GOA

constituent state (1987) of India, situated on the west coast, 250 miles (400 km) south of Bombay. It is bordered by Maharashtra and Karnataka states and by the Arabian Sea. The capital is Panaji. Goa consists of 62 miles (100 km) of coastline, extends 40 miles (64 km) inland, and also includes the offshore island of Goa. Its chief cities are Panaji (formerly Panjim), Old Goa (Velha Goa), and Margo (formerly Mormugo). Goa's eastern part is dominated by the Sahyadri Hills of the Western Ghats, which rise to 3,392 feet (1,034 m) at Sonsagar. The hills give way in the west to an undulating area dissected by rivers, and the coastal plain itself consists of beaches fringed with coconut palms. The climate is tropical, with abundant rainfall. Goa's two largest rivers are the Mandavi and the Zuari, which together encircle the offshore island of Goa. That island's apex (called the cape) is a rocky headland that separates the harbour of Goa into two anchorages. Goa was formerly the capital of Portuguese India. With Portuguese-held Daman and Diu, Goa formed a single administrative unit that was ruled by a governor-general and a single ecclesiastical province. In 1987 statehood was conferred on Goa, and Daman and Diu formed a new union territory. The city of Old Goa, which lies along the left bank of the Mandavi River estuary, is now largely a city of ruins. The chief surviving buildings include the cathedral, founded by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1511, rebuilt in 1623, and still used for public worship; the convent of St. Francis (1517), which is a converted mosque rebuilt by the Portuguese in 1661; the Chapel of St. Catherine (1551); and the Basilica Bom Jesu (15941603), in which lies the mummified body of St. Francis Xavier, the 16th-century Jesuit missionary. Panaji, originally a suburb of Old Goa, is also built along the left bank of the Mandavi estuary. It is a modern town and contains government offices and many educational institutions. It became the capital of Portuguese India in 1843. Margo, which lies to the south of Old Goa and Panaji, has a modern breakwater and quay and a fine harbour. Goa is predominantly agricultural. Rice is the main crop, and coconuts, mangoes, and cashew nuts are also grown. Fishing is important, and iron ore and manganese are mined, processed, and exported on a large scale. Goa's distinctive architecture and fine beaches also make it a popular tourist resort. About two-fifths of its inhabitants are Christians. Many Goanese bear Portuguese names and are partly of Portuguese descent as a result of intermarriage between early Portuguese settlers and the local inhabitants. Goa's early history is entwined in legend, being mentioned in the Hindu Mahabharata epic as Gomantak and referred to in the Puranas as Govapuri. It was ruled by a succession of Hindu dynasties until 1472, when it fell to the Muslims. It was conquered by Portuguese forces led by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510, and Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries, including Francis Xavier, arrived soon afterward and converted many of the inhabitants to Christianity. The settlement of Old Goa soon became the capital of the whole Portuguese empire in the east, and the city reached a climax of trading prosperity and architectural splendour between 1575 and 1600. But in the following years Dutch blockades of the city and raids by Maratha raiders caused the city's decline, and the seat of government of Portuguese India was moved to Panaji in 1759. Cholera and other epidemics caused Old Goa's population to continue to dwindle, and by 1835 it was sparsely inhabited. After India attained independence in 1947, the Indian government began demanding that Portugal cede Goa to India. After years of border tensions and guerrilla warfare, Indian troops invaded and occupied Goa in December 1961. It was incorporated into India in 1962. Area 1,429 square miles (3,702 square km). Pop. (1991) 1,168,622. state of India. Comprising a mainland district on the country's western coast and an offshore island, it is located 250 miles (400 kilometres) south of Bombay. It is bounded by the states of Maharashtra on the north and Karnataka on the east and south and by the Arabian Sea on the west. The total area is 1,429 square miles (3,702 square kilometres). The capital is Panaji (Panjim). Formerly a Portuguese possession, it was annexed by India in 1962 and attained statehood in 1987. Additional reading Works dealing specifically with the west and west-central area prior to its annexation by India are mainly in Portuguese; see Henry Scholberg, Archana Ashok Kakodker, and Carmo Azevedo, Bibliography of Goa and the Portuguese in India (1982). See also