Goa, known in the bygone days as Gomanchala, Gopakapattam, Gopakapuri, Govapuri, Gomantak etc abounds in a rich historical heritage.
Early history of Goa is obscure. In the first century of the Christian era, Goa was a part of the Satavahana Empire, followed by the Kadamba, the Rashtrakutas of Malkhed, the Chalukyas and the Silharas.
The empire of the Yadavas by the end of the 14th century was displaced by the Khiljis of Delhi and thus Muslims came to Goa. After the discovery of the sea route to India by Vasco da Gama in 1948, many Portuguese expeditions came to India.
In 1510, Alfonso de Albuquerque with help of the emperor of Vijayanagar attacked and captured Goa.
With the arrival of the Jesuit priest Francis Xavier in 1542, proselytisation began in Goa. However, the Portuguese continued to rule over the territory except for an interlude during the latter half of the 17th century when Shivaji conquered a few areas in and around Goa.
Even after India’s independence, Goa continued to be in hands of the Portuguese. However, they could not fulfil the aspirations of the Goan people and ultimately on December 19, 1961, Goa was liberated and made a composite union territory with Daman and Diu.
On 30 May 1987, Goa was conferred Statehood and Daman and Diu was made separate union territory.
It was on May 30, 1987, that erstwhile Union Territory of Goa was accorded status of State through the Constitution (56th Amendment Act , 1987.
