Posted on 04/24/2005 12:03:21 PM PDT by blam
Queen’s remains are still elusive
Devika Sequeira in Panaji
The Archaeological Survey of India’s 20-year search for the relics of Queen Ketevan in Old Goa has ended in disappointment. But the excavations offer an intriguing and significant insight into 16th century Goa.
Setting to rest a debate that has engaged historians and archaeologists for over 20 years, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) announced earlier this week that though it had managed to locate the “burial site” of Queen Ketevan of Georgia amidst the ruins of the St Augustine complex in Old Goa, the queen's remains were not at the site.
Coping stone
“We have conclusively identified the coping stone which, according to historical accounts, held the black box containing the queen’s remains. But the black box itself and the relics are not there,” N Taher, the ASI’s chief archaeologist in Goa told Deccan Herald.
Some fragments of bone and stone inscriptions have been sent for scientific analysis. But archaeologists doubt these would be related to the Ketevan case.
While Taher believes that the findings are conclusive enough to end the long-drawn debate over the 16th century queen's relics, for the man who launched the search 20 years ago, the missing black box comes as a “huge disappointment”.
“It leaves one with the nagging feeling that somehow the truth has not been found out,” says archaeologist S K Joshi, a fellow with the Indian Centre of Historical Research. Dr Joshi recalls how this intriguing archaeological search began when he headed the ASI in Goa in 1985 after a diplomatic request by the then Soviet Union.
Elevated to sainthood, the martyred Queen Ketevan of Georgia is held in high regard in her country to this day, and teams of experts from Russia and Georgia have been dispatched to Old Goa in the past to help locate her mortal remains.
A prisoner
Taken prisoner by emperor Shah Abbas of Persia in 1613, Queen Ketevan was held captive for 10 years in Shiraz. She was tortured and strangled to death on September 22, 1624 for refusing to convert to Islam, say historical accounts. Jesuit priest and history researcher Fr Moreno D'Souza who has spent years poring over historical records related to Old Goa, concludes that an arm and hand of the Georgian queen was brought to Goa by Augustinian friars in 1627 and encased in a black box in the chapter chapel of the huge complex. So where did the relics go?
“The ASI is on the right track and has all the circumstantial evidence to prove the location of the chapel and chamber. But with the relics missing, we can only conclude the obvious: that the Augustinians, who held the queen in such high reverence, took away the black box when they were expelled from Goa by the Portuguese government,” says conservationist Percival Noronha.
Starting with the Our Lady of Grace Church in 1572, by 1602 the Augustinians had built an impressive complex on the Holy Hill at Old Goa with a seminary, convent, library, cloisters, dormitories, galleries and a number of cells, says the ASI.
Seat of learning
“It was one of the greatest seats of learning in Asia at the time, with 300 teachers, 3,000 students and the biggest library on this side of the globe,” says Dr Joshi.
After the Portuguese government expelled religious orders from Goa in 1832, the complex gave way to ruin, with the vault collapsing in 1842 and its towers and facade crumbling by 1938.
The ASI’s 20 years excavation has painstakingly brought to light the ruins of what was once an architectural marvel. In the process of uncovering the truth about the 16th century queen, the ASI has also unearthed the ruins of five altars, eight side chapels, a cloister, six tombs and the interior of a church profusely decorated with glazed tiles. The excavation can only add to the significance of the world heritage site.
“Now that we know that the relics are not there, we can move on with consolidating the archaeological sight,” says Taher.
With excavation work still on, the ASI is uncertain that a tourist walk through will be permitted just yet. “We have still to decide how much of the site we can expose to the public.” Tourism, point out Taher, often destroys archaeological sites.
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You've got to admire consistency. Almost 400 years and the moslems still haven't changed their methods
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