Introduction
GOA in the light of history
The first rulers of Goa were the Muslims in 1312 however as they weren’t big admirers of beaches in 1370 they left Goa. Afterwhich it fell in the hands of Harihara and later the Portuguese in 1510 with aim of controlling the spice route from the East. Once they established their colonial rule the Portuguese began a religious conquest to convert the Hindus in the city to Chritians. One of their strategies was to encourage the soliders to get married to the local women to ensure Christian children.
The Marathas later almost conquered the Portuguese in the late 18th century. Finally in December 1961 the Indian army defeated them and Goa was declared as the 25th state of India in 1987 officially by the Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandhi. Five years later the State’s official language Konkani was then declared as of the official regional language.
Today Goa has become as a symbol of harmonious co-existence of diverse religions and follows the spirit of “Sarva Dharma Sarva bhava” . In addition it is India’s highest per-capita incomes with farming, fishing and tourism.
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