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Forts in Goa |
History of Goa Forts
Crowning river mouths and hilltops along the whole
length of the state, Goa's crumbling red-black forts stand as
evocative reminders of the region's colonial past, dating from an era
when this was a remote European trading post on the margins of a vast
maritime empire. Laterite, the hard, heavily pitted stone used to
build them, was quarried locally and proved an efficient foil for the
heavy weapons being developed in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, at the high watermark of Portuguese power in Asia.
Forts of Goa
Aguda
Fort
Cabo Raj Niwas Or The Cabo Palace
Chapora Fort
Mormugao Fort
Teracol Fort
The castles of medieval Europe were no match for
improved gunpowder and castiron cannonballs, so the Portuguese, under
the guidance of an Italian architect, Filipo Terzi, strengthened Goa's
defences by erecting forts with low, thick walls, filled with cushions
of earth and built at an angle to deflect shot. The large, V-shaped
bastions, added to the battlements, were designed both to deflect
incoming fire and to give greater range for the huge Portuguese
revolving cannons.
Inside, buildings were chiselled out of solid rock,
and the level of the ground around them was lowered to give extra
defensive height. Underneath, store rooms and arsenals were
excavated, interconnected by a network of narrow tunnels and
corridors, such as those still visible in Fort Aguada. These often
led to concealed safe moorings at sea level - essential supply lines
in times of siege. The whole was then encircled by deep dry moats and
ditches to waylay foot soldiers and cavalry, though the Portuguese
most feared attack from the sea by their trade rivals, the British and
Dutch. The latter did penetrate the Mandovi estuary in 1604,
but it was from the land that the most decisive invasion of the
territory came, sixty years later, when the army of the Hindu Maratha
leader, Shivaji, poured virtually unopposed through a poorly defended
interior border.
As the threat of attack diminished through the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Portuguese forts gradually
fell into disrepair, and today most of them, like one at Rachol in
Salcete have been completely reclaimed by vegetation, or their masonry
plundered for building material. Only a handful of bastions remain
intact, their walls, ditches and discarded cannons choked with weeds.
Of these, Fort Aguada is by far the most impressive, with Chapora,
also in north Goa, a close second. Other forts worth visiting
including Teracol, in the far north of the state, and windswept Cabo
da Rama in south.
A spring within the fort provided water supply to
the ships that called there, giving it the name "Aguada" (meaning
'water' in Portuguese).
On the northern side, it provides a harbour for local
shipping. The fort, at present, houses the central jail. A 19th
century built lighthouse is situated inside the fortress.
Immediately south of Candolim, a long peninsula
extends into the sea, bringing the seven-kilometre white sandy beach
to an abrupt end. Aguada Fort, which crowns the rocky flattened top of
the headland, is the best-preserved Portuguese bastion in Goa. Built
in 1612 to protect the northern shores of the Mandovi estuary from
Dutch and Maratha raiders, it is home to several natural springs, the
first source of drinking water available to ships arriving in Goa
after the long sea voyage from Lisbon.
Cabo
Palace Goa Forts
Built in 1540 AD opposite Fort Aguada on the
south headland of the river Mandovi, the Cabo (the Portuguese word for
cape) Palace fortress housed the Franciscan monastery which later
(1594 AD) became the official residence of the Governor of Goa.
Holding the most panoramic view one can witness in
Goa with the Indian Ocean towards the west, the Bay of the river
Mandovi and Fort Aguada on the north and the busy port of Mormugao.
Remaining unhabitated and isolated for centuries,
it is believed some human habitation must have been present over here
but because of its enclosure in a dense wilderness, no signs of
earlier settlements found.
The beauty, solitude and uniqueness and
well-planned features are some of the main attractions of the Cabo. A
small Chapel was constructed at the very end of the mansion dedicated
to Our virgin lady of The cape (Nossa Senhora do Cabo). It also served
as a landmark for the seafarers.
The Present Raj Niwas
The Cabo Palace is now known as the Raj Bahavan,
the official name given to the residence of the Governors of the
States In India. It is also counted among the finest residences of
Indian Governors and is indeed the oldest as no other residence of a
Governor of a State in India had its origin to over four hundred years
in the past.
The official reception area consists area consists
of a large hall called the Darbar Hall, used at the time of receptions
and swearing in ceremonies and other official occasions. The Dining
room has a seating capacity of over 30 persons. The living quarters of
the Governor and his family are on the same floor. A glossy verandah
runs along the entire portion overlooking the Mandovi Bay and the
Arabian Sea giving one a feeling of being on a ship's deck.
There are three suites and seven double rooms for
guests. The offices of the Governor, his secretariat and staff are
located on the ground floor in a separate annex.
Collectibles within the Palace
The Raj Bhavan has a fine collection of Bohemian
chandeliers, Chinese porcelain, silver and furniture. The most
remarkable are the beautiful pieces of antique Chinese porcelain
presumably manufactured in Canton.
Significance
Residence Of The Governor Of The State.
Chapora fort was built by the Adil Shah of Bijapur
on the southern headland of the Chapora River. It was also known as "Shahpur"
and is now mostly ruined. It has a commanding view of the Vagator
beach and is near to Anjuna beach.
The red laterite bastion, crowning the rocky bluff,
was built by the Portuguese in 1617 on the site of an earlier Muslim
structure. Deserted in the 19th century, it lies in ruins today,
although the views up and down the coast from the weed-infested
ramparts are still superb.
This fort near the internationally famous Marmagoa
Harbour was built to protect the harbour situated near the Vasco da
Gama town. Its work started in 1624.
It covered an area of six miles in circumference,
contained towering bulwarks, three magazines, five prisons, a chapel
and quarters for the guard. It had 53 guns and a garrison with 4
officers, and was an important fortress on the western coast.
Unfortunately, except the chapel and a portion of the boundary wall,
little is left of this fort.
North of Arambol, the sinuous coast road climbs to
the top of a rocky, undulating plateau, then winds down through a
swathe of thick woodland to join the river Arondem, which it then
follows for 4km through a landscape of vivid paddy fields, coconut
plantations and temple towers protruding from scruffy red brick
villages. The tiny enclave of Terakol, the northernmost tip of Goa, is
reached via a clapped-out car ferry from the hamlet of Querim, 42-km
from Panjim,
The Fort
It was a key Portuguese fort for the defense of
Goa, on the north side of the estuary of the Teracol River, the most
northern boundary of Goa. Hyped as one of the state's most atmospheric
historic monuments, it turns out to be little more than a down at heel
country house recently converted into a low-key luxury hotel.
Decorative turrets and dry moat with commanding views of the estuary
and ocean mark the fort.
If ones visit coincides with the arrival of a
guided tour, one may get a chance to look around the gloomy interior
of the chapel of St. Anthony, in the fort's claustrophobic cobbled
square; at other times it's kept locked. The Chapel also has a
classical late Goan facade.
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