Selected State >> Goa
Goa is the smallest state of the republic of
India. It lies on the country's west coast,
about 400 kilometres south of Bombay. Long,
sandy beaches, fringed with coconut palms, make it a tropical paradise for visitors. Other tourist attractions are the colonial
buildings from the 1500's, built when Goa was the headquarters of Portugal's Asian empire. India regained control of Goa from the Portuguese
in 1961. |
| People & Government | Economy |
| Transportation & Communication | Land |
| Climate | History |
Goa has a population density of 316 people per
square kilometre. The coastal area is
crowded. Fewer people live inland. The majority of Goans
are Hindus. However, there is also a very
strong Christian community. Goa has become a
centre of Roman Catholicism in India. Most
people living on the coastal area are Christians. Many
have Portuguese names and are partly of Portuguese descent.
This is a result of intermarriage between early Portuguese settlers and local
people. Most people living inland are Hindus. The official language
of the state is Konkani. Other common
languages spoken by Goans include English, Hindi, and Marathi. For many years, people
have left the crowded coastal area to go north to Bombay.
Many people from Goa work in the Middle East and East Africa. Goa has high standards of education and Goans
readily find work overseas in hotels or as stewards on cruise ships. Others work in medical, engineering, technical,
legal, and other professions. Earnings from
overseas workers make an important contribution to the state's economy. Goa has two elected members in the Lok Sabha (lower house) and one nominated member in the Rajya Sabah (upper house) of the Indian national parliament. A governor, a chief minister, and a legislative assembly of 40 members control local affairs.
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Most local people are employed in agriculture. Rice is the main food crop. Irrigated fields produce high yields. Farmers grow 100,000 metric tons of rice on less
than 40,000 hectares of land each year. The
main cash crops are bananas, cashew nuts, coconuts, mangoes, pineapples, pulses, spices,
and sugar cane. The government sponsors
poultry and dairy farming schemes. Fishing provides local
people with their most important food. Goa is
the base for more than 4,000 fishing boats. Goa
exports of canned or frozen fish. Goa's huge reserves of
minerals such as manganese and iron ore are now being mined extensively. Goa also has deposits of bauxite (the ore from
which aluminium is made), clay, and limestone. The
export of mineral ores, including those of manganese and iron, make up the largest
component of Goa's economy. Processing cashew nuts
for export is the most important industry in the state.
The government has organized industrial estates, which house a variety of
enterprises. Their products include clothing,
fertilizers, fishing nets, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, shoes, and sugar. Mormugao, one of India's major seaports, is sheltered by a promontory and breakwater. It exports iron and manganese ore, bauxite, coconuts, copra (dried coconut), fish, nuts, and salt.
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Transportation and Communication
| The airport at Dabolim
(about 6 kilometres from Mormugao harbour) plays a vital part in the development of the
local tourist trade. Goa has more than 4,000
kilometres of roads.
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Attractive beaches are a striking feature of Goa's 100-kilometre-long
coastline on the Arabian Sea. The inland area
is hilly. In Sattari Taluka, the average
elevation is about 800 metres. Here one peak
rises to 1,022 metres--the highest point in Goa. Soils
there are less suitable for farming than those of the coastal area. The Terekhol River marks the state's northern border. The two largest rivers, the Mandovi and Zuari, almost surround a triangular part of the mainland. A rocky headland separates two anchorages-Aguada at the mouth of the Mandovi to the north, and Mormugao at the mouth of the Zuari to the south.
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| Goa
faces the full strength of the monsoon, with four-fifths of its annual
rainfall between June and September. Average minimum temperatures are 19
°C in January, the coolest month, rising to 25 °C in June. Maximum temperatures hover between 29 °C and 33 °C. The coolest
months are July to September, because heavy cloud cover blocks out the
sun.
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Little is known of the early history of Goa, although there are references
to it in the epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata. Its
political history can be traced back to the 200's B.C. when Goa formed a part of the
Maurya Empire. After the Maurya period (about
321 to 185 B.C.), a succession of small kingdoms ruled the area. They were the Satavahana, the Rashtrakuta, the
Chalukya, the Shilahara, and the Kadamba. The
Kadambas ruled for more than three hundred years until they were defeated by the Yadavas
of Devagiri in A.D. 1237. The Yadava rule
lasted until 1347 when Goa was annexed to the Bahmani. For about 150 years,
Goa was influenced by the conflict between the Vijayanagar and Bahmani kingdoms; the
political control over Goa often changed from one kingdom to another. After the disintegration of the Bahmani kingdom,
Goa came under the rule of the sultan of Bijapur in 1482. By the end of the
1400's, when the Portuguese reached India, Goa had become an important centre of trade. It had trade relations with almost all trading
nations in the East. The modern history and
culture of Goa is dominated by Portuguese trading interests and political ambitions in
India. In 1510, a seaborne expeditionary
force commanded by the Portuguese military leader Afonso de Albuquerque captured Goa and
it became the capital of the Portuguese empire in Asia.
The city enjoyed the same privileges as Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Goa also became an
important headquarters for Catholic Christian missionaries.
The Franciscans arrived in 1517 and a member of their order was appointed as the
city's bishop in 1538. In 1542, St. Francis
Xavier, the Spanish-born missionary known as the Apostle of the Indies, took over the
College of Holy Faith. He renamed it in
honour of Saint Paul, because it was to become a centre for training local converts as
missionaries. From that time onward, Jesuits
in Asian countries were known as Paulistas. In
1557, Goa was made an archbishopric with authority over all India. By the early 1600's, it controlled bishoprics as
far apart as Mozambique and Japan. But by
then the city was past the peak of its development. The Dutch blockaded the
city in 1603 and 1639 but did not take it. Maratha
raiders almost captured the city in 1683, but were thwarted by the arrival of a Mughal
army. Goa was again saved from Marathas in
1739 by the arrival, by sea, of the new viceroy and his men. In 1759, the seat of
government shifted to Panaji. Cholera caused
many deaths and many survivors left Old Goa and moved to other parts of Goa. The population of Old Goa fell from 20,000 in 1695
to about 1,600 by 1775. Portuguese rule
actively supported the conversion of the local inhabitants to Christianity. That they were intolerant toward the followers of
other religions is evident from the inquisitions they conducted. Portuguese rule was so oppressive and exploitative
that during 450 years of Portuguese rule, there were 40 armed revolts in Goa. Although these revolts were put down with a heavy
hand, the urge for freedom could not be suppressed for ever. A movement for the liberation of Goa gained
momentum in the 1900's. The main leaders of
the movement were Tristao Bragansa Cunha, Purushottam Kakodkar, Laxmi Kant Bhembre,
Divakar Kakodkar, and Dayanand Bandodkar. The
liberation movement became stronger after Indian independence in 1947. India's new government
claimed Goa in 1948. In 1955, nonviolent
protesters attempted a peaceful annexation. The
resulting casualties led to a breakdown of relations between India and Portugal. Indian troops invaded Goa in December 1961. At this time, many Portuguese left Goa, taking
with them gold and jewellery pledged in Goan banks. Goa
was made an Indian territory in 1962. It
became a state in 1987. Indo-Portuguese relations improved in 1992 when riches taken out of the country in 1961 were returned to the Goan banks.
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