486 Uncovering 487 Portuguese Histories Within ’s Urban History

_Sidh Losa Mendiratta

A shorter version of this text was originally presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting, Society of Architectural Historians, Chicago, Illinois Bas-relief painting in St. Andrew’s church, . Author: BBB, 2007 488 as the Peninsula and the Western lines, their degraded aspects of the Catholic communities, by the Portuguese in the Eastern sphere of 489 | | Historical Overview of traffic is described in the Mumbai Presidency remarking upon their laziness and unhygienic their empire. The fact that the Portuguese Gazetteer of 1882: “The morning trains from habits; their practice of Hindu or animist rituals ceded a small group of form this Salsete : going back in time

R eminiscing and Bandra [to downtown Mumbai] scandalously mixed with their nominal Christian territory to the British Crown in 1665 enriched R eminiscing During the second half of the 20th century, at are crowded with men of this [clerk] class faith; their Goan (also Native Portuguese) parish the territory’s history as a place of global first through a cadenced rhythm and later at on their way to the offices, and the evening priests who anyway kept them in medieval encounters between Asia, Europe and Africa. exponential speed, the metropolitan sprawl of trains take them back to their homes.” superstitions, and the overall economic ruin the city of Mumbai expanded northwards over of the region, due to both its and Salsete Island was considered by many to be the Bandra/ creek into Salsete Island, The original footnote at the end Portuguese administrations - and to the the Jewel of the Crown of the Estado da occupying almost all available land outside the of the quotation reads: severe cholera outbreaks of the 1820s. This . It was one of the most developed and limits of Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Within “Many of them walk three or four miles discourse can be interpreted as preparing the productive areas of the empire and the local the park, located in the island’s central hilly from their homes to the station, and as ground for the British “civilising” mission in population had been largely converted to area, are the famous . Except early as seven can be met making their way Salsete Island, their first territorial acquisition by the early 17th. The Jesuits had a for this renowned heritage site and possibly barefoot across the fields carrying their in Western India since the 17th century. particularly strong presence in the area, owning the nightlife of Bandra’s coffeehouses – there shoes and other belongings in their hands.” 22 out of the Island’s 118 revenue villages. The are apparently very few other attractions to The Catholic community of Salsete Island Franciscan missionaries also owned extensive draw a visitor into Mumbai’s northern suburbs. The Mumbai Presidency Gazetteer provides had naturally declined sharply during the lands, while the Augustinians and Dominican The overcrowded and confusing cityscapes of detailed descriptions of Salsete Island and period of Maratha occupation that preceded orders had a less conspicuous presence. The areas like Andheri, , or Santacruz the East Indian community for the late 19th the British (1737-1774). European and Indo- villages that didn’t belong to the religious orders (from where Mumbai’s international airport first century. However, it acknowledges that in some European families had fled and missionaries were mostly in the hands of wealthy Portuguese got its name) are very rarely visited by foreign of the earlier British accounts or gazetteers had been expelled. Churches were looted and landowners, some of whom built palace-like tourists, who prefer the charm of down town about the region, the Salsete Catholics are abandoned, as villages became impoverished mansions with terraced grounds imitating Mumbai. Few people know that Santacruz noticed in terms of contempt. In 1882, the or alienated. Many Christians were brought Mughal gardens. The revenues collected by the was once a small East Indian village...and name East Indian had not yet been invented back into the Hindu fold with the help of a host missionaries and private landowners in Salsete even fewer know that the name Santacruz and the Gazetteer described the local Indian of Brahman priests and purifying rites. The were also important for the economy of the simply means “Holy Cross” in Portuguese. Catholics as Koli Christians, Native Christians stable position of Catholic families developed empire’s capital in . A big part of the wealth orNative Portuguese. This last classification, during the Portuguese rule over Island – at lavishly displayed at the churches and convents Santacruz was one of the many villages which later fell in disuse, was very much least compared to their Hindu counterparts of Old Goa came from the Northern Province. that dotted Salsete Island before it became widespread in the first half of the 19th century. – was shattered. Still, the Marathas proved to When the Portuguese lost the Northern Province urbanised. Most of these villages had an In this context, Native Portuguese or Black be more tolerant rulers than the Portuguese to the Marathas, they almost immediately important East Indian community, polarised by Portuguese were the descendants of the and the Catholic community, although started expanding their Goan territory, which a church or chapel. The ones along the coast original inhabitants of Salsete Island, Mumbai impoverished and weakened, survived the eventually tripled by the end of the 18th century. were mainly inhabited by fishermen and those or other surrounding regions converted downfall of its former colonial administrators. located inland were essentially dependent on to Christianity by Portuguese missionaries The principal architectural structures built by the agriculture. Bigger settlements, like Thane, between the 16th and 18th centuries. The Indo-Portuguese layer of Salsete Portuguese in Salsete during their two century Bandra and , had become, by the early During two centuries (1534-1737), Salsete presence can be primordially grouped according 20th century, important satellite towns of The British, who took over Salsete Island Island belonged to the Northern Province of to their ownership or patronage: state, church or Mumbai. They had their own municipalities and form the Marathas in 1774, were initially the Estado da India, a Portuguese colonial private. These three groups correspond roughly infrastructures, maintaining a strong Catholic suspicious and anyway appalled at the Island’s territory on the Northern coast. The to three basic social functions: defensive; element, while most of their inhabitants Indian Catholic community. The fact that they territory stretched for almost 220 km along religious; and residential structures. However, worked in Mumbai. Many were were under the religious jurisdiction of the the coast while its width varied from 25 to 50 in Salsete Island and the Northern Province employed by the city’s civil Service offices. archbishop of Goa and his priests and that the km inland. The Northern Province represents in general, religious and residential buildings Commuters depended on the two major more affluent families still spoke Portuguese, an interesting – although understudied - also played an important defensive role, railway lines that were built in the Island during led the British to suspect their allegiance. historical colonial territory. It was the first self resulting in hybrid structures such as watchtower the second half of the 19th century. Known Earlier 19th century accounts delved in the sufficient and mainland territory to be occupied dwellings or fortified manor houses and -like 490 491 | | R eminiscing R eminiscing

