goa history
Ancient 2000 BC - 1500 AD
The earliest settlement in Goa was around 2200 BC in Sumerian times, when King Gudea of Lagash called it Gubio. Sumerians portioned the fields of Goa to follow their measure of 12 cubits to a pole, and 0.495 of a metre to a cubit unlike the 0.46 unit generally prevalent. Later the sea borne community of Phoenicians became the first extensive settlers of Goa around 1775 BC.
Vedic Periodic 1000 - 500 BC
At the time the Mahabharata was written, Goa was referred to as Gomantak, a Sanskrit word, which signifies a land similar to paradise with fertile land and good waters. The Mahabharata also makes reference to the Brahamanic colonization of Goa. A section of the Saraswat Brahmans went east to Bengal after the Saraswat river in Panjab dried. Later, ninety-six families known as Gaud Saraswats, trekked southwest to settle in Gomantak around 1000 BC. They settled in the Ilhas de Goa (of which Tiswadi is the largest), Salcete, Bardesh, Pernem and Kudal. The settlement of these 96 Brahman families was a milestone in the history of Goa. Together with the hardworking Kundbis, a race which migrated from the south, they made bunds to gain soil from the sea for a period of more than 250 years.
According to legend as described in the Skanda Purana: Vishnu, in his avatar as Parsurama shot an arrow to mark the limit where Samudra the Indian Neptune should withdraw. Defeated, Samudra receded many miles of its aquatic reign. The arrow fell in Bannali (Bann: arrow, ali: village) and this is how the village of Benaulim got its name.
Aryan Conquest 200 BC
The Aryans pushed the Dravidian kingdoms such as the Cholas, Pandyas, Tamil Mad, Satyaputras and Keralaputras. to the southern tip of India. Goa became the southern fringe of the empire of Ashoka around 200 BC.
Strabo the Greek geographer during the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus (27 BC -14 AD) made the first reference to Konkan then named KomKvi. Old Arab geographers, referred to Goa as Sindabur. Al-Masudi (AD943) an Arab voyager, considered Sindabur as the foremost of the coastal cities of Malabar.
After the Mauryan Empire (321 BC to 185 BC) various dynasties of diverse origins, fought over the control of Goa. The Chalukyas , Hoysalas and Kadambas reigned from 937 AD to 1346 AD. After the Kadambas, Goa was ruled by the Yadavas of Devaguiri (modern Daulatabad) from the 12th to 13th century AD, the hindu empire of Vijayanagar (14-15th century AD), and became a part of the Muslim Bahmani Kingdom of Deccan in the 15th century. This resulted in the destruction of many hindu temples and was a foretaste of things to come under Portuguese rule. In 1492, the Bahmani Kingdom split into five kingdoms, namely Bidar, Berar, Ahmadnagar, Golconda and Bijapur. Bijapur was the capital of the territory which included Goa under Adil Khan who established a thriving new port further north at the head of the Mandovi river.
The Portuguese conquest of Goa
Vasco da Gama landed in Calicut in 1498 on the the west cost of India, several hundred miles south of Goa, and thus became the first person to find a sea route from Europe to India around the Cape of Good Hope. The Portugese arrived in Goa in 1510 after having been unable to secure a base on the Malabar coast further south. This was due to opposition from the Zamorin of Calicut and stiff competition from the Turks who, at that time, controlled the trade routes across the Indian Ocean. Goa with its natural harbours was the ideal base for the seafaring Portuguese, who were desperate to control the spice trade from India and the spread of Christianity. For a while their control was limited to a small area around Old Goa, but by the middle of the 16th century it had expanded to include Bardez and Salcete.
The Portuguese were initially quite tolerant of the Hindu religion although not as tolerant of Muslims. 1540 onwards, under the influence of the Counter Revolution in Europe, Portugal's liberal policy towards the Hindus was reversed. Many Hindu temples were razed and churches built on them; while the few Muslims there dispersed. The characteristic Portuguese names that many Christian Goans have today, is to a very small extent due to inter-marriage between the Portuguese and local Indians. Rather, the converts, were forced to adopt a Portuguese name, usually that of the priest responsible for their conversion.
