Goan Muslims

History

Early Islamic maritime references to Goa

Goa was known to Arab and Persian maritime writers as an important port region on the western coast of India. Medieval Islamic geographical traditions refer to a port called Sindabur (also written as Sindabūr or Sandabur), which has been associated by historians with the Goa region.

In the Turkish-language nautical work Mohit, written in 554 AH (1159 CE) by Sidi Ali Kodupon, Goa is referred to as Kuvah-Sindabur. The name combines the terms Kuvah (Goa) and Sindabur, a name used in Islamic maritime traditions for the Goa region.

The identification of Sindabur has been discussed by historians. Some scholars associate it with Chandrapura (modern Chandor), an early political and commercial centre of Goa, while others connect it with the wider Goa port region. These references indicate the importance of Goa's coastal settlements within the maritime networks of the western Indian Ocean.

The references to Sindabur and Kuvah-Sindabur demonstrate that Goa was already integrated into the wider Islamic maritime world before the establishment of Muslim-ruled states in the Deccan. Arab and Persian merchants participated in trade along the Konkan coast, connecting ports in western India with Arabia, the Persian Gulf, and other regions of the Indian Ocean.

The copper plate of Kadamba Jayakesi I refers to the Muslim Minister named Chadma. While Kadamba ruler Gullhadeva I was sailing towards Somanath, his ship got involved in a naval accident and the mast of his ship broke. His grandson Jayakesi I gave Chadma, the privilege of levying the taxes on small and big boats. The amount collected by way of taxes was utilized for the maintenance of the mosques built in Goa at Merces). Later Muslim sultans from North India migrated to Goa by force of conquest and established their society; this was the first major influx of Muslims into Goa, which led some local Hindus to migrate elsewhere. After Malik Kafur invasion and subsequently during the rule of Sultanate, there were Muslim Officers in Goa like Malik Bahadur. After the downfall of the Goa Kadamba, some Muslims might have migrated to Bhatkal and Honavar. The Nawayaths of Bhatkal are the descendant of Muslim community and once lived in Goa.

The Delhi Sultanate took over Goa in 1312. In turn, they were forced to surrender Goa by 1370 to Harihara I of Vijayanagara. The Vijayanagara monarchs ruled Goa for the next hundred years (until 1469), before it passed to the Bahmani sultans of Gulbarga. After the Bahmani Sultanate collapsed the Adil Shahis of Bijapur took over, making Velha Goa their ancillary capital. During this era, Muslim pilgrims from all over India embarked on their journey to Mecca from Goa. Thus by this time Muslim community evolved in Goa.

By the time the Portuguese arrived in 1510, the population of Tiswadi had a vast number of Muslim population. Afonso de Albuquerque took the help of Timoji and defeated the ruling Bijapur king Yusuf Adil Shah during the Portuguese conquest of Goa. The Muslim residents of Goa were exiled (e.g. Benastarim) or killed (e.g. Velha Goa) by the Portuguese and the local Hindus. All the mosques were destroyed and churches were built on them.

From 1560 to 1821, the Goa Inquisition was established. One of its primary targets were crypto-Muslims of North African origin who had immigrated to Goa from the Iberian peninsula following the Portuguese conquest. Of the 1,582 persons convicted between 1560 and 1623, 45.2% were convicted for offenses related to Judaism and Islam. However, a compilation of the auto-da-fé statistics of the Goa Inquisition from 1560 to 1821 revealed that a grand total of only 57 persons were burnt in the flesh and 64 in effigy (i.e. a statue resembling the person). All the burnt were convicted as relapsed heretics or for sodomy.