A thread about how, sixty year ago, Portugal lost a 36-hour war against India.
In 1497, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovers a maritime route to India via the Cape of Good Hope, providing an alternative to the trade routes to Asia by land controlled by the Ottoman Empire and Italian cities.
The Portuguese establish a number of trade posts in India through a combination of military battles and arrangements with local political leaders
In 1509, the Portuguese win the Battle of Diu against an unlikely alliance: the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut, the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire (all eager to keep control of the spice trade via the Mediterranean route)
Goa, Daman and Diu on the Western coast of the subcontinent become part of the Portuguese Asian Empire, along with Macau (now China's Las Vegas) and East Timor (a sovereign state since 2002, after a 25-year occupation by Indonesia)
In 1930, a colonial act curtailing civil liberties in Goa is passed under Antonio Salazar, then minister of colonies
In 1947, India becomes an independent state. Portugal retains control of Goa. India becomes a democracy, Portugal stays an authoritarian regime. Building on local resentment against Portuguese rule, an independence movement gains steam.
Tensions between India and Portugal build up during the 1950s. The enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli become Indian in 1954. India imposes an economic blockade. Nehru says that Goa should rejoin India either with full peace or with full force. journals.library.ualberta.ca/pi/index.php/p…
In December 1961, Indian troops retake Goa. It is a crushing defeat. 3500 Portuguese troops face 45'000 Indian infantry, Vampire fighters, frigates, etc.
The United States regret the use of force, India justifies its action by the obstination of Portugal to refuse any negotiated solution letempsarchives.ch/page/JDG_1961_…
Even if Salazar (who had never set foot in Goa) had ordered the Portuguese to fight to the last man, local authorities surrendered and troops were taken prisoners and sent back. Goa becomes becomes part of India
In Parliament, Salazar presents the annexation of Goa as "one of the biggest disasters of our history". It marks the beginning of the end for Portugal's colonial empire. Tensions are brewing in Angola, Mazambique, Guiné Bissau, starting 13 years of war. debates.parlamento.pt/catalogo/r2/da…
As retaliation after independence, Portugal funds undercover sabotage operations against India in Goa (plan Gralha and plan Namaste), bombing a school in 1964. It fails to stimulate trouble. timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/recor…
Implicated in the operation: the infamous PIDE agent Casimiro Monteiro, who tortured people under Portuguese rule in Goa and is said to have been involved in the assassination of Humberto Delgado and Eduardo Mondlane (leader of the Mozambican independence movement
After the annexation by India, Portugal offered citizenship to Goans born before 1961. Decades later, this allowed many people born in India to gain access to an EU passport and move to Britain (20'000 in Swindon) hindustantimes.com/world/goans-go…
Many British citizens of Indian origin have Portuguese last names due to the Goan-Portuguese connection, such as the disgraced Labour MP Keith Vaz en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Vaz
1961 is also the year when the current Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa was born. He is of Goan origin: his father was born in Mozambique in a family of Goan extraction, who spent his childhood in Goa
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