16 years after its 150th anniversary, Goa post office observes its 180th year

PANAJI: The department of posts in Goa has stumbled upon a Portuguese-era document which establishes that it’s way older than previously believed.
The department, which has always considered its originating year to be 1854 — it even celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2004 — has since discovered through a gazette notification dated February 17, 1841, that it existed well before that. Thanks to the discovery of this document, the department is now observing its 180th year.
“We have translated a gazette notification from which we learn that the Panaji post office, which was the main post office of Goa, existed before that,” said N Vinodkumar, postmaster general at India Post, department of posts, Goa region. He said that the 1841 notification mentions the expanding of postal services from Panaji to the military headquarters of Ponda, Bicholim, Margao and Mapusa.
The notification, signed by the governor general’s administrative officer Claudio Larange Monteiro de Barbudo, states that there shall be one post office for the remote areas of the Estado (the former Goa, Daman and Diu) which shall be divided into five administrative offices – one general post office and four subordinate offices.
“This post shall be delivered three times a week and the mailbags in the four subordinate offices shall be closed at 5pm on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays of each week in order to reach the general post office in the mornings of the following days — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and from there, they shall return in the evening of the same day at 5pm,” states the official English translation by government-appointed translator Maria Rodrigues.
The notification mandates that the commandants of the provinces shall appointing competent and capable persons for the post of ‘escrivao’ (clerk) . It also sheds light on the transportation system in an era when roads and bridges were yet to be built, and connectivity depended upon river navigation. “Necessary orders shall be issued for transportation of the post from one province to another, as also from one administrator’s office to the neighbouring villages, (and) the river crossing shall be free and prompt,” the notification reads.
The postal services back then covered three distances measured in ‘legoas’ (a customary Portuguese unit of distance akin to leagues). Payments were made in ‘reis’, the currency used at the time, and the notification mentioned specific payment structures for each of the distances measures in ‘legoas’, as well as based on the weight of posted bundles.
“We have realized that we have completed 179 years of the expansion of postal services on February 17. From this day, we are marking the beginning of the 180th year,” Vinodkumar said.