The fate of both Ethnic Goan royal families... an extract of Goa History.
BANAVASI KADAMBA ROOTS OF SONDEKARS The last posting under this thread talked about a recent descendent of the Kadamba dynasty visiting his ancestral kingdom in Goa and being met with local farmers / residents / former subjects protesting his visit and pelting his car with stones and other road blocks. It would be worth mentioning just for the record what these farmers were protesting. They were protesting the hard life of the peasants under India's rajas and other hereditary landowners. And their message to these hereditary land-holders to "don't-even-dream-of-returning." In those days, (aka amchem tempar) which continued under colonial (British and Portuguese) rule, the peasant and his family usually lived in a drafty one-room window-less house with a thatched roof, a cow-dung covered floor and no furniture with an outhouse or open field as their toilet. Half the living-quarters was outdoors along with the farm animals. A major part of his meager crop (from the limited land-holding) went to the landowner / batkar and another significant part to the government. To supplement his family's meal, the farmer / mundkar had to trap small animals and catch fish. He had to provide (for free) the landowner all ancillary services as a priority to his own farm or family needs. A peasant's life was unbearable in hard times; which was generally caused by droughts, floods, changing rains, famine, wars, epidemics, illness in the family, not uncommonly forcing the farmer to sell his children or giving them for adoption. Finally even though agriculture was the only real economy of Goa's and other Indian kingdoms, the backbone of that economy and royal wealth had to suffer the ignominy of his caste status. Regards, GL
