Portuguese India , Portuguese Estado da Índia , name once used for those parts India was used the from 1505 to December 1961 under Portuguese ruled. Portuguese India consisted of several isolated areas:(1) the area of Goa with the capital, a considerable area in the middle of the west coast of India; (2) Damão or Daman with the separate areas Dadrá and Nagar Haveli north of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) between the Indian states Maharashtra and Gujarat ; (3) Diu with Pani Kota Island on the south coast of Kathiawar Peninsula in the state of Gujarat.
The total area under Portuguese control was 4,193 square kilometers. Goa made up most of Portuguese India, both in terms of territory and population. For judicial purposes, the province of Goa also included Macau in China and Timor in Malay Archipelago . Portuguese India formed a single administrative province under a Governor General and a single ecclesiastical Province under the Archbishop of Goa, who also Primates of the East.
The age of " Golden Goa ”
The Voyages of the Portuguese Navigator Vasco da Gama (1497–99, 1502–03, 1524) opened the sea route from Western Europe after Asia over the Cape of Good Hope . For almost a century (1500-1600), the Portuguese had a monopoly on the European exploration and trading in Indian Ocean . Portuguese interests on the west coast of India were largely determined by sailing conditions and in Goa they found a defensible island location with excellent port facilities on either side.
Goa was Portugal first territorial possession in Asia Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510, and it served as the main Portuguese base in the east for four and a half centuries. Albuquerque had Goa as colony and naval base, as opposed to the fortified factories erected at certain Indian seaports. He encouraged his men, indigenous women to marry and settle in Goa as farmers, retailers or artisans. These men and their descendants soon became a privileged caste and Goa acquired a large Eurasian population. Albuquerque and later colonial administrators left the customs and constitutions of the 30 village almost untouched Municipalities on the island; only the rite of Suttees has been deprecated. An index of these customs, Alfonso Mexia Foral dos usos e costumes (1526; "Charter of Uses and Customs") is a historical document of great value.
As the capital of Portugal's Eastern Empire, Goa received the same civil privileges as Lisbon . His senate or municipal chamber maintained direct ties with the king and paid a special commissioner to represent his interests in court. In 1563 the governor even proposed making Goa the seat of a parliament representing all parts of the Portuguese east; This was rejected by the king. 1542 the remarked Saint Francis Xavier the architectural splendor of the city, which reached its peak of prosperity between 1575 and 1625. The splendor of Goa Dourada ("Golden Goa") inspired the Portuguese proverb:"He who has seen Goa need not see Lisbon." " Goods from all parts of the Portuguese Empire were on display in Goa Bazaar and separate streets have been reserved for selling different classes of goods: pearls and corals from Bahrain , Chinese porcelain and silk , Portuguese velvets and finished textiles, and medicines and spices from the Malay Archipelago . In the main street, slaves from the African colonies of Portugal. The homes of the rich were surrounded by gardens and palm groves; They were built of stone and painted red or white. Instead of glass, their balcony windows had thin polished oyster shells set into latticework.
The social life of Goa reflected its status as the headquarters of the viceregal court, the army and navy, and the church, but ostentatious luxury had extended far beyond the upper classes before the end of the 16th century. Almost all manual labor was done by slaves, and common soldiers assumed high-sounding titles. It was customary for poor noblemen to hold in common a few silken cloaks, a silken umbrella, and a common manservant so that each could take his turn to promenade the streets, fashionably attired and with a proper escort. There were huge gambling saloons, licensed by the municipality, where determined players lodged for weeks together.
Elsewhere in India, the Portuguese had constructed a fort at Diu , an important port of trade and Pilgrimage routes between India and the Middle East mastered . By the mid-1550s, all Gujarati vessels using the Gulf of Khambhat entered and exited, pay Portuguese duties in Diu. In 1559 the Portuguese occupied Daman (Damão), a port they had sacked and burned almost 30 years earlier. The late 16th century would be the peak of Portuguese power in the West Indies and the adjacent Seaways mark .