Pilar Down The Ages: A political and religious history of Pilar

Introduction
The Silaharas
The Kadambas
Ibn Batuta and Muslims
Archeological Finds
Bahamani & Vijayanager

a. INTRODUCTION
Few are the privileged places wherein the elements of Nature, History and Traditions of the past and the present status conjure to make a place famous. Pilar, Goa-India is one such hillock commanding a beautiful panoramic view all round. The Arabian sea, the Marmagoa harbor, the Dabolim Airport and the serpentine river Zuari meandering its way lazily through rich coconut groves of Siridao-GoaVelha-Agassaim on the Western side, the vast rich fields of Neura Mandur-Carambolim on the east, the evergreen and golden Batim-Bambolim-Santana hillocks on the northern and far off Farmagudi and Verna Plateaux in the south, all dotted with numerous village churches in between, and above, the open vault of the sky resting so to say, on the peaks of Mount Vagueri(Satari) in the far distant north-east and of Mount Chandernath(Quepen) in the far south-west horizons – all the extravagance of nature elevates the soul to contemplate the glories of the Creator.

History too sheds its own luster on the glorious past of this place. At the foot of the hill was situated the palace of Kadamba kings. At the eastern extremity there was a very old tank from the bottom of which two small terracotta pieces and 3 stone-age granite tools were unearthed among other things. These 5 articles lead us to guess that this spot might have been the cradle of Goa’s civilization in the hoary past when the aboriginal Gavadas were inhabiting this land of the Konkan which Parusharama is said to have reclaimed from the Arabian sea for the Aryans by shooting an arrow from the heights of the Sahyadri Ghats according to Skanda Purana.

b. THE SILAHARAS
One of the inscriptions collected by Fr. Heras in 1932, alludes to Sahasthadeva who had his capital at Chandrapura(Chandor in Salcette) and wanted to conquer the weak Southern Silahara Empire with its capital at Govapuri.

According to Kharepattan plates of Rattaraja, as interpreted by Dr. Altekar, (Indian culture Vol. II pg. 399-400), the Southern Konkan Silahara dynasty ruled from Gopakapattans (Govapuri of Gove) the present Vhoddlem Goem at the foot of the Pilar Hillock for two and half centuries. The founder of this dynasty as well as of the city is said to be Sanaphulla who ruled circa 765 to 795 AD, as a feudatory of the Rashtrakutta king Krishna I (759-773). The Rashtrakuttas were defeated by the western Chalukyas during the reign of Rattaraja (995-1020) and thus the Southern Silaharas became feudatories of the Chalukyas. Rattaraja tried to assert his independence but was defeated by the Chalukya Emperor Jayasimha, who annexed his kingdom, but did not establish the rule as such in South Konkan. The Northern Silahara King Arikesarin then invaded the entire Konkan as far south as Gopakapattana in 1020 but was soon killed in battle when the Southern Maratha Silahara King Gonka attacked his Capital at Thana. In this confused situation, while Chittaraja, the nephew of Arikesarin was succeeding him in Thana, the Goa Kadamba King, Sahasthadeva I, attacked and conquered Govapuri and the entire Konkan region.

c. THE KADAMBAS
According to Dr. George Moraes, in his book “Kadamba Kula”, Sahasthadeva is said to have built a huge fleet of ships and assembled them on the river Aganashini(Zuari), probably between the present Cortalim and Agassiam and made his army to pass over to attack and conquer Govapuri. This feat is compared in the inscription to Rama’s feat in going to Sri Lanka to rescue his beloved Sita. These ships were thus a permanent asset to the Kadambas of Goa and brought them enormous wealth from countries even as far as China. This fact explains why the Goans have an in-born attraction to the sea, and why, so many of the Goan seamen have served in so many mercantile and navy ships, down through the centuries.

The successor of Sahasthadeva Jayakeshi I, ruled the vast Kadamba Empire from this new capital Govapuri at the foot of the Pilar hillock. From the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries, this very hillock could then boast of the proud royal temple of Shiva with a Hindu university, an Acharya, and several Brahmacharis at the top, the temple of Chamundeshwar on its southern extremity and various temples and ablution tanks around the hillock. The inscription of the Digambe grant of Permadedeva, the 7th Kadamba king states that at the time of Kadamba Jayakeshi I (1050-1080), who made Govapuri the principal seat of the Kadamba government, the streets were completely filled with the palanquins of numerous Hindu pandits and Buddhist monks who were constantly carried in procession. The poles of the palanquins were covered with jewels and inside them were quivering the golden earrings of the owners (of Fleet: Journal of Bombay Branch of Royal Asiatic Society vol. IX pg. 273). Another inscription of the same time compares the beauties of the city with the wonders of India’s Paradise. Ramayana goes so far as to say that whoever casts a glance over this holy city of Govapuri gets his sins cleansed. The Kadamba Empire became very famous due to its wealth and commerce which kept on growing, thanks to the concourse of people from various parts of the East, and also due to its majestic buildings and educational and charitable institution. The Kadamba dynasty had about 17 rulers and the kingdom lasted from 980 AD to 1345 AD.

