On the occasion of the 74th republic day the Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant made an announcement that a guard of honour will be given at Nanus Fort in Sattari taluka (near Valpoi village on the banks of the Mahadei river) every year on this day to mark the revolt that took place in 1852 revolt against the Portuguese, led by Dipu Rane. This Fort was captured on January 26, 1852, that is why this date is chosen. The CM also announced that this fort would be restored and that the Archeological Survey of India or State Archives and Archaeology would be requested to take up this restoration work of the seventeenth century fort known to be built originally by Shivaji. It would be relevant therefore to examine some of the Rane revolts that took place during the years, from 1755 to 1912.
These revolts were proof of the self-assertive character of the people. There were about forty revolts of this Rajput clan of Sattari of which at least 14 were from 1782 to 1825. In 1755, the people of Sattari declared themselves free and fought the Portuguese for decades until they were put down by a superior armed force. They used guerrilla tactics to fight the Portuguese as they were familiar with the terrain of the land in comparison to the Portuguese.
One of the biggest revolts took place in 1824 and lasted for almost a year. The Portuguese arrested the rebels and imprisoned them for three years at the Aguada fortress.
The revolt by Dipu Rane was in 1852. This revolt was against the increased agricultural tax and also decreased their traditional feudal rights and privileges, during the reign of Visconde de Ourem, Governor General of Goa. These taxes were imposed on the mokaso as well as inam lands belonging to the Ranes. The former were the rent-free lands granted on condition of service, while the latter were the lands gifted. The forest regulations also did not permit the felling of trees and the clearing of forest to practice shifting cultivation. There was also widespread corruption among the tax collectors of this region.
The dress code of the people was also interfered with by the Portuguese, forcing the men to stop using the dhoti and langotti and wear pants instead. The women were also compulsorily asked to wear a blouse. Men were not permitted to wear the tilak on their forehead and the sacred Tulsi plant was also not allowed to be grown even in the internal courtyards of the homes of the peasants. Sattari was also kept out of the small pox vaccination immunization programme of the Health Department.
All these prohibitions affected the ryots, gaonkars and the Dessais of Sattari, and was an affront to their socio-religious customs and privileges. It was all these reasons that resulted in the revolt led by Dipuji Rane. In fact the famous folksong Farar Far, has a variation called Nanus Kotantum, which is a testimony of the exchange of gun fire between the Portuguese and the rebels. When translated into English, it speaks of “In the dense forests of the Nanus Fort, there is exchange of fire wherein the Portuguese are shooting the Ranes and vice-versa”.
Eminent Indo-Portuguese historian Dr Teotonio de Souza’s opinion on this issue is already in the public space that all the Rane revolts were for personal reasons like reduction of taxes or their right to use the forest wood, or to avenge insults to their women folk. In that period, these revolts could not be based on nationalism or for the liberation of Goa and therefore the Ranes of Sattari could not be viewed as freedom fighters. When this controversy took place, the Chief Minister of Goa was Pratapsingh Rane and therefore it created quite a furore. But it must be appreciated to the credit of Sr Rane that the issue was laid at rest even when the historian stood his ground. Instead of engaging in these controversial historical issues, Sr Rane went on to create history and had the foresight to set up government colleges in the rural areas of Goa like Sanquelim, Pernem, Khandola and Quepem.
To continue with the Dipu Rane revolt, the Fort of Nanus in the Sattari district became the defence centre of the Ranes. The Governor-General sent a company to fight the rebels, but the guerrilla tactics of the Ranes who disappeared into the thick forests, helped them to remain unharmed. Even an army led by the Governor-General himself could not defeat the Ranes. From Nanus, the Ranes attacked villages in Quepem, Canacona and Hemadbarshem. This rebellion lasted for three and a half years. The people’s support for the Ranes forced the Governor General to appeal for peace. With the help of an intermediary, retired military officer José Paulo de Oliveira Pegado, an agreement was signed between the Portuguese authorities and the rebels.
