsha, after their legendary founder), which > included today's northwestern India, Pakistan and > parts of Afghanistan upto the Kabul valley. Their > increasing numbers brought them in constant strife > with the Dravidians over territory. The horse and > chariot, and the skill of smelting iron into > superior weapons, helped them subdue the Dravidians > for some time. Dharma and diplomacy eventually won > the day. > > While their spoken language, Amhara, got refined into old > Sanskrit during captivity, the Vedic (or Brahminical) > religion sprouted in India. By 1000 BC, a conscious > expression of Aryan ethnicity emerged in the form of the Rig > Veda, the main and oldest of the four Vedas. These were > followed by associated literature called the Vedanta or > Upanishads (circa 800 BC) and, still later, by the Brahmanas, > Vedangas, Aranyakas, Padapathas, Anukramanis, Upavedas, > Upaangas and the great epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana. > > Modern Hinduism began to get crystallized from the end of the > Rigvedic period. With it came polytheism and gradually, > rigidity in the caste system and the emergence of taboos like > eating of beef and animal sacrifice. Indo-Aryan Brahmins and > Kshatriyas until then drank wine, ate beef and veal, and > offered it at meals to honoured guests. Even as they abhorred > Dravidians as mlechchas (impure barbarians unfamiliar with > the speech and customs of the Aryas, a people beyond the > Aryavarta), Indo-Aryans made the dark Dravidian god, Shiva, > part of the Hindu triad of Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva. Hinduism > achieved trans-racial acceptance, and Indo-Aryans now freely > expanded into all areas north of the Vindhyas. The Vindhyas > became the new dividing line between Indo-Aryans and > Dravidians, until a group of Indo-Aryan Saraswats ventured > into Goa and, from here, in pockets all over the west coast > of India and even in Madras. > > * * * > > Indo-Aryan Brahmins in the Chatur Varna (four castes) system > came in five gauds or groups, collectively called the > Panchagauda -- just like South Indian Brahmins, the > Panchadravida. One of the five gauds were the Saraswats. They > were said to have contributed to the Vedas and preserved them > by oral tradition much before calligraphy developed. They > lived by the banks of the Sarasvati River, owed allegiance to > Sarasvati the goddess of learning, learnt to eat fish during > the 12-year famine described in the Mahabharata, and were > followers of the child sage Sarasvata (who taught the Vedas > to 60,000 rishis who had lost the knowledge after wandering > in the wake of the famine). > > The Saraswat homeland, Brahmavarta, between the > once flowing Sarasvati and Drishadvati (today's > Chautang and Ghaggar-Hakra) rivers, was destroyed > by an earthquake tentatively dated 1200-800 BC. > The Derawar oasis dried up. Saraswats dispersed. > Many went northwards to Kashmir (Kashmiri Saraswats > or Pandits), others went westwards to West Punjab > and Sind (Punjabi Saraswats). Some went east along > the banks of the Ganga and Yamuna, settling in UP > while others proceeded into the Gangetic plains of > Bihar and Bengal (Gauda Desha), and even into > Nepal.Interestingly, the kuldev (family god) of the > erstwhile Nepali monarchy is goddess Mahalsa, > female form of Vishnu, whose temple is at Mardol-Goa. > > Some Saraswats moved southward via Sind and Kutch and settled > in Gujarat. In Kathiawar, the local ruler, Mulraja, gave > Saraswats "of seven and half (saadi-saat) gotras" land in an > area that came to be known as the Saraswat Mandal. (Gotras > are endogamous kinship clans based on patrilineal or male > descent, or persons who descend in an unbroken male line from > a common male ancestor.) A group from the Saraswat Mandal, of > the warrior-pastoral Bhargava clan, later settled in Surat > and