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Article: GOA AND EAST TIMOR: CONTRASTING HISTORIES.(Portugal's historical relationship with East Timor and Goa)
- Article from:
- Quadrant
- Article date:
- July 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Quadrant Magazine Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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GOA was Portugal's first territorial acquisition in Asia, occupied by Albuquerque in 1510 as a trading port. He found it an impressively civilised place, with a handsome, well-furnished palace.
The Goanese were Indians, Hindu by religion, but a significant proportion were compulsorily converted to Roman Catholicism. Otherwise Albuquerque minimised interference with the native way of life. No Portuguese settled in Goa. Many Goanese learned to speak Portuguese, but they thought of Goa, not Portugal, as their homeland. For four centuries Goa formed the centre of Portuguese commerce in Asia.
In the nineteenth century there were a few Goanese voices calling ...