Timeline of Goan history

This is a timeline of Goan history. It overlaps with the histories of other regions in South Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and colonial powers that influenced the region, including Portugal.

Stone Age

C. 80,000-100,000, B.P. Arrival of modern Homo sapiens sapiens in the valleys of Mandovi and Zuari as evidenced from Acheulian handaxes.
C. 80,000-8000 B.P. Stone age of Goa, cave dwellings, hunter -food gatherer society, humans migrate from the river banks towards the coast in search of sea salt, the first rudimentary petroglyphs (Usgao), birth of shamanism and cult of earth goddess
Micro>Neolithism>megalithism
C. 8000-4000 B.P. Critical and exciting period of Goan neolithism and chalcolithism, the nomadic people of Kushavati culture, golden age of petroglyphs and rock art in Goa; shamanistic nomadic society, animal trappers, fishers, discovery of edible plants, tubers, mushrooms, worship of ant hill goddess, anature worship, origin of Dhalo; origin of Perni jagor mask dance drama, a smooth transition of neolithic to megalithic society (dolmens, menhirs) towards the end
C. 4-6000 B.P. Drop in sea level, Marine fossil beds at Bambolim, Siridao, Camurlim etc.
C. 3600 B.P. entry of horses and pottery in Goa, megalithism, first attempts to make salt from sea water, silt based farming in river valleys, development of trade routes, influence and contact with Indus civilization, Harappan seafarers

Antiquity

C. 1000-800 BC Primitive agriculture: the Kumeri or burn and shift agriculture and the reclamation of coastal mangroves for preparing khazan lands, probable birth of Gaonkaris (later day communidades) of Goa, common land ownership, Iron Age in Goa, first ploughs. Ancient Goa: Self-rule by Goans republic/Gaonkaris?
500 BC Ancient Goan republic? Self-rule by Goans
500 BC Jainism and Buddhist influence in south India spreads to Goa (the following chronology would be expanded later)
up to 200 BC Imperial Mauryan rule
up to AD 200 Imperial Satavahanas of Pratishthan, Western Kshatrapas Roman trade contacts, beginning of Arab trade in horses

Age of dynastic rule-golden period of maritime history

AD 200-400 many minor dynasties and feudatories (Chutus, maharathis, kadambas of Halsi, Kuras of Kolhapur)
AD 400-600 Bhojas of chandor (Chandrapur/Sindbur to Arabs)
AD 500-800 badami chalukyas, Konkan Mauryas etc., embassy to Persia. Boost in horse trade, Migration of Kaundinya seafarers from Goa to south east Asia

Middle Ages

AD 800-1000 Shilahara branches, imperial Rashtrakutas of Malkhed, Spread of Arab trading settlements (Anjumans)
AD 1000-1330 Goa Kadambas (detail chronology is being compiled), (Devagiri Yadavas, gangas, Hoysalas etc.)

Islamic influence

1326-Attack by sultan Jamaluddin of Honavar
1350-1380-Bahamani rulers
1380-1472-Under Vijayanagara rule (details to be added)
1472-1510-Adilshahi rule (details to be added)
(a separate chronology of new conquest areas before their annexation by Portuguese needs to be compiled as these territories at different times were ruled by adilshahi, Marathas, kings of sundas, Bhonsles of wadi, Dessais etc. from 1510 to 1793)
(definitive and accurate chronology of the period 200 Ad to 1510 Ad is possible based on epigraphical, archaeological, architectural, iconographic, numismatic records and publications-but many scholars need to contribute from Maharashtra, Karnataka, kerala and Gujarath)

Portuguese rule

1500s

10 December 1510 Afonso de Albuquerque accepts the surrender of the forces of Yusuf Adil Shah
6 May 1542: 36-year-old Basque, Francis Xavier from Navarre, Spain arrives in Goa.
1545 – João III of Portugal orders João de Castro to establish schools for Christian doctrine (escolas de doutrina) in the villages where students were taught music (solfeggio), violin and the organ in addition to the three R's. This music (which was wholly religious) was taught for congregational participation during Church services. In the 19th century these village schools became known as Parish Schools (escolas paroquiais). Early exposure to and love for music produced many Goan musicians who were recognized internationally for their ability to play all genres of music; 19th century Salcete became the birthplace of the Mando a particularly Goan form of song dance.
3 December 1553 – Francis Xavier dies off the coast of China
1556 D. João Nunes Barreto, the Patriarch of Abyssinia (roughly corresponding to the current-day Ethiopia) introduced the printing press to Goa; situated at the Jesuit College of Saint Paul at Old Goa, it was the first in all of Asia. The first book published that year was called Conclusiones Philosophicas.
1557, a year later, the printing press published its second book, Catecismo da Doutrina Christã, posthumously, five years after the death of its author, St. Francis Xavier. The Patriarch of Abyssinia, a title extinct since long, was residing in Goa at the time and offering his episcopal services till the appointment of the next Archbishop of Goa, D. Gaspar Leão Pereira in 1560.

