The Portuguese explorer Vasco
da Gama landed in Calicut, in present day Kerala in 1498. This discovery and
the establishment of a new sea route to India around the Cape of Good Hope gave
an impetus to to the Portuguese who wanted very much to exploit it to their
advantage and profit from it. They soon realized that they had to have a permanent
trading post established to effectively do so. Repeated attempts to do just that
along the malabar coast ( controlled by the Zamorin of Calicut) of India proved
difficult and finally they decided to try their luck northwards along the coast.
In 1510 under the command of Alfonso
de Albuquerque they laid siege upon Goa, then under Sultan Adil Shah of
Bijapur. On February 17th he entered the city of Goa for the first time and met
little resistance as the Sultan was engaged with his forces elsewhere.
Sultan Adil Shah soon came after him with a vengeance and and on May 23rd 1510
Alfonso de Albuquerque had to flee the city of Goa. Determined to win it for
good, Alfonso de Albuquerque made another attempt a few months later
with the help of a Hindu Chieftain called Timoja . This time his timing could
not have been more than perfect. Sultan Adil Shah had just died and the heir to
the throne was the infant Ismail Adil Shah. Ela or the city of Goa was under
Rasul Khan, one of his generals. After an initial attack on the Arsenal and a
quick and bloody battle, Alfonso de Albuquerque victoriously entered the city of Ela, Goa on St. Catherine's Day, November 25th 1510
.
As revenge for his earlier defeat, he massacred and decimated all of the city's Muslim
population over the next three days. He however spared the Hindu population and
appointed Timoja as his Thanedar. By 1543, the Portuguese were able to extend their control over
Salcette, Mormugao and Bardez, thus ending their first phase of expansion into
Goa. The territories of Ilhas, Salcette, Mormugao and Bardez formed part of the
Portugal's "Velhas Conquestas" or Old Conquests, and formed only one
fifth of the total area of modern Goa. By this time, Goa became the jewel of
Portugal's eastern empire.
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By the end of the 16th century, Goa had already reached its peak and was
referred to as "Golden Goa" or "Lisbon of the East". With
the Portuguese, came their religion. Albuquerque's interests initially was only
commerce as a result, the Portuguese were quite tolerant of the Hindus though
the same was not with the Muslims. From 1540 onwards, with the arrival of the
dreaded "Inquisition" in Goa, Portugal's liberal policy towards the
Hindus was reversed. 1542 saw the arrival of St. Francis Xavier and the Jesuits to Goa. The
saint left a lasting impression on Goa and is regarded today as Goencho Saib or
the Patron Saint of Goa. For more on the Saint click on Goencho
Saib.
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By the mid 17th century, Goa's decline as a commercial port began to mirror
the decline of Portuguese power in the East as a result of several military
losses to the Dutch and the British. The Dutch had taken control over the spice
trade - the original reason for Portugal's eastern expansion. Brazil had now
supplanted Goa as the economic center of Portugal's overseas empire.
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The first attack was by Sambhaji, son of Shivaji' defeat was narrowly averted
by the appearance of their rivals, the Mughals on the scene. The second attack in
1737 was led by King Shahu, grandson of Shivaji and this ended in a truce. The
treaty of may 1739 gave control of Portugal's northern Indian provinces including
Bassein to the Marathas in return for the withdrawal of Maratha forces from Goa.
In 1741, the Marathas invaded Bardez and Salcete and threatened the city of Goa
itself. Fortunately for the Portuguese, a new viceroy, the Marquis of Lourical
arrived with substantial reinforcements and defeated the Marathas in Bardez.
During this period, the Portuguese slowly expanded their territories which
enabled them to extend their control over Bicholim and Satari (in 1780-1781),
then Pernem later that decade and finally Ponda, Sanguem, Quepem and Canacona in
1791. These acquisitions known as the" Novas Conquestas
" were quickly integrated
with the Velhas Conquestas consisting of Salcette, Bardez and Tiswadi. This
second and final phase of Portuguese expansion was rather different from their
initial conquests. By the time these territories were added, their attitude had
changed and their zeal for religious conversions had died down. In a strange
quirk of fate they banned the order of Jesuits in 1759, because they believed
them to be puppets of the pope in Rome. By 1835, all religious orders were
banned, and the Hindu majority were granted the freedom to practice their
religion. As a result, the "New Conquests" retained their Hindu
identity, a characteristic feature that persists even today, and this is also
why there is a religious/cultural/language or dialect difference existing in Goa
between the Talukas of Tiswadi, Bardez, Salcette and Mormugao on one side and
Pernem, Bicholim, Sattari, Ponda, Sangem, Quepem and Canacona on other.
