US archaeologist is exploring the creation of colonial space in Old Goa
A camera mounted on a helikite (a modified water balloonattached to a hybrid kite) makes its way over the terrain in Old Goa, capturinglow aerial photographs. The equipment assists archaeologist Brian Wilson in hishistorical and archaeological study of Portuguese colonial expansion in Goa,with a focus on Old Goa.
Brian Wilson has been in Goa as a Fullbright-Nehru scholarfor the last nine months exploring the creation of colonial space in Old Goasince the Portuguese occupation of Goa in 1510 till the city was supposedlyabandoned in the 17th century. The research will find expression in adissertation that will mark the last step of his PhD in Anthropological Archaeology.
“I have always been intrigued by the many differences inhuman culture and the results of cultural interaction,” said Wilson.
That he chose Goa for his research from the several otherPortuguese colonies over the world was intriguing.
“Goa was the administrative and ecclesiastical heart of thePortuguese eastern empire. The unique types of colonial processes that occurredhere, the particular mixing and interactions between religions, economies andpeople began very early here in the history of Portuguese and European colonialexpansion,” he disclosed.
Another interesting revelation is that the city of Old Goaat one point rivalled Lisbon in size and grandeur – travellers’ accounts saythat it had a population of 200,000 people at one time – but now only a handfulof small villages remain.
“This near total abandonment of a city of Old Goa’s size andimportance is something very unique to India and the world for the early modernperiod,” states Wilson.
What new discoveries has he made during the course of hisresearch? Wilson says he has unearthed an interesting change in the shape andappearance of the landscape of Old Goa as a result of the expansion of thecity, a change which was more than the construction of the churches.
“I want to further study the way the agricultural landscapedeveloped within the city,” he said.
Another interesting fact that Wilson points out is that Goawas a significant centre of trade long before the Portuguese arrived.
“Velha Goa or Old Goa was not created on a tabula rasa orblank slate by the Portuguese and this left a subtle and not so subtle imprinton the city,” he informs.
About the causes of the near abandonment of Old Goa, Wilsonsaid the reasons could be the plague or an epidemic that hit the city.
“In addition, the city was not just abandoned, it wassystematically dismantled when the capital was being shifted to Panjim; thissystematic dismantling, which other scholars note, is an understudiedphenomenon in social and urban history,” he said.
