Team Herald
PANJIM: A letter written over 300 years ago and preserved in the Department of Archives has assumed importance, with researchers from the Sultanate of Oman wanting to study it.
The rare letter, written in 1711 by the Queen of Kilwa to Portugal, has references to a Captian of Muscat, and it is this that has led to the interest of the Oman researchers. It also paves the way for Goa and the Sultanate of Oman to revive ties dating back to the Portuguese era.
The Department of Archives, which was established by the Portuguese in the 16th century, acts as the nodal agency to help revive relations associated to trade.
Officials of the National Records and Archives Authority, Sultanate of Oman are currently in Goa to interact with various government agencies, including the State Archives Department as part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Central Government and Sultanate of Oman.
The team of officials from Oman, currently in Goa, comprises Hamed bin Mohammed Al-Dharwyani, chairman of the delegation and two other experts.
“Relations between Goa and Oman date back to the Portuguese era and they were usually through the trade. The Portuguse had trading relations with Oman,” Archivist Balaji Shenoy said.
Shenoy said that Goa and Oman will exchange expertise on conservation methods adopted by both regions. He explained that the department has several records related to the Oman-Goa trade links, which have become an important part of the history.
“There are rare records in Swahili language which focused details about trade that used to happen during that particular time,” he said.
Returning to the letter, Shenoy said the letter was written by Queen of Kilwa (a Sultanate in the Indian Ocean) and dispatched to Portugal in 1711. It was originally written in Arabic and translated by the Prince Ampaze Benedao of Banaxeque into the Portuguese language, he added.
“The Queen in the letter has mentioned that in the current year (1711), a Captain of Mascate named Mahamed Bunumuburaca Libocar had arrived with an order of Imam of Muscate,” he said.
