Origin The Anjidiv Island or the Anjediva is the largest island in an archipelago of five islands just off the
Karwar coast, the other four being Kurmagad, Madlingad, Devgad and Devragad. There are two theories about how it got its name. The first is that ‘Anjediva’ is derived from ‘Anji’ (five) and ‘div’ (island), while the other is that its name is derived from the temple of ‘Anjadurga’ which once stood there, worshipped since ancient times. being a halt for ancient Roman traders at the turn of the 1st millennium CE, the Romans called the island "Aigidioum" (land of Agi Goddess). The earliest reference to the island can be found in the ancient Roman trade manual Peripulus Of The Erythraean Sea by Geographer
Ptolemy (150 CE), which speaks of the Island of ‘Aegidii’ just off the western coast of India. The text mentions how the island served as a halt for Roman traders who sailed with the monsoon winds between the Red Sea and the Malabar coast. Between the 5th and 7th CE, the island was ruled by the
Kadambas of Goa. Archaeological excavations have revealed pillars of a temple, probably dedicated to Goddess Anjadurga or Aryadurga. It is believed that some time in the 9th CE, the deity was moved to
Ankola village in
Karnataka, probably due to political turmoil. During this time, the island was used by Arab traders as a harbour during monsoon and to repair their ships.
Vasco da Gama claimed the island as Portuguese crown territory on September 24, 1498 during his first trip to India. The Portuguese presence on the island began with the landing of
D. Francisco de Almeida on September 13, 1505, who ordered the building of a fortress, which was destroyed seven months later. The
Afonso de Albuquerque attack, which culminated in the conquest of Goa in 1510, was launched from Anjediva. The island was unoccupied until 1661 when the English settled there, waiting for the treaty of July 23 to be complied. This treaty eventually yielded them Bombay, which was transferred among the colonial powers in 1665.
English presence The English presence came when Viceroy Antonio de Melo e Castro refused to hand
Bombay to the British following the marriage of
Charles II to
Catherine of Braganza, in which the city formed part of her
dowry. Ships transported the English troops, commanded by the
Earl of Marlborough and accompanied by future Governor-general Sir
Abraham Shipman, sought shelter from the monsoons. Shipman, along with many officers and soldiers, eventually died due to the climate and poor housing, so harsh that of the initial force of over 500 men who arrived in 1662, only 191 men survived to leave the island. With the departure of the British in 1665, the island was vacant until the Marathas raids (led by
Sambhaji in 1682) forced the Portuguese to rebuild the fort. The work was ordered by viceroy
Francisco de Távora,
Count of Alvor, as recorded by a plaque placed on the fortress. In addition to the Anjediva Fort, the island was defended by other forts. Military barracks were constructed. A church dedicated to Our Lady of Brotas was built, along with a chapel dedicated to
Our Lady of Sorrows (Nossa Senhora das Dores) and St.
Francis of Assisi. A large tank for drinking water supplied water to the barracks and ships. The present church of
Our Lady of Brotas was built in 1729 at the site where Pedro Alvares Cabral landed on August 22, 1500. He was then in command of the second Portuguese expedition of India and attended a Thanksgiving Mass celebrated by Friar Henrique de Coimbra, in the presence of eight Franciscan friars. It was the first mass celebrated by the Portuguese in India.
Refuge During the Portuguese occupation in the 18th century, the island sheltered Christians and Hindus of the mainland coastal border. The invasion of the realms of
Bednore and Soonda by the Muslim forces of
Tipu Sultan created the new potentate of Khodadad by seizing the throne of the
Maharajas of
Mysore. The island then reached its highest development, and in 1768 it had a governor with staff and 350 soldiers. In 1856, the island was hit by a major epidemic, attributed to a cemetery near the source of water that supplied the population. Once the cemetery was transferred to the island's north side, living conditions improved significantly. The population that had meanwhile settled in Boca de Vaca in Panjim no longer wanted to return. In 1954 relations between Portugal and India had started to deteriorate. Retired military personnel then settled on Anjediva. Following allegations of incursions by
Indian forces, the Portuguese placed a military detachment on the island. Links with Goa were maintained, but in the monsoon season, the island was isolated. In 1960, at the initiative of governor-general General Vassallo e Silva, the Church of Our Lady of Brotas and the Chapel of St. Francis of Assisi were restored along with the island's barracks. ==Portuguese-Indian relations==