All the temples, palaces and institutions at Chandrapura and Govapuri were destroyed in the mid-fourteenth century at the time of the defeat and subjugation of the Kadambas by Malik Kafur, General of Allaudin Khilji, in 1326, both of them Delhi Sultans.

d. IBN BATUTA & MUSLIMS
During the last days of Kadamba rule, Ibn Batuta, the Arab traveller, records the existence of two cities in the island of Goa, the city at the foot of Pilar which he calls Sandabur or Sindabur and the city of Ella (today’s Old Goa) founded by the Mahamadans.

A Kadamba family feud between father and son invited the Navab Djemal-ud-din of Honavar to invade Goa in 1344. Ibn Batuta who commanded the expedition describes how the Muslims entered the city at the point of sword and when Hindu inhabitants fled into the Kadamba palace (below the Pillar hillock), the Muslims threw fire into it and when the Hindus came out, about ten thousand of them were seized.

The Kadamba king fled and Djemalud-in occupied the palace. Ibn Batuta went to Honavar and Calicat and returned after 5 months to see the city again besieged by the Kadamba troops in an effort to recapture it. However during the siege Ibn Batuta left Goa and went to Calicut and from there proceeded to the Maldives. This is the last time we hear of the Kadamba king. A Viragal in the Archaeological Museum at Old Goa, which according to Rev. Heras sj, is dated 1354, commemorates the death of Biravarama’s feudatory chief who died in a sea battle. This Biravarma might have been the last Goa Kadamba Ruler.

e.  ARCHEOLOGICAL FINDS
Various objects unearthed around Pilar project the high development of art and architecture around this Pilar hillock of Kadamba exquisitely carved out of granite, an idol of Ganesh with Brahmin’s tread and necklace, multilated slabs, the base of a statue of Buddha, a representation of a dance after death, mutilated face of a Vaishnava deity, nagas (Snakes), warrior, tulsi-stone, well carved ends of pillars and niches-all of granite and also several octagonal laterite pillar stones and a yoni that adorn the Pilar Seminary Museum today. Bits of Chinese and indigenous pottery testify to the rich commercial relations. Besides, several of the Pilar finds also adorn the Museum of the Heras Institute of Historical Research, Bombay: a middle sized Nandi, 2 naga stones, a mutilated head probably of Shiva all of granite a piece of stone lattice window and some gold coins, three of which bear the name of Jayakeshi II inscribed on them. The deities of the temples dedicated to Chamundeshwar, Kal Bhairav, Kshetrapal, Nirankar were later transferred to the hamlet of Orgaum in the village of Pilgaum in the present Sanquelim Taluka.

f.  BAHAMANI & VIJAYANAGAR
Govapuri and consequently Pilar swindled into insignificance after the destruction of the Kadamba Empire somewhere between 1345 and 1356. The founder of Bahamani Sultanate Allaudin Hassan Shah I dealt a severe blow to the Hindu Kingdoms of the west coast in 1356. From the Bahamanis Goa passed under Vijayanager away from 1366 to 1472 due to Madhava the able minister of Marappa, Governor of Konkan who conquered it for Vijayanagar. In 1472, however, Goa again passed under the Bahamanis when Mahammad Gawan the able minister of Muhammad Shah III attacked it by land and sea and the Vijaynagar Governor fled without a fight. With the breakup of the Bahamani Sultanate, Goa passed under Bijapur, one of the five independent kingdoms that came out of it in 1501.

Yusuf Adil Shah, the founder of Bijapur Sultanate saw to it that the Muslim city of Ella (Old Goa) was well fortified and a road laid from the jetty right up to his palace (in the present compound of St. Cajetan’s Monastery), and put up beautiful edifices there and in Panjim. At one time he is said to have made it the principal seat of his government. He died in 1510 and was succeeded by his son Ismael Adil Khan, from whom, the Portuguese who had become a strong maritime power and founded the new sea route rounding Africa in 1498, conquered Goa on 25th November 1510.

Govapuri was abandoned for ever and became one of the villages of Tiswadi Taluka. Not far from the Pilar hillock on its northwest there is a tank called Kuzmoraiachem Tollem, meaning the tank of Kadamba King. Perhaps, it was the bathing place for the queen and the princesses of the Kadambas. Today the tank contains only water during the rainy season and Hindus of the locality immerse their Ganesh idols in it. During the dry season it is used for cultivating vegetables at least in part.

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Last modified: 12/07/05