Origins

Although Goans have come to Canada from several parts of South Asia and East Africa, their identity is defined by association with the small territory of Goa. Only 3,700 square kilometres in size, Goa is located on the western Malabar coast of India along the Arabian Sea between the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. It is distinct from other lands on the Indian subcontinent in that for over four and a half centuries it was a colony of Portugal and as such was known in the language of that country as Estado da India (“The State of India”).

The history of Goa, a rich trading post that until 1327 had been ruled by various Hindu dynasties and thereafter by the Muslim rulers of Mogul India, changed dramatically when in 1510 a Portuguese fleet under Alfonso de Albuquerque arrived in the city. Within a decade, the Muslim ruling elite was eliminated and the city was transformed into a major centre of commerce and trade between Europe and Portugal’s extensive colonial empire in southeast Asia. Led by the missionary work of St Francis Xavier, the local Hindu population was converted to Roman Catholicism, and in 1557 Goa became the seat of an archbishopric at the top of a Catholic hierarchy spread throughout all Portuguese colonies in this part of the world. Despite frequent attacks by Portugal’s overseas rival, the Dutch, the attempts of the neighbouring Maharashtrian rulers to annex the territory, and its gradual economic decline beginning in the second half of the seventeenth century, Goa was to remain a Portuguese colony until 1961–62, when it was seized by India.

Goa was initially governed as a territory by the central government of India, but in 1987 it became a separate Indian state with its own government. Known for its long white sandy beaches, its churches and other architecture in Indo-Portuguese style, and its still older Hindu temples, Goa has become the most coveted spot for tourism along India’s western coast. The state’s population of 1.2 million people is divided between Hindus (65 percent) and Roman Catholics (34 percent), with only a minuscule number of Muslims. Two years after becoming an Indian state, Goa adopted Konkani as its official language. Konkani is a dialect of Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language close to Hindi that is spoken in Goa as well as in the bordering regions of Maharashtra.

Although during the period of colonial rule the Portuguese offered full citizenship to all who became Christian, they still maintained a rigidly hierarchical distance between, on the one hand, persons from Portugal and their descendants (called Castees), and, on the other, native Goans who converted to Christianity. Moreover, Portuguese names of Goans do not mean necessarily that they are of Portuguese descent, since at the time of baptism the newly converted Hindus were given Portuguese names.

Those born in Goa of the unions between Portuguese men and the local Konkani-speaking women were called mustees, or mestiz, numerically a small group, who were considered impure by the Goan Christians. In the decades since Goa became part of India, the mestiz have become assimilated to the Anglo-Indian community although they have not always been accepted easily by the rest of Indian society. Even though Konkani is the state language, and some older Goans still know Portuguese, English is the most widespread language in use among Goans at home and abroad.

A Hindu from Goa once stated that, if ever there were a colony on Mars, Goan Christians would be among the first to go there. This sentiment expresses the enterprising spirit and the propensity of Goan Christians to emigrate across the ocean to distant lands to seek their fortunes. In contrast, the Hindus of Goa were not inclined to emulate their Christian compatriots. As a result, the vast majority of Goans abroad, including those in Canada, are Christians. These people are the direct inheritors of that distinct blend of Indian and Latin traditions known as Indo-Portuguese culture. It is familiarity with this culture that has made Goa’s Christians comfortable with the language, food, dress, music, art, and architecture that they encounter in Western countries.