A recent Netflix series, Gloria, is unusually for such shows, set in Portugal. It tells the story of a young spy operating in Cold War Portugal, negotiating the intrigues of the USA and Soviet Union. It is the late 1960s and Portugal is engaged in a protracted struggle to retain its African colonies. Young men are being sent as cannon fodder to keep the Portuguese colonial empire together even as most other Western powers had already relinquished theirs. A throwaway line in one of the episodes gives us an inkling of the reason. It was humiliating to lose Goa the way we did, declares one of the characters.
And that’s how the Portuguese felt about Goan liberation—close to 500 years in Portuguese hands and gone in a whiff!
When it came to the crunch, that is more or less how it happened.
The beginnings of the Portuguese sojourn
Vasco da Gama’s arrival in Kozhikode (Calicut) in modern-day Kerala was the earliest Portuguese encounter with the subcontinent. This sparked off an engagement which eventually resulted in the Portuguese gaining hold of some territories. In 1505, the first viceroy, Francisco de Almeida, established his headquarters at what was then Cochim, the present-day Fort Cochin. After 1510, the Portuguese administrative centre was centred in present-day Goa and their Indian sojourn had formally begun.
Over the next three centuries, the Portuguese did make a play to acquire more Indian territory. Among the territories that they controlled was the region that later became Bombay (now Mumbai) which was ceded to the British in 1661 when Catherine of Braganza married Charles II.
Even so, by the early 1800s, their sphere of influence had been restricted to Goa and a few other territories on the western coast. Portuguese India consisted of the territory of Goa, Damão or Daman, which included Dadra and Nagar Haveli, north of Bombay (now Mumbai) and lying between the Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat and Diu with Pani Kota Island on the southern coast of the Kathiawar Peninsula in Gujarat. The total area under Portuguese control was 4,193 sq kms with Goa accounting for the bulk of Portuguese India both in terms of territory as well as population.
The Goan anti-colonial struggle
Over the long course of Portuguese rule, there had been several attempts to overthrow the Portuguese. Among the more interesting ones was what came to be known as the Pinto Revolt. In 1787, three priests, all of them from the Pinto clan, attempted to foment dissent in Goa and invite Tipu Sultan to take over the territory. The plot was discovered and foiled. Other such revolts too took place, none of them successful.
By the 20th century, many Goans were increasingly voicing their opposition to Portuguese rule and the discriminatory treatment they received. In 1900, Luís de Menezes Bragança and Messias Gomes founded O Heraldo, the first Portuguese language newspaper in Goa, which was critical of Portuguese colonial rule. In 1928, Tristão de Bragança Cunha founded the Goa National Congress to fight for the Goan cause.
Portuguese reaction to such efforts by the Goans to assert themselves was quick and brutal. A series of laws restricting political campaigning and imposing press censorship were passed. However, inspite of strict Portuguese vigilance, the struggle continued and in 1946, Ram Manohar Lohia and Juliao Menezes hosted a pro-independence gathering in Panaji resulting in Lohia’s arrest and his being booted out of the territory.
With independence coming to the rest of India in 1947, Goa too expected to be freed of its colonial shackles. That however was not to come so easily.
1947 and thereafter
While the British left soon after Indian Independence in 1947, it was not so easy with the French and Portuguese and their colonial possessions. The Nehru government opened negotiations with them to formally relinquish control of their territories.
In 1948, France and India negotiated a referendum on France's Indian possessions to choose their political future. Accordingly, Chandernagore was ceded to India on 2 May 1950 and later integrated with West Bengal. On 1 November 1954, the four enclaves of Pondicherry, Yanam, Mahe and Karaikal were also transferred to India and became the Union Territory of Pondicherry.
Portugal however proved more intractable. It insisted that its Indian possessions were part of ‘Metropolitan Portugal’ and there was no question, therefore, of ceding control of them.
Was the Portuguese claim credible at all? Decidedly not. That the laws restricting political activity and free expression continued even beyond 1947 belied the Portuguese claim that their Indian possessions were not ‘colonies’, but part of mainland Portugal. But with Portugal unwilling to negotiate and stonewalling all attempts by India to broach this issue, things were at a dead end.
In 1954, events in Dadra and Nagar Haveli overtook what the governments of India and Portugal were doing (in the Portuguese case, not doing is perhaps more appropriate) at that time.
On the night of 22 July 1954, 15 volunteers of the United Front of Goans under the leadership of Francis Mascarenhas and Waman Desai sneaked into the territory of Dadra and reached the police station which was held by only three policemen, who were easily overpowered. The Indian tricolour was hoisted and the Indian National Anthem was sung. Dadra was declared the ‘Free Territory of Dadra’.
On 2 August, the Azad Gomantak Dal reached Silvassa in Nagar Haveli to find that its Portuguese administrators had fled. From 1954 to 1961, Dadra and Nagar Haveli existed as a de facto state known as ‘Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli’. It was administered by a body called the Varishta Panchayat of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli, with administrative help from the government of India. Portugal meanwhile began proceedings in the International Court of Justice to get these possessions back which did not make any headway.
Meanwhile, in 1955, a satyagraha was launched by the communist and socialist parties for the freedom of Goa. When the satyagrahis entered Goa, the Portuguese opened fire, killing 20 Indians. Nehru imposed an economic blockade and hoped that the popular movement in Goa and the pressure of world public opinion would force the hands of the Goan authorities. Internal revolts were, however, quelled brutally. India broke off diplomatic relations with Portugal and closed its Consulate-General in Panaji. Still, nothing moved for the next few years.
Finally, the Indian government was forced to consider the military option. A 36-hour military operation, codenamed ‘Operation Vijay’ was conducted on 18-19 December 1961 by the navy, air force and army. There was little resistance internally when the forces entered the territory. On 19 December, the Portuguese governor-general Manuel António Vassalo e Silva signed the certificate of surrender bringing Portuguese rule in the region to an end.
Major General Kunhiraman Palat Candeth was appointed military governor of Goa. In 1963, the Indian Parliament formally integrated the territories into the Indian Union. Goa, Daman and Diu became a Union Territory. Dadra and Nagar Haveli became a separate Union Territory.
Interestingly, in 1961, amidst Indian preparation for the invasion of Goa, KG Badlani, an IAS officer was, for one day, designated the Prime Minister of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, so that, as Head of State, he could sign an agreement with the Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, and formally merge Dadra and Nagar Haveli with India.
In October 1962, panchayat elections were held in Goa, followed by assembly elections in December 1962. On 16 January 1967, a referendum was held in which the people of Goa voted against merger with Maharashtra. Portugal finally recognised Goa's accession into the Indian union in 1974. In 1987, Goa was separated from Daman and Diu and made a full-fledged state. Daman and Diu continued as a Union Territory.
Goa is today among India’s most picturesque states with its beaches and its vibe attracting millions of visitors. It is a permanent reminder of India’s Portuguese connection.
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