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{{morefootnotes|date=August 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox military structure
|name = Fortaleza de São Tiago de Banastarim
|native_name = {{lang-pt|Fortaleza de São Tiago}}
|partof = [[Portuguese Goa]]
|location = [[Velha Goa]], [[Goa]], [[India]]
|image = [[File:Goa Braun Hogenberg.jpg|Goa (Atlas de Braun e Hogenberg, 1600).|300px]]
|caption =
|map_type = India Goa
|map_size = 300
|map_alt =
|map_caption = Banastarim India
|type =
|coordinates = {{coord|15.4912217|73.9565688|type:landmark_region:IN-GA|display=inline}}
|code = IN-GA
|built = 1635-1681
|builder = [[Portuguese India]]
|materials = Brick and Stone fort
|height =
|used =
|demolished = Abandoned
|condition = Ruins
|ownership = {{flagicon|India}} [[Government of India]]
|open_to_public = Yes
|controlledby = {{flagcountry|Portuguese Empire}} (1512-1961) [[Bijapur Sultanate]] (1512-1513) {{flagcountry|India}} (1961-)
|garrison =
|current_commander =
|commanders =
|occupants =
|battles =
|events =
|image2 =
|caption2 =
}}
The '''Fort of São Tiago of Banastarim''' in India, also known as Fort St. James Banastarim or Benastari Castle, is located at {{coord|15.4912217|73.9565688|display=title}} on the right bank of [[Cumbarjua]] Canal, on the eastern tip of [[Old Goa]], [[North Goa]] district in the state of [[Goa]] on the west coast of India.

== History ==
Erected by the local rulers, this fort was conquered by the [[Viceroy of Portuguese India]] [[Afonso de Albuquerque]] on 2 April 1512. Occupied by the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] forces, it was named as Fortaleza de São Tiago (the Fortress of [[James, son of Zebedee|St James]]).

In 1512, knowing that de Albuquerque was not in Goa, the minister of the young [[Sultan of Bijapur]] sent an army against Goa, under the command of [[Fulad Khan]] whom the Portuguese called Pulatecao. This general invaded the island of Goa, and established himself in the fortress of Benastarim. The fort was later recaptured by a force led by Albuquerque on his return to Goa from [[Cochin]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stephens |first1=Henry Morse |title=Albuquerque |publisher=Adamant Media Corporation (16 August 2002) |isbn=978-1421209029 |page=111 of 244 |url= https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=PM0NAAAAIAAJ |access-date=16 October 2015|year=1897 }}</ref>

In the eighteenth century, under the instructions of [[Jose I of Portugal]], to the Governor and Captain-General of the State of India (''[[Estado da India]]'') in 1774, the [[Marquis of Pombal]] said: "There are in the fortress of S. Thiago sixteen [cannon] pieces, and one of them is a cannon of an unusual dimension." Also with regards to this piece of artillery, the Secretary-General of the State of India (''[[Estado da India]]''), Cláudio Lagrange Monteiro de Barbuda, in the nineteenth century, said:

: "But this cannon of not such as unusual dimension was still ready to shoot in 1839, atop the remains of a bulwark of this fortress, probably built by the Moors, as the Instructions [of 1774] mention, and that the [[Baron of Candal]] ordered it to be collected for the arsenal [of Lisboa], in order for it to be shown as a trophy in that [[arsenal]], which took place in 1840. It is truly a masonry feat; the length of sixteen feet [{{cvt|16|ft|disp=out}}] and three and a half and fourteen inches [{{cvt|3.5|and|14|in|cm|0|disp=out}}] gauge lines made out of iron, and bars one-inch wide [3 cm] properly reinforced. Some writers name it the ''Mourisca'', perhaps because it is the work of [[Moors]]." (MENDES, 1989: 167).

Albuquerque considered the Benasterim (Banastarim) Pass, where the predecessors to the Portuguese had built a fort, to be "the key to Goa".<ref name="HPIP">{{cite web|url=http://www.hpip.org/Default/en/Homepage/Entry?a=1600|title=HPIP|website=www.hpip.org}}</ref>

: The Portuguese thus built a new structure, integrating parts of the pre-Portuguese fortification. The work was overseen by the master [[Tomás Fernandes]]: an imposing tower was built with a [[barbican]] around it and a well inside. It was finished in late 1513; Alfonso de Albuquerque described it as being a very large tower "with [[bartizans]] in each corner, well-wrought of masonry and very handsome stone. The tower is four storeys high and can be seen from the walls of Goa; an attached tower was on the first level over the riverside, made of wood on pillars and covered like a terrace".<ref name="HPIP" />

== Bibliography ==
* Barbuda, Cláudio Lagrange Monteiro de. ''Instrucções com que El-Rei D. José I, mandou passar ao estado da India o Governador e Capitão General, e o Arcebispo Primaz do Oriente, no anno de 1774.'' (Instructions from King Joseph I, to the Governor and Captain General of the ''[[Estado da India]]'', and the Archbishop [[Primate of the East]], in the year 1774.) [[Pangim]]: Typographia Nacional, 1841.
* Mendes, António Lopes. ''A India portugueza: breve descripção das possessões portuguezas na Ásia''. ("Portuguese India: short description of the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] possessions in Asia", in Portuguese.) [[Asian Educational Services]], 1989. {{ISBN|8120604717}}.
* {{cite web |last1=Mendiratta |first1=Sidh Losa |last2=Rodrigues |first2=Vítor Luís Gaspar |title=Fortification of Tiswadi Island: Military Architecture |date=2012 |url=http://www.hpip.org/Default/en/Homepage/Entry?a=1600 |publisher=Heritage of Portuguese Influence |access-date=10 August 2015 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Mendiratta |first1=Sidh Losa |last2=Santos |first2=Joaquim Rodrigues dos |title=Sistemas Defensivos dasIlhas de Tiswadi e de Diu (Séc. XVI-XVIII) |date=2009 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1128747 |publisher=Centro de Estudos deArquitectura Militar de Almeida}}

== See also ==
* [[Portuguese Empire|Império português]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.hpip.org/Default/en/Homepage/Entry?a=1600 Heritage of Portuguese Influence Fortification Of Tiswadi (Or Tissuary) Island]

{{Forts and fortresses of the Portuguese empire|state=collapsed}}
{{Forts in India |state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort of Sao Tiago of Banastarim (Goa)}}
[[Category:Portuguese forts]]
[[Category:Forts in Goa]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in North Goa district]]
[[Category:Fortifications articles needing attention to coverage and accuracy]]
[[Category:Fortifications articles needing attention to referencing and citation]]
[[Category:Sultans of Bijapur]]
[[Category:Portuguese colonisation in Asia]]
[[Category:Military history articles needing attention to supporting materials]]
[[Category:Fortifications by builder]]

Fort of São Tiago of Banastarim - Revision history

Bot at 01:15, 12 February 2022