Advent of Muslims in Goa

Though the advent of Muslims in Goa took place much later in history, there are old Arab geographers, referring to Goa as Sindabur. The Arabs held the opinion that Goa had one of the best ports in Western India. In AD 554, Sidi Ali Kodupon wrote the Turkish book “Mohit”. In the book Goa is referred to as Guvah-Sindabur – an amalgamation of the names Guvah (Goa) and Sindabur (Chandrapur). The Arab voyager, Al-Masudi, too held the opinion that Sindabur was the leading coastal city in Malabar.

The Delhi Sultanate took over Goa in 1312. However, they were forced to surrender it by 1370 to Harihara I of Vijayanagara. The Vijayanagara monarchs ruled Goa for the next hundred years – till 1469. From them it passed on to the Bahmani sultans of Gulbarga. After the empire of the Bahmani sultans collapsed, the Adil Shahis of Bijapur took over. They made Velha Goa their ancillary capital. During this era, Muslim pilgrims from all over India embarked on their journey to Mecca from here. A permanent settlement was established by the Portuguese in 1510, in Velha Goa or Old Goa, when the Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque defeated the ruling Bijapur king, Yusuf Ali Adil Shah, on behalf of a local sovereign, Timayya. One of the defences that the Portuguese built during their reign was the Fort Aguada in north Goa. It was a gruesome fight that terminated with the massacre of majority of the Muslims. To further spurn the Muslims, the Portuguese appointed a Hindu Governor. Henceforth, relations were established between the Vijayanagara and Portuguese empires strengthened and the Muslims came to be despised as a common adversary.