PORT ROYAL: THE CITY THAT WAS by Sayak Chatterjee, Sayan Lodh and Sujato Datta

Port Royal is a Caribbean island of Jamaica. In the days of its heightened glory, the island used to be a hub of economic activity of all kinds from trading to piracy. At the end of the 17th century a disastrous earthquake ravaged the island beyond recovery, taking it beneath the sea.

Like most of the other islands of the Americas,the island of Port Royal was originally inhabited by Tainos. The Tainos, are a subgroup of the Arawakan Indians. They had their own language and religious cosmology. The society was divided into three distinct classes- the naborias (working class), the nitainos (sub-chiefs) and the  priests and doctors and above all the caciques(chiefs). The excavations at Port Royal, unearthed shards of Taino pottery dated sometime after 1000 AD.

In the 16th century, the Spanish arrived. However they did not engage in regular occupation. They only saw the islands as a recluse to clear and refit their boats. In 1655 after the British conquered Jamaica regular occupation began. Unlike the Spanish, the British did not leave it at a few warehouses.They recognized the strategic importance and economic potential of the island. Securing it, became a priority. The construction of Fort Cromwell was followed by that of five other forts. With regular occupation, the settlement and demographic dynamics changed. From an island of 740 inhabitants in 1662, Port Royal came to house 6500 to 10000 inhabitants in 1692. Since it was effectively built up and organized as a colony it can be presumed that there was an inflow of British administrators and officials accompanied by large-scale systematic subjugation of the indigenous population.

The economy that developed on the island was inherently colonial. The economy was centered on the slave trade most of which was presumably drawn from the indigenous population. As was the case with other Caribbean islands the export of sugar also formed a bulk of the economy along with certain other raw materials. The relative prosperity of the island was tangibly visible. One such indicator was the use of money currency unlike the system of commodity exchange that was pursued in other colonies.

Another interesting aspect of the economy was the role of piracy. The pirate economy was similar, but not an exact replication of a bandit economy. One can imagine vessels carrying rich amounts of raw materials faced pirate raids. Comments can be made in hindsight of the role of resistance to colonialism, that may have found expression in piracy, but that will form a different story. There is another way in which the origins of piracy can be looked into. During the initial days, privateering was in vogue. Privateering missions were hired to carry out raids on other countries, which generated booty. In 1670, the Treaty of Madrid was signed, privateering became prohibited. Now, the privateers, turned increasingly to piracy, in the absence of other alternatives.

On June 7, 1692 a severe earthquake took the island underwater. Accounts of survivors give a horrific depiction of the incident. this severely affected the economic prominence of the island. Eleven years later, a massive fire further impaired the city.

                                                       The city after the earthquake(remains)

Several excavations have tried to recover information about Port Royal. From 1981 to 1990, the Nautical Archaeology Programme of Texas University, in an association with the Jamaica National Heritage Trust carried out extensive research on Port Royal. The prosperity of the city is indicated by the variety of architectural styles discovered in city center. The search also revealed five buildings.