M.N. Pearson, Merchants and Rulers in Gujarat: The Response to the Portuguese in the Sixteenth Century (1976); and K.S. Mathew, Portuguese and the Sultanate of Gujarat, 15001573 (1986). The territory of Goa as well as that of Daman and Diu are described in V.T. Gune (ed.), Gazetteer of the Union Territory Goa, Daman and Diu, 3 vol. in 2 (1979). S.S. Desai, Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1976), is a study of the three union territories. Deryck O. Lodrick Sudhir Vyankatesh Wanmali History The ancient Hindu city of Goa, of which hardly a fragment survives, was built at the southernmost point of the island, and it was famous in early Hindu legend and history. In the Puranas and certain inscriptions, its name appears as Gove, Govapuri, and Gomant. The medieval Arabian geographers knew it as Sindabur, or Sandabur, and the Portuguese as Velha Goa. It was ruled by the Kadamba dynasty from the 2nd century AD to 1312 and by Muslim invaders of the Deccan from 1312 to 1367. It was then annexed by the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar and later conquered by the Bahmani dynasty, which founded Old Goa in 1440. With the subdivision of the Bahmani kingdom after 1482, Goa passed into the power of Yusuf 'Adil Khan, the Muslim king of Bijapur, who was its ruler when the Portuguese first reached India. The city was attacked in March 1510 by the Portuguese under Afonso de Albuquerque. The city surrendered without a struggle, and Albuquerque entered it in triumph. Three months later Yusuf 'Adil Khan returned with 60,000 troops, forced the passage of the ford, and blockaded the Portuguese in their ships from May to August, when the cessation of the monsoon enabled them to put to sea. In November, Albuquerque returned with a larger force and, after overcoming a desperate resistance, recaptured the city, massacred all the Muslims, and appointed a Hindu, Timoja, governor of Goa. Goa was the first territorial possession of the Portuguese in Asia. Albuquerque and his successors left almost untouched the customs and constitutions of the 30 village communities on the island, abolishing only the rite of suttee (sati; the immolation of widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands). Goa became the capital of the whole Portuguese empire in the east. It was granted the same civic privileges as Lisbon, reaching the climax of its prosperity between 1575 and 1600. The appearance of the Dutch in Indian waters precipitated the decline of Goa. In 1603 and 1639 the city was blockaded by Dutch fleets, though never captured, and in 1635 it was ravaged by an epidemic. In 1683 a Mughal army saved it from capture by Maratha raiders, and in 1739 the whole territory was attacked by the same enemies and saved only by the unexpected arrival of a new viceroy with a fleet. The seat of the government was moved to Mormugo (now Marmagao) and in 1759 to Panjim (now Panaji). Cholera epidemics were one of the chief reasons for the migration of the inhabitants from Old Goa to New Goa. Between 1695 and 1775 the population of Old Goa dwindled from 20,000 to 1,600; and in 1835 the city was inhabited by only a few priests, monks, and nuns. During the 19th century, events of importance affecting the settlement were its temporary occupation by the British in 1809 as a result of Napoleon's invasion of Portugal; the governorship (185564) of Count de Torres Novas, who inaugurated a great number of improvements; and the military revolts of the second half of the century. The most notable of these was the revolt of Sept. 3, 1895, which necessitated the dispatch of an expeditionary force from Portugal. The infante Affonso Henriques, Duke de Oporto, accompanied this expedition and exercised governor's powers from March to May 1896. After Indian claims on Goa in 1948 and 1949, Portugal came under increasing pressure to cede Goa, with its other possessions in the subcontinent, to India. In mid-1954, Goan nationalists seized the Portuguese enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and established a pro-Indian administration. Another crisis occurred in 1955 when satyagrahis (nonviolent resisters) from India attempted to penetrate the territory of Goa. At first the satyagrahis were deported; but later, when large numbers attempted to cross the borders, the Portuguese authorities resorted to force, and casualties were inflicted. This led to the severance of diplomatic relations between Portugal and India on Aug. 18, 1955. Tension between India and Portugal came to a head when on Dec. 18, 1961, Indian troops supported by naval and air forces invaded and occupied Goa, Daman, and Diu. Portuguese India was, by constitutional amendment, incorporated into the Indian Union in 1962. Sudhir Vyankatesh Wanmali