I thought I’d post something here about Goa, India’s little Latin Paradise and my ancestral home in India. The Portuguese called Goa ‘Rome of the East’ back in the 1500s, it was their dominion from the 16th century until 1961. Much like Christopher Columbus who sailed in his Santa Maria and reached American shores in 1492, Vasco Da Gama, the Portuguese explorer sailing from Lisbon in his flagship the Sao Gabriel reached Indian shores in 1498 thereafter bringing in the consequential influence of Latin culture and tradition to certain parts of west India like Goa, Bombay, Damon and Diu.
Vasco da Gamas tomb in South India
Vasco Da Gama was believed to have been greeted like a monarch, by the ruling kings in India, who were fascinated at the sight of the Portuguese fleet. India at the time was divided into small kingdoms each ruled by separate kings. They offered the Portuguese spices for trade, signed treaties and gave the Portuguese rights for building fortresses and factories. Portugal established an empire in India and Vasco da Gama became an enormously rich viceroy of the Indian colonies.