Portuguese India
Portuguese India (
Port. Índia Portuguesa or
Estado da Índia) was the aggregate of
Portugal's colonial holdings in
India. At the time of India's independence in
1947, Portuguese India included a number of
enclaves on India's western coast, including
Goa proper, as well as the coastal enclaves of
Daman (Port: Damão) and
Diu, and the enclaves of
Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which lie inland from Daman. The territories of Portuguese India were sometimes referred to collectively as Goa.
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Portuguese and other European settlements in India. |
The first Portuguese encounter with India was on
May 20 1498 when
Vasco da Gama landed in
Calicut (present-day
Kozhikode). Over the objections of
Arab merchants, da Gama secured an ambiguous letter of concession for trading rights from
Zamorin, Calicut's local ruler, but had to sail off without warning after the Zamorin insisted on his leaving behind all his goods as collateral. Da Gama kept his goods, but left behind a few Portuguese with orders to start a trading post.
In 1510, Portuguese admiral
Afonso de Albuquerque defeated the
Bijapur sultans on behalf of a local sovereign, Timayya, leading to the establishment of a permanent settlement in
Velha Goa (or Old Goa). The Southern Province, also known simply as
Goa, was the headquarters of Portuguese India, and seat of the Portuguese
viceroy who governed the Portuguese possessions in Asia.
The Portuguese acquired several territories from the Sultans of
Gujarat: Daman (occupied
1531, formally ceded
1539);
Salsette,
Bombay, and
Baçaim (occupied
1534); and Diu (ceded
1535). These possessions became the Northern Province of Portuguese India, which extended almost 100 km along the coast from Daman to
Chaul, and in places 30"50 km inland. The province was ruled from the fortress-town of Baçaim. Bombay (present day
Mumbai) was given to
Britain in
1661 as part of the Portuguese Princess
Catherine of Braganza's dowry to
Charles II of England. Most of the Northern Province was lost to the
Marathas in
1739, and Portugal acquired
Dadra and Nagar Haveli in
1779.
After India's independence from the British in
1947, Portugal refused to accede to India's request to relinquish control of its Indian possessions. The
United Nations General Assembly in the 1950's ruled in India's favour.
In
1954, bands of Indian irregulars took over the enclaves of
Dadra and Nagar Haveli. India refused to allow Portuguese troops to transit through its territory to restore colonial rule, and annexed the enclaves in August
1961. In December
1961, India invaded and annexed Goa, Daman, and Diu.
The
Salazar regime in Portugal refused to recognise Indian sovereignty over Goa, Daman and Diu, which continued to be represented in Portugal's National Assembly until
1974. Following the
Carnation Revolution that year, the new government in
Lisbon restored diplomatic relations with India, and recognised Indian sovereignty over Portuguese India. However, the people of its former Indian territories continued to have the right to Portuguese citizenship.
Early
postal history of the colony is obscure, but regular
mail is known to have been exchanged with
Lisbon from
1825 on. Portugal having a
postal convention with
Great Britain, much mail was probably routed through
Bombay and carried on British
packets. Portuguese
handstamped
postmarks are known from
1854.
The first
postage stamps were issued
1 October 1871. These were purely local, and stamps of
British India were also needed for overseas mail. The design of these first stamps simply consisted of a denomimation in the center, with an oval band containing the inscriptions "SERVIÇO POSTAL" and "INDIA POST". The dies were recut several times, and printed on several kinds of paper, resulting in an extremely complicated situation that has been intensively studied; about 55 types have been identified as appearing between 1871 and 1877, some of them quite rare.
In
1877, Portugal included India in its standard "crown" issue, with nine values ranging from 5r to 300r. These stamps ran out in
1881, and the old local stamps were
surcharged with various values, resulting in nearly 100 distinct types. Additional "crown" stamps arrived in
1882, but in the following year were supplemented by additional values of the original local design.
From
1886 on, the pattern of regular stamp issues followed that of the other colonies closely, the main exception being a series of surcharges in
1912 produced by perforating existing stamps vertically through the middle and overprinting a new value on each side.
In
1925, a
commemorative stamp marked the 400th anniversary of the death of
Vasco da Gama, and in December
1931 a set of six promoted the
Exposition of St. Francis Xavier held at Goa. Sets in
1946 and
1948 commemorated notable historical figures related to the colony. Portuguese India's first
stamp exhibition, in
1952, was commemorated with a pair of stamps, one reproducing the design of the first issue, the other depicting St.
Francis Xavier. A
definitive series in
1956 commemorated the 450th anniversary of Portuguese settlements in India, and included portraits and maps of old forts, while a
1959 series depicted various coins.
The last regular issue was on
25 June 1960, marking the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince
Henry the Navigator. Stamps of India were first used
29 December 1961, although the old stamps were accepted until
5 January 1962. Although Portugal continued to issue stamps for the lost colony, none of these were ever offered for sale in the colony's post offices, and are thus not considered valid stamps.
*
Portuguese Indian Rupia*
Portuguese Indian Escudo*
The GoaMog Information Resource Portal*
Goacom*
Summary of the judgment of the International Court of Justice in the Right of Passage over Indian Territory (Portugal vs. India) case*
Dutch Portuguese Colonial HistoryDutch Portuguese Colonial History: history of the Portuguese and the Dutch in Ceylon, India, Malacca, Bengal, Formosa, Africa, Brazil. Language Heritage, lists of remains, maps.
