Fascinating tales from colonial India | #168
+ An Indian village with 50 millionaires 🤯
Friends, Indians, countrymen, lend me your ears
We will soon celebrate 76 years of independence. This independence was from the British Rule which, depending on whom you ask, started in 1857 under the British crown or even earlier, based on the monopoly that the British East India company had.
But Britain was not the only European conquerors of India. Through its history, thanks to its rich natural resources, spices and the lack of unity among its many people, India has been seen as a jewel in many eyes to conquer.
This week we take a look at some good ol’ colonialism, through other European countries that conquered India.
Things we learnt this week 🤓
Goa was a Portuguese territory till 1961. Goa was isolated from the rest of India by the Portuguese army stationed there. Goans would wake up to the sound of Emissora Nacional or “National Broadcast Radio” where the broadcast would always start with “This is Portugal”. The Portuguese had a tight control over news and would censor anything coming in from India. In fact, most Goans hadn’t heard of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru or Sardar Patel. But resistance had been building against the Portuguese and in December 1961, Operation Vijay was launched which ended 450 years of Portuguese rule in Goa. It is said that Lisbon went into mourning and Christmas celebrations that year were quite muted. Portugal’s relationships were strained with India till 1974 when the carnation revolution ushered in a civilian government. Feni-tastic!
The Dutch East India company is considered to be the first multinational corporation in the world. It was a conglomeration of existing companies and was granted a 21 year monopoly to trade in Asia. They occupied parts of South and East India during their stay in India. In 1741, they lost the Battle of Colachel. A cannonball fired by the Travancore army fell into a barrel of gunpowder inside the Dutch garrison & destroyed the entire rice supply of the stockade. On Aug 10, 1741 Eustachius De Lannoy surrendered to the King of Travancore ending Dutch rule in India. So much for going Dutch.
It may be hard to believe, but Austria too had colonized a part of India. On the advice of William Bolts - a Dutch born, British merchant, who went to Vienna to convince the Austrians to trade in Asia, a ship called Joseph und Theresia sailed and docked in the Nicobar Islands. In July 1778, the Nicobarian natives “signed” away their sovereignty to the Austrians. The Austrian flag was flown and those on the ship were given permission to rule the land, which they named as Theresia islands. But by 1780, things had taken a turn for the worse. The colonists suffered from Malaria and were provided no support from Vienna. Eventually by 1785, the colonists abandoned the island. Waltz the matter with these Austrians… they seemed Straussed about occupying an island in India.
From IWTK, with love 💌
Seema Taparia’s first show was not Indian Matchmaking. See this to know more.
An Indian village which is home to more than 50 millionaires. Read more here.
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