Navsari. The Bhargavas are said to have descended from > the Vedic rishi Bhrigu. His most important descendant was > Jamadagni, father of Parashuram. It may be noted how the > similarities between fact (Bhargavas being the first > Indo-Aryans in Goa) and legend (the Lord Parashuram addendum > later added to the mainstream legend) would blur the line > between myth and reality. > > Under their leader Ram whose favourite weapon was an axe > (parashu in Sanskrit), a group of Bhargavas from Surat and > Navsari ventured southwards of Gujarat by sea, possibly from > the port of Dwarka. They arrived at the coast of Salcete. > With weapons of iron, they easily conquered and subjugated > the tribals with an armament in wood and stone, like a knife > through butter. They settled in eight Salcete villages: > Baannaavali (Benaulim) -- possibly the entry point, hence > factored in the legend of Parashuram's axe or arrow -- > Mathgrām (Margao), Kudtari (Curtorim), Raaichuri (Raia), > Lotli (Loutulim), Vareny (Verna), Naagve (Nagoa) and > Shankhaavali (Sancoale). They became the first Euro-origin > invaders to arrive in Goa by sea. The only other would be the > Portuguese who also came by sea. All other invasions in Goa > occurred mainly from land. > > When this happened cannot be precisely dated but going by > circumstantial evidence, the generally accepted timeline is > three or four centuries on either side of the Christian era > (4th-3rd century BC to 3rd-4th century AD). This is generally > referred to as {`}The First Wave' of Indo-Aryan migration to Goa. > > Descendants of the pioneers at some stage grew into 96 clans. > Ninety-six in Konkani is shennai, from which comes the > surname Shenoy or Shenvi (Sinai in the Portuguese era) -- a > fact later linked to the Parashuram legend, to impart > legitimacy to the conquest of earlier-settled tribals, their > gods and lands. (In the legend, the shennai descended from 10 > munis or learned men brought by Parashuram to Goa either from > the banks of the River Sarasvati or from Tirhut to help him > perform some religious rituals. He settled them in a land > specially created, which came to be called Goa.) > > Of the 96 clans, as per the legend, 66 (saasasht) spread into > the villages of Salcete. The balance 30 (tis) settled in > Tiswadi -- 10 of them in the maha-kshetra of Chudamani > (Chorao), eight in Dipvati (Divar, of which six settled in > Narva) and 12 in Dvadasapura or 'twelve countries' from > Sanskrit dvadasa twelve and pura countries, or Bara-des, the > name of Bardez taluka. (Note the predominance of Salcete > even in legend!) > > That 66 clans settled in Salcete is evident from the line > "Shat-Shadteshu Graaameshu Kulaani Sthaapitani" found in an > old inscription quoted in the Sahyadri Khanda (chapter) of > the Skanda Purana that was painstakingly put together by Dr. > Jose Gerson da Cunha (1844-1900), a Goan medico-historian in > Bombay. Dr. Cunha descended from Balkrishna Shenoy (Balsa > Shenai) from Cortalim, a Saraswat who converted to > Christianity and eventually settled in Arpora-Bardez. > > Dr. Cunha collated 14 surviving fragments of the original > Sahyadri Khanda into a 576-page book, The Sahyadri Khanda of > the Skanda Purana: a mythological, historical, and > geographical account of western India (Thacker, Vining & Co., > Bombay, 1877). The manuscripts, largely in the Devanagri > script and a few in Kannada, were traced from temples in the > Konkan and Kashi (Benares). Cunha's work to date remains the > standard reference on the subject of how Indo-Aryans first > landed in Goa, even if Cunha himself admitted that there were > evident signs of some manuscripts being doctored. Later day > authors on the subject, like VN Kudva, CIE, Indian Civil > Service (History of the Dakshinatya Saraswats), Chandrakant > Keni, et al, rely on Dr. Jose Gerson da Cunha's Sahyadri > Khanda