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Sanskrit was used as the official in Goa and throughout Konkan for many
centuries. Konkani evolved much later. Until recently, it was believed that
there was hardly any evidence of Konkani literature before the arrival of the
Christian missionaries. This has since been disputed. Fr. Thomas Stephens
an Englishman and one of
the early missionary Jesuit scholars is credited with writing the first book in
Konkani. His magnum opus being the "Krista Purana "
or "The story of Christ", written in the style of Hindu Folklore. He subsequently also
produced his other classic "Doutrina Cristao", a compendium of
Christian doctrines in Konkani. The late Dr. Pissurlencar and others, believe
that the Konkani works he had discovered at Braga, were translations from
Marathi for the use of the Christian missionaries only. The missionaries studied
both Marathi and Konkani texts and therefore did not probably need the Konkani
translations of the same books. Hence his and some other's conclusion was that
they were meant for the use of the common people who could not read them in the
original. There is also evidence that the clergy promoted Portuguese, made a
strong attempt in the seventeenth century to destroy konkani as they thought
that it would help convert more to Christianity. In spite of all this until 1961
only 5% spoke Portuguese, mostly in administration and in the commercial sector.
It was only after liberation and statehood did the dream of Konkani as the state
language saw realization.
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The Portuguese introduced Christianity to Goa. One of Vasco da
Gama's goals in finding the sea route to India was to find new Christians. Upon
landing at Calicut in 1498 he was surprised to find a thriving Christian
community established by one of the Last Apostles of Jesus, St. Thomas. This
however did not stop the Portuguese from promoting their own brand of European
Christianity- Roman Catholicism.
The first missionaries sent to India after the discovery of
the sea route were some Dominican Friars who came as chaplains of the Fleet on
Albuquerque's ships. Soon a church dedicated to St. Catherine was set up after
the conquest. The significance being the victorious conquest of Goa on St.
Catherine's day, November 25th 1510.
The next group that was more successful in propagating
Christianity was the Franciscans, who arrived in Goa in 1517. For the next
quarter century they were active in conversions not only in Goa but also the
bordering areas of India. Upon hearing of this success, Pope Paul II
subsequently raised the status of Goa to an Episcopal. He appointed the First
Bishop to take charge who unfortunately never made it to India as he died soon
after appointment. The Pope then appointed the Episcopal authority to Dom
Fr. Joao da Albuquerque, who took charge of the diocese in 1538.
The most successful group to arrive soon after were the
Jesuits of the newly formed Society of Jesus. With the arrival of St.
Francis Xavier S.J., one of its founders, the activity of the Jesuits went into
overdrive. Goa became the base for Fr. Francis Xavier's voyages to the east. His
preaching of the gospel took him to Macao, Japan, Philippines and at the doors
of China. His untimely death on the desolate island of Sancian in the South
China Sea put an end to his career but not his legend. The saga of the
incorruptibility of his body eventually led to his canonization and sainthood in
1622 and his relics preserved for posterity at the Basilica of Bom Jesus,
Old Goa.
The other Missionary and religious orders that settled in Goa
include the Dominicans in 1572, The Theatines in 1640, Order of St. John in 1681
and the Carmelites in the 1700's. The only nunnery in Goa was the Monastery of
St. Monica, established in 1606.
Alfonso de Albuquerque had not interfered with Hindu religious
practices apart from forbidding the practice of Sati. He also did not destroy
any temples during his reign. From 1540 onwards , under the influence of the
counter reformation in Europe and with the arrival of the Inquisition to Goa,
this liberal policy was reversed. A strict censorship of literature was soon
imposed. New laws forbade the public profession of any other religion except the
Catholic religion. Even the Syrian Christians who had been in India before the
Portuguese were treated as heretics along with the Jews and Protestants. Hindus
also came to be affected and they were accused of being disrespectful to
Christianity. An edict by the Viceroy in 1576 required the destruction of all
Hindu temples in Portuguese controlled Goa along with banning of ritual
ablutions and the expulsions of non Christian priests, holy men and preachers.
