Goa

Goa, a Portuguese possession on the west coast of India, between the Western Ghāts and the sea, with an area of 1450 sq. m., and a pop. (1891) of 495,000. A hilly country, it is intersected by many small streams. Half of the land under cultivation, a third of the entire area, is devoted to rice; stately forests cover nearly a fourth of the remainder. The territory is divided for administrative purposes into two sections known as the Velhas and Novas Conquistas (Old and New Conquests), which are subdivided into nine 'provinces.' The chief civil and military authority is vested in a governor-general of Portuguese India, appointed by the king; he is aided by a general council, and by three subordinate juntas or councils. An archbishop, with the title of primate of the East, is at the head of the Roman Catholic Church; the native Christians constitute more than half of the total population, and the church's festivals are celebrated in Goa with great pomp. In 1871, in consequence of a rebellion, the native army was disbanded, and the colony is now held by a European force of little over 300 men; the police force is nearly 1000 strong. The revenue slightly exceeds the expenditure: the imports have long exceeded the exports. Captured by Albuquerque in 1510, 'Golden Goa' reached by the end of the century a pitch of military and ecclesiastical splendour and commercial prosperity such as finds a parallel in India only in the most brilliant days of the Mogul capitals. The decline of the Portuguese power quickly followed the appearance of the Dutch (see EAST INDIA COMPANY), and in 1759 the city of Old Goa, once the chief emporium of trade between the east and west, was deserted by all but its ecclesiastical inhabitants, and left to the decay in which it has since lain. Its one-time population of 200,000 has sunk to less than 1900; its arsenal, its palaces, its quays, even many of its churches are in ruins, their sites covered with cocoa-nut plantations, and the streets overrun with grass. Among the edifices that survive are the majestic cathedral, where services are held regularly every day, and the splendid church of Bom Jesus, containing the magnificent tomb which enshrined the remains of St Francis Xavier. The new capital is Nova Goa or Panjim, on the Mandavi, 3 miles from its mouth. It presents a picturesque appearance; its streets are wide and clean; and new harbour and railway works were inaugurated in 1882. The public buildings include the viceregal palace and spacious barracks, one wing of which accommodates the national lyceum or college, the public library, and the Instituto Professional. There was a revolt in 1895, soon suppressed. Pop. 8440. See Fonseca's Historical and Archaeological Sketch (1878), and Lady Burton's Arabia, Egypt, India (1879).