The Works

| 2003 |

The forgotten glory of Anjediva island

A small island was a key feature before and during the Portuguese conquest of Goa, and when the Portuguese gifted Bombay to England in the 17th century. A little over a decade ago, Anjediva island was itself ‘gifted’ by Goa government to the Indian Navy. MELVYN MISQUITA traces the rich history of Anjediva island.

An object of desire of the Greeks, Egyptians, Muslims, Marathas, English, Portuguese and now the India Navy, the Anjediva island was the first place where the western influences percolated into Goa and it was the last place, from where the western power was finally thrown out during the liberation of Goa. That the relatively small, yet strategically located, Anjediva island had an

impressive galaxy of cross-cultural visitors and admirers is evident from the giants of history — Vasco da Gama, Afonso de Albuquerque, Dom Francisco de Almeida (the first Portuguese Viceroy), Sir Abraham Shipman (commander of the British troops) and Maratha warrior, Sambhaji.

The church comes under the Archdiocese Goa and Daman, but it has been entrusted to the St Annes Church, Binaga, in Karwar diocese for maintenance. According to Godfrey Gonsalves of Borda-Margao, the island was once within the jurisdiction of the Canacona taluka. The Goa government has now handed over the island to the Indian Navy in view of the Sea Bird project at Karwar.

LOCATION: Anjediva Island lies 5 miles south-west of Karwar and 2 miles from the mainland, almost opposite the village and port of Binaga. It is irregular in shape, about a mile from the north to south and one-sixth of a mile from east to west.

It is the largest group of five islands, the other four being Kurnagal, Mudlingud, Devgad and Devragad. The name Anjediva is most probably derived from ‘Anji’ (five) and ‘Div’ (islands).

STRUCTURES: The Anjediva island was fortified by Portuguese in 1505 and again in 1682. The fort was a large four-sided building with five bastions, a balcony for the guard, a large powder room, a magazine for ammunation and provisions, a mansion for the governor, a house for the gatekeeper and a major’s house. The five bastions were named Francisco, Antonio, Conceicao, Diamante and Lumbreira, while the batteries were named Ponta de Dentro, Peca and Fontainhas.

Besides the church and fort, the only objects of interest at the time were two old and ruined enclosures. According to a local story, these enclosures contained the graves of the 381 Englishmen of the first Bombay army who died on the island between 1663 and 1664.

PEOPLE: In 1872 within the fortress, there were 527 people and 147 houses. Most of the people descended from the Portuguese garrison and Portuguese convicts from Goa, Daman and Diu, who during the 18th century, were confined to the island. Almost the entire population, who settled on the eastern shore, made their living by fishing. Large numbers of fish would be caught, dried and sent for sale to the mainland, while women spun cotton thread and yarn and knitted socks, which were much valued.

In 1682, a fort was built and the island was one of the most pleasant fortifications of the Portuguese in India. Apparently at about this time, Anjediva had a population of over 600 people, of whom about 200 were the garrison, with a commandant, a quatermaster, an adjutant and a surgeon. There was a Jesuit seminary, a college and a Portuguese school. The church had three resident priests.

A malaria fever broke out sometime in the 17th century and greatly thinned the population, some of whom sought refuge in Panjim. In the 18th century, the island was chiefly noticed as a convict station.

HISTORY: Anjediva seems to be the island of the ‘Aigidioi’, mentioned by the Egyptian grographer Ptolemy (AD 150) and by the Greek author of the Periplus (AD 247). As in later times, Anjediva was probably important to the Greek traders because of its eternal spring of sweet water and its utility as a place of call for vessels trading between the Red Sea and the Malabar Coast.

No other reference to Anjediva has been traced, till in 1342, the African traveller Ibn Batuta passed from Sindabur, apparently Chitakala near Sadashivgad, to a smaller island near the mainland. During the 15th century, in the development of the Arab and Egyptian trade between the Red Sea and the Malabar Coast, Anjediva became a place of call for the Red Sea traders, who stopped to take wool and water.

On September 24, 1498, Vasco da Gama, anchored at Anjediva on his way from Calicut to Europe, as he was told that the island had good water. The island was described as thickly wooded. Vasco da Gama spent 12 days at Anjediva, cleaning and repairing the bottoms of his ships, taking water and fuel, and laying in the stores of figs, coconuts and fowls.

On August 7, 1500, Dom Pedro Alvares Cabral, commander of the second Portuguese fleet, landed at Anjediva accompanied by 1,200 men and the first missionaries consisting of 8 Franciscans and 9 Diocesen priests, who evangalised the 23 inhabitants of the island.

In the same year, Cabral built a modest chapel here. Fr Henrique de Coimbra and about eight other Franciscans celebrated Goa’s first mass, but in due course, the structure fell victim to the vagaries of the monsoons.

The landing of Cabral at Anjediva is significant as he was the one to unfurl the Portuguese flag on the tiny island, which was to fly till 1961, when the Portuguese were defeated by the Indian army.

In November 1501, Anjediv was visited by John de Neuva, who commanded the third Portuguese voyage.

In 1505, Dom Francisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy, was ordered by the king of Portugal to fortify Anjediva, because of its favourable situation about the middle of the coast. On September 13, 1505, Almeida laid the foundation stone of the fortress, named as the fortress of St Justina. A factory was established on the island under Duarte Pereira as chief or provost, with three clerks and other subordinate officers.