Ruins of the so- named “Fatima” church, Dongri. Author: Sidh Thane fort - Mendiratta, 2009 superimposition of vectorial drawing over statlite Imagery. Author: BBB, 2007

Thane fort - tracing of vectorial infromation Ruins of St. John’s over a Portuguese or SEEPZ church. plan of 1739. Author: Sidh Author: BBB, 2007 Mendiratta, 2006 492 churches or fortified convents, incorporating and church, provided with a small garrison of Although Thane was the main settlement and Adjacent to the monastery was the church of 493 | | bastions and artillery. Which Indo-Portuguese soldiers and artillery. This religious structure epicentre of Indo-Portuguese presence in Our Lady of Immaculate Conception, begun structures, belonging to these three groups, still maintains its defensive outlook, not only Salsette, the first religious structure founded around 1552 and probably the first ex-nihilo

R eminiscing have survived in Salsete Island to this day? with the tower volume in the main facade but by missionaries in the Island, according to Christian structure in the Island. This church, R eminiscing also with its high and narrow lateral windows. available documentation, was in the village although with some alterations and later The Indo-Portuguese layer: Close by was another small round watchtower, of Mandapeshwar, in 1547 or 1548. At this face-lifts, still maintains much of the simple defensive structures with ruins still visible at Danapani Beach. time, the Franciscan friars António do Porto and austere architecture of most churches Only at the very end of its colonial rule did the and João de Goa arrived and chased away built by the Portuguese in India during the Portuguese Crown build a strong defensive Continuing south was the important harbor the Hindu religious men who dwelt in the 16th century. The main facade had an arched position in Salsete Island: Thane fort. This of Versova, which included two watchtowers sacred Mandapeshwar cave. The cave was entrance, surmounted by a rectangular window, structure was still incomplete when it was besides the main fort. The main fort, now then refitted as a church, although most of and, above it, a small round oculus. While the easily captured by the Maratha army in April property of the air force, still has within it a the Hindu sculpture groups were kept sealed monastery crumbled into ruins after 1737, 1737, who were assisted by an uprising of local Indo-Portuguese nucleus: an irregular shaped behind brick and plaster walls. The Franciscan the church was left in a state of disrepair, inhabitants. The new occupants completed the tower base. Later Maratha interventions, missionaries managed to convert one of the being restored n the late 19th century. fort with their conspicuous round bastions at changed Versova into a much bigger and Yogis and convinced the Crown to donate the the vertices of the Western canonical design complex structure. At the southwestern tip village of Mandapeshwar to him. When this The Sacromonte is also still preserved within the diamond shaped bulwarks. Today, Thane fort of Salsete Island was the rich Jesuit village of convert died, he in turn bestowed the village educational complex known as the St. Francis is a prison and well known landmark, although Bandra. Close to the strong fortified convent of to the Franciscan Order. In course of time, a d’Assissi High School. It has a small chapel not an easily accessible one. A recent visit by St. Anne, were two watchtowers and the small new church and monastery were built atop above a winding stepped path surrounding the present author (April 2008), revealed that Aguada fort. Although the ruins of the fortified the cave and a separate Marian shrine, or a miniature hillock. Along this path are seven the fort’s walls are indeed the only elements convent were demolished in the mid-19th Sacromonte, was erected on a hill opposite to small circular caves, originally housing sculpture pertaining to the Indo-Portuguese layer, a fact century to build