History

Goa's history stretches back to the 3rd century BC, when it formed part of the Mauryan empire. Later, at the beginning of the Christian era, it was ruled by the Satavahanas of Kolhapur. Control eventually passed to the Chalukyans of Badami, who ruled from 580 to 750 AD. Goa fell to the Muslims for the first time in 1312, but the invaders were forced out in 1370 by Harihara I of the Vijayanagar empire, whose capital was at Hampi. Over the next 100 years, Goa's harbours were important landing places for ships carrying Arabian horses to the Vijayanagar cavalry at Hampi.

Blessed as it is with natural harbours and wide rivers, Goa was the ideal base for the seafaring Portuguese, who arrived in 1510. They aimed to control the spice route from the east and had a strong desire to spread Christianity. Jesuit missionaries, led by St Francis Xavier, arrived in 1542. By the middle of the 16th century, Portuguese control had expanded beyond Old Goa to include the provinces of Bardez and Salcete.

Goa's golden age came with the eventual ousting of the Turks, who controlled the trade routes across the Indian Ocean, and the resultant fortunes made from the spice trade. The colony became the viceregal seat of the Portuguese empire of the east, which included various East African port cities, East Timor and Macau. But competition from the British, French and Dutch in the 17th century, combined with Portugal's inability to adequately service its far-flung empire, led to a decline. The Marathas almost vanquished the Portuguese in the late 18th century, and there was a brief occupation by the British during the Napoleonic Wars in Europe.

The beginnings of a Goan independence movement were felt as early as the late 19th century, but began in earnest when the Portuguese monarchy collapsed in 1910. The new Portuguese elite, however, were as determinedly imperialist as their predecessors, and countenanced no internal dissent or external, Indian approaches until Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru finally ordered an invasion on 17 December 1961, meeting little resistance despite the exhortations of the Portuguese dictatorship under Salazar.

Goa has, since independence, struggled to define its role within India on its own terms. Initial moves to assimilate the region into neighbouring states and to drop Konkani as the official regional language were resisted. Instead, in May 1987, Goa became India's 25th state and Konkani was recognised as one of the country's official languages.

As on the national stage, recent political life in Goa has been marked by instability and with the emergence of the nationalist BJP. Goa entered the millennium with a burgeoning tourist industry and growing environmental problems, but the BJP has shown some commitment to Goa's heritage and conservation, and moved to appeal to the Catholic minority as well as the Hindu 'vote bank'. Politics in Goa, however, continues to be waged on religious and caste lines, with ideology taking a back seat.