The Portuguese power centre, Governors and the native elite (Stanley Coutinho)
(Or, how the capital of the Estado da Índia configured in the imperial dynamics of the 17th and 18th centuries) Review by Stanley Coutinho stanley_couti...@yahoo.com ----------------------------------- Globalising Goa (1660-1820) Change and exchange in a former capital of empire Ernestine Carreira Translator: Claire Davison Goa,1556: 2014 RS.500 Pp.618 ----------------------------------- There are history books and then there are books on history. The former are normal, fact-filled books for normal people interested in reading about the past; the latter are historiographies. *Globalising Goa* by Ernestine Carreira (who has specialised in the history of India and the western Indian Ocean in the Modern Era), translated by Professor Claire Davison, falls in the latter category. The title of the book is interesting. Globalising or globalisation has achieved a very specific meaning and connotation today: Economic globalization is the increasing economic interdependence of national economies across the world through a rapid increase in cross-border movement of goods, service, technology and capital leading to the emergence of a global marketplace or a single world market. However Wikipedia seems to recognize 'proto-globalisation' roughly during the years between 1600 and 1800, which describes the phase of increasing trade links and cultural exchange that was characterized by the rise of maritime European empires, in the 16th and 17th centuries, There is however a great deal of anguish expressed by historiographers in general, and Ernestine Carreira in particular over the non-availability of sources, and the attempts (if any) at preserving these sources. Time and climatic conditions (not to forget, political considerations) play havoc on the memory of the past -- whether that memory is contained in documents or in oral tradition -- and more so if that past includes a 'colonial' period. Against the backdrop of these reservations, Carreira starts the book under review with the question of how the capital of Estado da Índia configured in the imperial dynamics of the 17th and 18th centuries, a study entailing "a constant ferrying back and forth" between the Portuguese power-centre at one end, and the governors and the native elite at the other. Part 1 of the book reflects upon the links between how imperial structures evolved across the centuries, and the development of global trade up to the time Brazil broke free of the empire in 1822. The author attributes the dismantling of the Asian side the empire to three major factors (a) emergence of Mughal sovereignty (b) breakdown of pacts with regional sovereigns (with regard to coastal rights),and (c) breaking of the pact of sovereignty with Portugal, besides the Estado's failure to reform its archaic structures. This is in contrast with the Eurocentric historical accounts that traditionally attribute the changes to the arrival of other European powers into the Asian waters. This part also deals with the French and British companies' attempts to buy out the Estado da Índia, the take-over strategies from 1730 to 1792 which actually played out between 1793 and 1813; it covers also the aspect of 'atlanticisation' of Goa after 1786 and the conflict surrounding the yielding of Bombay to the East India Company. This is followed by studies of the networks of Asian influence in Goa giving a glimpse of Goa's position at the centre of the Nação Portuguesa. Part 2 looks at Goa as a 'Catholic nation' in western India and the expansion of trade with specific regard to Surat, while Part 3 deals with the roles of the then emerging diasporas in the development of trade links through the transmission of cultural, political and military information. This part also offers interesting glimpses on the slave trade and the circulation of coins and currencies. Part 4 of the book speaks of 'The Complex Voyage of Goan Historiography' -- which is a study of the projection of Goa over the centuries. Examining travel journals "with a certain caution" Carreira analyses the "exotic, erotic and monstrous" depiction of Goan women, and how this evolved over time; later she finds a more realistic representation of the Goan woman, as she is linked with religion, social norms, miscegenation and social classes. All through the account, the author points out the difficulties of accessing sources of information, multiplied by the lack of proficiency in the local languages as much as in the mastery of Portuguese, and "the emotionally-charged ideological heritage which is still so painful". The author comments sadly on the damage to Goan historiography by infighting among politicians; Goa's archives are deteriorating rapidly -- and so are archives on Goa maintained outside Goa. As a contrast she mentions the successful endeavours of the governments of China and Portugal in maintaining the archives of Macau -- resulting in a huge collection of documents that stimulates historiographical, architectural and artistic research into the city and its region; the author also mentions the spectacular success of the Resgate Project which, with effective leadership and the backing of the authorities, has brought about the world’s biggest digital archive centres in the West, concerning Brazil. She pointedly asks: Can the community of researchers in Goa and working on Goa even dream of similar project today? Obviously the question is based on detailed information the author has on Goa. An important aspect of the study of Goa which the author stresses upon is of the need for translation of all such works into English -- as this is the "only language today which can touch the Anglophone public, particularly in India’s academic circles." The book in fact reads like a blow-by-blow account of the trading and other relationships as they were made and broken on the peninsula, the rise and fall of the Estado through the periods of Mughal and Maratha expansionism, the novas conquistas, and the emergence of Mysore. It needs to be accepted however that between the author's constant assertions of archival inadequacy and the linguistic limitations of scholars, there is a wealth of information about the historical period selected for analysis by her -- even for the general reader. Patience is called for in absorbing the amount of detail, though. ### The book *Globalising Goa* will be launched today, November 13, 2015 at 6.30 pm at the Casa de Goa, in Lisbon. There will be a presentation by Artur Teodoro de Matos (Universidade Nova da Lisboa) and Joao Paulo Oliveira e Costa, CHAM (Universidade Nova da Lisboa). http://goa1556.in/book/globalising-goa-1660-1820/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/22791425530/in/dateposted/