1600s

1615 - Canonization of St. Francis Xavier, still a figure of widespread devotion among Goa's Catholic population, who is known to Goans as Goencho Saib
21 April 1651 Birth of Father Joseph Vaz, who would, three-and-half centuries later, become the first Goan to be beatified (on 21 January 1995). He was solemnly proclaimed the Patron of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman on 16 January 2000.

1700s

5 August 1787 - Denunciation of the Conspiracy of Pintos, an event in which a section of the local population sought to fight Portuguese rule in Goa. Curiously, Fr. José Vaz from Anjuna was among the priests denounced and detained.

1800s

21 December 1821 Goa's first newspaper Gazetta de Goa was published by the Government printing press in Goa, the Imprensa Nacional which was an official government document containing local and international news.
29 October 1826 the Government suspended its publication
27 May - 6 June 1835 - Bernardo Peres da Silva, first native prefect (governor) of Portuguese India, was expelled by the militia of white descendents in Goa and the fleet departed from Bombay (Mumbai) .While in exile, he sought financial aid from Rogerio de Faria, a Goan opium baron and set out with an expeditionary force. However, because of miscalculation of the monsoons, the fleet was destroyed upon the rocks of Vengurla. Despite this stumbing block, Peres da Silva won re-election for three subsequent terms to the Portuguese Parliament in Lisbon. Though he expressed unhappiness because his fellow members of parliament ignored him and were often absent during his pleas for the civil rights of Goa and Goans, he did not cease to campaign for Goa. He is buried in the cemetery of Prazeres in Portugal.
13 June 1835 to 30 November 1837 a government journal the Chronica Constitucional was published
7 December 1837 brought into existence the Boletim do Governo do Estado da India a weekly paper which was later renamed the Boletim Oficial do Estado da India. It remained a weekly from September 1879 and April 1880 when it came out three times a week until 1 May 1882. It became a daily paper until November 30, 1887, when it once again reverted to its three times a week status until 1897 and finally twice a week. In 1899 the paper did not carry any news or historical items.
5 November 1842 Escola Medico-Cirurgica de Goa was established. This was probably the first medical school of Western medicine in Asia. The school was started as Hospital Militar (later known as Hospital Regimental, Hospital Central and Hospital Escolar) at Pangim or Nova Goa. The graduates of Goas medical school made significant contributions in the field of medicine in Goa and beyond it, particularly in Africa where they worked as general practitioners and specialists in various branches of medicine.
1858 Bernardo Francisco da Costa (who was a member of the Portuguese Parliament from 1853 to 1869) founded his own printing press in Margão and published O Ultramar, the following year; it was Goa's first privately published newspaper.

1900s

13 March 1902 Dada Rane and his 22 "accomplices" sentenced to exile to East Timor. They embarked on 26 March 1902. Dada and his son Indroji died in Timor, but others had their term of exile reduced and are believed to have returned to Goa. One of them, Santoba Rane participated in yet another and final revolt in 1912.
29 October 1914 birth of Silvestre Micael Feliciano Martins in Corlim; prolific Goan composer and musician.
1953 The Government of India closes its legation in Lisbon, following tensions between the two countries over the future of Portuguese colonies in South Asia.
1954 India annexed the enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Aveli (or Haveli) (near Daman)
1954-1955 Some exiled Goans aided Goa Liberation Movement and Indian nationalists in a Gandhi-style campaign which failed due to little local support
8 March 1961. In a UN debate, V. K. Krishna Menon (India) described the Portuguese overseas territories as a "slave empire" and declared that the "liberation of Goa" was "part of the unfinished task of liberating India."
1 April. 1961. Jawaharlal Nehru announced in India's lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha that the Government of India had decided to relax the ban on trade with Goa and the other small, scattered Portuguese colonies in India with immediate effect, "as part of its policy of liberalization."
23 October 1961. India's prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in a Bombay speech referred to increasing reports of "terror and torture" by the Portuguese authorities in Goa and declared that "the time has come for us to consider afresh what method should be adopted to free Goa from Portuguese rule."
17 December 1961. The long-standing tension between India and Portugal over the question of what were described variously as the Portuguese "territories", "enclaves" or "colonies" in South Asia—Goa, and the small enclaves of Daman and Diu—culminated in the annexation of Goa after a brief (48 hours) military campaign by an estimated 30,000 Indian troops pitted against Portugal's 3,000 troops, 900 Goan police and no air or naval power. See Operation Vijay (1961)
19 December. 1961. The Indian tricolour flag was hoisted in Goa, in front of the Pangim seat of state power.

