Goans

The Catholics display Portuguese influence in the form of a hierarchy due to being for 451 years of close interaction with the Portuguese as an overseas province. Portuguese names are common among the Christians. The Caste system is still followed, but to a lesser degree as compared to other Indians. There are distinct Bamonn, Chardó, Gauddo and Sudir communities in Goa that is mainly endogamous. Many Catholic families also share Indo-Portuguese ancestry and some Catholic Goans count themselves as 'mestizo' or a mixed-race. The over 450 years of interaction with the Portuguese (making it one of the longest colonial occupations in history) has resulted in a race that is unique and culturally different from the people around them.

Goan Hindus refer to themselves as Konkane (Devanagari Konkani: कोंकणे), meaning the residents of an area broadly identified as Konkan.[11] Hindus in Goa are divided into many different castes and sub-castes, known as Jatis. They use their village names to identify their clans, some of them use titles. Some are known by the occupation their ancestors have been practising; Nayak, Borkar, Raikar, Keni, Prabhu, Kamat, Lotlikar, Chodankar, Mandrekar, Naik, Bhat, Tari, Gaude are examples.

Only a small number of native Muslims remain and are known as Moir, the word is derived from the Portuguese Mouro, which means Moor. Muçulmano was the word later used in Portuguese to identify them.[12]

There are minuscule numbers of the Goan diaspora now converted to Sikhism, Buddhism as well as a few Atheists.

There are no definitive records of Goan migration prior to the Portuguese conquests in the region of Goa. One reason being that the Goan people were not a distinct ethnic group as yet.

The first recorded instances of significant emigrations of Goans could be traced back to the arrival of the Portuguese in Goa. Sizable numbers of Goan Hindus in 17th-18th centuries fled to Mangalore and Canara, inorder to flee from the conversion efforts. They were soon followed by the newly converted Goan Catholics, who fled the Goa Inquisition. [13] There were flights from Goa to escape taxation as well as epidemics during the same time period.[14] It was also during the latter part this period, when Goans (mainly Catholics) started traveling overseas. Though miniscule, there were migrations of Goans to other parts of the global Portuguese Empire, such as Lisbon, Ormuz, Muscat, Timor, Brasil, Malaca, Pegu, and Colombo. 48 Goan Catholics permanently migrated to Portugal in 18th Century.[15] There was a self imposed ban on Goan Hindus on overseas travel, imposed by the Dharamasastras, due to the belief that crossing salt water would corrupt oneself.[16]

During the Napoleonic Wars Goa was occupied by the British Raj, and many of their vessels were anchored in the Morumugão harbour.[17] These ships were serviced by native Goans, who then left for British India once the ships had moved on.[16] The Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1878 played an important role in speeding the emigration of Goans in the latter half of the 19th Century, since it gave the British the authority to construct the West of India Portuguese Railway, which connected the Velhas Conquistas to the Bombay Presidency. They primarily moved to the cities of Bombay (now Mumbai), Poona (now Pune), Calcutta (now Kolkata)[18] and Karachi.[19] The Goans who moved to mainland India were of both, Christian as well as Hindu, origin.[20]

A small number of Goans moved to Burma, to join the already established community in Pegu (now Bago). Another destination for mainly the Catholic community, was Africa. Most of the emigrants hailed from the province of Bardes, due to their high literacy rate, and the Velhas Conquistas region in general.[18] Immigration into Africa came to end after the Decolonisation of Africa, during the 1950-60s.

In 1880, there 29,216 Goans who left Goa.[21] By 1954, this number rose to 180,000.

After the Invasion of Goa (1961) by the Republic of India, there has been a steep rise in the number of emigrants of Goan origin. Many had applied and were granted Portuguese passports in order to obtain a European residence. The educated class found it difficult to get jobs within Goa due to the high influx of non-Goans into Goa, and this encouraged many of them to move to the Gulf states.[13]

Until the early 1970s there were substantial populations of Goans in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. There have also, historically, been Goans in former British colonies of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola. The end of colonial rule brought a subsequent process of Africanisation and a wave of expulsion of South Asians from Uganda (1972) and Malawi (1974) forced the community to migrate elsewhere.[20]

Currently it is estimated that there are around 600,000 Goans living outside India.[22]

Since the Second Phase of migrations, the Goans have had a variety of professions. In British India they were personal butlers or physicians to the English and Parsi elite in India. On the Ships and Cruise liners they were sailors, stewards, chefs, musicians and dancers. In Africa, they pioneered in medicine.[23] Many have also been working on Oil Rigs.