By which time, Goa was
already an important trade centre for horses with the
Vijayanagar Empire. When the Portuguese arrived, Adil Shahs of
Bijapur were the kings. The Portuguese under the command of
Alfonso de Albuquerque, captured the city and made it the
capital of the Portuguese empire in the east.
The "Golden Period" of
Goa was between 1575 and 1600 when the natural harbours and wide
rivers helped the sea-loving Portuguese control the Spice trade
in the Indian Ocean.
In the late 18th
century the Marathas nearly defeated the Portuguese, but it was
not until 1961 that the Indian government ejected the
Portuguese from the sub continent. By which time decline had
already set in because of the inability of the Portuguese
government to service its far-flung empire.
Originally Goa was an
Union Territory along with the former Portuguese enclaves of
Daman & Diu. on 30th May, 1987, it became a full state of the
Indian Union.
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