November 22, 2017

Heritages of Portuguese Influence

Vítor Luís Gaspar Rodrigues e Walter Rossa

Facing the absence of an administrative centre representing a meaningful hinterland besides the fortress area, and after the recognition of the strategic importance of this territory, the Portuguese conquered Goa in 1510 and reinforced that position in the subsequent decades, thus establishing a change in the imperial paradigm: from a logic of maritime hegemony to strategies of territorial occupation. Besides being a region of productive land, boasting the largest market of Persian and Arab horses of Western India, it also held a strategic position of prime importance, apparently well-defendable, given its geographical characteristics. From 1530 on, the State of India was consolidated, with the promoted of Goa to capital, where a complex defensive system would be developed relying not only on its fortified structures, but also on its naval might, on its weaponry, and on its communications system extending far beyond the initial territory. This territorial occupation, which experienced gradual growth - firstly with the Old Conquests, then with the New Conquests - corresponded to a position within a wider network, settled by the Indian Ocean, making the Portuguese the largest power of this region during the first century of occupation.

This research aims at examining the local historical realities taking place throughout times, which are vital to acknowledge the dynamics of the present territory, thus contributing for the debate on this heritage which includes territory, communications and military constructions, as well as their intersection with architecture and urbanism. Besides the analysis of the historiographic production - whose works were conducted in a synchronic and diachronic manner - the main investment resides in the understanding between the political-military organisation of the Goan territory and what is left today of the elements that composed the defensive system which was set up therein between 1510 (the time of the conquest of Goa by the Portuguese) and 1660 (the decade of the appearance of the Maratha political-military rule led by Shivaji Maharaj (1630-1680) and the reawakening of the Dutch-Portuguese war, ending a cycle of important losses in the East), a present set of assets with heritage value which is worth reflecting upon.

To do so, and using drawing as the main tool of research, a number of graphic surveys was carried out and then a connection was established with the available theoretical foundations, articulating them with the identified and analysed cartography, corresponding to a work basis which allows to demonstrate how drawing and geography, connected to technologies, may become relevant towards a better (re)conaissance of the colonial realities of this territory, used to reinterpret their evolutional processes (to such an extent that it is possible to achieve a comparative base with other territories and urban cores, particularly in the Indian Ocean) - from the arrival of the Portuguese to Goa to the present reality - in an attempt to find the answers to the different transformations observed therein. Some examples thereof are: how the Portuguese gradually advanced in the territory; the technological evolution of the artillery and the response produced by the military architecture; the different setbacks encountered throughout the time of this occupation (namely the bad decisions regarding the implementation of the capital, or the Indian terrestrial threats, let alone naval, European and other threats); or even the influence and significance of this heritage in the composition of the the contemporary territory.

Once the object of study has been mastered, and being at stake a contemporary research project integrating the doctorate's degree in Heritage of Portuguese Influence, it proved essential to conduct a reflection on the defensive system as heritage: what is was, what it is and what it might be in the future. In all, we propose the reading of this object as an infrastructure of the territory, resulting in a basic element of Goan identity. As such, its (re)cognition, preservation, and clarification - its legibility, therefore - are key in the identification of the specificities of Goa in the context of India and south Asia.