The ''Velhas Conquistas'' or "Old Conquests" are a grouping of the areas in

Goa 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 bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

which were incorporated into

Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

in the early half of the sixteenth century AD.

Goa, Daman and Diu Goa, Daman and Diu (, ) was a union territory of the Republic of India established in 1961 following the Annexation of Goa, liberation of Portuguese India, with Maj Gen K P Candeth as its first governor. The Goa portion of the territory was gran ...

comprised the last remaining Portuguese possessions in India.

Macao Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world. Formerly a Portuguese colony, the ter ...

and

Timor Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

were administratively separated. Over the course of nearly five centuries of European rule since the

Portuguese conquest of Goa The Portuguese conquest of Goa occurred when the governor Afonso de Albuquerque captured the city in 1510 from the Sultanate of Bijapur. Old Goa became the capital of Portuguese India, which included territories such as Fort Manuel of Cochin, ...

, these areas underwent urbanisation and they were elevated to ''

concelho Concelho () is the Portuguese-language term for municipality, referring to the territorial subdivision in local government. In comparison, the word ''município'' () refers to the organs of State. This differentiation is still in use in Portugal ...

s'' (municipalities), with the administrative centre at

Velha Goa Old Goa (Konkani: ; ) is a historical site and city situated on the southern banks of the River Mandovi, within the Tiswadi ''taluka'' (''Ilhas'') of North Goa district, in the Indian state of Goa. The city was established by the Bijapur ...

. Having been acquired by 1510 AD or within the next few decades, they formed the oldest parts and the core of Portuguese Goa and remain the central theme in the history, geography, and culture of present-day Goa. The ''

Novas Conquistas The Novas Conquistas or "New Conquests" are a group of seven ''concelhos'' (municipalities) of Goa and Damaon, officially known as Portuguese India. They were added into Goa in the 18th century AD, a comparatively later date than the original th ...

'' or New Conquests are the outer periphery of Goa, surrounding ''Velha Conquistas'' and bordering the erstwhile

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. ''Novas Conquistas'' of present-day Goa shares borders with the

Konkan division Konkan division is one of the six administrative divisions of Maharashtra state in India. It comprises the central portions of the Konkani region, excluding Goa and Damaon, which were absorbed into Maharashtra owing to the States Reorganisat ...

under Maharashtra's supremacy; also with

Belgaum Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

and

North Canara Uttara Kannada is a fifth largest district in the Indian state of Karnataka, It is bordered by the state of Goa and Belagavi districts to the north, Dharwad District and Haveri District to the east, Shivamogga District, and Udupi District to ...

districts of Carnataca. The three ''concelhos'' of the territory are

Bardes ''Bardez'' or ''Bardes'' ( IPA: ) is a ''taluka'' of the North Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. Etymology The name is credited to the Saraswat Brahmin immigrants who emigrated to the Konkan via Magadha plains in northern India. Ba ...

, ''Ilhas de Goa'' (

Tiswadi Tiswadi, formerly known as Ilhas, is a ''taluka'' in the district of North Goa, situated in the Indian coastal state of Goa. It is an estuarine island situated on the confluence of the Mandovi and Zuari rivers. It was one of the first ter ...

) and ''Salcette'' (present-day

Salcette Salcete or Salcette (Konkani: ''Saxtti''/''Xaxtti'') is a subdivision of the district of South Goa, in the state of Goa, situated by the west coast of India. The Sal River and its backwaters dominate the landscape of Salcete. Historically, ...

and

Mormugao Mormugao is a coastal town situated in the eponymous subdistrict of Southern Goa state, India. It has a deep natural harbour and remains Goa's chief port. Towards the end of the Indo-Portuguese era in 1917, thirty-one settlements were c ...

talukas A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ce ...

''). When writing postal addresses, ''Velhas Conquistas'' is abbreviated to "VC". In

layman's terms Plain English (also referred to as layman's terms) is a mode of writing or speaking the English language intended to be easy to understand regardless of one's familiarity with a given topic. It usually avoids the use of rare words and uncommon euph ...

and contemporary contexts ''Velhas Conquistas'' is taken to mean the westernmost and central portions of Goa. The Old Conquests are also the most socio-economically developed areas of Goa.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , last1=Avelar , first1=Pedro , title=História de Goa: de Afonso de Alburquerque a Vassalo e Silva , date=2012 , publisher= Dom Quixote , isbn=978-972-20-4842-2 , language=pt {{cite book , last1=Henn , first1=Alexander , title=Hindu-Catholic Encounters in Goa: Religion, Colonialism, and Modernity , date=27 May 2014 , publisher=

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...

, isbn=978-0-253-01300-2 , language=en Colonial Goa Districts of Goa Former districts of India Portuguese India Goa

See also

References