East Indian Communities Groceries Trade & Occupation Since 15th Century

By Late  Teddie J Rodrigues  ( Author Of TRACES ) 

Posted By : Ashley D'souza

During the Reign of Portuguese and Bristish , The Native East Indians Christians had devised their own means of trade the production and distribution of commodities and in general economic development transport in the early days was by Bullock Carts , Bunder Boats , Pat Maries , Small Sailing Boats etc

Large quantities of Rice , Fish , Vegetables , Chunam , Limestone , Coconuts wet and Dry , Onions , Cashew fruits and Seeds, Black stone , Paan or Betel Leaf , Milk , Fruits etc etc were Transported sold and bartered ,

The village from Chaul , Thana , Bassein , Salsette Right up to Dahanu dealt in these trades , From the villages of Dharavi Hills of Uttan , Dongri , Gorai , Manori , Pali etc came vegetables , Onions , Fish Wet and Dry Coconut , Cashew etc

From the villages of Bassein came Plantains , Bananas ,Paan Or Betel Leaf

Uttan is known as the "Land of Hospitality and Grace , Then Coco de Gorai: The coconut of Gorai is very juicy and sweet. It fetches a higher price than the coconuts supplied to Bombay from other places.

Uttan is a coastal village known for its delicious sea food, quiet locals and sparsely populated areas. This village has much fresh fish like Prawns, Bombil, Bagra's , Pomfret and Chala fish that the locals at Uttan village eat. The fish normally is eaten with a flat bread called Bhakari or Rice crêpe called Ghavan.

The Pomfret from Manori is the best of its kind and also fetches a higher price. Manori was also called the " Land of Milk and Honey."

Agashi was famous for its Production of dried Bananas made from the ( Raj Ei Lee ) bananas and called ( Suk Ee Li )

Milk came from Nalasopara , Flowers Mangoes , Water Chestnuts etc all from these environs ,

Kelva Mahim was famous for its Elaichi Plantains and Butter Plantains Called Muthailee in Marathi ,

There were boat builders in Chaul Bassein and Gorai /

Bhayander was famous for its Red Rice called Rathi

Pat-nee ( Patni ) Rice also came from Bassein

Salsette was famous for its vegetables and mash melons as well as its mangoes vegetables like the ( Gon-sa-lee ) which were of two types the ( She-ra-lay ) and Thail or Til Gonsa-lee’s Cucumbers fruits like Jambul , love apples , Razan and boras ,

Vile Parle had the church and the village had a pond were Mango and Tamarind Groves grew , And to the South of the church lay dense groves of Khair Trees locally known as Ka Nai Trees , Twin Village lay serene overlooking the marshy bay and lagoons to the west and fresh water Talao in the South towards the village sloped gently downwards the people of these villages were in occupation of Coir Rope , Thatch Making , Stone Artisans , Danthnees for separating rice from husk ,Garratts for grinding Rice atta , Ukhalis to pound spices , Corbels and Door Stoppers

One can see even today these products being sold even in todays time , Some were even exported to Goa they were transported by bullock carts to Panvel , Chiplun , Ratnagiri and Goa on a journey that lasted upto 3 months , These special stones for these products was obtained from nearby KHAANS located even today at Chunabati and Santacruz East there were the main roads of these villages

The Barter system was much in use , a tailor would stitch your clothes for a certain amount of rice , the system that was called the ( Wal-Za-La ) where in Fish or dry fish was exchanged for vegetables and fruits and rice husk called Thuss for feeding ducks there was Bushee and Kunda also exchanged , Kunda was not for ducks but for feeding pigs

During the long summer months the native Christians East Indians were engaged in various task before the onset of the monsoon , there was much work in preparing the fields where Rabb Had to be burnt and the ash spread all over the fields to increase fertility Rabb was the burning of dry leaves , Hay etc , the earth in the fields had to be turned over and clods broken by harrowing and the land made level for rice to be planted

Tamarind had to be picked from the trees shelled and seeds removed or colloquially kantlied on the ( Mor -Li ) then salted and large balls made for storage for the whole year in small ( Raz-Nee’s ) which were earthen pots this would be used in the curries Green mangoes specially for pickles had to be removed as well as the other special mangoes required for making ( Amboshi ’s ) I;e they were sliced and salted and completely dried in the sun these too were stored in earthen ware vessels for the whole year and used in certain curries

Firewood had to be cut and stacked for use for the whole year , Rice too had to be washed eg : Patni Rice dried and stored in bins with Neem and Karji leaves mixed to protect the rice from pests and insects , Dry fish of different varieties had to be bought and stored for use during monsoon as during this time no fishing boats went out to the sea , all had been brought in and kept on high ground , by the first week of June oiled and covered up with thatch for protection ,

There were no refrigerators or large freezers in those days and people rarely ventured out to buy anything for their daily needs as nothing was available in the bazaars

White onions from Uttan and Sandor , Buigaon & Nirmal in Bassein were brought plaited and hung from the rafters in the kitchen Bullock carts from Uttan Gorai filled onions made regular trips all over salsette selling the onions in each village through the summer  , onions were sold by weight in Maunds , there was plenty of other work around the houses , the roof of the houses had to be repaired 

The famous east Indian masala was prepared bottled and stored for the use for the whole year , shrimp balchao was prepared as soon as semi ripe chillies were available in the bazaar , these were Bedki chillies , it had to be mixed with other spices and ingredients and then dried for  2 days in the sun before being bottled in jars Irli a rain protective wear used by the workers in the field were made , the frames were made from bamboos and thatched with special type of leaves , which were sold in bundles in weekly bazaar , coconut and Thar tree branches dried thatched and weaved were put on the roof making perfect waterproof roofing 

All the children were employed in the task helping their parents during summer vacation , so there were no bored or idle children like one finds today , there were the cross feast celebrated at the different village crosses , this was an entertainment for the children who helped in dressing up and decorating the cross with flowered branches of the gulmohar and coloured paper buntings , after the rosary was said and the litany recited in latin and queen of May was praised in the hymns to our other the blessed virgin mary , Boiled Grams Channas and sweet drinks were served , the children usually filled all their shirt and pant pockets with boiled grams before going home  , only those children who were lucky to spent a part of their summer holidays by going to their grandma’s house , no other destination beyond grandma’s house was known in those far off wonderful days , water was precious and drawing water from the wells especially during summer when the water level was very low use it sparingly , the people of today seem not to realize how precious water can be except for those living in very rural areas and the villages of the interiors , as the urban dwellers  has easy access to piped water , so they forget its value and the difficulty in obtaining it and hence once sees them wasting it

Hence one sees that the people of the old days had to work hard and were always very busy in the fields wadis and plantations all over the east Indian homeland these people though busy also made time for enjoyment their villages were happy joyous places of abode , this chief industry in short was agriculture growing rice and vegetables , fishing , rope manufacturing  , lime preparation , stone quarrying , pottery  , boat building  , brick making and floriculture  , there were 2 kinds of vegetables obtained throughout the year , the vegetables that were planted that were planted were Paushi vegetable ie; planted after the start of the monsoon it was also called Kashi especially in salsette , the staple food of the native Christians east Indian people is Rice , Fish ,vegetables and Roti’s for bread made from rice flour the flour made from Patni and Rathi mixed the rotiroasted on Khapries , 

Cococnut is always used in most cooking of curries , The East Indians produced whatever was necessasy and required , For instance cloth was manufactured in Thana and Bhiwandi by the East Indians of the Vinkars , Khoste and Khatri Caste , hence all the necessities of the Man were met , A Roof on the head  , Clothing on their bodies and Food for the Belly .