At this fort in Bardez, its walls whisper tales to you

SWITCHING TIME ZONE

As you drive towards Fort Corjuem – 4 km from Aldona village – you feel like you’re entering into another time zone – a time set in the 18th century.

STOOD GUARD

Fort Corjeum or Khorjove – built by Portuguese Viceroy Caetano de Mello in 1705 on an Island by the same name – served as a strategic military outpost and defence against frequent Maratha attacks.

ISLAND OF BRAHMINS

In the 1600s, Corjuem island was inhabited by the Desais and the Bamons – Roman Catholic Brahmin caste of Goa. Marathas raided and annexed it and handed control to Sawant-Bhonsle of Sawantwadi.  

VANTAGE POINT

After the Portuguese regained control of Corjuem, they built a fort, giving them a vantage point to keep a watch on enemy troops and ships – mostly the Bhonsle-Rane settled on the verge of their territory.

PORTUGUESE-MARATHA FACEOFF

In late 1600s, the Portuguese and the Marathas – under Sambhaji, son of founder of Maratha dynasty Chhatrapati Shivaji – engaged in a series of battles that temporarily debilitated the Portuguese colonial rule.

FORTIYING THE LAND

The Portuguese had to join forces with the Moghuls to push back Marathas from their colonial land in the Konkan belt.  After that, Fort Corjuem was built to fend off Maratha aggression.

WOMAN IN DISGUISE

There’s a riveting anecdote of Maria Úrsula de Abreu e Lencastre, a Portuguese Brazilian, who disguised herself as a man and was stationed as a soldier at the fort. Eventually, she revealed her gender and married the army captain.  

HEAR TALES OF YORE

Later, the fort was used as a military school but abandoned after the New Conquests. Today, as you stand on its ramparts, look around at the panoramic vistas, you can hear its laterite walls whisper tales to you.

NEXT: These glorious arches around Goa take us back in time