the Bandra Slaughterhouses, the main site. This religious complex became groups depicting the scenes of the Passion of already inferred by crossing satellite imagery part of the Aguada remains, the initial base of missionary activity in Salsete Our Lady. This is a very rare structure indeed. with 18th century Portuguese layout plans. including an inscription with the date 1640. and from here, the went on to During the Maratha and British period, all the establish other churches within the Island. The first missionaries to settle in Thane town Indo-portuguese structures inside the fort were There were also watchtowers in Kurla and were Jesuits, around 1555. Eventually, all the demolished – including the Dominican convent and, towards the North and returning The cave of Mandapeshwar was brought back four main missionary orders of the Portuguese of Thane and the captain’s house – together to Thane, there was a group of five small into Hinduism after the Maratha conquest Padroado-Jesuits, Franciscans, Augustinians with the effacing of all insignia and inscriptions. watchtowers along the river approaching of the Island, in 1737. However, by the mid- & Dominicans - founded monasteries in Thane and opposite Thane fort. Apparently, no 19th century, the cave had once again been during the second half of the 16th century. Up to the 1730s, the only defenses of Salsete trace of theses last seven structures remain. changed into a Christian place of worship and Most of these monasteries were also colleges, Island built by the crown consisted of a string Along the Island’s northern shore, the was used as such at least until the 1920s. With housing important libraries. Out of these of small forts and watchtowers at strategic fortified manor-house of Ghodbandar also the development of Borivali as a suburb of structures, only the Franciscan church, originally locations along the Island’s shores. played a very important defensive role. Mumbai during the 1960’s, the cave was again dedicated to St. Anthony, survived, albeit with Located at the Northwest corner was the Dongri denuded of its Christian attire and permanently many changes. Known today as St. John’s fort, an important – albeit unfinished – position The Indo-Portuguese layer: reconsecrated as Hindu place of worship. church, it still houses within its new walls a controlling the traffic entering the River religious structures surprising number of artistic woodwork elements and close to the main wells supplying drinking The network of religious structures founded Just above the Mandapeshwar cave, stand pertaining back to the Indo-portuguese layer. water to the town of Vasai. Today, almost all by the Portuguese between 1534 and 1737 the ruins of the big Franciscan monastery, the structures at Dongri have disappeared, in Salsete includes at least 43 separate known in Portuguese as the Colégio Real de Although Thane was their first port of call except a small bastion at river-level which sites. Out of these, 20 are still being used Manapacer (Royal College of Manapacer). in Salsette, the Jesuits established their was rebuilt by the British after 1774. Further (although naturally with many alterations In this institution, friars used to provide for missionary epicentre in Bandra, from south was the Utan watchtower, nowadays or reconstructions); 12 are in ruins; and 11 basic education to young converts and Indian where they developed a flourishing trade converted into a small lighthouse. In the village have vanished without apparent trace. Catholics, while the surrounding village emporium, supported by the extensive lands of Arengal was the fortified Franciscan residence contributed to the monastery’s upkeep. and numerous villages they acquired not 494 495 | | R eminiscing R eminiscing

Ruins of Remedies church, near Thane. Author: Sidh Mendiratta, 2009

Ruins of Madh village fort, near Versova fort. An East-Indian village scene, in the evirons of Mumbai. Author: Sidh Mendiratta, 2009 Author: BBB, 2007

