"I have been investigating the Goan presence in East Africa for nearly two decades, and have written three books on the subject as well as headed a major grant-aided project in the UK to record their oral histories. "- Selma Carvalho (Author- Guts, Glory and Empire) - KITAAB
Selma Carvalho is the author of three non-fiction books documenting the Goan presence in East Africa. Between 2011 and 2014, she directed a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, UK to record the oral. . .
Selma Carvalho is the author of three non-fiction books documenting the Goan presence in East Africa. Between 2011 and 2014, she directed a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, UK to record the oral histories of Goans from East Africa, now archived at the British Library. She curated the first ever East African Goan exhibition at the Nehru Centre, London and her work has been used in other exhibitions, such as ‘Documenting South Asian Histories’, Birmingham. Team Kitaab is in conversation with her to discuss her latest book, Guts, Glory and Empire (Speaking Tiger, 2026). About the BookA ground-breaking account of Goans who arrived in mid-nineteenth-century Zanzibar as sailors, cooks and clerks, and went on to become one of East Africa’s wealthiest and most influential communities. This is a sweeping human story of identity, ambition and the ambiguous nature of power. Zanzibar, situated off the coast of East Africa, was for long a junction for monsoon-driven sea routes connecting Africa, Europe and Asia. By the mid-nineteenth century, it had risen to prominence as a busy, cosmopolitan trading post for cloves, ivory and, unfortunately, slaves. It became a beacon for missionaries, explorers, merchants, and a theatre of Europe’s imperial ambitions. It was at this time that Goans, who had long been travellers and traders to the East African coast, began settling in Zanzibar, flourishing under Sultan Barghash bin Said’s reign. Among the early arrivals were C. R. Souza, D. B. Pereira and Brás Souza, who would all go on to become influential figures—ambitious, benevolent, but ultimately flawed characters. Their engagement with a host of lively per¬sonalities, including British arch-imperialists John Kirk and Gerald Portal, set in motion a compelling challenge of empire’s authority over ordinary lives. Mistaken as ‘half-caste Portuguese’, they were at times favoured by Britain as law-abiding and industrious, and at other times dismissed as natives needing supervision, even as they began to assert tremendous agency over their own individual lives, gaining influence as physicians, musicians and interpreters to the sultan. Aware of their rights as Portuguese citizens, and making intelli¬gent use of the privilege and protection extended to them by the sultanate, they pushed back against Britain’s erosion of their civil liberties. InGuts, Glory and Empire, a compelling and unprecedented work of history set against the backdrop of Europe’s ascendancy in Africa, Selma Carvalho brings us the story of this remarkable community, and restores South Asian voices to Indian Ocean histories. Team Kitaab: Your book restores South Asian voices to Indian Ocean history. What was erased in the dominant narratives you were trying to correct?Selma Carvalho:There are so few books that dwell on the South Asian presence in Africa that any addition to this body of work, in itself, is a correction of the dominant narrative. During the time period, covered Pakistan was part of India, and Goa was colonised by Portugal, so I use South Asians as an umbrella term. For the longest time, the colonial narrative of South Asians in Africa has been one of extraction. They were recruited by the British to build the railway, and then they stayed on, set up dukans and displaced the African natives. But there is a whole other history of contribution which precedes the era of European colonisation of Africa. This has been erased from memory and must be recovered by us. Guts, Glory and Empireis a book which restores our voices. Team Kitaab: The Goans you write about arrived as sailors, cooks, and clerks, but some became part of Zanzibar’s elite. What does that mobility reveal about the empire that we often miss?Selma Carvalho:Zanzibar was unique. Until the late-nineteenth century, it was not colonised by any one European power. The sultan of Zanzibar reigned. The European powers, namely Germany and Britain, jostled for indirect influence over East Africa through the sultan. The Kutch in Zanzibar, for instance, did not fall under British jurisdiction. They were the “Sultan’s Hindees,” and received his protection. In the book, I make the case that Goans prospered while the sultans reigned, and although linking the Goan decline to the rise of European colonialism is reductive, it did have a causal effect. Team Kitaab: You situate Goan history within European expansion in Africa. Was Zanzibar a space of opportunity, exploitation, or both at once?Selma Carvalho:Zanzibar was a space of both opportunity and exploitation. South Asians in Africa monopolised trade under the sultans. In the process, they