Goa is a state in southwest India, bounded by the states of Maharashatra to the North and Karnataka to the East and South, with the Arabian Sea forming its Western boundary.
The original Goan population consisted of Arya-Dravidian people who spoke Konkani, a language of Sanskrit stock, who appear to have settled there at least 2,500 years ago (around 500 BC).
For many centuries the rulers of Goa were Kadambas, feudatories of the powerful Chalukyas and their successors, the Yadavas. Under the reign of the Kadambas, Goa’s commercial propensity increased to such an extent that it attracted the cupidity of the Dehli Sultanate. In 1312, the Yadava forces were defeated by Muslim troops from the Deccan and Goa became part of the Dehli Sultanate.
Goa’s importance as a mercantile entrepot increased still further in this Muslim era as it became a point of embarkation for pilgrims from the subcontinent going to Mecca; and of disembarkation for horses from Arabia and Persia ( Arabs were great horsemen).
The status of Goa as a major port on the West coast was rivalled only by Calicut which, in any event, was 1,000 kilometres to the South.
Portuguese rule
In 1510, the Portuguese defeated the ruling Bijapur sultan Yousuf Adil Shah, with the help of a local ally, Timayya. This was the beginning of Portuguese rule that would last four and a half centuries until 1961 when Goa became India’s 25th state.
Goans may have had their first contact with Kenya in 1594 when the Portuguese built Fort Jesus in Mombasa. However, the Omani Arabs seized Fort Jesus in 1698, ending Portuguese rule there and in Zanzibar.
As the fortunes of Goa declined in the middle of the 19th century, Goans looked increasingly beyond their borders for basic opportunities such as employment and education.
The Hindu population of the Novas Conquistas tended to migrate to Maharashatra State whereas those of the Christian population of the Velhas Conquistas turned directly to Bombay and Poona, centres of British administration.
The rapid rise of the Goan community was due primarily to Goan adoption of English as a language of instruction. In common with the Parsis, English became the mother tongue of many educated Goans in addition to or even displacing Portuguese.
In Bombay, the British began employing English-speaking Goans in a variety of clerical positions towards the end of the 19th century. When the newly formed Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEA) turned to Bombay to recruit staff in the 1890s, they found Goans qualified and willing to relocate to Kenya.
In recognition of the Goans’ special status vis-à-vis other Indians (not only did most Goans have partial Portuguese ancestry, as evidenced by their names and faces, they were also Christians and, virtually all of them, Portuguese nationals), they were given special, non-Indian status.
This token was no flash in the pan; it gave the fledgling Goan community certain legal advantages, particularly those concerning education and taxation. It also went hand-in-glove with the inherent aptitude for adaptation, so characteristic of the community.
The immigrants quickly became cosmopolitan and sophisticated within another cultural context. Socially, they came to be seen as being above Indians, Arabs and by a long shot, Africans.
When the British established a Protectorate Government over Kenya in 1895, the new administration retained most of the IBEA employees, Goan and others. During the early colonial days; in district commissioners’ offices, in customs and elsewhere, Goans were the backbone of the administration.
They were described as ideal civil servants: hard-working, responsible, reliable and apolitical. It is said they made good clerks, cooks and tailors (the lower caste).
Notwithstanding their elevated status, the Goans were excluded from social clubs patronised by Europeans and so had to form their own clubs.
The Goan Gymkhana was established in 1935 specifically for membership by the Goan community working in the civil service or the railways (the tailors amongst the Goans had their own distinct club elsewhere). The building is situated on Ngara Road below what was then Ainswoorth Hill, the current site of the National Museum.
This imposing structure is built to a Victorian design comprising a ground floor used mainly for storage, an upper floor hosting the main clubhouse and a viewing balcony.
Walls are constructed of butch stone to the ground floor and burnt clay bricks rendered and painted externally, to the upper floors. The roof is covered in iron sheets supported by timber members.
Doors are made of panelled timber while windows are glazed in steel casements. Floors are finished in polished parquet, terrazzo and coloured cement screed.
Access to the upper floor is via a grand terrazzo stairway leading to a colonnaded entrance way. There is a swimming pool to the rear of the main clubhouse with bandas for shade. The club also offers indoor games and a football pitch.
There is a proposal to develop part of the club grounds for commercial use to augment income in the face of declining membership revenues.
Notable contributions
Although membership was for a long time restricted to the Goan community, the club is now open to all races.
Goans were not only in the government or the railways. Those who have made notable contributions elsewhere in Kenya include: the merchant de Silva who settled in Fort Smith in 1897, Dr Rosendo Ribiero who arrived in 1899 was the first medical practitioner in Nairobi and famous for his zebra mount on which he did his rounds, Pio Gama Pinto the politician, Joe Rodriques the journalist who was managing editor of the Nation newspaper and Henry Braganza the musician.
By creating a stratified social platform based on race, the British were able to divide and rule us. But no matter how close you got to the top of the pyramid, you were never going to be white; that door was slammed shut.
Douglas is a retired banker and motorcycle enthusiast.
