The Glaring Influence Of The Portugal Legacy In India
Have you ever found yourself marvelling at the colourful houses surrounded by lush green gardens in the lanes of Goa? Does the gothic Manueline architecture of the stone churches fascinate you? Have you noticed multiple types of Christian believers in a country of Hindu majority? Little do we know of the origin of these elements that contribute to the Portugal legacy that lives on in our country.
Of the many Europeans looking for a sea route to the Indian subcontinent, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama was the first to set foot in Calicut (Kappadu today) in 1498. In 1505, Portuguese State of India (Estado Português da Índia, EPI) was founded including parts of the country like Goa, the inland enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Diu and Bombay (lost to the British in 1661) under its rule till December,1961. As the capital of Portugal’s eastern empire, Goa became not only a trade centre, but also an opulent bazaar for the display of merchandise and sale of foreign goods: pearls and coral from Bahrain, Chinese porcelain and silk, Portuguese velvet and finished textiles, and medicines and spices from the Malay Archipelago; all from parts of the Portuguese empire.
The Portuguese migrants were encouraged to marry native women and settle as farmers, retail traders and artisans to keep their colonies in India intact. Today, these Luso-Asians (have mixed varied Indian and Portuguese ancestry) residing in the Indian subcontinent are primarily from Goa, Mangalore, Daman and Diu, Korlai (Chaul), Bassein, Silvassa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Many of the locals then were coerced to convert to Christianity with an incentive of being given Portuguese citizenship. Most of the people following Roman Catholicism today are descendants of these local converts who not only imbibed the Portuguese culture but also their last names like De Mello, Gomes, Gonsalvo, De Costa, Soares, Rodrigo, De Pinto, Perreira, and De Silva.
With the infiltration of the Portuguese population in many regions along the Malabar Coast, the cuisine, typically Goan cuisine, was transformed. They introduced new spices, vegetables and exotic fruits and roots such as potato, tomato, pumpkin, aubergine, cashew nut, passion fruit, pineapple, papaya, and guava. They introduced spicy, tangy delicacies like the Pork vindaloo and Prawn balchao that everybody travels to the state to endeavour. Further down the coast from Goa, the Mangalorean Catholic cuisine has a common pork dish Sorpotel (or Sarapatel), originally from the Alentejo region of Portugal. The popular Bandel Cheese was probably made under Portuguese supervision in their former settlement of Bandel (a town in West Bengal) as they introduced the art of cheese making, which in spite of all odds has survived over centuries. Kulkuls, or kidyo, is a staple savoury sweet brought in by them which is prepared by Catholics specially for Christmas.
Another one of significant hallmarks of the Indo-Portuguese culture is the Korlai Creole, also known as the ‘Christi language’, is a mix of Portuguese and Marathi, which has evolved over time and is the mother tongue of less than 1,000 members of a predominantly Catholic Christian agriculturist community residing in an isolated area around the village of Korlai in Maharashtra. The community is an exceptional example of rich cultural diversity and tolerance that has preserved its everlasting legacy.
The flamboyant Portuguese architecture is no less august, many of which stand strong and alluring to this day. Mansions painted beautiful pastels, large staircases and long balconies in the front, large gothic-style windows with thin polished oyster shells set in latticework and wide verandas with European accoutrements surrounded by gardens and exuberant palm groves. Fontainhas, Goa’s famous Latin Quarter in Panjim was declared a UNESCO Heritage Zone which is abundant with old Portuguese mansions. The churches and cathedrals built almost 500 years ago, deserve praise of their own for their monumental influence of Baroque art and Catholic religion in Asia.
To conclude, we can hardly estimate how dense the impact of the Portuguese settlement in India is. Their legacy is not only deep-routed but also eminently understated.