Recent history

1960s

March 1962 The Estado da India (Portuguese 'state of India') is formally incorporated into the Indian Union.
13 June. 1962. Repatriation of Portuguese detainees in Goa. - Creation of Union Territory of Goa, Daman, and Diu.
11 August 1962. Portugal announces cancellation of 'residence permits' of Indian nationals. Liquidation of Indian assets. Repatriation of Indians from the Portuguese East African colony of Mozambique.
22 May 1963. Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, visits Goa.
3 December 1963. The first general elections to be held in the Union Territory of Goa, Daman, and Diu resulted in the heaviest electoral defeat ever suffered by the Indian National Congress party, which then ruled much of the rest of India. The distribution of seats in the Legislative Assembly was as follows: Maharashtrawadi Gomantak 14, United Goans 12, Congress 1, Independents 3. Elections to two seats in the Lok Sabha (the Indian lower house of parliament) were held at the same time, both being won by the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak. Dayanand Bandodkar (52), a wealthy Hindu mine-owner, was elected leader of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party on 14 December.
23 January 1965. The Goa Legislative Assembly passed a resolution in favour of the merger of Goa with Maharashtra. The resolution was supported by the ruling Maharashtrawadi Gomantak, but was strongly opposed by the United Goan and Congress parties.
16 January 1967. Opinion Poll, the first one of its kind, conducted regarding the controversy over the merger of Goa with Maharashtra. Result: For 138,170. Against 172,191
28 March. 1967 Goa general election.
5 April. 1967. Dayanand B. Bandodkar, leader of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak, formed a Government after fresh elections.

1970s

23 March. 1972. Goa. Dayanand Balakrishna Bandodkar was sworn in for a third term as Chief Minister.
12 August. 1973. Death of Dayanand Balakrishna Bandodkar (62), who had been Chief Minister of Goa, Daman and Diu since the first general elections in 1963, dies while in office. His daughter, Mrs. Shashikala Kakodkar, who had been Minister of State for Health is sworn-in as the new chief minister.
24 September. 1974. An agreement was signed in New York City by the Foreign Minister of Portugal, Dr. Mario Soares, and the Indian Minister of External Affairs, Swaran Singh, according to which the Lisbon government expressed its readiness to relinquish all claims to Portugal's former Indian territories of Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
28 December 1974. Treaty in New Delhi providing that diplomatic relations would be resumed between India and Portugal immediately.
1 June. 1977. Elections to the Legislative Assemblies were held in Goa –- the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party won. Mrs Shashikala Kakodkar was sworn in as Chief Minister on 7 June.
10 October. 1978. Condolence meeting to mark the death of Valerian Gracias, the first Indian Cardinal.
23 April. 1979. The ruling Maharashtrawadi Gomantak lost its majority in the Goa Assembly and the Chief Minister, Mrs Shashikala Kakodkar, resigned. No stable ministry was possible and on April 28 President's Rule was imposed pending new elections.

1980s

3 January 1980. The elections in Goa resulted in a victory for the Congress and the defeat of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, which had held power since 1963. Mr Pratap Singh Rane, the Congress leader, formed the Government on 17 January
26 November 1983. A Commonwealth heads of government weekend session was held in Goa on 26 November-27 under the chairmanship of Mrs Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister.
24 December. 1984. Assembly elections. Congress won 18 seats in the 30-member Assembly. The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak (MAG) won eight seats, the Goa Congress won one seat while the remaining three seats were won by independent candidates. The Chief Minister, Mr Pratap Singh Rane, was sworn in for another term on 8 January. 1985.
6 February. 1986. The Pope John Paul II visited Goa as part of the 10-day Apostolic Pilgrimage to India. (February 6 and 7) Mass at Campal Grounds in Goa and Meeting with the clergy in the Cathedral of Bom Jesus of Velha Goa.
28 August. 1986. Mother Teresa visits Goa
8 March. 1986. Mother Teresa of the Missionaries of Charity visits Goa.
1986. Collapse of the Mandovi Bridge
19–27 December. 1986. Agitation in Goa over language issue.
4 February. 1987. Passage of Bill to make Konkani the official language of Goa.
30 May 1987 Conferment of Statehood on Goa Pratap Singh Rane stayed on as Chief Minister at the head of a Congress administration.
12 August 1987 Goa becomes 25th state of India; celebrates statehood day on May 30.
? Nov. 1989. Assembly election results: Congress 18, MGP 18, independents 2. Chief Minister, Pratap Singh Rane, remained in his post in a caretaker capacity overseeing negotiations designed to break the deadlock.