The fortified jesuit The Mandapeshwar convent of St. Anne. caves with the ruins Detail from the Livro of the Franciscan das Plantas das convent atop them. Fortalezas...ca. 1635 Author, BBB, 2007 496 only in Salsete but also in the seven island Salsete still in use by the Catholic community. them preferred to live in their rural houses, the 1920s. This road infrastructure connected 497 | | archipelago of Mumbai. In Bandra, the Jesuits However, there are a significant number of some of which were veritable palaces, with the most important settlements in Salsete began by founding the church of St. Andrew ruined structures that remain in a neglected extensive dependencies and compounds. Island although it played a secondary role

R eminiscing in 1576. This is one of the most interesting condition, many of them threatened by land The Portuguese nobility was influenced by the compared to the sea and river communications. R eminiscing churches in the Salsete from the heritage development pressure or encroachment. lifestyle of its Indian counterpart. Tiger hunting However, the infrastructure was still very perspective, preserving many of its Portuguese was a favourite sport in Salsete and delicate much in place when the British arrived in architectural characteristics. Within its walls The ruins of the so-called SEEPZ church are terrace gardens and private bathing tanks were 1774. The road network was reused and are a group of surprising bas-relief paintings, probably the best known example of a ruined considered a social status. Betel-nut chewing maintained by the new administration, as probably dating to the late 17th century. church in jeopardy, although recent initiatives was widespread amongst both men and women. the Island’s economy slowly improved. have created some awareness towards its The Jesuits went on to build the famous heritage value.The church, originally dedicated Only the ruins of one manor-house have Churches were repaired by the communities monastery of St. Anne, on the spot where to St. John the Baptist and founded by the survived, in the village of Ghodbandar. This was as a new cadre of village owners – many Bandra’s main Bus Depot now stands. St. Anne Jesuits around 1580, was abandoned in the the rural residence of the Mello family, one of the of them – built their new bungalows became one of the most important buildings mid-19th century when the village of wealthiest in the Northern Province. From here, and dispensaries. By the time the British of the Island during the Indo-Portuguese became affected by an epidemic and was the landlords would carry their own private trade completed the first railway connecting Mumbai period, given Jesuit power and influence in that shifted further south. The ruins at SEEPZ are through a wharf at the compound’s riverfront. A with Thane, the Island had recovered from region. Accordingly, St. Anne was fitted with a especially important from the architectural considerable garden, watered by a tank close economic depression and from Cholera strong defensive wall and bulwarks, mounting history perspective for they allow us to form a to the manor house, stretched in terraces to epidemics and the cotton mill industry in many pieces of artillery. The Jesuits even close idea of a 17th century church. Of similar the river. The manor house itself was structured Kurla was beginning to flourish. Both the had a strong militia with about 100 riflemen. heritage value are the ruins behind the church along three sides of an ample courtyard, Thane and the Western lines, built between It was demolished by the British in 1739, to of the Holy Trinity, just east of Lake; resembling a cloister. The architectural quality 1856 and 1878, were instrumental in developing prevent it from falling into Maratha hands. the ruins of the old church near Our Lady of of the building is quite evident in the extensive Salsete. They followed closely the alignment of Mercy, in Pokhran, Thane; the remains of the ruins although a recent rebuilding scheme the preexisting road network, passing through But the most famous Christian site in Bandra, so-called Our lady of Fatima church, in Dongri, has effaced many of the original details and the Indo-Portuguese villages and their churches. and indeed probably in the whole Mumbai at the northwestern tip of ; and materials, replacing them with concrete. Metropolitan area, is the church known as Mount the ruins of the old church of Holy Magi in This territorial infrastructure, with essentially Mary. The devotion to the miraculous image , on the western coast of the Island. The Indo-Portuguese layer: East Indian villages and the railroad lines of Our Lady started in the mid-18th century, villages and infrastructure instead of the old road network, was although the religious structure dates back This network of religious structures was of The last survey undertaken by the Portuguese predominant in Salsette island until the 1960s, to around 1640. Mount Mary was completely vital importance during the Indo-Portuguese administration in 1728 enumerates 118 villages when the expansion of Mumbai’s urban and rebuilt in the early 20th century and therefore period. As the religious orders were in Salsete and Trombay. These villages appear suburban fabric unto the Island irreversibly bares more resemblance to neo-Gothic responsible for much of the development in the cartography produced by the British changed the scenario. The villages gave British tastes than to its Portuguese origins. of Salsete, the constellation of villages and administration a century later, although by then, way to a chaotic suburban cityscape, as the settlements in the Island was intrinsically many of the settlements had been depopulated original Catholic neighbourhoods with their The church of the Holy Cross in Kurla also connected to the religious network. of alienated. The 19th century maps also show gardens and churches became surrounded deserves a special mention. From here, the the basic road infrastructure, pertaining to by high rise concrete buildings and very busy clergy coming from Goa slowly reestablished The Indo-Portuguese layer: the Portuguese layer. There were essentially thoroughfares. The areas closer to the railroad the networks of churches in Salsete after the residential structures three roads crossing the Island: the Bandra- lines, where real estate pressure was and is Maratha conquest . The first vicar belonging Almost all of Salsete’s villages that didn’t Ghodbandar road; the Kurla-Thane- road highest, suffered the most. Today, it is very to the Oratorians of St. Philip Neri (founded belong to the religious orders were properties (which also linked the Island to the difficult to find the original nucleus of erstwhile 1685) arrived here in 1740. Although the of private owners. The overwhelming majority and Agra roads); and the Amboli-Maroli road. villages like Borivali, , Kurla, Andheri, Holy Cross church has suffered many changes of these owners were Catholic fidalgos of the Santacruz, etc. Indeed, it is sometime difficult to its original architecture, it is still an Baçaim (Vasai) aristocracy. These landlords Along these roads were bridges, and at least to find the churches themselves, often hid important place of worship. These are a few were obliged to own a residence in the one of them, near the church of Our Lady of behind buildings or slums. The expansion of of the churches founded by the Portuguese in capital of the Northern Province, but most of Remedies in , was still standing in Mumbai’s suburban fabric throughout Salsete 498 499 | |