Hindus were forbidden to visit Temples in adjoining areas not controlled by the
Portuguese and were compelled in some cases to attend Churches and listen to the
Gospel. Social intercourse between Christians and non Christians was
discouraged. Christian converts were favored in the appointments of Goans to
public office and some positions were even reserved for these new converts.
The law on paper still laid down that the "Conversion to
Christianity of people from other religions had to be by persuasion and not by
force". This however was not practiced in reality. An exception to this law
was made in 1559 when a decree ordered Hindu orphan children to be handed over
to the College of Sao Paolo so that they could be baptized and educated as
Christians by the College.
The converts usually took on the name of the priest or the
College who or where they were baptized. After conversion, they were expected to
make a clean break from their Hindu past. Not only were their names changed but
also their food habits, social customs and even dress had to conform to the way
of living of the European Christians. Several old Hindu practices were enhanced
in their christianized versions. The place of honor given to the family deity
was now given to the Oratorio. The flame burned before a crucifix and various
Christian saints . The Tulsi plant in front of the house gave way to the Cross
in front of Christian homes and Christian prayers now accompanied pre marriage
ceremonies. In the village , the Novem ( harvest procession) was headed by a
Christian priest instead of a Hindu one and he also performed the
traditional blessing of the first sheaves of Paddy.
The Portuguese also implemented the compulsory learning of the
Portuguese Language under the Viceroy, Count of Alvor ( 1681-1686). He compelled
Goans to give up Konkani and this caused a significant number of people to flee
Goa to neighboring India. The result of all these actions was that in 1707,
there were 100,000 Christians to 3000 Hindus in Salcette and a similar ratio in
other areas of the Old Conquests.
This repressive policy of the Portuguese continued until the
mid 1700's and underwent a complete U turn due to one individual-The Marquis of
Pombal.
Sebastian Jose de Carvalho, later to be the Marquis of Pombal
was the Prime Minister to the King of Portugal, Dom Joseph I. He was appointed
in 1750 and was propelled to power by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. He
successfully masterminded the rebuilding of Lisbon and this made him very
powerful and influential in the eyes of the King and the court. The
assassination attempt on the King on September 8th 1758 gave him an opportunity
to purge his enemies and did so with a vengeance. These included the ex-Duke
Alvario, the Marcioness of Tavora and her husband and two sons and the Jesuit
fathers. All the conspirators were executed. In 1761, Pombal issued an edict
confiscating all Jesuit property to the crown and arrested and imprisoned all
the Jesuits. A total of 53 Jesuit priests were executed as co-conspirators in
the assassination plot. The Jesuit leader, Fr. Malagrida was hanged and others
burned at the stake. All of the remaining Jesuits were expelled from
Portugal.
T
The fallout of the Jesuit expulsion had its immediate
ramifications on all aspects of life in Goa. The most important effect was felt
on education. Replacing Jesuit teachers and professors was an arduous task. The
greatest impact was however felt on the commercial front. The Jesuits had
invested vast amount of their resources in every sphere of commercial activity
in Portuguese Asia and were involved in shipping, building, trade and finance.
They were the custodians of the crown funds, managers of Goa's Royal Hospital
and responsible for the upkeep of the fortifications and minting of coins at
some places. They also owned large tracts of land all over.
The most important other decision of Pombal that had far
reaching effects and was welcomed by all was the suppression of the Inquisition
in 1774. For more on the Goa Inquisition, please check out the Goa Inquisition
page.
It appears that Goa was Pombal's greatest beneficiary. Though
the expulsion of the Jesuits was controversial, the suppression of the
Inquisition was welcomed by all. There was however more. For more than half a
century before his coming to power, local Goan priests were used by the clergy
to do the low rung work. They were never promoted or appointed to higher
positions. The Cathedral chapter, the Vicarships and the professorships in Goa
were all filled by Europeans only. Pombal's historic decrees of 1761 and 1763
among others, called for opening up the the Clergy and various religious orders
for all subjects irrespective of their being white or native in origin. As a
result of this, the first Goan was appointed to the Cathedral chapter in 1762.
Soon the Vicarships went to eligible locals. The Religious orders who had
earlier refused to admit natives in their ranks a few years ago began accepting
Goans. The local Theatines were the first to do so and soon all other religious
orders followed suit.
The period from 1820s to 1920s are regarded as one of
the best times for Goans with regards to religious and political freedom.
