Gomantak Times

Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the east and south, with the Arabian Sea forming its western coast. It is India's smallest state by area and its fourth-smallest by population. Goa has the highest GDP per capita among all Indian states, two and a half times as high as the GDP per capita of the country as a whole. The Eleventh Finance Commission of India named Goa the best-placed state because of its infrastructure, and India's National Commission on Population rated it as having the best quality of life in India (based on the commission's “12 Indicators”). It is the third-highest ranking among Indian states in the human development index.

Panaji is the state's capital, while Vasco da Gama is its largest city. The historic city of Margão in Goa still exhibits the cultural influence of the Portuguese, who first voyaged to the subcontinent in the early 16th century as merchants, and conquered it soon thereafter, whereupon Goa became an overseas territory of the Portuguese Empire, part of what was then known as Portuguese India, and remained as such for about 450 years until it was annexed by India in 1961. Goa's official language, which is spoken by a majority of its inhabitants, is Konkani.

Goa is visited by large numbers of international and domestic tourists each year because of its white-sand beaches, active nightlife, places of worship, and World Heritage-listed architecture. It also has rich flora and fauna because it lies very close to the North Western Ghats rainforests, one of the rare biodiversity hotspots of the world.

Etymology

After the Bahmani- Bijapuri city of Goa was captured by Afonso de Albuquerque in AD 1510, and made the capital of the ''Estado da Índia'', the city gave its name to the contiguous territories.

The origin of the city name "Goa" is unclear. In ancient literature, Goa was known by many names, such as ''Gomanchala'', ''Gopakapattana'', ''Gopakapattam'', ''Gopakapuri'', ''Govapuri'', ''Govem'', and ''Gomantak''. Other historical names for Goa are ''Sindapur'', ''Sandabur'', and ''Mahassapatam''.

History

Prehistory

Rock art engravings found in Goa are one of the earliest known traces of human life in India. Goa, situated within the Shimoga-Goa Greenstone Belt in the Western Ghats (an area composed of metavolcanics, iron formations and ferruginous quartzite), yields evidence for Acheulean occupation. Rock art engravings (petroglyphs) are present on laterite platforms and granite boulders in Usgalimal near the west flowing Kushavati river and in Kajur. In Kajur, the rock engravings of animals, tectiforms and other designs in granite have been associated with what is considered to be a megalithic stone circle with a round granite stone in the centre. Petroglyphs, cones, stone-axe, and choppers dating to 10,000 years ago have been found in various locations in Goa, including Kazur, Mauxim, and the Mandovi-Zuari basin. Recently these petroglyphs have been included in the tentative list of UNESCO world heritage sites.

Evidence of Palaeolithic life is visible at Dabolim, Adkon, Shigao, Fatorpa, Arli, Maulinguinim, Diwar, Sanguem, Pilerne, and Aquem-Margaon. Difficulty in carbon dating the laterite rock compounds poses a problem for determining the exact time period.

Early Goan society underwent radical change when Indo-Aryan and Dravidian migrants amalgamated with the aboriginal locals, forming the base of early Goan culture.

Early history

In the 3rd century BC, Goa was part of the Maurya Empire, ruled by the Buddhist emperor, Ashoka of Magadha. Buddhist monks laid the foundation of Buddhism in Goa. Between the 2nd century BC and the 6th century AD, Goa was ruled by the Bhojas of Goa. Chutus of Karwar also ruled some parts as feudatories of the Satavahanas of Kolhapur (2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD), Western Kshatrapas (around 150 AD), the Abhiras of Western Maharashtra, Bhojas of the Yadav clans of Gujarat, and the Konkan Mauryas as feudatories of the Kalachuris. The rule later passed to the Chalukyas of Badami, who controlled it between 578 and 753, and later the Rashtrakutas of Malkhed from 753 to 963. From 765 to 1015, the Southern Silharas of Konkan ruled Goa as the feudatories of the Chalukyas and the Rashtrakutas. Over the next few centuries, Goa was successively ruled by the Kadambas as the feudatories of the Chalukyas of Kalyani. They patronised Jainism in Goa.