1990s

14 December. 1990. President's Rule was imposed in Goa. The Chief Minister, Dr. Luis Proto Barbosa, had served in the post since he replaced interim Chief Minister Churchill Alamao on April 14. Alemao had taken office for a brief period of a little over two weeks, in a stop-gap measures, to ensure that the new government continued to control the Speaker's office. He stepped down, as agreed earlier.
25 January 1991. President's Rule was lifted when Ravi S. Naik, was sworn in as Chief Minister.
17 May 1993. Ravi S. Naik resigned as Chief Minister of Goa after the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court upheld his disqualification from the State Assembly under anti-defection legislation. The following day, Naik's deputy, Dr Wilfred DeSouza, was sworn in as the new Chief Minister.
2 April. 1994. A political crisis precipitated by the apparently arbitrary dismissal of the Congress Chief Minister, Dr. Wilfred DeSouza, seemed to have been resolved following his reinstatement on April 8 and the dismissal of the state Governor, Bhanu Prakash Singh, a former maharaja of a princely state in North India, reportedly on the insistence of the Congress Union government.
16 December. 1994. Pratapsing Rane of the Congress was appointed Chief Minister of a coalition government in Goa.
19 January 1995. The Congress (I) attained an absolute majority following its alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).
23 January 1995. One person was killed during violent protests by farmers and environmental activists opposed to the construction of a Thapar-DuPont Nylon 6,6 nylon cord yarn factory which they feared would pollute the state's extensive river system. There were also industrial interests involved here, with powerful Indian players also said to be interested in the issue.
6 June 1999. Elections. The Congress (I) party won an outright majority with 21 out of 40 seats in the Assembly (the legislature) of the State of Goa in an election on June 6. Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro was sworn in on June 9—ending four months of President's Rule for the state.

2000s

16 January 2000. The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman received its first Patron, Blessed Joseph Vaz, who, five years before, had become the first Goan to be beatified at a Solemn Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in Colombo, Sri Lanka (on 21 January 1995). Blessed Joseph Vaz is also known as the Apostle of Canara and Sri Lanka It was in Sri Lanka that he exercised his outstanding missionary work, having died there in 1711.
1 October 2002. A collision between two IL-38 naval reconnaissance aircraft over Goa near Dabolim Airport killed 12 naval personnel and five people on the ground in India’s worst military air accident. Goa is home to the Indian Navy's aviation wing, and has also been witness to a number of crashes by the Sea Harrier aircraft.
29 November. 2004. 35th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) held in Goa, from November 29 to December 9. This is the first time that Goa is hosting the event, which used to be traditionally hosted in New Delhi.
28 February. 2005. Fall of the Goa government of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been in power since 2000 end (and ruled through proxy for a year prior to that).. A complex parliamentary power struggle in the western state of Goa culminated on 28 February with the resignation both of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-elected Speaker of the state assembly Vishwas Satarkar and his deputy, preventing the holding of a vote of confidence in the administration headed by Pratapsinh Rane of the Congress party. The crisis began in late January after the United Goans Democratic Party—Secular-Micky (UGDP) merged with the ruling BJP, enlarging the latter’s majority in the assembly. However, after chief minister Manohar Parrikar then dismissed one of his ministers, while four BJP legislators resigned from the party and the assembly, extending their support to Congress. But a determined chief minister Parrikar refused to give up office, claiming he still enjoyed the majority. After further defections and arcane procedural manoeuvres, (the Congress-appointed) State Governor S.C. Jamir on 2 February dismissed Parrikar's government and installed Rane as chief minister, even though the former had claimed to have technically won a confidence vote. On appointing Rane, Jamir asked him to prove his majority through a confidence vote within a month, leading to allegations of bias by the ousted BJP.
4 March. 2005. President APJ Abdul Kalam in New Delhi approved the imposition of President's Rule in Goa after the Congress chief minister Pratapsinh Rane won a controversial confidence vote earlier in the day solely by enlisting the support of the assembly Speaker whilst also preventing a BJP member from voting.
7 June 2005. Veteran Congress (I) politician Pratapsinh Rane (also spelt as Pratapsing Rane was sworn in as chief minister of the western state of Goa, after Congress and its allies on June 5 won four out of five by-elections to state assembly seats, giving them a majority in the 39-member assembly with a total of 21 seats. This brought to an end President’s Rule imposed in March to resolve a political crisis. The fact that the Congress was also in power in New Delhi, and that its nominee was in power in the decisive Governor's office, was not inconsequential.