This is a timeline of Goan history. It overlaps with the histories of other regions in South Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and colonial powers that influenced the region, including Kingdom of Portugal.
Stone Age
, B.P. (Before Portuguese) Arrival of modern Homo sapiens in the basin of Mandovi and Zuari as evidenced from Acheulean handaxes. B.P. Stone Age of Goa, cave dwellings, hunter-gatherer society, humans migrate from the river banks towards the coast in search of sea salt, the first rudimentary petroglyphs (Usgao), birth of shamanism and cult of earth goddess Micro > Neolithism > Megalithism B.P. Critical and exciting period of Goan Neolithism and Chalcolithism, the nomadic people of Kushavati culture, golden age of petroglyphs and rock art in Goa; shamanistic nomadic society, animal trappers, fishers, discovery of edible plants, tubers, mushrooms, worship of ant hill goddess, a nature worship, origin of Dhalo; origin of Perni jagor mask dance drama, a smooth transition of Neolithic to megalithic society (dolmens, menhirs) towards the end B.P. Drop in sea level, Marine fossil beds at Bambolim, Siridao, Camurlim, etc. B.P. entry of horses and pottery in Goa, megalithism, first attempts to make salt from sea water, silt based farming in river valleys, development of trade routes, influence and contact with Indus civilization, Harappan seafarers
Antiquity
c. 1000–800 BC Primitive agriculture: the Kumeri or burn and shift agriculture and the reclamation of coastal mangroves for preparing khazan lands, probable birth of Gaonkaris (latter-day communidades) of Goa, common land ownership, Iron Age in Goa, first ploughs. 500 BC Jainism and Buddhist influence in south India spreads to Goa (the following chronology would be expanded later) up to 200 BC Imperial Mauryan rule up to AD 200 Imperial Satavahanas of Pratishthan, Western Kshatrapas Roman trade contacts, beginning of Arab trade in horses Age of dynastic rule-golden period of maritime history AD 200–400 many minor dynasties and feudatories (Chutus, Maharathis, Kadambas of Halsi, Kuras of Kolhapur) AD 400–600 Bhojas of Chandor (Chandrapur/Sindbur to Arabs) AD 500–800 Badami Chalukyas, Konkan Mauryas, etc., embassy to Persia. Boost in horse trade, migration of Kaundinya seafarers from Goa to south east Asia
Middle Ages
AD 800–1000 Shilahara branches, imperial Rashtrakutas of Malkhed, Spread of Arab trading settlements (Anjumans) AD 1000–1330 Goa Kadambas (detail chronology is being compiled), (Devagiri Yadavas, gangas, Hoysalas, etc.)
Islamic influence 1326–1380 Bahamani rulers 1380–1472 Under Vijayanagara rule the Hindu ruler started construction of temples in Goa on Buddhist temples all the way to Kanada present-day Karnataka 1472–1510 Adilshahi rule (details to be added) (a separate chronology of new conquest areas before their annexation by Portuguese needs to be compiled as these territories at different times were ruled by adilshahi, Marathas, kings of sundas, Bhonsles of wadi, Dessais, etc. from 1510 to 1793) (definitive and accurate chronology of the period 200 AD to 1510 AD is possible based on epigraphical, archaeological, architectural, iconographic, numismatic records and publications-but many scholars need to contribute from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Gujarath)
Portuguese India
1500s 1505 – The construction of Fort Anjediva begins. It was one of the first four forts commissioned by Manuel I of Portugal to Dom Francisco de Almeida in India. 10 December 1510 – Afonso de Albuquerque accepts the surrender of the forces of Yusuf Adil Shah. 31 January 1533 – Diocese of Goa is established as a suffragan of the newly created Archdiocese of Funchal by Pope Paul III. Francisco de Melo was appointed its bishop but never took the possession. This created an episcopal see of Goa, having jurisdiction of all Portuguese conquests from the Cape of Good Hope to China and Japan. 6 May 1542 – 36-year-old Jesuit missionary, Francis Xavier of Navarre, arrives in Goa. 1545 – João III of Portugal orders João de Castro to establish schools for Christian doctrine (escolas de doutrina) in the villages where students were taught music (solfeggio), violin and the organ in addition to the three R's. This music (which was wholly religious) was taught for congregational participation during Church services. In the 19th century, these village schools became known as Parish Schools (escolas paroquiais). Early exposure to and love for Western Music produces many Goan musicians who are recognized internationally for their ability to play all of its genres; 19th-century Salcete will become the birthplace of the Mando - a particularly Goan form of music. 1546 – Francis Xavier requests the installation of the Goa Inquisition for the "New Christians" in a letter dated 16 May 1546 to King João III of Portugal, but his request will be carried out only in 1560. 3 December 1552 – Francis Xavier dies off the coast of China. 1555 – Holy Magi Church of Reis Magos is the first church built in Bardez. 1556 – :pt:João Nunes Barreto, the Patriarch of Abyssinia (roughly corresponding to the current-day Ethiopia) introduces the printing press to Goa; situated at the Jesuit College of Saint Paul at Old Goa, it is the first in all of Asia. The first book published that year is the Conclusiones Philosophicas. 4 February 1557 – Pope Paul IV separated the Goan diocese from the ecclesiastical province of Lisbon and raised it to a metropolitan archdiocese, with the suffragan dioceses of Diocese of Cochin and Diocese of Malacca. In the course of time other dioceses were included in the metropolitan area of Goa such as Macau, Funai, Cranganore, Meliapor, Nanjing, Beijing, Mozambique and Díli. 1557 – The printing press publishes its second book, Catecismo da Doutrina Christã, posthumously, five years after the death of its author, St. Francis Xavier. The Patriarch of Abyssinia was residing in Goa at the time and offering his episcopal services till the appointment of the first Archbishop of Goa, Gaspar Jorge de Leão Pereira in 1558. 1558 – André Vaz is ordained as the first native Goan priest of the Catholic church. 1560 – Safa Masjid is built by the Bijapuri ruler Ibrahim Adil Shah I. 1565 – Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Neves, Rachol is the first church built in Salcette. 1571 – War of the League of the Indies, the Portuguese successfully defend Ilhas. 13 December 1572 – Pope Gregory XIII grants the archbishop of Goa the title of "Primate of the East". 25 July 1583 – Cuncolim Massacre of Christian priests and civilians by Hindu Kshatriyas.