In 1312, Goa came under the governance of the Delhi Sultanate. The kingdom's grip on the region was weak, and by 1370 it was forced to surrender it to Harihara I of the Vijayanagara Empire. The Vijayanagara monarchs held on to the territory until 1469 when it was appropriated by the Bahmani sultans of Gulbarga. After that dynasty crumbled, the area fell into the hands of the Adil Shahis of Bijapur, who established as their auxiliary capital the city known under the Portuguese as Velha Goa (or Old Goa).

Mahadev Temple, Tambdi Surla (12th century).jpg, The Mahadev Temple, attributed to the Kadambas of Goa, in what is today Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park
Kadamba.PNG, Gold coins issued by the Kadamba king of Goa, Shivachitta Paramadideva, 1147–1187 CE

Portuguese period

In 1510, the Portuguese defeated the ruling Bijapur sultan Yusuf Adil Shah with the help of a local ally, Timoji, a privateer. They set up a permanent settlement in ''Velha Goa'' (Old Goa). This was the beginning of Portuguese colonial rule in Goa that would last for four and a half centuries, until its annexation by India in 1961. The Goa Inquisition, a formal tribunal, was established in 1560, and was finally abolished in 1812.

From the latter decades of the eighteenth century, the territory of Goa was composed of two segments: the central nucleus of the ''Velhas Conquistas'' (Old Conquests)—Bardes, Ilhas de Goa, and Salcette—which territories had been under Portuguese administration since the sixteenth century; and the ''Novas Conquistas'' (New Conquests)—Bicholim, Canacona, Pernem, Quepem, Sattari, and Sanguem—territories which had been successively added through the eighteenth century.

In 1843, the Portuguese moved the capital to the ''Cidade da Nova Goa'' (City of New Goa), today known as Panaji (Panjim), from ''Velha Goa'' (Old Goa). By the mid-18th century, Portuguese expansions lost other possessions in India until their borders stabilised and formed the Goa, Daman and Diu, which included Silvassa prior to the Annexation, it was known as ''Estado da Índia'' in Portuguese, that is the "State of Portuguese India".

Contemporary period

After India gained independence from British rule in 1947, India requested that Portuguese territories on the Indian subcontinent be ceded to India. Portugal refused to negotiate on the sovereignty of its Indian enclaves. On 19 December 1961, the Indian Army invaded with Operation Vijay resulting in the annexation of Goa, and of Daman and Diu islands into the Indian union. Goa, along with Daman and Diu, was organised as a centrally administered union territory of India. On 16 January 1967 a referendum was held in Goa, to decide the future of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu. It was the only referendum to have been held in independent India. The referendum offered the people of Goa a choice between continuing as a union territory or merging with the state of Maharashtra and the majority chose the former. On 30 May 1987, the union territory was split, and Goa was made India's twenty-fifth state, with Daman and Diu remaining a union territory.

Geography

Goa encompasses an area of . It lies between the latitudes 14°53′54″ N and 15°40′00″ N and longitudes 73°40′33″ E and 74°20′13″ E.

Goa is a part of the coastal country known as the Konkan, which is an escarpment rising up to the Western Ghats range of mountains, which separate it from the Deccan Plateau. The highest point is the Sonsogor Peak, with an altitude of . Goa has a coastline of .

Goa's seven major rivers are the Mandovi, Zuari, Terekhol, Chapora, Galgibag, Cumbarjua canal, Talpona, and the Sal. The Zuari and the Mandovi are the most important rivers, interspaced by the Cumbarjua canal, forming a major estuarine complex. These rivers are fed by the Southwest monsoon rain and their basin covers 69% of the state's geographical area. These rivers are some of the busiest in India. Goa has more than 40 estuarine, eight marine, and about 90 riverine islands. The total navigable length of Goa's rivers is . Goa has more than 300 ancient water tanks built during the rule of the Kadamba dynasty and over 100 medicinal springs.

Mormugao harbour on the mouth of the Zuari river is considered one of the best natural harbours in South Asia.

Most of Goa's soil cover is made up of laterites rich in ferric-aluminum oxides and reddish in colour. Further inland and along the riverbanks, the soil is mostly alluvial and loamy. The soil is rich in minerals and humus, thus conducive to agriculture. Some of the oldest rocks in the Indian subcontinent are found in Goa between Molem and Anmod on Goa's border with Karnataka. The rocks are classified as Trondjemeitic Gneiss estimated to be 3,600 million years old, dated by rubidium isotope dating. A specimen of the rock is exhibited at Goa University.
Dudhsagar Falls