The Governor General obtained pardon for the leader and the rebels. The Governor General, Conde de Torres Novas, restored the rights of the leader of the rebels and made Dipaji Rane an army leader and protected his relatives. Dipu Rane, therefore, sought pardon and then joined the Portuguese army! The Government Council agreed to pardon the rebels on the condition that they surrender their arms. Dipu Rane signed the surrender document on June 2, 1855, with the Treaty enforced on December 20, 1855. Photographs of the Ranes with officers of the Portuguese army are also in the public space. It is true that the rebellion had taken place but it is also true that it ended with Dipaji Rane being pardoned by the Portuguese. This treaty cancelled all the pending judicial cases against the rebels and the confiscated property was returned. Dipu Rane was made a Captain in the Portuguese army and his nephew Apa was made second lieutenant and a relative Rauji was made a lieutenant. Although it did succeed in the spread of terror in territories outside Sattari, where the Ranes conducted raids on houses of landlords. This revolt was therefore feudal, rather than nationalist in character. Well known historians from Goa have written their arguments in their Phd thesis as well as books and these are already in the public space for a more detailed understanding of these revolts.
Another important Rane revolt, was of Custoba from 1869 to 1871. He was insulted by a Hindu priest or bhat who had dishonoured a widow of his family and had falsely implicated her father and brother in a murder. The priest produced false witnesses to support his charges. Custoba and his followers looted villages, killed the men folk, but spared the women and children. He even cut off the head of the erring Hindu priest. The police declared him an outlaw and declared a reward for his capture, dead or alive. He was shot dead on June 13, 1871, while making his escape. With the death of Custoba, the rebellions died down.
In 1895, Dada Rane came to the support of the Goan sepoys who refused to go to Portuguese Africa. Rane’s resentment was fuelled by Portuguese distributing the land of his forefathers among the Narcornis (Nadkarnis), local Brahmins who sought to wrest control of village lands. The two disgruntled groups came together in a rebel army that unleashed mayhem on Portuguese territories in Goa. The rebels captured ninety soldiers and invaded Bardez on October 14, 1895. They attacked the Tivim Church, removed its treasures and then raided Mapusa. The garrison surrendered and the Municipal treasury was looted. The next place of attack was Colvale, where the community safe was broken open. These villagers fled to the Ghats or to the nearby British territory. The Portuguese government distributed arms to the villages. The Ranes then fought with the villagers of Aldona and retreated as the Ranes suffered about 35 casualties. Immediately thereafter, reinforcement was sent from Portugal under Prince Afonso Henriques. He, along with the Governor General, fought the Ranes. Some were pardoned, if not found guilty of murder or robbery.
During one such hearing, a relative of Dada Rane who was being led to prison in Mapuça under escort, was shot by one of his own escorts. It was believed that the Bragança family of Nadora (Pangues) was responsible for this killing. The Ranes avenged this death, by surrounding the Brangaça house when the whole family had gathered together for a festive occasion. The male members were imprisoned and the women were set free. In 1897, when Joaquim Machado was Governor, this uprising finally ended. The Bragança family house has been since abandoned by the family and is today in ruins. According to a manuscript from the British Library, signed by a British resident in Goa, the British had decided to keep out of the revolts after 1895.
Thereafter, two revolts took place in 1901 and 1912, both of which were suppressed by the Portuguese and the leader captured and deported. In 1912, the last Rane revolt was led by Moriyarao and Jill Sawant cutting across caste and religious barriers. A Christian toddy-tapper, Quistulo, was also another local leader. This revolt was crushed with the arrival of the Portuguese troops from Mozambique. Moriyarao was beheaded in his sleep and Jill Sawant was imprisoned in Portuguese West Africa.
The Ranes were certainly a brave warrior race of people who rebelled against the Portuguese and the government’s decision to restore the Nanus Fort is a welcome decision. However, classifying these revolts as feats of a nationalist struggle needs deeper historical investigation as the very concept of nationalism to throw out a European ruler and replace it by a government formed by the people was not present at that period of time in Goa.
(Prof (Dr) Sushila Sawant Mendes is an author and professor in history, Govt College of Arts, Science & Commerce, Quepem)