Silvassa is the capital of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, a Union Territory of India. Tourists coming from abroad may not know the political administration of India. The Union of India is divided into 29 States (including the newly formed Telengana State) and 7 Union Territories. The States are administered by the State Governments elected by the electorate of each State. But the Union Territories are administered directly by the Central (Federal) Government, although Pondicherry (Puducherry) and the Capital Territory of Delhi have semi-independent elected governments. Dadra and Nagar Haveli (or D.N.H or D. & N. H.) was formerly a Portuguese colony until it was liberated in 1954. But the Territory remained independent until 1961 when it was integrated into the Union of India. It is located between the States of Maharashtra (in the south) and Gujarat (in the north). The nearest railway station is Vapi, located in Gujarat and 18 k.m. from Silvassa. Vapi is located on the Mumbai-Delhi route. Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay, the capital of Maharashtra) is 180 k.m. from Silvassa. The city of Surat located in Gujarat is 140 k.m. away. Delhi is approximately 1600 k.m. away. Surat and Delhi are to the north of D.N.H. and Mumbai is to the south. Since D.N.H. has many industries, people from all over the country have migrated to the region and the population is approximately 4,00,000. The territory has an area of approximately 491 square kilometers. Silvassa town is around 15 sq. k.m. as of 21.05.2014, the date on which I am writing this. There are 72 villages, mainly inhabited by the various tribal communities like the Varly (Varlie), Kokana, Dhodia, Koli, Kathodi, Naika, Dubla and Kolgha. The tribal communities are locally known as adivasi (which means original inhabitant). Each community has its own culture, traditions and languages and dialects. None of these languages has written literature or script until today. The tribal communities consist of approximately 60% of the population of D.N.H. (Earlier in the eighties it was more than 80%, but after influx from different parts of the country, the percentage has reduced). But the influx has helped the tribals in increasing their earnings. A brief history: In the year 1262 a Rajput prince from Rajasthan (now Rajasthan is a State in India, located to the north of Gujarat State), named Ramsinh established himself as the ruler of Ramnagar, the present day Dharampur, which consisted of 8 Paraganas ( group of villages ) and assumed the title Maharana. Nagar Haveli was one of the Paraganas. Time passed on. In the year 1360 Rana Dharamshah I (First) shifted his capital from Nagar Haveli to Nagar Fatehpur. With the rise of the Maratha power, Shivaji viewed Ramnagar as an important locality. He captured the region, but Somshah Rana recaptured it in 1690. After the Treaty of Vasai ( which was on 6th May 1739) Vasai and the surrounding territories came under the Maratha rule. Soon after, the Marathas captured Ramnagar but reinstated the ruler, Ramdeo, under conditions. Thus the Marathas acquired the rights to collect revenue, known as chauthai from Nagar Haveli and two other paraganas. During the time of Dharamdeo, the son of Ramdeo, due to his ungrateful attitude, ( he neglected the conditions imposed earlier) the Marathas captured Nagar Haveli and the surrounding regions. In 1772, the Marathas captured a Portuguese warship named Santana. At the same time the Marathas had to struggle with the British. They always feared that the Portuguese would join hands with the British against them. The Mughals were already a constant threat. An alliance between the British and the Portuguese was a nightmare for the Marathas. Due to this, in 1779, the Marathas signed a treaty with the Portuguese by which, as a compensation for the loss of the warship Santana, the Marathas allowed the Portuguese to collect revenue from 72 villages of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The actual possession of the territory took place in 1783 and was placed under the administration of the Governor of Daman. (Goa, Daman and Diu were already Portuguese possessions.) In 1818, the Maratha Empire collapsed. Thus the Portuguese ultimately became the rulers of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. But as Daman was more important from the point of view of generation of income from exports, D.N.H. received very little attention from the Portuguese except for exploitation of the rich forest wealth of the region. As time passed the Indian Independence Struggle picked up momentum. On 18th