Before November, 1510 Goa was rather an obscure land on the West Coast of India. The only place that was somewhat known around, was the minor port of Ela (later renamed Old Goa) which was frequently visited by the Arabian and Persian dhows ( sailing vessels ). They brought fine horses for the Deccan warlords and returned laden with the cargo of spices and precious stones.
Ela was ruled by Adil Khan of the sultanate of Bijapur. The people of Goa were no different from the surrounding areas of the Konkan region. They were mostly Hindus with a minority of Muslims as the ruling elites. On the 25th November, 1510 Afonso de Albuquerque, a Portuguese sailor with a few sailing vessels under his command, entered the Mandovi river and captured Ela which he needed to anchor his ships and rest his sailors during the stormy monsoon months of june to september . Ela was an inland port at least 10 km away from the coast. The journey back to Lisbon via South Africa took almost a year in those days. The subsequent entrants in the Indian scene like the French at Pondicherry and the British at Madras and Calcutta avoiced the west coast and concentrated their energies on the east coast of India. After consolidating their hold over Old Goa, the Portuguese by 1543 ( i.e. during the next 33 years ) conquered the surrounding areas of Ilhas , Bardez and Salcete ( Mormugao taluka was detached from Salcete in 1880 ) >From 1510 to 1760 for the first 250 years of their stay in India their influence was confined only to 102 villages of Ilhas Bardez and Salcete. ( Salcet - sahtt 60, Ilhas - tis 30 and Bardez - bara 12 ) The remaining 7 talukas Pernem, Bicholim, Satari , Ponda Sanguem Quepem and Canacona ) were annexed between 1760 and 1790. It would appear that during the first stage of their stay in India ( 1510 - 1760 ) the Portuguese conquered areas which could be easily defended with a few soldiers they had at their disposal in India. They were experts at naval warfare hence their Goa till 1760 was bounded in the north by Chapora river, in the east it was Mapusa river ( a branch of Mandovi river) , Canal de Combarjua and Zuari river. The south was rather safe with high hills of Quepem region. In the west the Arabian sea posed no problem at all. Today it is possible to logically deduce that for the defense of Goa ( they were still smarting from the defeat that Albuquerque had suffered at the hands of Adil Khan when he tried to enter Old Goa in March, 1510 ) they may have stationed their soldiers in places like Siolim and Colvale opposite Pernem. In the east in villages like Assonora, Aldona, Pomburpa and Porvorim. In the islands of Chorao and Divar. In southern Ilhas it was the village of Neura. And in Salcete, in villages like Loutolim, Raia, Rachol and Curtorim, besided their stronghold Old Goa itself. antonio ps. to be continued.