Measured drawings of the Marian Heritage of Indo-portuguese origin in Salcete / Shashti Island. Sacromonte, Mandapeshwar (LIC 03. Fortified Town of Vasai R eminiscing Colony). Author: BBB,2007 R eminiscing Defensive Structures: 04. or Dongri fort 07. Thane fort (prison) 08. Madh Watchtower 09. Watchtower (lighthouse?) 10. Versova fort 11. Bandra fort

Religious Structures: 15. Church of Our Lady of Bethlehem of Dongri 16. Church of Our Lady of the Sea of Utan 17. Church of Our Lady of Fatima of Dongri (ruins) 18. Church of Our Lady of Nazareth of 19. Church of St. John the Baptist of Ghodbandar (MTDC Bungalow) 20. Church of St. Jeronimo of Kashi 21. Church of Our Lady of Hope of Gaimukh 22. Church of the Holy Magi of Gorai (ruins) 23. Church of Our Lady of Imaculate Conception of Mandapeshwar 24. Marian Sacromonte of Mandapeshwar (ruins) 25. Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour of Manori 26. Church of St. Anthomy of Malvani 27. Church of Our Lady of Remedies of Poinsur 28. Church of Our Lady of Mercy of Pokhran (ruins) 29. Church of St. John the Baptist of Thane (church of St. Anthony untill 1772) 30. Church of St. Bonaventure of Erangal 31. Church of St. Thomas of 32. Church of Our Lady of Health of Versova 33. Church of St. Blaise of Amboli 34. Church of St. John of Maroli (SEEPZ church) 35. Church of the Holy Trinity of Powai (ruins) 36. Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of Sahar 37. Church of Our Lady of Egypt of Kalina 38. Church of the Holy Cross of Kurla 39. Church of St. Andrew of Bandra 40. Church of Our Lady of the Hill, Bandra (Mount Mary church)

Residential Structures: 49. Manor house of Ghodbandar (ruins) 50. Manor house of Gaimukh (ruins) 500 Island still continues although there isn’t much Eventually, the in Mumbai affronted Maharashtrian movements of the 1960s, the 1st century AD with the coming of the apostles 501 | | available land left. Sanjay Gandhi National and threatened the local Indian Catholics community faced another challenge – one St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew to India. By Park’s boundaries are already withering under in such a way that this community, eager to that again weakened it considerably. trying to dissociate their history, culture, and

