Goa’s boundaries evolved through war, diplomacy, and administrative integration over nearly two centuries, from Albuquerque’s conquest to British-Portuguese demarcation
A chronological review of developments leading to the changing boundaries of Goa offers fascinating insights into the regional geopolitics in western India in past 2000 years.
The geographical areas of Goa continued to contract and expand from the rule of Bhojas of Chandrapur till the end of Vijayanagara rule for one thousand years. What we recognise as a state of Goa is a far smaller territory. The minimum accepted boundaries are from Kudal to Karwar and engulfing the entire Mahadayi river basin. The Marathas never permitted a stable Portuguese rule from AD 1660 to 1795. If the commander of the Scindia army, Bakshi Jivabadada Kerkar, were to march in Goa in AD 1795, then what we know today as the new conquest Talukas would have finally ended in the hands of the British after the end of Maratha rule in AD 1818.
The archival records are very clear. Regarding the Portuguese and Bhonsla affair, a proposal was made by Jivbadada Kerkar to send 2,000 troops from Goa to reclaim the Bhonsla territory that had been usurped by the Portuguese, with only 200 Peshwa cavalrymen provided as support. Peshwa minister Nana Fadanvis was advised that maintaining peaceful relations with the Portuguese was essential and that Jivbadada’s wishes should be respected through diplomatic negotiations rather than military conflict. Why have more than a dozen regional powers been violently involved in changing the boundaries of Goa since the end of
Goa Kadambas?
The answers are found in accounts of foreign visitors Barbosa and Linschoten, who had visited Goa during 16th century. At the dawn of the 16th century, Old Goa—under the control of the Adil Shahi sultans—was already a bustling and well-fortified city, as Portuguese traveller Duarte Barbosa described in 1505. Old Goa attracted ships from Mecca, Aden, Ormuz, Cambay, and Malabar. Barbosa noted that the city was inhabited by prosperous merchants, husbandmen, and white men from foreign lands. The city was large, with good houses, lush gardens, freshwater tanks, and religious buildings, including mosques and temples.
During this period, the city also became a center for shipbuilding. With revenue from land and sea, the Adil Shahi authorities constructed a fleet of warships arming them with iron and copper artillery in preparation for naval conflict. By the end of the 16th century, when Dutch traveller Jan Huyghen van Linschoten visited, Old Goa had transformed into Portuguese India’s administrative and commercial capital. The city retained its significance as a trade hub, now bustling with merchants from Bengal, Pegu, Siam, Arabia, Armenia, Persia, Khambayat, Malacca, Java, and China.
Daily markets overflowed with horses from Arabia, spiced gins, liquors, silk, satin, Chinese porcelain, and various grains, spices, and precious metals. The urban landscape had become increasingly European in architecture, with wide roads and houses featuring spacious gardens. Goa was also a centre for currency exchange. Merchants profited by trading in Portuguese coins, especially during the annual voyages to and from China, and by exchanging local pagodas. Gujarati Vanis from Khambayat were especially prominent in this trade, extending their network from Goa to Daman, Diu, and Cochin. Their commercial skill rivaled Portuguese, Jewish, and other European traders. Indo-Portuguese historian Vasco Pinho has provided a concise account of Goa’s changing boundaries in 18th century. According to him Portuguese territorial push into the interior started around 1705–1706 under Viceroy Dom Caetano de Mello e Castro. Military campaigns targeted the domains of Sar Dessai, Kema Sawant Bhonsle of Sawantwadi, leading to the gradual acquisition of Pernem, Bicholim, Sattari, Ponda, Sanguam, Quepem, and Canacona. These territories—captured in stages through battles, treaties, and local power shifts—were collectively referred to later as the Novas Conquistas or New Conquests. This term only came into use around 1781.
Sattari changed hands several times—captured in 1744, lost to revolt, briefly regained in 1746, lost again in 1758, and finally re-conquered in 1781. Other regions like Ponda, Zambaulim, and Canacona were integrated in 1763 following treaties with the Rajah of Sunda. By 1788, a peace treaty with the Bhonsle of Sawantwadi—after further territorial exchanges in 1783—formally ended resistance and brought the boundaries of Goa to a more stable and administratively governed form. However, the territorial picture of Goa remained incomplete without clear demarcation from the adjoining British Indian provinces. The first formal border demarcation between Portuguese Goa and British India commenced on March 7, 1857, in the Canacona region. It proceeded gradually, culminating in February 1882, with the final line being drawn in Pernem. Yet, even after that, some parts, such as villages in Sattari, were officially delineated only in April 1893. By 1886, the administrative footprint of the newly incorporated areas had taken shape. The territory transitioned from a small coastal enclave into a more expansive and clearly defined region which Goans had to accept as truncated Goa during the Opinion Poll. (concluded).
(Nandkumar M Kamat, who has a doctorate in microbiology, is a scientist and a science writer)
