Tensing Rodrigues
After a careful reading of the story of the rise of the Nagan Nayak’s family as the sardesai of South Goa, one question that arises is whether he or his ascendant, who most likely held the position of desai of the Amtruz mahal at that time, fought in the battle of Madkai? If we assume that Madiyagombu of the 1380 viragal was indeed Madkai, as Varde Valaulikar and Heras suggest, the battle was fought between the forces of Mahapradhan Mallapodeyar, the Vijayanagar Viceroy of Kanara and the ksatriya alliance comprised local chieftains under the Kadamb leadership, called ‘konkaniga’ by the Vijayanagar sources. [Moraes, 1945: A Forgotten Chapter in The History of The Konkan, in Bharat Kaumudi, 462] It is easy to assume that Nagan’s family, as the desai of the Amtruj mahal, was part of the konkaniga alliance. But it is most probable that the contrary is true; that this desai fought for Vijayanagar. For within a short time thereafter Nagan was rewarded with the title and rights as the sardesai of South Goa, including Supe, Khanapur and Chandgad.
Madkai (Marcaim) was one of strongholds of Nagan Nayak’s family; the ruins of their fortress still stand on the Madkai hill, locally known as the Desayancho Buruz. Their other fortress was in Rasai (Rassaim). The family had residences at two other places – at Bokadbag, Bamdodem and in Kumbharzuvem island. Of these the first three villages are close to each other; the last being reasonably distant. But all these four villages, along with some other villages associated with the family, probably mark the milestones in its long history, which we shall soon explore. Probably for the longest spell of this history the family was based at Rasai. [Sardesai, unpublished: The Naik Pratap Rao Sardesai Family of Goa, 21] This village is in the north-east of Sasti mahal, where it borders the Antruz mahal, separated by a relatively narrow course of Zuari river; Rasai was probably one of the smaller ones among the plethora of ports that sprung up on the river in the early centuries of the Common Era; the bigger ones being Kutthal (Cortalim), Samkhval (Sancoale), Kelsi (Quelossim), Lotli (Loutulim), etc. Bamdodem is in Antruz mahal, across the river from Rasai.
At this point it is very important to understand the location characteristics of each of the four villages – Rasai, Bamdodem, Madkai and Kumbharzuvem. The first, as we have already mentioned, was a small port; most probably connecting its hinterland to the coastal entrepot in Komkan and Kanara. This could have been what attracted Nagan Nayak’s family to the site; it is very likely that it was their ‘private’ port. We know that at that point of time ports were built and operated by traders. Though we do not yet have any evidence of maritime or trading traits in the family. But it is difficult to accept that the family was located there just by chance. According to Sardesai, the family was not originally from Rasai; it moved there from Kelsi (Quelossim), a neighbouring village. Kelsi too was a port, but possibly a much bigger port. It was one of the main villages where the sarasvat settled when they landed on the south Komkan coast; the others being Kutthal, Samkhval and Lotli. We have already referred to a study which shows a close affinity between Lotli, Kuththal and Kelsi sarasvat. [Mascarenhas et al, 2015: Genetic and Cultural Reconstruction of the Migration of an Ancient Lineage, in BioMed Research International, Vol 2015, Article ID 651415] However there are no vestiges of any fortifications or residential mansion in Kelsi. It is possible that the family was not very prominent when it resided there; or it could be that a branch of the ancestral family moved to Rasai, and acquired power and fortune; we do not know.
We do not know why Nagan’s ancestors moved from Kelsi to Rasai. There they built a massive fort on the hill ‘strategically opposite’ the port, what is now the Durbhat ferry landing; a ‘paj’ (paved road) connected the fort to the port. [Sardesai, unpublished: 21] The Rasai-Durbhat crossing was a crucial link on the shortest route between the Gove island (Tisvadi mahal) and Fonda/Amtruj mahal; so too on the route coming from Kanara via the Sasti mahal. Perhaps the fort also accommodated the residence of the family; we do not know for certain. There is a possibility, and Sardesai is not very clear on that, that at this time the family resided in Vernem. Sardesai introduces this possibility in the context of the discussion on Mhal Pai Vernemkar Sardesai. Assuming that Mhal Pai was the incumbent sardesai of south Goa in the line of Nagan Nayak on the eve of the Portuguese advent into Goa, he describes the family residence in Vernem: “Mhal Pai Sardesai’s wada was located near the Mhalsa (temple).” [Sardesai, unpublished: 20] The Vernem residence of the Sardesai family with a fort at Rasai makes much sense; the latter lies at the foot of the hill on which the former is located, just about 10 kilometres straight down. There could have been a paj, a paved path, connecting the two; as suggested in the folk tale of Bhagirathi Pai Lotlikar, the daughter of the desai of Lotli (Loutulim) married into the family of the desai of Vernem. One night Bhagirathi rode horseback from Vernem to Lotli; a little later the cavalry of desai of Vernem rode the same way. Lotli is only a little ahead of Rasai, and one has to take the same route to get down the Vernem hill. One other point becomes clear here: Nagan’s ancestors did not move from Kelsi to Rasai; they moved from Kelsi to Vernem; Rasai was only a strategic fortress.
According to Sardesai, it is after the Mhal Pai debacle wherein he earned the ire of the Portuguese and fled with his family to Cochin that the rest of the Sardesai family moved to Bamdodem, to remain out of the harm’s way. He says: “It is most likely then that the beginnings were made for the construction of what eventually became the impressive wada or mansion of the Bokadbaug Sardesai family”. [Sardesai, unpublished: 20] Bamdodem again is just across the river from Rasai. The rest of the Sardesai family seems to have put behind Mhal Pai’s misadventure and made peace with the Portuguese.
