Life in Colonial Goa

Goa, the administrative capital of all Portuguese possessions in the East, was the home of the Inquisition in India and the most important Jesuit center outside of Rome.

Goa was an important center of trade.  Traders in Goa imported spices from other parts of India and Malacca, gold and precious stones from Burma, elephants and cinnamon from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), horses from Arabia and Persia (Iran), silks, ceramics and furniture from China, glass from Venice and fashionable clothing from around Europe.

The walled city, which was originally a small, native village, resembled a wealthy European city of the Renaissance. It had wide streets and public buildings.

Because there was a shortage of European women, settlers often mixed with local women, creating populations of mixed ancestry.

By the 1580s, Goa had a population of about 60,000. Only about 4000 of its inhabitants were Portuguese.

Wealthy Portuguese men lived in palatial homes with Eurasian wives and with their families, mistresses, slaves and servants.

Most of the Portuguese did not work. Even a humble Portuguese craftsman might own a dozen slaves.

The colonists in Goa had to face the risk of disease and the threat of attack.