1600s 1615 – Canonization of St. Francis Xavier, still a figure of widespread devotion among Goa's Catholic population, who is known to Goans as Goencho Saib. 1619 - Se Cathedral, the cathedral of the Latin Rite Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, is completed. 1634 - Ponte de Linhares, was completed. It connects Ribandar with Panjim . The 3.2 km route was the longest causeway in Asia at the time of its completion. 1635 - Matheus de Castro is appointed as the first Indian Bishop of the Catholic church. 1638 - Battle of Goa was fought between the Portuguese and the Dutch as part of Dutch-Portuguese War of the 1600s. 30 September 1639 - A second naval battle resulted in Dutch victory. 21 April 1651 – Birth of St. Joseph Vaz, who would, three-and-half centuries later, become the first Goan to be beatified (on 21 January 1995) and also the first Goan to be canonized (14 January 2015). 1667 - The first known translation of any Christian Scripture in an Indian language was done to Konkani by Ignazio Arcamone, an Italian Jesuit. After 1668 - Portuguese Indian rupia currency was introduced. It equalled 2 "Xerafim". 1683 - Invasion of Goa by Sambhaji. Many battles were fought in a span of 3 months between the Maratha Empire and the Portuguese Empire. Marathas captured several forts in Goa temporarily which made no permanent territorial changes. Marathas retreated on 2 January 1684.
1700s 31 May 1756 - Abbé Faria (José Custódio de Faria) was born. A Luso-Goan Catholic monk became one of the pioneers of the scientific study of hypnotism. 1770 - Fontainhas was established in Panjim by Antonio Joao de Sequeira (Mossmikar). 5 August 1787 – Denunciation of the Conspiracy of the Pintos, an event in which a section of the local population sought to fight Portuguese rule in Goa. Curiously, Fr. José Vaz from Anjuna was among the priests denounced and detained.
1800s 1802–1813 - Several British Army troops are posted in different corners of Goa to protect it from a possible French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. British Cemetery near the Governor's Palace at Dona Paula is a legacy of this period. 1818 - The New Testament was translated into Konkani in Roman script. 21 December 1821 – Goa's first newspaper Gazetta de Goa was published by the Government printing press in Goa, the Imprensa Nacional which was an official government document containing local and international news. 14 June 1822 - At 1822 Portuguese legislative election, three "Deputados" representing Portuguese India were elected namely Bernardo Peres da Silva, :pt:Constâncio Roque da Costa, both Goans and :pt:António José Lima Leitão, a Portuguese. 29 October 1826 – the Government suspended Gazetta de Goa publication. 15 September 1832 - Goa State Central Library (oldest public library in India) is inaugurated by Viceroy Dom :pt:Manuel de Portugal e Castro as "The Publica Livraria of the Academia Militar de Goa". 27 May – 6 June 1835 – Bernardo Peres da Silva, first native prefect (governor) of Portuguese India, was expelled by the White-dominated military in Goa and he departed to Bombay (Mumbai). While in exile, he sought financial aid from a Goan opium trader named Rogério de Faria, and set out with an expeditionary force. However, because of miscalculation of the monsoons, the fleet was destroyed upon the rocks of Vengurla. Despite this stumbling block, Peres da Silva won re-election for three subsequent terms to the Portuguese Parliament in Lisbon. Though he expressed unhappiness because his fellow members of parliament ignored him and were often absent during his pleas for the civil rights of Goa and Goans, he did not cease to campaign for Goa. He is buried in the cemetery of Prazeres in Portugal. 13 June 1835 to 30 November 1837 – a government journal the Chronica Constitucional was published 7 December 1837 – brought into existence the Boletim do Governo do Estado da India a weekly paper which was later renamed the Boletim Oficial do Estado da India. It remained a weekly from September 1879 and April 1880 when it came out three times a week until 1 May 1882. It became a daily paper until 30 November 1887, when it once again reverted to its three times a week status until 1897 and finally twice a week. In 1899 the paper did not carry any news or historical items. 1841 - Panjim post office was notified to be the head post office of Goa. 5 November 1842 – Escola Medico-Cirurgica de Goa was established. This was probably the first medical school of Western medicine in Asia. The school was started as Hospital Militar (later known as Hospital Regimental, Hospital Central and Hospital Escolar) at Pangim or Nova Goa. The graduates of Goas medical school made significant contributions in the field of medicine in Goa and beyond it, particularly in Africa where they worked as general practitioners and specialists in various branches of medicine. 1843 - The capital of Goa was shifted from Velha Goa to Nova Goa and Panjim town was elevated to the status of a city on 22 March 1843 making it the oldest civic institution (Corporation of the City of Panaji) in Asia.