Ancient Goa

Category : - All India Travel Tourism > Goa > Ancient Goa

The History of Goa dates back to antiquity. The Stone Age people were settlers of this ancient land during circa 10000 - 8000 BC. Their rock carvings and rock engravings throw light on their hunting lifestyle. Later, with improvisation of tools, they became food gatherers and during the Neolithic period (c. 2500 BC) they adopted agriculture and became food producers. Proximity to open sea and expertise in navigation saw them in contact with distant lands like Sumeria.

One Sumerian King, Gudea of Lagash, called this land as Gubio (c. 2200 BC). Similarity in the units of measurement in these two lands and the reference in Gilgamesh (Mesopotamian epic) to the migration of fish-worshippers and seafarer community from the east point to the probable close contacts Goa established with these lands. The Phoenicians arrived from eastern end of the Mediterranean and settled in Goa c.1775 BC, imparting a unique mixed culture in Goa.

The Vedic Period
During this period, Goa came in contact with the Aryan civilization of North India. Aryans migrated to different parts of India including Goa. Some 96 families of Gaud-Saraswat Brahmins (priestly class) first arrived in Goa.

Goa finds its first mention as Gomantak in the Harivamsha part of the epic Mahabharata. The Vishnu Purana attributes the origin of Goa to legendary Lord Parashuram, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who ordered the sea to recede and reclaimed the land for meditation and settled the brahmins along the coast of Konkan or Govarashtra.

The Post-Vedic Period
The oldest archaeological evidence of Goa's ancient history belongs to this period. Various copper plates, stone inscriptions, coins, manuscripts and temple inscriptions unearthed during excavations throw light on the prevalent condition in Ancient Goa, though not in enough detail and often nebulous. The Girnar rock-edict of the Mauryan King Ashok mentions the people of Goa as Peitinikas, Rashtrikas and Bhojas. Ashok sent the Buddhist monk Dharmarakshita to spread Buddhism in Goa. Jainism also reached this land as proved by the discovery of a Jain temple at Kundan. Goa formed a fringed part of the Mauryan Empire.

The Satvahanas annexed Konkan in the 2nd century BC after the fall of the Mauryan empire. They administered the coastal areas directly and appointed the Bhojas, related to them matrimonially, as their feudatories in the Goan inland of Chandramandala region. Ptolemy (1st century AD) described this land as Kowa and its Chandramandala neighbourhood as Khersonesoa. The Kushana Khastrapas of Gujarat and Maharashtra briefly captured Goa around 150 AD but the Satvahana King Gautami Putra Satkarni defeated them.

In the 4th century AD, the Abhiras captured Konkan and made the Traikutakas as their feudatories. The Kalachuris conquered Konkan in the middle of the 6th century AD. They established the Mauryans of Konkan as Governors of Aparanta Konkan. But the Western Chalukyas drove the Mauryans out and ruled Konkan from 578-750 AD through their feudatories. They described this land as Revatidvipa, Mahasaptama and Iridigeresaya. Six copperplate inscriptions reveal the Bhoja administration between 4th and 7th century AD from Chandrapur (modern day Chandor). Goa came under the Rashtrakuta rule from 750 - 1020 AD. The Shilaharas administered this land as their feudatories. But the Kadambas succeeded the Shilharas in 1020 AD. They served as feudatories of Kalyani Chalukyas (973-1162 AD) and of Yadavas of Devgiri (1163-1300 AD). Their rule marked the most glorious phase in history of ancient Goa. The Kadamba ruler Jayakeshi I developed the city of Gopakapattana as his capital.