Portugal was a monarchy until 1910 and was replaced by democracy and was
declared a republic. Goans were given representation in the Portuguese
parliament. All citizens, be they Hindus, Christians etc were guaranteed
individual freedom and liberty under the civil code. All this changed in 1928
with the dictatorship under Dr. Antonio Salazar. His 'Acta Colonial" denied
everything promised previously and Goans were back to square one.
From the very beginning, since the conquest by Albuquerque in 1510, there
were many unsuccessful attempts to overthrow the Portuguese. The earliest revolt
took place in 1550 when the people of Assolna, Velim, Cuncolim, Ambelim and
Veroda launched an attack on the colonialists but they failed in their attempt.
Their properties were confiscated. Their leaders were arrested and
executed.
Then came the well known and well organized plot, called the "Pinto
Revolt" in 1787. The leaders of the plot were some prominent priests of Goa
belonging to the "Pinto Family" who had the support of some military
officers of Goan origin. A large number of arrests were made and criminal
proceedings launched against its leaders. 47 members of the group were arrested
and prosecuted as plotters including 17 priests.
On 14th January 1835, a Goan, Bernardo Peres de Silva, was appointed
Perfect with the powers of Governor of Goa by the
government of Queen Maria II of Portugal. He was born not far away from Old Goa
and received his education at the Rachol seminary, the Goa Medical
School and then Portugal. There
he became politically active as a liberal and this eventually led to his
appointment to Goa as the "Perfect or Governor", the first and the last
native Goan
to be so appointed. His appointment was not liked by his
counter factions at Lisbon and he was compelled to relinquish his post
soon after his arrival at Goa. After being in office for only 17 days, he was
arrested by the military on February 1st 1835. A new Governor,
the previous Viceroy Manuel de Portugal e Castro was appointed in his place.
Bernardo Peres de Silva was deported to Bombay and the army took control of Goa
during the interim period. In the counter-revolution that followed, a
faction of the army loyal to him took control of Terekhol fort and invited
him back .This eventually resulted in a showdown at Terekhol fort where his
supporters lost in spite of British support. His supporters and troops loyal to
him were massacred and he subsequently took refuge in India and
never returned back to Goa.
Bernardo Peres de Silva
The Ranes of Goa based in Sattari and Sanquelim have been well known for
their attempts to dislodge the Portuguese from Goa. In all there were
reportedly about fourteen rebellions out of which the most successful one was organized by
Dipaji Rane in 1852. He carried on the fight against the Portuguese for three
and half years and eventually the Portuguese government made peace with him. The
Portuguese agreed to extend protection to village institutions, abandon
repressive religious measures and grant general amnesty. Dipaji Rane was awarded a sword
of honor and the honorary title of Captain. There was another unsuccessful
revolt in 1895 by Dada Rane. The final revolt of the Ranes took place in 1912.
There were two distinct groups fighting the cause, one led by Mourya Sawant from
the north and the other by Jhil Sawant from the south. They were joined by
Quistulo, who was a Christian toddy- tapper. The Portuguese government ordered
their contingent of Negro troops all the way from Mozambique to assist them in
quelling the revolt. They ultimately succeeded and the three leaders were taken.
Quistulo was shot dead at Assonora in the house of his mistress who was bribed
by the Portuguese to give away his whereabouts. Mourya Sawant was beheaded whilst
asleep; and Jhil Sawant was caught, imprisoned and finally deported to the island
of Principe in Portuguese West Africa, where he died in exile.
Alongside these rebellions was the attempt by some members of
Goa's indigenous elite to participate in the colonial and national governments
of Portugal. A western educated elite emerged in Goa who tried to reform their
relationship with the Portuguese. As early as 1822 Goans were
permitted to elect, on a franchise determined by property and religious
affiliation, two representatives to the Portuguese parliament. In 1910 official
discrimination against Hindus was repealed which in turn led to an outburst of
intellectual, cultural and political life in Goa.
Unfortunately, in
1926 all of this activity ended in Goa, as well as in
Portugal. This happened because in 1926 Portugal was taken over by right-wing Prime minister Dr.
Antonio de
Salazar who subsequently became a dictator. In 1933 Salazar's " Acta
Colonial" rescinded the limited
franchise earlier available to Goans.
