The IberLAND project organized two events in Goa (India), with the Fundação Oriente delegation. The first event on “New Research Approaches on Land, Villages and Communidades in Goa (16th-18th centuries)”, took place on the 10th of August 2024, and aimed to share and debate new research approaches related to the history of Goa in the Early Modern Period, focusing on the relevance and connection between the land, the villages, and the comunidades through three papers.
Manuel Bastias Saavedra presented the IberLAND project; Patricia Souza de Faria (Associate Researcher at the IberLAND project; Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro) analyzed how a dispute between the Jesuits and the Portuguese king revealed the ways in which the Jesuits were taking control of the territory and its exploration; and finally, Susana Bastos Mateus (Alberto Benveniste Chair of Sephardic Studies – University of Lisbon, Portugal) provided new insights into newly converted Christians and New Christians in Goa, highlighting their connection to the social life of the comunidades through the archives of the Inquisition. Together, these three conferences offered a broad overview of the history of land in Goa and demonstrate how new approaches and studies can help rethink this central aspect of Goan history.
Additionally, they had the pleasure of being interviewed by the esteemed local newspaper, O Heraldo, one of the oldest newspapers in Goa.
The second event, on “The Old and the New Conquests of Goa (16th-18th centuries): new insights on Land and Law”, was on the 17th August , and aimed to examine the so called Old and New Conquests of Goa and its evolution in terms of its connection with land and law. Two papers explored new insights and approaches on these issues, demonstrating how archival sources can be used to rethink the colonial period and understand the social and cultural interactions between local and Portuguese institutions. Roger Lee de Jesus, from the IberLAND project, focused on the Old Conquests, and Kaustubh Somnath Naik (University of Pennsylvania, USA), on the New Conquests, added to the Portuguese Empire in the 18th century.
Roger Lee de Jesus was also interviewed by the local newspaper The Navhind Times.
Furthermore, Roger Lee de Jesus also presented a paper at the Xavier Center for Historical Research, on the 16th of August, related with “The Villages of Goa and the Portuguese Empire. An historical approach (16th-17th centuries)”, for a very diverse audience. The presentation aimed to explore the importance and relevance of Goan villages within the Portuguese Empire during the 16th and 17th centuries. Utilizing historical sources from archives in Goa, Lisbon, and Rome, it examined the evolving relationship between the Portuguese Crown and the villages. The discussion focused on how and why certain norms and practices were preserved or adapted, while addressing a central question for both the Gaunkars and Portuguese officials of the time: to whom does the land belong?
