Beautiful Saligo in 1875

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Teotonio R. de Souza
The Portuguese administration had a justice of peace (regedor) in every village. Jernimo
Caetano de Abreo was regedor of Saligo in 1875. He received some urgent queries from the
Government Secretary, J.H. da Cunha Rivara, the well- known administrator-historian of the
Portuguese in the East, editor of Archivo Portuguez-Oriental (10 vols). He also published
several other studies, including one on the Pinto Revolt and another on the Konkani Language.
Cunha Rivara had sent the order at the behest of J. N. da Fonseca, author of the classic An
Historical and Archeological Sketch of the City of Goa (1878), which he prepared for the
Bombay Government as part of the Imperial Gazetteer in 1877. J.N. da Fonseca was reminding
the successor of Cunha Rivara, namely Eduardo Nogueira de Balsemo that he was still
awaiting the documentation he had requested and that time to conclude the work was
running out.
The information requested reached somewhat late for J.N. da Fonseca to use for his study.
Though late, the Goa administration provided reports about most villages and towns of Goa
containing responses to 30 queries sent. Many years ago I had placed on Moira-net a summary
of the information related to Moir. I may submit by and by such summaries about other
villages. Here goes one about Saligo. The choice has no special reason. It appeared first in my
notes.
Saligo derived its name from Savo-ganv, meaning a village not crossed by any river. The
village community decides by majority of votes of ganvkar, and when opinions are divided the
matter is referred to the Administrator of the comunidades.
Its population will total 3500. About a fifth has migrated to British India. The death rate is
equal to the birth rate. The total income is about 200,000 xerafins, much less than the
expenditure. The income from tobacco revenue is 1000 xerafins, the urban tax 700 xerafins,
taverns 280 xerafins, and the land tax 1225 xerafins.
Most villagers belong to Brahmin caste. Chardde are few. Shudras make about a sixth of the
population and undertake most menial jobs and work as artisans. There is no intermarriage
between castes. All speak Konkani with dialectical variations. Most converted to Christianity
after the Portuguese took over Bardez. The Church dedicated to the Mother of God displays a
unique gothic architecture.
The village has two public schools run by the Fazenda: Latin classes and a primary school.
There are also two music schools run by the communidade and by a village ward. Adult men
play cards, while young men play pell and ocra / tocra . The pre-Portuguese currency was
putalko or pagodas. Presently it is rupees, tangas and ris. One Portuguese rupee has 12
tangas, and each tanga 60 ris.
The village has no old monuments. There is a reasonable structure for communidade
administration, and a new construction where function the two public schools. Among the
natural resources there is a good spring at Salmona, in a property that belongs to descendants
of Filipe Nery Pinto and Silvestre Miguel de Souza. The waters of the spring are used for
summer baths even by people from other villages.

The houses are of stone and lime. The bigger houses with more divisions will cost about 15,000
xerafins, the others of decreasing sizes about 5000 xfs., 2500 xfs, 1000 xfs, 250 xfs respectively.
These latter are built with mud. The quantity and quality of furniture corresponds to the
quality of houses. The wealthy inhabitants spend about 1500 xfs for their weddings. It is about
half and a third in the lower classes. So also the upper group spends about 100 xfs on
festivities, and others comparatively less.
While few work in offices, most are engaged in domestic chores. The agricultural labour starts
work aroud five in the morning and stop at nine oclock. They resume at eleven and continue
till 2.30 afternoon. After lunch and siesta they work till 6 in the evening. During the sugarcane
harvesting it is a continuous session with brief stops for food and rest. The sugarcane was
used for vinegar, liquor and jugree, but Jos Antonio Pinto from Candolim and a Costa from
Salcete brought in some technological improvements in the production of sugar for export.
While all observe Sundays, there are some special festivities like Easter, St John of Baptist, Holy
Cross and the feast of the Church patroness. These celebrations are marked by dances at the
accompaniment of Gumat. The Carnival is celebrated by the upper classes by sporting masks.
There is no permanent fair in the village, but for two small fish markets and one for sale of
meat on Sundays. Small sales of rice and coconuts are done privately. Seven or eight small
shops sell raw materials and spices for cooking. They are open from 7 oclock morning till 8
oclock night. The grain is measured in paileo and poddi. Eight poddi make a kuddov, each
podd has two solgim or four quarters ( onnatteo ). Twenty kuddov make a khanddi, and
twenty khanddi a kumb.
The village has no weavers, but some goldsmiths, ironsmiths and tavern-keepers offering
foreign brands and local liquor. A wage labourer earns 3 tangas a day, a woman half that
amount, and a child 45 ris. It is paid in cash or kind, once in three days or on weekly basis.
They earn barely sufficient for their dress, daily food and drinks.