Many of Goa's educated elite, discouraged by this sudden and unexpected
reversal, emigrated to Bombay. It was primarily in Bombay that nationalist movements arose to challenge Portuguese colonialism.
The most influential Goan nationalist, Tristao de Braganza Cunha, established a
relationship with the Indian National Congress. It was his expectation, as well as
Nehru's, that once the British had left the subcontinent, Goa would almost
immediately be abandoned by the Portuguese government.
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The suppression of liberties in Goa
under the Salazar dictatorship brought the socialist leader Dr. Rammanohar Lohia from
India to Goa. At a public meeting in Margao on 18th June 1946, he launched a
movement for civil liberties which set in motion a mass movement for freedom
from the Portuguese rule. The satyagraha movement in Goa subsequently continued
up to November 1946 during which period a number of leaders were arrested for
defying the ban on civil liberties. However by the end of 1946, the satyagraha
movement had died down. The Portuguese government then began adopting repressive
measures to root out the movement from Goa.
In 1949 Nehru's
government sent a mission to Lisbon to negotiate with the Portuguese
government about the withdrawal from Goa. To Nehru's surprise, the Portuguese
government refused to even discuss the matter, let alone the issue. By 1953, the Indian
mission was
closed and diplomatic relations between the governments were conducted through intermediaries.
The Portuguese dictator Salazar defended his position in a speech presented to the
Portuguese National Assembly on November, 30 1954. He said," The extension of
Indian sovereignty to include Goa is not a prospect opened up by, or an
anticipation of, the evolution of history; it is a political goal which India's
present leaders suppose it their duty to achieve in order to fulfill their
mission...It is always historical facts, and not geographical outline, that fix
frontiers, institute rights and impose sovereignties....For the Indian Union to
claim to turn the clock of history back to the 15Ith century, to come forward
now and make out that she already existed potentially at that time, or to set
herself up as the rightful heir of those whom we found holding sway there, is a
fancy of static dreamers; it is not for the dynamic shapers of history that the
men who received an empire from England want to be".
India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on July 26, 1955 in an address to the
Indian Parliament, the Lok Sabha, said " Although it
does not require that anything should be said in justification of our claim to
Goa, I shall, nevertheless, venture to mention a few facts...There is of course
the geographical argument. The Portuguese Government claims that Goa is a part
of Portugal. That remark is so illogical and absurd that it is rather difficult
to deal with....It has no relation to facts...I am not going into the old
history of the Portuguese possession of Goa; but I think many members will
remember that this history is a very dark chapter of India's history".
A few weeks later, on September
17 1955 , Nehru said "In Goa, we have a
remarkable picture of the sixteenth century facing the twentieth century, of a
decadent colonialism facing a resurgent Asia, of a free independent India being
affronted and insulted by the Portuguese authorities, of, in fact, Portugal
functioning in a way which, to any thinking person, is so amazing in its
incongruity in the modern world that he is a little taken aback".
The National Congress (Goa) which was already functioning in Goa began its
operations in Bombay; the other parties formed were the Azad Gomantak Dal, the
United Front of Goans, the Goa Liberation Council, the Goan People's Party, the
Quit Goa Organization, etc. The National Congress as well as the Liberation
Council believed in non-violence while the Azad Gomantak Dal committed
itself to fight
the regime by whatever means, including the use of arms . It began attacking the
Portuguese troops guarding the frontiers, blowing up ammunition dumps and police
stations. The Portuguese Government in the meantime began arming, with troop
concentrations in Goa and appeared to be ready to declare war on India. The
Portuguese Dictator Salazar refused to negotiate with India.
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The Government of India maintained a low profile until 1961. In
October 1961, a seminar was held in New Delhi on "Portuguese
Colonialism". It was well attended by representatives from around the world
and also from the existing Portuguese colonies around the world. This has
been reported to have brought a change in Jawaharlal Nehru's thinking about the
issue which until then was "through peaceful negotiation". Following
the conclusion of the seminar he is reported to have publicly made a statement
at Bombay, he said " We have to think afresh now
because of the happenings in Goa, particularly in the last few months, cases of
torture have come to our notice and the terror that is spread there by the
Portuguese. When I say afresh, I mean that we have been forced in to thinking
afresh by the Portuguese to adopt other means to solve this problem. When and
how we do it cannot be forecast now. But I have no doubt that Goa will soon be
free". This warning was ignored by the Portuguese and Salazar
and the subsequent events changed Goan history forever.