June, 1946, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia was arrested in Goa. This was the beginning of the freedom struggle in Goa. He was deported to India. On 15th August, 1947, India became independent from the British rule, but the Portuguese and other European colonies continued to be so. The Goan struggle continued for many years. Shri. Atmaram Narsinh Karmalkar, an officer in the Banco Colonial (Portuguese Bank) at Pananji (in Goa) (also known as Panjim), who was popularly known as Appasaheb Karmalkar was indirectly involved in the freedom struggle in Goa. He was removed from the bank and finally took up the struggle to liberate Goa. In course of time he realized that liberation of D.N.H. was crucial if Goa was to be liberated. (Shri means Mr. and Smt. Means Miss/Mrs) (Smt is read as or Shreemati) Shri. Karmalkar reached Vapi and met Shri. Jayantibhai Desai from Dadra. He also met Shri Bhikubhai Pandya from Nani Daman and Shri. Vanmali Bhavsar from Silvassa. Azad Gomantak Dal under the leadership of Shri. Vishwanath Lavande, Shri. Dattatreya Deshpande, Shri, Prabhakar Sinar and others, the Rashtriya Swaymsewak Sangh under the leadership of Shri. Raja Wakankar, Communist Party under the leadership of Mr. Shamrao Parulekar and Smt. Godavaribai Parulekar, and the United Front of Goans under the leadership of Francis Mascerenhas, J.M. D’Souza, Waman Desai and others were also attempting the liberation of D.N.H. On 18th June, 1954, many leaders met at Lavaccha. Lavaccha and Vapi were Indian territories. The order in which these places are lying is, N.H., Lavaccha, Dadra, Vapi and Daman. So the Portuguese officers required transit permit through Indian territories of Lavaccha and Vapi to reach N.H, Dadra and Daman. On the night of 22nd July 15 volunteers of the United Front of Goans under the leadership of Mr. Francis Mascerenhas and Mr. Waman Desai sneaked into the territory of Dadra and reached the police station. There were only three officers. One was attacked with a knife by one of the volunteers and the other two were overpowered. The Indian tricolor was hoisted and the national Anthem sung. Dadra was declared “Free territory of Dadra.” On the night of 28th July, around 30 to 35 volunteers of R.S.S. and Azad Gomantak Dal proceeded to Naroli from Karambele by swimming across the rivulets. June to September is the rainy season in the region and the rivers are usually flooded during this season. The Daman Ganga river was flooded and no help could reach Naroli. There were only six police personnel. The volunteers and the villages reached the police station and asked them to surrender or face death. They immediately surrendered. The Portuguese rule of Naroli came to an end. The Special Reserve Police in the Indian Territory did not intervene in any way. Mr. J.D. Nagarwala, the D.I.G. of the Special Reserve Police in the Indian Territory, without entering D.N.H. asked Captain Fidalgo, the administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli to surrender to the Indian Forces along with his paramilitary forces before they would be butchered by the liberators. Leaving about 50 policemen and five civilian officers posted at Silvassa, Captain Fidalgo fled to Udva passing through Rakholi, Dappada and Khanvel and surrendered to the SRP on 11th August. They were later allowed to go to Goa. In the meanwhile there were several rumours and the officers at Silvassa were in confusion. On 1st August the liberators took advantage of the situation and proceeded from Dadra and Naroli and liberated Pipariya. The five police officers surrendered without resistance. During the night the volunteers divided themselves into three batches and reached the police chowky at Silvassa. The police Chowky at Silvassa was protected by sand bags. There were three policemen guarding from three sides. Shri Vasant Badve,Shri Vishnu Bhople and Shri. Shantaram Vaidya overpowered them from behind when least expected. The other policemen surrendered without resistance on seeing the other volunteers. The volunteers spent the night awake at the police chowky. In the morning of 2nd August, 1954, the liberators reached the town of Silvassa to find it free of any Portuguese occupation. The liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli was complete. Senhor Luis de Gama, the eldest nationalist hoisted the Indian national flag and declared the territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli liberated and the National Anthem was sung.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 03:49:23 +0000
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