The Greek term ‘diaspora’ has at the genesis of its definition, the dispersion of Jews in the ancient world, mainly after the Babylonian exile.
However, in the contemporary world, in addition to political or religious reasons, the determining factor for migration has essentially become the socio-economic situation of the most disadvantaged peoples.
Thus, the term diaspora came to be used to describe any ethnic or religious community living scattered or outside their place of origin.
It is inconceivable to describe the history of Goa without narrating the dispersion of its people, in other words, its diaspora.
When was it possible to mention the existence of the Goan diaspora?
In my opinion, it does not seem correct to speak of the Goan diaspora, in pre-Portuguese Goa, given that the territory is called Goa (Govém, Gová, or Gomantaka) was little more than a city. It was, initially, confined to the north bank of the Zuari River “ Goa Velha “ and later, around 1440 to Elá or Velha Cidade, limited to the south of the Mandovi River. The two are geographically on the island of Tissuary.
The initial geographical boundaries of Goa were defined after the conquest of Goa by Afonso de Albuquerque in November 1510 and the subsequent definitive annexation of Bardez and Salcete in 1543. This part of the territory was and is still known today as Old Conquests.
It was only from the second half of the eighteenth century onwards, with the progressive annexation of territories called the New Conquests, as opposed to the Old Conquests, that settled the definitive borders of Goa.
Original Goan diaspora
The departure of Goans, in significant numbers, from a territory already with established borders and an administrative organisation of its own, took place in two periods and as underlying causes distinctive motivations.
The first migratory wave took place in the third quarter of the 16th century, having as its destination Mangalore, a territory located in the district of Kanará, the present-day state of Karnataka in southern India.
At the origin of the dispersion were several factors, namely the socio-economic instability resulting from the Maratha guerrilla, periods of famine, climate change, pandemics, the rise of the Inquisition, and religious persecution.
Subsequent diasporas
The second, which continues to the present day, has its genesis in economic problems. The economy of Goa was basically rural, based on small properties, such as the cultivation of floodplains and the harvesting of coconuts, and was not very productive. There was also no industry worthy of the name, and services, in practice, were limited to civil service. (Francisco LuÃs Gomes "The freedom of the Earth and the Rural Economy of Portuguese India" 1862).
Aware of this reality and endowed with a vision worth highlighting, many Goan families chose to educate their children in schools whose teaching medium was English, and which were in a very significant number in the territory of Goa.
With knowledge of English and European sociocultural habits, they had access to the vast service market of the British Empire, from India to the colonies in the Middle East and Africa.
By 1930 of the estimated 70,000 emigrants, 55,000 had emigrated to British India. In 1960, Goa had a population of 600,000 and 100,000 emigrants (Goa Migration Study 2008).
[The writer is manager of the Revista da Casa de Goa magazine online edition in Portuguese and English language.]