exploited, or, at the very least, indirectly supported the slave trade. Even Goans who did not engage in the slave trade blurred the line between slavery and servant owning “chattel labour. ” Around 1867, João Pedro de Souza, for instance, started out as a cook for the German trading house of Hansing & Co. Later, he became immensely wealthy as a trader. He was a benevolent man, a patron of charities, but he contracted a slave named Hamisi from Masih bin Ali. Team Kitaab: How did Goans negotiate identity between Portuguese colonial Goa, British imperial networks, and East African society?Selma Carvalho:This was the extraordinary negotiation which determined an entirely new identity for Goans. A little-known fact about Goan history in Africa is that before the Portuguese established an embassy in Zanzibar in 1885, Goans came under the jurisdiction of the British. In Zanzibar, Goans could renounce Portuguese authority over them and embrace the protection of either the sultan of Zanzibar or the British consul. In this, a new sense of selfhood formed, one in which they could engineer for themselves a remarkable state of autonomy. Team Kitaab: Your title pairs guts, glory, and empire. Was that triad something you discovered in the archive or something imposed to make sense of fragmentation?Selma Carvalho:Previously, I entertained the title Half-Caste and Empire. In British colonies, Goans were called half-castes and mistakenly believed to be biracial Europeans. In fact, Goans themselves believed they belonged to the European world and not the Indian subcontinent. Eventually, I settled on the title ofGuts, Glory and Empire. It took a lot of guts for Goans to embark on these sea-journeys, to set up in business, to risk early death or frequent misfortune. Their glory was their incredible success, and all of it took place within the framework of Muslim or European empires. At times, they were agents of empire, and at other times, they posed a challenge to empire. Team Kitaab: Indian Ocean histories are often described as connected histories. What does that phrase obscure as much as it reveals?Selma Carvalho:Perhaps the best way to view Indian Ocean histories is to encounter the pre-colonial engagement between Asia and Africa, the many-layered relationships of dependence and exchange, which bound us in solidarity. By re-acquainting ourselves with these age-old links, we discover our shared history and common humanity. For instance, we know that Goan sailors worked as stewards and cooks on board British India ships, but they also worked on board ships owned by Sultan Barghash of Zanzibar. Team Kitaab: What role did language play in making Goans indispensable in Zanzibar?Selma Carvalho:One of the most definitive qualities which elevated Goans in Zanzibar was their wide linguistic ability. At the elite level, they could speak Portuguese, which made their entry into the European world easier. The medical practitioner and pharmacist Francisco Piedade Paixão Noronha was an interpreter to Sultan Barghash. The working class Goans were more likely to know the East African coastal language of Swahili than Portuguese. On the administrative front, advertisements appeared for Goan clerks who knew English and Swahili to serve colonial administrations. In fact, Swahili was widely spoken on Portuguese Street in Zanzibar, where Goans primarily lived and owned shops. This smorgasbord of languages made Goans early cultural brokers. Team Kitaab: Did writing this book change how you think about diaspora, particularly the idea of belonging without sovereignty?Selma Carvalho:I have been investigating the Goan presence in East Africa for nearly two decades, and have written three books on the subject as well as headed a major grant-aided project in the UK to record their oral histories. But certainly, writing this book was a revelation. Nothing prepared me for the autonomy with which Goans operated in Zanzibar. A sense of self-governance, if not nationalism, had begun to percolate amongst diasporic Goans as early as the nineteenth century. Paradoxically, Portugal had begun to govern its subjects in partnership with the Goan elite, and so a new form of colonialism took hold, one where the dominant Goan elite could hold power over the lives of subaltern Goans. Historically, this is an extraordinary epoch which marks the beginning of a new modernity for Goans. Team Kitaab: In recovering these histories, how do you avoid turning Goan success in Zanzibar into another imperial success story?Selma Carvalho:That is definitely something I am aware of and am cautious about. It is one reason why I was keen to ensure that this story is presented with the full breadth of human endeavour and frailty. The story has an arc—Goans arrived, they lived in Zanzibar, and then their presence and significance declined. In the process, Zanzibar became their home, and perhaps it is this element that makes their contribution not one of the outsider but that of the insider, not that of an occupier but that of a citizen. Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links. About AuthorContinue Reading