GOA, A MELTING-POT OF MANY STREAMS AND ETHNIC STOCKS
- Fred Noronha

PANJIM, Aug 5: Goa is a virtual melting-pot, with people coming in from various streams and ethnic stocks at different points of time of the long and varied history of this small region, says a new book touching on the subject.

"The coastal society of Goa was more elastic and less rigid than that of the Deccan. The Brahmins of the Deccan Plateau looked down on the people of the coastal areas," says a recently published book by Dr. V.R.Mitragotri, titled the Socio Cultural History of Goa: From Bhojas to Vijayanagar.

In its study on Goan society, the book highlights the various communities that make up the patchwork quilt that is currently Goa.

Early settlers include the Gavdas, inhabitants of Ponda or Antruz and Tiswadi. They may have migrated from north-eastern India around the fourth century before current era. They belong to proto-Australoid stock.

Velips, found only in Canacona and Quepem, are other early settlers. Kumar Paiks or Kumar Panths were hunters and soldiers in the early period.  Many were recruited as soldiers in the Vijayanagara army, and tradition has it that they belonged to Gulbarga of Karnataka.

Cobblers (chamars) and Maharas, despite their lowly status, were part of ancient and medieval society in Goa.

Mitragotri says that the Brahmins of Goa -- with priestly functions traditionally -- are subdivided into Saraswats, Karhades, Padhye Brahmins, Bhatt Prabhus and Kramavant Joshis.  

The Saraswats are known as Bamans while some of the other groups are referred to as Bhats. Chitpavans are found only in Sattari taluka, says the writer.

In Goa, the Garauvas are also a small community, based in Pernem, Salcete, Bardez, Tiswadi, Ponda, Sanguem and Canacona. References to them are found in inscriptions from the beginning of the 9th century in Kannada-speaking region.

"There are Gurav priests in the temples of Chandreshwar-Bhutnath, Mahalsa and Saptakoteshwar in Goa. Commonly Guravas were the priests in the shrines of the grama-devatas (village deities) scattered all over Goa," says the book.

Artisans such as gold-smiths, black-smiths, carpenters, sculptors working on stone and copper-smiths were called Panchala Brahmins. Belief has it that these Panchalas (along with the Saraswats) were brought in by the sage Parasurama around 2500 years before the current era to assist the priests in performing sacrifices.

Unlike in some other regions of India, in Goa the occupations of carpentry and black-smiths were combined. Being hereditary professions, usually one member of the family got engaged in carpentry and the other looked after smithy.

"Goa being a thickly forested region, there was no dearth of wood. The carpenters of Goa were expert in wood carving. They carved wooden pillars of the temples and decorative wood ceilings of temples," adds the author.

Mitragotri writes that that there is a concentration of carpenters in the villages of Moira in Bardez, Cuncolim, and Paiguinim of Canacona taluka. During the Inquisition, carpenters from the Old Conquests shifted to Sirsi, Honnavar and Bhatkal of nearby Karnataka, taking their skills there.

Kasars are the traditional copper-smiths, who once made bangles in copper but perhaps shifted over to glass bangles during the Bahamani period when these became popular. Village Kasarpal of Bicholim is believed to be named after them.

Kshatriya families, of the traditional warrior-class, show evidence of migrating from north-western India to the Deccan early in the current era. Vanis, or the local traders class, and merchants could have been engaged in trade and commerce in Goa as early as around the fifth century.

Kunbis are found in Sattari and Sanguem talukas. There is also some population in Tiswadi, Salcete, Bardez and Mormugao. Marriage among Kunbi families having the same totems are forbidden.

Toddy-tappers in Goa were called Naik Bhandari, who were also navigators and farmers. Fishermen have been called gabit and boatmen known as kharvi. Gavdas working on saltpans have been called mitha-gavdas.

There were also profession-based castes like barbers, washermen (madival), oil-extractors, tailors, potters and cobblers.  Such professionals were paid a fixed quantity from the paddy crop during the harvest season, from comunidade land.

Saraswats have a larger population than any of the other Brahmin communities. Ancient Indian text, the Sahyadrikhand suggests that the original home of the Saraswats is Tirhut -- in today's north Bihar.

"Even after settling down in Goa, they had retained in their memory that they had migrated from elsewhere," says Mitragotri. But he points that there is "no agreement" among scholars about the original home of the Saraswats.

Mitragotri points to rivalry both within a caste and between different castes along Goa's long history.

"Many Saraswats left Goa after the invasion of Malik Kafur and fled to the neighbouring regions and, during the period of the religious persecution of the Portuguese also, the Saraswats migrated to Uttar Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and the North Konkani," he says.

Others also left Goa. Some Muslims from Goa might have migrated to Bhatkal and Honavar, and the Navayats of Bhatkal are descendants fo the Muslim community that once lived in Goa.

In addition the writer points to "conflict" between Saraswats and the Karhades, between gold-smiths and Vanis (Vaishyas) of Khandepar in Ponda taluka in past centuries.

Even Catholics have adapted the traditional caste system to fit their society in some ways, though not all of the categories mentioned above are found among the Catholics in this state.