Whispering Thoughts No 36 Goa – A Loss of Innocence

Canberra, 05 February 2024                                                                                    Any description of changes taking place in India—in regions, cities, towns, and villages—that one has known and visited over the years, an unbiased appraisal, is bound to cause ripples among the readers. The less savoury aspects that are highlighted are often considered offensive by some, although the reactions are equally […]

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Whispering Thoughts No 35 Bangalore to Goa – Rambling Reflexions

Goa, 18 January 2024                                                                                       The title of this piece reminds me of a movie, Bombay to Goa, released in 1972. Though not a conventional hit, it remains one of my favourites because of the unusual array of characters portrayed with aplomb by various character artistes of the time. The nominal hero, the romantic lead, […]

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Europeans in India Part 12 Early Centuries: A Retrospective

Canberra, 20 September 2023 As already mentioned in the early chapters of this volume, the European connection to India goes back to the time of early Greek civilisation. After 400 A.D., direct contact became intermittent with the collapse of the Roman Empire and the subsequent rise of Islam in the 7th century. However, the spice […]

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Europeans in India Part 8 The English East India Company Section IV: Dealing with the Competition

Canberra, 22 March 2023 While continuing to fight a rear-guard action to safeguard their privileges and trade monopoly in the Home Country, the Company was also catering to a second requirement. From the very beginning, the Company had firmly believed that it must have full sway in the country where it was hoping to conduct […]

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Europeans in India Part 8 The English East India Company Section III: Early Decades – The Steady March

Canberra, 17 March 2023 The East India Company’s beginnings in India were not very promising, mainly because of the concerted Portuguese opposition and the inability of the English to obtain permission from the Mughal Viceroy of Gujarat to erect a factory in Surat. The Portuguese were opposed to any new arrivals in India and made […]

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Europeans in India: The Portuguese Part 6 Decline and Downfall into Oblivion

Canberra, 13 January 2023 Even with the extreme religious oppression, Goa remained populated by Indians, both Hindus and Christians. Some reports suggest that about 2000 Portuguese came to India annually and a majority stayed on in the sub-continent on a semi-permanent basis. However, the authenticity of these reports is questionable. Definitely, every year a certain […]

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Europeans in India The Portuguese Part 5 Of Cruelty and Religion – The Indelible Connection

Canberra, 9 January 2023 The Arrogance of Ignorance Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach the western coast of India by sea direct from Europe. He had expected to find a ‘backward’ country that had to be ‘civilised’, since the Europeans of the 15th and 16th centuries illogically and erroneously assumed that their […]

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Europeans in India The Portuguese Part 4 Governance, Policies and Operations

Canberra, 5 January 2023 There are two viewpoints regarding the Portuguese attempt to establish a ‘State’ in the Indian sub-continent, headquartered at Goa. One, a sort of sweeping assessment, states that the defeat of the Arab coalition at Diu in 1509 by Almeida ended all threats to Portugal’s hegemony in the Indian Ocean region. The […]

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Europeans in India – The Portuguese Part 3 A Viceroy and Three Governors Section III: Lopo Soares & Diego Lopes

Canberra, 3 December 2022 [Detailed accounts of the tenures of the first Viceroy and three Governors who succeeded him have been given for the reader to get a flavour of the activities that these individuals undertook to perpetuate Portuguese presence in the Indian sub-continent and to create a monopoly on the lucrative spice trade, which […]

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Europeans in India – The Portuguese Part 3 A Viceroy and Three Governors Section II: Afonso D’Albuquerque

Canberra, 03 December 2022 When he assumed the office of Governor of Estado da India on 5th November 1509, Afonso D’Albuquerque, was 56 years of age, an old man for that period. His first action was to assist Marshal Coutinho to attack Calicut, which he was reluctant to do, but had to agree considering the […]

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