The aim of this workshop is to discuss the relations between law, land and the local village communities in Goa during the early modern period. Conquered in 1510, and expanded in the 1540s and the second half of the 18th century, Goa became the central territory of the Portuguese empire in Asia. However, it stands out as a distinctive case, as the pre-colonial system of land tenure was adapted and preserved. As a result, local practices and normativities were maintained to a certain degree.

This workshop's purpose is to debate the case of Goa within the Indian, Portuguese and colonial contexts, examining how it merged different legal, social, and cultural traditions. It aims to understand how norms were perceived, upheld and, challenged by the local population and colonial authorities, the role of communities and Portuguese agents in sustaining them and how this relationship evolved over time, whether in the context of colonial administration or the religious setting.

Although land is the central element of this event, the workshop will offer a broader view through legal, social, anthropological, religious, and comparative approaches. It will draw diverse perspectives, interlinking Goa with different political and legal geographies and backgrounds. Hence, it is intended for a wide audience, such as historians, legal scholars, and anthropologists.

The workshop proposes to debate how normativities shaped the social space of the territory of Goa, contributing to the broader debate on the impact and legacy of early modern colonialism. The event is expected to result in an edited volume published in open access.

4 June

09:30 - 09:45 / Opening remarks

09:45 - 11:00 / Keynote lecture
Chair: Alina Rodríguez Sánchez (IberLAND)

Annette Schmiedchen (ERC project DHARMA - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) Roger Lee de Jesus (IberLAND - Leibniz Universität Hannover)
Translating normativities: the life and afterlife of a 14th-century copper-plate charter in 16th-century Goa

11:00 - 11:30 / Coffee break 11:30 - 12:30 / Panel 1
Chair: Roger Lee de Jesus (IberLAND)

Patricia Souza de Faria (Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro)
Shaping land norms: the rectors of the Jesuit College, crown officials, and gaunkars in Salcete (1580s–1640s)

12:30 - 14:00 / Lunch

14:00 - 16:00 / Panel 2
Chair: Camilla de Freitas Macedo (IberLAND)

Susana Bastos Mateus (Chair of Sephardic Studies Alberto Benveniste - University of Lisbon)
The Inquisition in rural landscapes: land tenure, religious normativities and transgressive performances in 16th-century Goa

Karoline Marques Machado (Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory / UERJ) Rozely Menezes Vigas Oliveira (State University of Campinas - UNICAMP)
Between Misericórdia and Convent of Santa Monica: conflict and normative strategies in 17th-century Goa

16:00 - 16:30 / Coffee break

16:30 - 18:30 / Panel 3
Chair: Edson Edy S.C. de Brito (IberLAND)

José Miguel Ferreira (Institute of Contemporary History - NOVA.FCSH)
According to the local customs: justice, revenue and the making of colonial rule in the New Conquests, Goa (c. 1761-1824)

Kaustubh Somnath Naik (University of Pennsylvania)
Integrating Novas Conquistas: Goa and the making of a Luso-Maratha polity

10:00 - 12:00 / Panel 4
Chair: Sarah Limão Papa (IberLAND)

5 June

Rochelle Pinto (Azim Premji University)
Narrative authority and land in colonial Goa

Luís Cabral de Oliveira (Polytechnic University of Leiria / CEDIS - NOVA School of Law)
Entailed property and native catholic elites in the Old Conquests (Goa, 18th-19th centuries)

12:00 - 14:00 / Lunch

14:00 - 16:00 / Panel 5
Chair: Íñigo Ena Sanjuán (Pyrenean Institute of Ecology - CSIC / IberLAND)

Dale Luis Menezes (Georgetown University)
Cultivating coconuts in early modern Goa: land, laborers, and the making of an oceanic world

Eugénia Rodrigues (Centre for History - University of Lisbon)
“For my respect”: Goan women managing estates in the 18th-century Zambezi valley

16:00 - 16:30 / Coffee break

16:30 - 18:30 / Panel 6
Chair: Manuel Bastias Saavedra (IberLAND)

António Vasconcelos de Saldanha (Institute of Social and Political Sciences - U. Lisbon / U. Macau)
Imperial Goa: head of a network or center of a jurisdictional web?

John Marriott (Kellogg College - University of Oxford)
The East India Company as landowner: Bombay, 1660-1680