R eminiscing the weight of concrete and the future of the keep their jobs and benefits with the British religion from the rule of a foreign colonial R eminiscing last few remaining East Indian villages, in administration, decided to forfeit their previous As Mumbai developed and spilled into Salsete power, the East Indian community hoped to the Dongri-Manori belt, looks very bleak. designations and invent for themselves a new Island and migration became exponential, the better preserve themselves and their built name. From “Mumbai Portuguese” or “Native East Indians became outnumbered in their own heritage from the zeal of Hindu inspired and The Indo-Portuguese layer forgotten Catholics”, they became the “East Indian” home villages, facing the overwhelming pressure driven movements, often closely tangled with The Indo-Portuguese legacy in India has been community, as decided by a meeting in 1887. of Mumbai’s inexorable growth. Furthermore, real estate pressure. Therefore, the obscurity understudied and often underrated by many The choice for this new designation evokes the simple fact that they were Catholics surrounding Indo-Portuguese history and historians. The fact that the Portuguese colonial many of the preoccupations and hopes of the became a vexed issue, since this associated heritage in Salsete Island is also symptomatic presence lasted until 1961 – in Goa, Daman and troubled community at the time. Foremost, them with foreign and colonial legacies. of the cultural denial that the East Indians have Diu - left a bitter aftertaste among those who they were concerned in asserting their long- The East Indians probably felt estranged adopted during the second half of the 20th were against it. Portuguese rule in India is also standing fidelity to the British Empire, dating and shunned in their own rapidly changing century. As they strive to protect their churches deeply associated with religious intolerance it back to the times of the , surroundings, losing rather than gaining from and traditional villages and neighbourhoods, and persecution and this association usually before the Goan migratory movement started. the spectacular development of the Metropolis. the East Indians have also attempted to hide obfuscates the other aspects and legacies It also hinted towards the employment they and disguise a fundamental part of their history. of the Portuguese period. What happened were traditionally given within the Company’s Probably because of this complex set of to the Catholics of Salcete and the former clerks cadre in the city. It can furthermore circumstances, the East Indians felt the need to However, throughout the whole of Salsete Northern Province after the Portuguese were be interpreted as plea for protection by a severe their last connection with the Portuguese: Island, the traces of the Indo-Portuguese expelled in 1739 was a different historical semiorphaned or confused community. Catholicism. A new proof of allegiance period are visible to those who look for process, with somewhat more dramatic became necessary with Independent India them: the distinct character of the surviving episodes and harsher consequences. After a As important as the symbolism patent in the and the new Mumbai - and against foreign East-Indian villages houses and gardens; confused period of decline and emasculation, designation “East Indian” was all that which colonial influence. Therefore, once again the the older walls, inscriptions and wood lasting over a century, the descendants of the community wished to deny by thrashing the more educated members of the East Indian works of the Catholic churches; the ruins of the local Indians converted by Portuguese epithet “Portuguese”. Firstly, it pointed directly community developed a discourse reshaping watchtowers and manor houses along the missionaries - especially the more educated at the issue of citizenship - while the Goan the community’s history, defending that its Island’s coast; Catholic family names such as and affluent families - developed a cultural- migrants in Mumbai were mostly Portuguese conversion to Christianity had begun before the Mello, Fernandes and Baptista; and, of course, communal (re)-foundational discourse during citizens, the East Indians were British subjects, arrival of the Portuguese, more precisely in the the names of villages such as Santacruz. the second half of the 19th and 20th century. thereby entitled to a preferable treatment. They were also ready to forgo the Catholic jurisdiction This discourse eventually estranged them of the Archbishop of Goa, advocating the from their Portuguese ties. Prof. Paulo Varela erection of a bishopric dependent directly The Poinsur Portuguese bridge, in a 19th century photo. In the Mission Field, 1925. Gomes has recently looked into this process, on the Holy See and, later, even supporting arguing that the migration of Goans to Mumbai the integration of all Catholics within the from the 1850s onwards had the effect of jurisdiction of the pro-British archbishop of creating a tense atmosphere between the Mumbai. Between 1887 and 1947, the name two Catholic and Portuguese entitled (and East-Indian stuck and the designation “Native labelled) communities. The Goans were Portuguese” practically disappeared, as the taking over many of the jobs traditionally Catholic community in Salsete Island became assigned to the Indian Catholics of Mumbai more and more integrated in the sphere of and Salsete. They were also settling in their metropolitan Mumbai. However, with the neighbourhoods and villages, albeit maintaining Independence of India, and especially with a separate and cast-conscious cohabitation. the accession of the nationalist Hindu and