Goa (pop. 1,458,545) is the smallest state of the republic of India. It lies on the country’s west coast, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) south of Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Long, sandy beaches, fringed with coconut palms, make it a tropical paradise for visitors. Other tourist attractions are the colonial buildings from the 1500’s, built when Goa was the headquarters of Portugal’s Asian empire. India regained control of Goa from the Portuguese in 1961.
Three main cities developed in Goa—Old Goa, Panaji (New Goa), and Margao. Today, Old Goa is half-hidden in jungle. Its population was severely affected by plague in the 1600’s, and the new city was set up at Panaji. Panaji, the capital, contains the main government buildings. Margao is Goa’s biggest commercial center. Mormugao, Goa’s major port, has a fine harbor—one of the best on the west coast of India. The harbor is the focus of economic activity in Goa.
People and government
The coastal area of Goa is crowded. Fewer people live inland.
The majority of Goans are Hindus. However, there is also a very strong Christian community. Goa has become a center of Roman Catholicism in India. Most people living on the coastal area are Christians. Many have Portuguese names and are partly of Portuguese descent. This is a result of intermarriage between early Portuguese settlers and local people. Most people living inland are Hindus.
The official language of the state is Konkani. Other common languages spoken by Goans include English, Hindi, and Marathi.
For many years, people have left the crowded coastal area to go north to Mumbai. Many people from Goa work in the Middle East and East Africa. Goa has high standards of education and Goans readily find work overseas in hotels or as stewards on cruise ships. Others work in medical, engineering, technical, legal, and other professions. Earnings from overseas workers make an important contribution to the state’s economy.
Goa has two elected members in the Lok Sabha (lower house) and one nominated member in the Rajya Sabah (upper house) of the Indian national parliament. A governor, a chief minister, and a legislative assembly of 40 members control local affairs.
Economy
Most local people are employed in agriculture. Rice is the main food crop. Irrigated fields produce high yields. Farmers grow more than 165,000 tons (150,000 metric tons) of rice on less than 100,000 acres (40,000 hectares) of land each year. The main cash crops are bananas, cashew nuts, coconuts, mangoes, pineapples, pulses, spices, and sugar cane. The government sponsors poultry and dairy farming schemes.
Fishing provides local people with their most important food. Goa exports canned or frozen fish.
Goa’s huge reserves of minerals such as manganese and iron ore are now being mined extensively. Goa also has deposits of bauxite (the ore from which aluminum is made), clay, and limestone. The export of mineral ores, including those of manganese and iron, make up the largest component of Goa’s economy.
Processing cashew nuts for export is an important industry in the state. The government has organized industrial estates, which house a variety of enterprises. Their products include clothing, fertilizers, fishing nets, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, shoes, and sugar.
Mormugao, one of India’s major seaports, is sheltered by a promontory and breakwater. It exports iron and manganese ore, bauxite, coconuts, copra (dried coconut), fish, nuts, and salt.
The airport at Dabolim, located about 4 miles (6 kilometers) from Mormugao harbor, plays a vital part in the development of the local tourist trade. Goa has more than 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) of roads.
Land
Attractive beaches are a striking feature of Goa’s 62-mile-long (100-kilometer-long) coastline on the Arabian Sea. The inland area is hilly. In Sattari Taluka, the average elevation is about 2,600 feet (800 meters). Here one peak rises to 3,353 feet (1,022 meters)—the highest point in Goa. Soils there are less suitable for farming than those of the coastal area.
The Terekhol River marks the state’s northern border. The two largest rivers, the Mandovi and Zuari, almost surround a triangular part of the mainland. A rocky headland separates two anchorages—Aguada at the mouth of the Mandovi to the north, and Mormugao at the mouth of the Zuari to the south.
Goa faces the full strength of the monsoon, with four-fifths of its annual rainfall between June and September (see Monsoon). Average minimum temperatures are 66 °F (19 °C) in January, the coolest month, rising to 77 °F (25 °C) in June. Maximum temperatures hover between 84 °F (29 °C) and 91 °F (33 °C).
History
Little is known of the early history of Goa, although there are references to it in the epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata. Its political history can be traced back to the 200’s B.C. when Goa formed a part of the Mauryan Empire. After the Mauryan period (about 321 to 185 B.C.), a succession of small kingdoms ruled the area. They were the Satavahana, the Rashtrakuta, the Chalukya, the Shilahara, and the Kadamba. The Kadambas ruled for more than three hundred years until they were defeated by the Yadavas of Devagiri in A.D. 1237. The Yadava rule lasted until 1347 when Goa was annexed to the Bahmani.
For about 150 years, Goa was influenced by the conflict between the Vijayanagar and Bahmani kingdoms; the political control over Goa often changed from one kingdom to another. After the disintegration of the Bahmani kingdom, Goa came under the rule of the sultan of Bijapur in 1482.
By the end of the 1400’s, when the Portuguese reached India, Goa had become an important center of trade. It had trade relations with almost all trading nations in the East.
The modern history and culture of Goa is dominated by Portuguese trading interests and political ambitions in India. In 1510, a seaborne expeditionary force commanded by the Portuguese military leader Afonso de Albuquerque captured Goa and it became the capital of the Portuguese empire in Asia. The city enjoyed the same privileges as Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
Goa also became an important headquarters for Catholic Christian missionaries. The Franciscans arrived in 1517 and a member of their order was appointed as the city’s bishop in 1538. In 1542, St. Francis Xavier, the Spanish-born missionary known as the Apostle of the Indies, took over the College of Holy Faith. He renamed it in honour of Saint Paul, because it was to become a center for training local converts as missionaries. From that time onward, Jesuits in Asian countries were known as Paulistas. In 1557, Goa was made an archbishopric with authority over all India. By the early 1600’s, it controlled bishoprics as far apart as Mozambique and Japan. But by then the city was past the peak of its development.
The Dutch blockaded the city in 1603 and 1639 but did not take it. Maratha raiders almost captured the city in 1683, but were thwarted by the arrival of a Mughal army. Goa was again saved from Marathas in 1739 by the arrival, by sea, of the new viceroy and his men.
In 1759, the seat of government shifted to Panaji. Cholera caused many deaths and many survivors left Old Goa and moved to other parts of Goa. The population of Old Goa fell from 20,000 in 1695 to about 1,600 by 1775.
Portuguese rule actively supported the conversion of the local inhabitants to Christianity. That they were intolerant toward the followers of other religions is evident from the inquisitions they conducted. Portuguese rule was so oppressive and exploitative that during 450 years of Portuguese rule, there were 40 armed revolts in Goa. Although these revolts were put down with a heavy hand, the urge for freedom could not be suppressed forever. A movement for the liberation of Goa gained momentum in the 1900’s. The main leaders of the movement were Tristao Bragansa Cunha, Purushottam Kakodkar, Laxmi Kant Bhembre, Divakar Kakodkar, and Dayanand Bandodkar. The liberation movement became stronger after Indian independence in 1947.
India’s new government claimed Goa in 1948. In 1955, nonviolent protesters attempted a peaceful annexation. The resulting casualties led to a breakdown of relations between India and Portugal. Indian troops invaded Goa in December 1961. At this time, many Portuguese left Goa, taking with them gold and jewellery pledged in Goan banks. Goa was made an Indian territory in 1962. It became a state in 1987.
Indo-Portuguese relations improved in 1992 when riches taken out of the country in 1961 were returned to the Goan banks.