as the basic source. The inhabitants of the 66 > villages were known as Mhalgade (after mahal, taluka) and > later as Sasashtikars. To Salcete's first 66 families from > 10 gotras would later be added 30 families from 8 other > gotras like Shānka pingala, Kāumsha, Gāgya, Āngirasa and > Naidhruva. > > Salcete, evidently, enjoyed a position of preeminence right > from the first Indo-Aryan migration to Goa. > > Bulk of the Indo-Aryan migration to Goa occurred during what > is commonly called 'The Second Wave'. The term is a > misnomer as it was not a single wave that it suggests, but an > entire series of migrations from diverse places in India, and > even from Sumeria, of a Semitic priestly class called Paddye > Bhatts who enriched life especially in the areas of > construction and codification of ganvkari laws -- and, > reputedly, the idea of linking Indo-Aryan migration to Goa to > the mainstream Parashuram legend of India! > > This 'Second Wave' of Indo-Aryan migration to Goa included > all castes -- Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra -- and > spanned some nine centuries from the 5th to the 14th AD. > > Every time Muslims attacked north India, a large > number of Indo-Aryans migrated and settled in Goa. > This happened when the Huns overran Punjab in the > 5th century AD, when Arabs began invading the > Gujarat coast from the 8th century, when Muhammad > of Ghazni attacked Kanauj in the 10th century, when > Qutub-ud-din Aibuk invaded the Tirhut region in > 1193, and exponentially thereafter when Muslim rule > ascended in north India. Felippe Nery Xavier, the > 1801 Loutulim-born Goan who was a Grade One officer > in Goa's finance administration, in his famed > historical sketches, Bosquejo Historico das > Communidades das Aldeias dos Concelhos das Ilhas, > Salsete e Bardez (see Bibliography) says that the > majority of Indo-Aryan Brahmins arrived in Goa from > Bengal in the 12th and 13th centuries. > > (Goan Saraswat settlers were grouped into five on the basis > of their origin, the Trihotras, Agnavaishyas, Kanyakubjas, > Kanojas and Maitrayanas. From Goa, two groups branched out to > form the balance two of the five sects of Indian Saraswats... > Konknni-speaking Chitrapur Saraswats who settled in Karnataka > and diverse groups in Maharashtra that go under sub-groupings > like Pednekar, Kudaldeshkar, Bhalavalikar, Rajapur Saraswats, > et al. Thus, the five sects of Indian Saraswats are Kashmiri > Pandits, Punjabi Saraswats, Goa's Gaud Saraswats, Chitrapur > Saraswats and the collective of south Maharashtra Saraswats. > However, of all of India's Saraswat Brahmin groupings, only > the original Saraswats of Goa are known as Gaud Saraswat > Brahmins.) > > The foremost position of Salcete as the largest and most > populous taluka of Goa continued after the 'Second Wave' > ended, which more or less coincided with the first Muslim > invasion of Goa (in fact, the process of out-migration also > began from the time of that Muslim invasion, as a large > number of Salcetans resettled in the Malabar Coast). > > Salcete's dominance in terms of numbers, however, > was not Brahmin-fuelled as one may imagine. After > the Second Wave, Salcete became a Kshatriya > dominated taluka. At the last count of 61 > villages, the bulk -- 39 villages, Ambelim, Aquem > (Kshatriya dominated, though it had two Brahmin > vangors), Arossim, Assolna, Betalbatim, Calata, > Camorlim, Cana, Cansaulim, Carmona, Cavelossim, > Cavorim, Chandor, Chicolna, Chinchinim, Colva, > Cuelim, Cuncolim, Deussua, Duncolim, Gandaulim, > Gonsua, Issorcim, Majorda, Mormugao, Mulem, Orlim, > Pale, Paroda (though one of its seven Vangors is > Brahmin), Sarzora, Seraulim, Sernabatim, Talvorda, > Utorda, Vanelim, Varca, Velcao, Velim and Veroda. > -- were Kshatriya, 17 Brahmin (Adsulim, Benaulim, > Chicalim, Cortalim, Curtorim, Dabolim, Guirdolim, > Loutulim, Macasana, Margao, Nagoa, Quelossim, > Racaim, Raia, Sancoale, Vaddem