the goan I network
MARGAO
Making a renewed call to grant special status to Goa, noted historian Prajal Sakhardande on Wednesday said the demand for special status has become all the more important given that Goa was never ruled by a local ruler over
the centuries.
The historian further reiterated the demand of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and other agencies to protect the precious treasure at Chandor -- the Chandrapur fort -- which, he said, was perhaps the first fort in the State.
Delivering a talk on Chandor’s heritage at the Chandor panchayat hall on Wednesday, Sakhardande said that history showed that Goa was never ruled by a local ruler. “The Kadambas, which ruled Goa with Chandrapur (today’s Chandor) as its capital, had come from Karnataka. In my book, I have mentioned how is that we do not find any Goan dynasty. Till date, we are ruled by people from outside. How is that we do not find any Goan king? I have left this question open in my book,” he said.
Saying that the history of Goa begins with Chandor, Sakhardande said the first historical evidence in the form of three copper plates suggests that Chandor was the first capital of Goa.
The historian made a renewed call to the ASI to protect the first fort to be built in Goa at Cota. “Time and again, we had fought for protection of the Chandrapur fort. The wall of the fort is not at all protected. People have taken the mud and the stones. The ASI says its jurisdiction ends with the Nandi bull. The mud and the bricks were excavated in 2004 but the ASI has still not notified the fort,” he said, while underlining the need to find out whether the area at Cota belongs to the local Comundiade or is owned by private families.
