Goa Was the Jewel of the Portuguese Colonial Empire.
Goa was the jewel of the Portuguese colonial empire.
It would be the city’s natural harbors and the wide rivers that would be the main draw for the Portuguese when they arrived in 1510. Goa would become the administrative center for much of the Portuguese Far Eastern and African empire. Portuguese control would last for 450 years and leave a lasting impression on the city that would become modern day Goa, as well as a lasting feel of a south European city, blended with its own native cultures.
Discovery of the Route to India
After Vasco da Gama left Malindi with his hired navigator, his next stop was the Indian subcontinent. He had become the first European to reach India by sea. He arrived a few hundred miles south of present day Goa. Unfortunately his success was also met by a bit of defeat too. The goods that da Gama brought with him where not in demand in India at all. The native peoples of the area were hostile to these outsiders and thus da Gama was forced to return to Portugal with his stores of goods still unsold.
The Portuguese Gain Goa
It would not be until the year 1510 that the Portuguese would first land in Goa. Alfonso Albuquerque would be the first Portuguese captain to land in Goa, but his arrival was staunchly resisted by Adil Shah of the Bijapur. Within a few months the Portuguese were driven out of the city, it would take them another year to arrive with enough forces to take Goa. Even when those forces arrived, they only managed to gain a single district of the area (Illhas), and in reprisal for his earlier defeats Albuquerque ordered the massacre of the Muslim population of the captured area.
By 1543 Portugal had finally gained a few more districts. These conquests formed Portugal’s ‘Old Conquests’, though they only make up 1/5 of present day Goa. Portugal quickly gained supremacy of the nearby seas and that coupled with their strong control of the conquered areas of Goa, began to integrate the city. By the end of the 16th century
It would be the city’s natural harbors and the wide rivers that would be the main draw for the Portuguese when they arrived in 1510. Goa would become the administrative center for much of the Portuguese Far Eastern and African empire. Portuguese control would last for 450 years and leave a lasting impression on the city that would become modern day Goa, as well as a lasting feel of a south European city, blended with its own native cultures.
Discovery of the Route to India
After Vasco da Gama left Malindi with his hired navigator, his next stop was the Indian subcontinent. He had become the first European to reach India by sea. He arrived a few hundred miles south of present day Goa. Unfortunately his success was also met by a bit of defeat too. The goods that da Gama brought with him where not in demand in India at all. The native peoples of the area were hostile to these outsiders and thus da Gama was forced to return to Portugal with his stores of goods still unsold.
The Portuguese Gain Goa
It would not be until the year 1510 that the Portuguese would first land in Goa. Alfonso Albuquerque would be the first Portuguese captain to land in Goa, but his arrival was staunchly resisted by Adil Shah of the Bijapur. Within a few months the Portuguese were driven out of the city, it would take them another year to arrive with enough forces to take Goa. Even when those forces arrived, they only managed to gain a single district of the area (Illhas), and in reprisal for his earlier defeats Albuquerque ordered the massacre of the Muslim population of the captured area.
By 1543 Portugal had finally gained a few more districts. These conquests formed Portugal’s ‘Old Conquests’, though they only make up 1/5 of present day Goa. Portugal quickly gained supremacy of the nearby seas and that coupled with their strong control of the conquered areas of Goa, began to integrate the city. By the end of the 16th century