History of Goa

[3] Further, evidence of human occupation of Goa dates back at least to the Lower Paleolithic Age, indicated by the archaeological findings of Acheulean bifaces in the Mandovi-Zuari basin.

At the decline of the intensity of population in the last Pleistocene age around 10000 BC, the bottom of Deccan plateau was lifted up and out of sea-waters by the tectonic movements, formed the West-coast of India, Goa being a part thereof.

Evidence of Palaeolithic cave existence can be seen at Dabolim, Adkon, Shigaon, Fatorpa, Arli, Maulinguinim, Diwar, Sanguem, Pilerne, Aquem-Margaon et cetera.

[13] During this period tribes of Austric origin such as the Kols, Mundaris and Kharvis may have settled Goa, living on hunting, fishing and a primitive form of agriculture since 3500 BC.

[20] Chandragupta Maurya incorporated the west coast of India in his province of Aparanta, and the impact of Magadhan Prakrit, the official language of the Mauryan Empire, on the local dialects resulted in the formation of early Konkani, as was the case with other Aryan vernaculars.

Similarly a native Goan named Purna, also known as Punna in Pali, who traveled to Sarnath is considered a direct disciple of Buddha, who popularised Buddhism in Goa in the 5th century BC.

It is possible to infer from the places mentioned in these records and their discovery locations that at its zenith, the Western Maurya Kingdom comprised the Lata or South Gujarat, coastal Maharashtra, Goa, and approximately half of the North Kanara district.

[citation needed] Since Goa had been under the sway of several dynasties, there was no organised judicial or policing system in those days, except for traditional arrangements governed by absolute rulers and local chieftains.

In order to control this decline, Kadamba King Guhalladeva I, ruling from Chandor, established secular, political, and economic partnerships with these Arab states.

After the Chalukyas defeated the Rashtrakutas, exploiting this situation to their advantage, the Kadamba King, Shashthadeva II, firmly established his rule in Goa.

[34] Later King Shashthadeva conquered the island of Goa, including the ports of Gopakapattana and Kapardikadvipa, and annexed a large part of South Konkan to his kingdom.

Port Gopakapattana had trade contacts with Zanzibar, Bengal, Gujarat and Sri Lanka (mentioned as Zaguva, Gauda, Gurjara, and Simhala in the Sanskrit texts).

Before the Portuguese ships came to India, the seas to the east had been dominated by the thalassocratic Chola Empire of the Tamils, followed by their Shailendra dynasty successors and other Indianized seafaring states of Java and Sumatra.

The conquest drew deference from several neighboring kingdoms: the Sultan of Gujarat and the Zamorin of Calicut dispatched embassies, offering alliances and local concessions, e.g., to build fortifications.

Albuquerque and his successors left the customs and constitutions of the thirty village communities on the island almost untouched, abolishing only the rite of sati, in which widows were burned on their husband's funeral pyre.

Separate streets were designated for the sale of different classes of goods: Bahrain pearls and coral, Chinese porcelain and silk, Portuguese velvet and piece-goods, and drugs and spices from the Malay Archipelago.

The social life of Goa's rulers befitted the capitol of the viceregal court, the army and navy, and the church; luxury and ostentation became a byword before the end of the 16th century.

[75] From Goa, the Jesuit order was able to set up base almost anywhere in Asia for evangelistic missions, including the founding of Roman Catholic colleges, universities and faculties of education.

;[citation needed] Saint Paul's College Goa was a base for their evangelisation of Macau, and then for their important missionary campaigns into China and Japan.

[76] In the year 1600 António de Andrade made the long voyage from Lisbon to Goa, where he pursued his higher studies at St. Paul's College and was ordained a Jesuit priest.

[80] The body of the co-founder of the Society of Jesus, Francis Xavier, whose example many Goan missionaries tried to emulate by engaging in evangelizing work in Asia, was shipped to Goa on 11 December 1553.

Goa has also produced its own saints: the martyrs of Cuncolim; St. Joseph Vaz, whose missionary exploits in Sri Lanka are remembered with gratitude in that country; and the Venerable Agnelo de Souza.

[citation needed] It prosecuted non-converts who broke prohibitions against the observance of Hindu or Muslim rites, or interfered with Portuguese attempts to convert non-Christians to Catholicism.

Goa traded with various Kanara rulers, which was an important source of rice for domestic consumption; other goods were pepper for export and timber for ships building.

At his new capital Fatehpur Sikri, meetings at his Ibadat Khana [House of Worship] more variously included "Muslim scholars, Hindu pandits, Parsi mobeds, and Jain sadhus".

After his escape from Aurangzeb in Agra, the Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji (1627-1680) started a counterattack to recoup lands lost to the Mughals through the Treaty of Purandar (1665).

Sambhaji almost ousted the remaining Portuguese, but suddenly a Mughal army appeared which prevented the Maratha from completing their conquest, resulting in the culmination of the Deccan wars.

As a result, at the outbreak of hostilities a number of Axis ships sought refuge in Goa rather than be sunk or captured by the British Royal Navy.

Instead the Indian mission of SOE backed a covert raid using members from the Calcutta Light Horse, a part-time unit made up of civilians who were not eligible for normal war service.

Operation Vijay involved sustained land, sea and air strikes for more than thirty-six hours; it resulted in the unconditional surrender of Portuguese forces on 19 December 1961 by Manuel António Vassalo e Silva.