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Portuguese Goa Old Goa ( Konkani: ; pt, Velha Goa, translation='Old Goa') is a historical site and city situated on the southern banks of the River Mandovi, within the Tiswadi ''taluka'' (''Ilhas'') of North Goa district, in the Indian state of Goa. The ci ...

, location =

Velha Goa Old Goa ( Konkani: ; pt, Velha Goa, translation='Old Goa') is a historical site and city situated on the southern banks of the River Mandovi, within the Tiswadi ''taluka'' (''Ilhas'') of North Goa district, in the Indian state of Goa. The ci ...

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, image =

, caption = , map_type = India Goa , map_size = 300 , map_alt = , map_caption = Banastarim India , type = , coordinates = , code = IN-GA , built = 1635-1681 , builder =

Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

, materials = Brick and Stone fort , height = , used = , demolished = Abandoned , condition = Ruins , ownership =

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

, open_to_public = Yes , controlledby = (1512-1961)

Bijapur Sultanate The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim Firishta's T ...

(1512-1513)
(1961-) , garrison = , current_commander = , commanders = , occupants = , battles = , events = , image2 = , caption2 = The Fort of São Tiago of Banastarim in India, also known as Fort St. James Banastarim or Benastari Castle, is located at on the right bank of

Cumbarjua Cumbarjua, is an island and town within the Mandovi River in Goa. It is situated to the east of Goa's capital Panjim at a distance of 20 kilometres. It is one of 6 major islands between the Mandovi and Zuari, he others being: * Ilhas de Goa, * ...

Canal, on the eastern tip of

Old Goa Old Goa ( Konkani: ; pt, Velha Goa, translation='Old Goa') is a historical site and city situated on the southern banks of the River Mandovi, within the Tiswadi ''taluka'' (''Ilhas'') of North Goa district, in the Indian state of Goa. The ci ...

North Goa North Goa district is one of the two districts that constitutes the state of Goa, India. The district has an area of , and is bounded by Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra state to the north and by Belgavi district of Karnataka t ...

district in the state of

on the west coast of India.

History

Erected by the local rulers, this fort was conquered by the

Viceroy of Portuguese India , insignia = , insigniasize = , insigniacaption = , image = Lesser coat of arms of Portuguese India.svg , imagesize = 120px , imagecaption = Coat of arms of Portuguese India , style ...

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

on 2 April 1512. Occupied by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

forces, it was named as Fortaleza de São Tiago (the Fortress of

St James Saint James or St. James may refer to: People Saints *James, brother of Jesus (died 62 or 69), also known as James the Just *James the Great (died 44), Apostle, also known as James, son of Zebedee, or Saint James the Greater **Saint James Matamoro ...

). In 1512, knowing that de Albuquerque was not in Goa, the minister of the young

Sultan of Bijapur The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim Firishta's ...

sent an army against Goa, under the command of Fulad Khan whom the Portuguese called Pulatecao. This general invaded the island of Goa, and established himself in the fortress of Benastarim. The fort was later recaptured by a force led by Albuquerque on his return to Goa from

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

. In the eighteenth century, under the instructions of Jose I of Portugal, to the Governor and Captain-General of the State of India (''

Estado da India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

'') in 1774, the

Marquis of Pombal Count of Oeiras () was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated July 15, 1759, by King Joseph I of Portugal, and granted to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, head of the Portuguese government. Later, through another roya ...

said: "There are in the fortress of S. Thiago sixteen

annon Annon is an English surname. Notable people with this name include: * Darren Annon, English professional footballer * William Annon, Ulster Unionist Party and Democratic Unionist Party politician See also * Anno (disambiguation) * Anon (disambig ...

pieces, and one of them is a cannon of an unusual dimension." Also with regards to this piece of artillery, the Secretary-General of the State of India (''

''), Cláudio Lagrange Monteiro de Barbuda, in the nineteenth century, said: : "But this cannon of not such as unusual dimension was still ready to shoot in 1839, atop the remains of a bulwark of this fortress, probably built by the Moors, as the Instructions f 1774mention, and that the Baron of Candal ordered it to be collected for the arsenal f Lisboa in order for it to be shown as a trophy in that

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, which took place in 1840. It is truly a masonry feat; the length of sixteen feet [] and three and a half and fourteen inches [] gauge lines made out of iron, and bars one-inch wide [3 cm] properly reinforced. Some writers name it the ''Mourisca'', perhaps because it is the work of

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

." (MENDES, 1989: 167). Albuquerque considered the Benasterim (Banastarim) Pass, where the predecessors to the Portuguese had built a fort, to be "the key to Goa". : The Portuguese thus built a new structure, integrating parts of the pre-Portuguese fortification. The work was overseen by the master Tomás Fernandes: an imposing tower was built with a

barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

around it and a well inside. It was finished in late 1513; Alfonso de Albuquerque described it as being a very large tower "with

bartizans A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging, wall-mounted turret projecting from the walls of late medieval and early-modern fortifications from the ...

in each corner, well-wrought of masonry and very handsome stone. The tower is four storeys high and can be seen from the walls of Goa; an attached tower was on the first level over the riverside, made of wood on pillars and covered like a terrace".

Bibliography

* Barbuda, Cláudio Lagrange Monteiro de. ''Instrucções com que El-Rei D. José I, mandou passar ao estado da India o Governador e Capitão General, e o Arcebispo Primaz do Oriente, no anno de 1774.'' (Instructions from King Joseph I, to the Governor and Captain General of the ''

'', and the Archbishop Primate of the East, in the year 1774.)

Pangim Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary ...

: Typographia Nacional, 1841. * Mendes, António Lopes. ''A India portugueza: breve descripção das possessões portuguezas na Ásia''. ("Portuguese India: short description of the

possessions in Asia", in Portuguese.)

Asian Educational Services Asian Educational Services (AES) is a New Delhi, India-based publishing house that specialises in antiquarian reprints of books that were originally published between the 17th and early 20th centuries. Founded by Jagdish Lall Jetley in 1973, th ...

, 1989. . * *

References

External links

Heritage of Portuguese Influence Fortification Of Tiswadi (Or Tissuary) Island
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort of Sao Tiago of Banastarim (Goa) Portuguese forts Forts in Goa Buildings and structures in North Goa district Fortifications articles needing attention to coverage and accuracy Fortifications articles needing attention to referencing and citation Sultans of Bijapur Portuguese colonisation in Asia Military history articles needing attention to supporting materials Fortifications by builder