Sanjeev V Sardesai
Goan lands have been the apple of the eye for many a dynasty. However, the Portuguese conquered these lands on November 25, 1510 and held it under their sway for 451 years.
Some of the fortifications built by dynasties, prior to the Portuguese advent, are the Cabo da Rama Fortress, Betul Fort, Tiracol Fort, Alorna Fort, Rachol Fort, Ponda Fortress, Mardangad Fort, etc.
While a ‘fort’ means an area protected by strong walls with a provision of holding troops, to be used in case of exigencies; a ‘fortress’ was a similar protective construction, but large enough to encompass an inhabitation of its populace, with the allied village or town infrastructure.
The ratio of fortifications in Goa changed, when the Portuguese decided to defend their newly acquired lands by constructing forts and fortresses to protect them against an array of enemies – the Maratha armies, the Adilshahi forces and the Vijayanagar Kingdom along the east and the south; threats from the Bhosle Kingdom in the north; and more so along the coast of the Arabian Sea, to fend off the raids by Dutch and French navies.
Many major fortifications were along the coast, as the sea-faring Portuguese, with a stronghold over the seas, laid stress to protect their lands, along the sea front. Though we find records of many inland forts, their importance dwindled, as the power of the Portuguese increased, and many of these forts were completely destroyed by nature.
In fact, not many know that there existed a fort at Miramar. Many students of Dhempe College of Arts & Science, Miramar will remember sitting on a heavy metal cylinder, buried face down in sand, behind a ‘gaddo’ (kiosk), at the north corner end of the college. Today this metal cylinder, which was in fact a canon, is seen placed just below the Twin Statues, in the rotunda at the Miramar Beach.
Two more of these canons, said to be from this fort, are seen placed to the left of Abe Faria Statue near the Adil Shah Palace or Old Secretariat while one lies at the Directorate of Archives.
Though the exact location of this fort cannot be pinpointed, without proper excavation, there are two schools of thought on where it could have been standing. One theory states that it was where the rotunda at Miramar stands. However, looking at the sketches of Antonio Lopes Mendes in his book ‘A India Portuguesa’, the fort appeared to have been close to the shoreline, which does not seem possible from the rotunda.
Another theory puts forth that the fort was located just behind the Miramar Residency, from the mausoleum of the 2nd Lt Governor of Goa, Daman & Diu Late Mulk Raj Sachdev, and extending up till the Youth Hostel. The coastal topography vis-à-vis the sketch of Lopes Mendes, drawn around 1860 and thereafter, seems to match this theory.
This fort was initially named ‘Forte da Ponta de Gaspar Dias’ because the land on which it was built, belonged to a Portuguese gentleman D Gaspar Dias. The book ‘Fortresses & Forts of Goa’ by P P Shirodkar states that this Gaspar Dias was rewarded by the king of Portugal on February 12, 1568, for “services he had rendered to chronicler Joao de Barros”; however, the exact services rendered are unknown.
What we know today as Miramar Beach was earlier called as Praia Gaspar Dias and was originally called as ‘Pirdook’ or a ‘black bead’.
The topography of this part of Panaji was initially an extremely marshy and sandy land, far away from any inhabitation and was used by locals to put down their old horses and for final rites by Hindus and Muslims.
It was in or after 1600 that the work for constructing this fort may have commenced, under instructions from the Portuguese crown and under the Viceroy Dom Francisco da Gama, Count of Vidigueira and the great-grandson of Vasco da Gama, the discoverer of the sea route to India. The fort may have been completed between 1622-1627 during this tenure of Viceroy D Gama.
The fort was important to neutralise any attack by the Dutch and French ships. This threat became a reality once in 1604 and later in 1606 when seven Dutch ships blocked the mouth of River Mandovi for two months. The Dutch repeated the blockade, though for a shorter period, with twelve ships in 1639.
Built exactly across the Reis Magos Fort, this fort was not very big and possibly constructed of laterite stones. The first captain of the fort was Dom Francisco D’Eca, in the first decade of the 1600’s. In 1835, the troops stationed at this fort revolted in favor of the Prefect Bernardo Peres da Silva, a person of Goan origin. This revolt was brutally put down and the fort of Gaspar Dias was burnt by the Portuguese military. Today no traces of it are found. It is said that during the construction of Panaji city, building materials of this fort were transported and used in the new edifices.
In 1871, this fort was found to hold 16 canons – three of 12 caliber and 13 of nine caliber. Today a few of these are placed at various locations, while a majority of them cannot be accounted. The fort had many rooms for the captain, and barracks for the soldiers. After it was abandoned, it served as a sanatorium for convalescing soldiers.
Goa’s premier social and sports club Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias was also named after this fort. Initially named Clube de Gaspar Dias and founded in 1926, it was introduced to the game of lawn tennis, by American citizen Josephine Hogaz, in 1934. Following this, the club was renamed as Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias. Today it offers many sporting facilities, besides allied services to members.
As regards the name ‘Miramar’, Miramar is actually an Argentine beach city located on the east coast of South America. However, Praia Gaspar Dias got its name after the city bus conductors identified this bus stop after a small Hotel Casino Miramar that once existed here.