and Verna), 3 Sudra > villages (Dramapur, Sirlim and Telaulim), and 2 > Kunbi (Davorlim and Dicarpale). > > Cola/Khola, now in Canacona taluka, was once the frontier > village of Salcete where state taxes including the Agacaim > Pass were collected, though the southernmost Salcete village > was the island of Anjediva. > > To get the larger picture of the position of Salcete among > Goa's talukas, let's look at only a few aspects: > > • From the time Parshuram's legendary axe or arrow landed in > Salcete (at Komlatollem, Benaulim), it has been Goa's > biggest taluka with 66 villages (Tiswadi had 30 and Bardez > 12; present figures are 70 counting Mormugao, 32 and 43 > respectively), with the once largest landmass of 438 sq. > kms. (close to 12% of Goa's 3,702 sq. kms., the balance > ten talukas averaging less than 9% each), eight islands > (Anjediva, São Jorge, Ratos, Morcegos and the riverine > islands at St. Jacinto, Rachol, Chinchinim and Cavelossim) > and a 20 km. long unbroken beach rated by a 1973 UNDP > study among the top 10 beaches in the world. This beach > spans from Velsao to Mobor. Salcete always had the largest > population. > > • The principal ancient Matha of Goan Saraswats (all > Saraswats were originally Shaivites or Smartas) was > established in Cortalim in 740 AD (shifted to Kavlem-Ponda > in 1564). Salcete was also the cradle of Vaishnavism in > Goa and its first Matha was established in Benaulim in the > 13th century (shifted to Partagal-Canacona in 1475). > Vaishnavas even from Bardez and Ponda were called > Sashtikars. Salcete also had the largest number of temples > (when the Portuguese arrived, Bardez had 176 temples, > Tiswadi 116 and Salcete 264). > > • In 1366, two Salcetans, Vasant Madhav and Mayishenai Wagle > went to Hampi on the Tungabadra River to appeal to > Vijayanagar's Harihara II for deliverance from the > oppressive Bahamani Sultans. It was Salcetans again, led > by Mhal Pai, the sardesai of Verna, who invited the > Portuguese to deliver them from Bijapuri Muslims in 1510. > (Three Salcete families are linked as descendants or by > marriage to descendants of the man who escorted Albuquerque > into Goa, Thimayya -- the since extinct Jeremias from > Calata, Mergulhao from Navelim and Coelho from Aquem.) > > • The first revolt against the Portuguese, sometime before > 1569, was staged by the people of Cola, the frontier > village of Salcete. The second revolt in 1583 was again by > Salcetans of Assolna-Ambelim-Velim-Cuncolim (AVC). Several > other revolts staged elsewhere in Goa can be traced to > native Salcetans. The first revolt to actually evict the > Portuguese from Goa in 1787 was called the Pinto Revolt. > Those Pintos of Candolim descended from Santu Sinai > (baptised Salvador Pinto at the age of eight on 3 November > 1585), the second son of Naru Sinai, ganvkar of Loutulim in > Salcete. (Likewise, the Kenkre of Cumbarjua and Cunha of > Arpora were Shenoy of Cortalim, the Soares and Oliveira of > Ucassaim were Gaitonde mahajans of Shantadurga of > Quelossim, Inacio Caetano de Carvalho, Visconde de Bardez, > was a Salcetan. The list is long...) > > Of that Salcete, ancient Mathgrām was the capital. At its > heart was the Laxmi-Narayanan temple, surrounded by its > oldest zone of habitation. That temple gave way to the Holy > Spirit Church. The oldest habitation zone was reborn as the > church square. > > == > *Soaring Spirit: 450 years of Margao’s Espírito Santo Church (1565-2015)* > is available at Golden Heart Emporium (Margao) and other outlets. Price Rs 300 in Goa. Postage extra. Also available via mail-order from > goa1...@gmail.com > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Goa Book Club" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to goa-book-club+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.