During colonisation, the norm was to control administration in foreign lands from European cities. All British colonies were controlled from London, Portuguese from Lisbon, French from Paris, and so on. Then they had provincial headquarters in foreign lands for multi-level administration. Thus, Spanish Philippines and Spanish West Indies (the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, etc.) were administrated from Mexico City until 1821 (the year of Mexican independence), Dutch East Indies were governed from Batavia (Jakarta) from 1619, etc. Similarly, colonial forces in India also controlled certain overseas territories for a brief amount of time. Ceylon, or modern-day Sri Lanka, was briefly administrated from Madras between 1796 and 1798 and loosely till 1802 when it became a separate Crown Colony of the British Empire. The British also governed the colony of Seychelles from the Bombay Presidency during the 19th and early 20th century. The Estado da Índia, or the Portuguese State of India, administrated territories in Mozambique under the Captaincy of Sofala (between 1505 and 1752), Macau, and Portuguese Timor (Timor-Leste; till mid-18th century) from first Cochin (between 1505 and 1530) and then Goa (1530 to 1752). Similarly, the Persian Gulf Residency, Aden, and even British Somaliland reported to English authorities at Bombay at various points in the 19th century, while Strait Settlements and Singapore reported to Calcutta in the same era. Such was the length and stretch of British and Portuguese India.
The French, however, didn't control any of their non-Indian colonies from either of their five enclaves in India. Neither from Pondichéry (Puducherry), Karaïkal (Karaikal), Mahé (Mahe), Yanaon (Yanam) or even Chandernagor (Chandannagar), the French Indochina was administered, even for a temporary phase.
This post isn't about the Indian diaspora outside the Indian realm, but only about those places where Indians reached because of temporary control from Indian settlements of Bombay, Goa, Madras and Calcutta.
Talking especially about the Portuguese part, while they governed Mozambique from Goa, they did bring several soldiers of ethnicities such as Maravé, Sena, Makonde, Makua, Yemvane, Mutapa etc. - the Bantu-speaking people of southern Africa, who were called by a racist slur 'Cafres' (originated from the Arabic word kafir). In fact, on several old maps, the entire coast starting from South Africa and covering Eswatini, Mozambique and even Tanzania can be seen marked as 'Cafres'. This is obviously because of the European lens African maps were made, who ignored the indigenous tribal conglomeration and focused only on the simplification of internal frontiers, which to them seemed too complex to understand.
According to an article written by Isaac Samuel in African History Extra, several Mutapa princes travelled to Goa for religious services, apart from the usual enlisting in the Portuguese army that they normally did. Mutapa was the name of the empire that succeeded Great Zimbabwe and existed between 1430 and 1888, also known as Monomotapa or Mwenumutapa, covering Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, and Mozambique. One such prince's name was Mapeze, baptised as Dom Constantino in 1699, and the next year was sent to Goa to join the Dominican order as Friar Dom Constantino do Rosário. He was shortly joined by his brother Dom João, and both their studies were funded by the Portuguese Crown, Dom Pedro II. Interestingly, Dom Constantino was exiled to Macau (later called back to Goa) for 'religious misdemeanour', but it's not reported whether any of the two brothers ever occupied any political power in Goa.
There were also incidents in which Goans who were shipped to African colonies took part in shaping their local history. One such incident had occurred two centuries ago, in 1693, when the Mupata king, Nyakunembire (1692-1694), had jointly attacked a Portuguese fair in Dambarare (in Zimbabwe) along with a Shona-speaking Changamire (local King of the Rozvi Empire, in Zimbabwe). The attack resulted in the killing of over 60 people, that included Africans, Portuguese, and Goans. It was a personal revenge that Nyakunembire wanted to take against his own brother who was supported by the Portuguese, for claiming the Mutapa throne. But this was an unfortunate incident where Goans were killed who may have gone there to attend the fair.
Goa's connection doesn't just lie on African lands, but in a far-off Portuguese territory on the southern shores of China - Macau. One of the longest claimed Portuguese territories in the world - from 1557 to 1999 - has a great Goan connection. According to an article written by Jessica Faleiro in 2017, a former barracks in the heart of Macau called Moorish Barracks, built in 1874, accommodated a Goan regiment to reinforce Macau's police force. Macau also has a cemetery going by the name 'Ramal dos Mouros' or 'extension of the Moors' - which is technically a racist and archaic word to describe Muslims, but lingers in the chapters of history even today.
Another Goan connection is with what today is the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, one of the newly independent nations of the world (independence from Portugal on 20th May 2002). Between 1515 and 1844, Portuguese Timor was officially part of the Estado da Índia, having its Governor-General sit in Goa. Religiously, the Dominican friars would land at Lifau town (the former capital of Portuguese Timor) from Goa in 1556, setting up the first permanent mission there. Goan priests would also carry out ceremonial rites, devotional festivals, and church architecture to Timorese society, a legacy of which can be felt in the ruins of St. Mary of the Rosary Church at Oecusse (Oekussi).
Let's talk about another rare connection of Indians, but this time on the islands of Seychelles, which was governed from Bombay between 1810 and 1903 and was part of the colony of Mauritius during that period. In fact, the connection between India and Seychelles goes back to 1770 when a small group of five Indians landed with several African slaves and French colonists, recording it as the islands' first inhabitants. During the period when it was governed from Bombay, there would be regular shipping links and flow of trade and commerce between India and Seychelles, and also settlement of Tamilians in Mahé and Praslin islands (parts of Seychelles). From 1903, Seychelles was operated as a separate British colony that lasted till 1976. At present, alongside the currency of Seychelles being the Seychellois Rupee, there is a thriving Gujarati and Tamil population in this tiny island nation that forms a dynamic Indian community away from India.
Coming to Strait Settlements - Penang, Dinding, Malacca and Singapore - which were governed from Calcutta for 37 years between 1830 and 1867, apart from being British settlements in Malaya, were also used as penal colonies for Indian prisoners. In fact, the island of Pulau Jejerak near Penang had its prison hold over 3000 Indian prisoners cramped in a small cell and was flooded with cholera and smallpox. These Indian prisoners, much later, were also a cementing force in the formation of the Indian National Army (or the Azad Hind Fauj) under Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, during the times of WW2, accelerating the vigour of the Indian independence movement.
There are many such other anecdotes that are wiped under the brushes of history and overwhelmed by popular narratives. But this chapter of Indian history, having connections with realms beyond the subcontinent, has shaped not just Indian but world history. Below here are some of the maps decorating this piece of work.
@mapsbysagar
@mapsbysagar
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