Portuguese India
Portugal sought territory in India after Vasco da Gama's successful voyage round the Cape of Good Hope in 1497–1498. The three enclaves of Goa (1505), Damao (1531) and Diu (1534) were annexed to collectively form the colony of Portuguese India.
Goa, including the capital Pangim (now Panaji), is on the Malabar Coast of SW India, roughly midway between Bombay and Bangalore. Damao (now called Daman) is on the west coast, at the entrance to the Gulf of Cambay, about 100 miles north of Bombay. Diu, which includes the towns of Diu and Simbor, is a small island (15 sq. miles) off the south coast of Kathiawar peninsula in western India.
The first stamps were issued 1 October 1871. Stamps of British India were also valid until 1877. Standard Portuguese types such as the Ceres issue were used until 1925 when specific types began to be produced. All stamps were inscribed INDIA in some way; from 1946, the inscription was usually ESTADO DA INDIA.
In 1950, newly independent India demanded the transfer of the Portuguese territories but Portugal refused. India set up a land blockade in 1954 and then annexed the territories on 17 December 1961. Stamps of India were introduced on 29 December 1961.
Goa became a State of India in 1987 while Daman and Diu (combined) is a Union Territory.
- Dates
- 1871 – 1961
- Capital
- Pangim (Goa)
- Currency
- (1871) 1000 reis = 1 milreis
- (1882) 12 reis = 1 tanga; 16 tangas = 1 rupia
- (1959) 100 centavos = 1 escudo
- Main Article
- Postage stamps and postal history of Portuguese India
Read more about this topic: Compendium Of Postage Stamp Issuers (Po – Pz)
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“There exists no politician in India daring enough to attempt to explain to the masses that cows can be eaten.”
—Indira Gandhi (1917–1984)