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On December 17,
1961 India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru ordered the military
invasion and liberation of Goa. A Portuguese army of 3,000 ill-equipped troops
was outnumbered by 30,000 Indian troops, supported by the Indian air force and navy.
The Portuguese Governor general Vassalo da Silva surrendered.
Last Portuguese Governor general Vassalo da Silva
Within three days Goa was integrated into India in a near bloodless
operation-"Operation Vijay " on December 19th 1961. The other Portuguese territories of Daman
and Diu were also taken over at around the same time and thus was formed the
"Union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu".
December 19th is celebrated as Goa Liberation Day.
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The first assembly elections were held in Goa in 1963. Dayanand
Bandodkar was elected Goa's first Chief minister. There were however other
important issues to be sorted out. The most important one being the issue of retaining Goa's unique identity.
This was resolved
post-liberation through the historic opinion poll, the first of its kind in India.
The issue was was taken up by the two largest parties of that time, the
Maharastrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the United Goans Party (UGP) with opposing
views on the subject.
The
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, which had won the first Assembly elections was led by
late Dayanand Bandodkar, Goa's first Chief Minister. Its members
believed in the merger of Goa with neighboring Maharastra as they believed
in the similarities of culture but at the same time underscored Konkani as
being an under-developed dialect of Marathi and felt that with the
merger, Marathi should take over as Goa's language as it was already the
language used by a majority( the popular class or the Bahujan Samaj) to
communicate as it had a written script.
The United Goans party had the
exact opposite view, they believed in retaining and preserving Goa's
unique identity. They were led by Dr. Jack Sequeira. They
firmly believed that Konkani was an independent language and not a dialect of
Marathi. They further argued correctly that it remained underdeveloped as it was suppressed by the Portuguese
rulers for over 450 years. The party, which belonged to the Christians
( who opposed Marathi) as
well as upper caste Hindus insisted on maintaining its unique
historical identity of its own with statehood as its long term goal, without
being a part of neighboring Maharastra. The issue gathered momentum and the
congress leadership in New Delhi finally took notice.
The late Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister of
India, decided to resolve the issue democratically by holding an Opinion
Poll. There were two options –
1. To retain Goa's
current as a Union Territory of India
2. To merge Goa into the neighboring state of
Maharastra and the other erstwhile Portuguese colonies of Daman and Diu into the
neighboring state of Gujarat.
It was ratified in India's parliament, the Lok Sabha (the lower house) on the 1st
of December 1966, and the
Rajya Sabha (the upper house ) on the 7th of December 1966. It was
signed into effect by the President of India on 16 December 1966. It was
then decided to hold
the Opinion Poll on 16 January 1967.
The symbols of the two parties the people had to choose were a Flower – for
the merger and Two Leaves – for
retaining Goa's unique identity.
On 16 January 1967 – the unanimous opinion of the people was to retain Goa's
unique identity and voted against merger with Maharastra. The United Goans party
with its symbol of " Two Leaves" won the elections by 34,021 votes.
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The Opinion poll resolved the issue of Goa's identity within
the context of the Indian union. Dayanand Bandodkar and the MG party however had
the last laugh. He and the MG party had swept the polls in 1964 and again swept
the polls in 1967 and in 1972 . He remained in power until his death in 1973.
His daughter, Smt. Shashikala Kakodkar was subsequently voted into power
and she became the Chief Minister ( India's first woman to do so ) and was
in power until April 1979.
After a brief 8
months of President's rule, elections were held in January 1980. For the first
time, the MG party was voted out of power and the mainstream Congress party came
to power with the election of Pratap Singh Rane of the congress party
as Chief Minister. This was the first time the Congress party had made an entry
into Goa's political scene. A scion of the Rane family of Sattari, Pratap
Singh
Rane remained in power winning the election again in 1985 and 1990.
Goa
attained another political milestone with becoming a state on August 12th 1987.
With the
declaration of Konkani as Goa's official language in 1992, what seemed
like a thousand year struggle seems to have finally borne fruit and come to a
close. The truth however is far from real.
By
1990, the the malaise of political instability had affected Goan politics and
continues its grip to this day. There have been eleven chief ministers
since. The current Chief Minister is Mr. Manohar Parrikar of the BJP
party.
The following is a list of the Chief
Ministers Of Goa since liberation
