Early History of Goa

The early history of Goa stretches back to the 3rd century BC, when it became a part of the Mauryan Empire. Later, around two thousand years ago, Goa was ruled by the Satavahanas of Kolhapur (in Maharashtra). After them, the Chalukyas of Badami controlled it between 580 and 750. Over the next few centuries Goa was successively ruled by the Silharas, the Kadambas and the Chalukyans of Kalyani, rulers of Deccan India.

The first written reference of the early history of Goa appears to have been in 2200 BC, in cuneiform, in Sumerian times, when King Gudea of Lagash called it Gubio. The Phoenicians, who were a seafaring community, in around 1775 BC, were the first to extensively settle in Goa. Afterward, in the Vedic period, in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Goa is addressed with the Sanskrit name “Gomantak” (meaning: “land similar to paradise” or “fertile land and good waters”). It is in the Mahabharata that citations to the Brahmanic colonization of Goa are made. In 200 BC Ashoka made Goa the southern extreme of his empire. The “Topographia Christiana”, written by Greek merchant Kosmas Indikopleustes, keys out Goa as Sibo, calling it one of the best ports in Western India. The Arabs too hold the same opinion. They call Goa ‘Sindabur’. In AD 554, Sidi Ali Kodupon wrote the Turkish book “Mohit”. It is a treatise on‘Industan’s’ seas. 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.

The first European to set foot in India was Vasco da Gama. He landed in India in 1498, via the sea route. He arrived in Old Goa following his landing in Kozhikode in Kerala. The Portuguese came to Goa with designs to make it their colony and also a naval base. As a colonizer their intention was to grab inclusive power over the spice trade from other European colonizers. A permanent settlement was established in 1510, in Velha Goa or Old Goa, when the Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque defeated the ruling Bijapur kings 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 .The imposition of the Inquisition, during the 1560–1812, led to the forcible conversion many of the local populace to Christianity by missionaries – who either threatened punishment or confiscation of land, titles and property. The converts, however, retained parts of their Hindu heritage. By the 16th century, with the advent of the other European European colonial powers in India, most Portuguese holdings were encircled by the British and the Dutch colonies. Goa was the largest of the Portuguese holdings.