At the instance of Almeida, the first Latin Rite Catholic church in India (there are some conflictng reports of an earlier Latin Rite Church existing in Quilon) dedicated to Nossa Senhora das Brotas (Our Lady of Springs) was built in 1506. About 200 families were believed to be living on the island at the time.

In May 1506, a council was held at Anjediva when it was resolved that as the rainy season was drawing near and Cochin, the headquarters of the troops, was too distant to afford help, Anjediva would be constantly open to attack. As enough men to form a sufficiently strong garrison were not available, the fortifications were razed and the island was abandoned.

In 1510, the fleet of the great Portuguese general and statesman Afonso de Albuquerque anchored at Anjediva. The island became the foundation of the Portuguese empire in the East, when Albuquerque was repulsed in his attempt to capture Goa.

Albuquerque’s fleet, desperate in need of provisions in Goa, left for Anjediva Island on August 16, 1510. There, Albuquerque found another fleet which had just arived from Portugal. He then decided to invade Goa again. After a brief visit to Honnawar, Albuquerque returned to Anjediva island with 2,000 men and spent about 15 days, plotting ways to take over Goa. He finally returned to Goa and attacked the city on November 25.

After 1510, when the Portuguese power was established in Goa, Anjediva ceased to be of any importance and the island was allowed to remain waste.

Under a marriage contract dated July 23, 1661, as part of dowry of his sister Catherine, John IV ceded to the English King Charles II the island and harbour of Bombay, which the English understood to include other islands of Bombay harbour.

The governor of Bassein however refused to carry out the terms of the agreement. He contended that the island of Bombay alone had been ceded. The Portuguese viceroy declined to intervene and a fleet with Sir Abraham Shipman and 500 men proceeded to Suvali at the mouth of the Tapti.

But as his presence caused uneasiness in Surat, he was forced to retire to Anjediva, which was then desolate. Here the English troops remained for nearly two years, during which time want of supplies and of shelter, the unhealthiness of the climate, caused the death of the general, Sir Shipman and 381 of the 500 men.

In November 1664, Sir Abraham’s successor Humphrey Cooke, to preserve the remnant of his troops, agreed to accept Bombay without its dependencies.

In February 1665, when negotiations for handing it over were completed, only the remaining 119 Englishmen landed in Bombay.

In 1682, during the government of the Portuguese viceroy Dom Francisco de Tavora Conde de Alvor, a new fortress was built on Anjediva. He also reconstructed the Anjediv church in place of the old one.

In the same year, Sambhaji, who had quarreled with the Portuguese, was determined to take the island. But in July, before the stormy season, the Portuguese sent a body of troops to defend it and the Marathas were forced to give up the attempt. In September by way of retaliation, the Portuguese sent a fleet of small vessels from Anjediva to harass the trade of Karwar.

In 1685, the Pope consecrated the Church on the Anjediva island by a special decree at the request of the Jesuits. The insigna can still be seen on the walls of the church. The present church building was later built in 1729.

The fort had 16 cannons, which subsequently increased to 77 in 1731. However by 1817, the Maratha threat was on the decline and the Viceroy Count de Rio Pardo decided to reduce the garrison to 122.

‘Some walls of the fort collapsed in 1863 and the civil population began to decline from 782 persons (1822), 527 (1876), 93 (1881), 20 (1898) and 49 (1904). Some people migrated and settled in Panjim, near the ‘Boca de Vaca’ fountain,’ writes Francisco Abreu in ‘Anjediva - A contribution to its history.’

In October 1961, the Portuguese fired on the passenger vessel S S Sabarmati from the Anjediva island, wounding one of its members. In his statement in Parliament, Nehru mentioned that on 3 November 1961, three bullets had been fired against an Indian fishing boat, killing one member of its crew, a fisherman Rajaram Kochrekar.

These factors are largely believed to have triggered the Liberation of Goa by the Indian army. The plan to liberate Anjediva from the Portuguese was entrusted to INS Mysore and INS Trishul, adds Abreu.

Incidentally, the Portuguese at Anjediva were not aware that Goa had been liberated on December 19, 1961 and continued in the battle of Anjediva.

The Portuguese killed seven Indian armed personnel, N N Sengupta, D C Tarafdar, Shambu Singh, V P S Tomar, Bachan Singh, S J Mohan Das and Bachan Singh (a memorial in their memory now stands atop the hill on the island), while 19 other Indian soldiers were injured. On the other side, 6 Portuguese soldiers were killed and four wounded, and the prisoner were taken to the mainland by both Indian ships.

Anjediva island was liberated by the Indian armed forces from the Portuguese domain and was taken over only on December 22, 1961.

After the liberation of Goa in 1961, the church was looted of its belongings, including the bell, while the Chapel of St Francis de Assisi at the Anjediva island, whose feast is celebrated on 4 October, began to lie in ruins for want of timely repairs.

Anjediva island had a population of only 11, as per the Census of 1971. Fr Bruno Fernandes took the initiative and with the involvement of the parishioners, made certain repairs and for the first time since Goa’s Liberation, celebrated the feast on the island on February 2, 1983. For the next 10 years, Fr Kurien, then parish priest of Binaga then took upon the responsibility to repair the church and hold annual services on February 2 to mark the feast of the church. The services are now being continued by present Binaga Parish Priest, Fr Britto D‘Silva.

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