The Lusosphere: Goa

8th of July 1497: 4 vessels (St Gabriel, St Raphael, Bérrio, Food vessel) weighed anchor in Lisbon towards India. [below you can see the route they used - black line].

18th of May 1498: Vasco da Gama arrived in India (Calcut, in the present state of Kerala, to be more precise). He had to negotiate with the local governor (the Saamoothiri Manavikraman Raja) in order to obtain favourable commercial deals - these negotiations proved to be very difficult due to the cultural differences (in the West, Kings would offer gifts to their foreign guests; but in the East, Kings expected to receive opulent presents); therefore the merchandise introduced by the Portuguese did not impress the local zamorins (Saamoothiris = a title used by the Eradi Rulers). Still, Vasco da Gama insisted and in the end he managed to get a letter (from the zamorin) conceding Portugal the trade of cinnamon, clove, ginger, pepper and gems. In exchange, Manavikraman Raja wanted gold, silver, coral and scarlet.

12th of July 1499: Nicolau Coelho returned to Lisbon (since Vasco da Gama had stayed in Azores to take care of his sick brother) and announced that Portugal had found the naval path to India.

25th of November 1510: Goa became the capital of the Indian Portuguese State (since it was the best commercial port of the region). The Portuguese wanted Goa to be an extension of Lisbon in the East, therefore they built institutions; several churches in order to expand Christianity; and forts to defend the city from external attacks (a special post will be prepared to show some of the Portuguese architectural delights in Goa).

1560-1812: the arrival of the Inquisition. Thousands of local residents were violently converted to Christianity (by missionaries): if they refused to convert they'd lose their land, titles, assets and receive a severe punishment.

1797-1798/1802-1803: brief periods of British control of the region.

1900: first bilingual newspaper (gujarati-Portuguese).

18th-19th of December 1961: 40,000 Indian soldiers take Goa back from Portugal (since António de Oliveira Salazar - the Portuguese fascist ruler - refused to return Goa to India, during the British decolonisation period), and as retaliation Portugal closed down Indian stores, in Mozambique; it arrested Indian citizens (those who had not been born in Mozambique) and put them in concentration camps, prior being expelled from the country. Portugal only recognised Goa, as being part of an independent India after the Portuguese revolution of 1974.

Language

The official language is the konkani, however there is a small portion of the populace that speaks Portuguese (and strive to keep the Portuguese traditions alive).

Cuisine

A mix of Portuguese and Indian cuisines. Before the arrival of the Portuguese to the region, there were no soups in the Goan menu, but today (if you ever visit Goa) you can taste, for example, the Fish Head Soup and Canja (= congee, inspired on the Portuguese Canja). Before the Portuguese, Goans didn't use certain vegetables either: cabbage, common bean, cauliflower, spinach and brinjal (to name a few) - only they cook it with coconut milk and lots of spices. Goan cuisine includes meat (veal, pork and chicken), being one of my favourite Goan dishes the "Chacuti" (prepared with chicken, coconut milk, spices; and served with rice). The cuisine from this region is so rich, that I will post (later on) a proper article about it - it will bring water to your mouth.

Music

Goan music was highly influenced by European music (since the Portuguese took there the piano, the mandolin and the violin). Goa produces classical music (being known by the Goa Symphony Orchestra and Goa Philharmonic Choir - founded by Lourdino Barreto); pop music (being one of the most known pop stars, Remo Fernandes) which is sung in Konkani; and Goa trance (electronic music, pioneered by artists such as Goa Gil and Fred Disko).

This week we will begin by experiencing Goa Trance: enjoy!

Next Stop: East Timor