Tiswadi

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Tiswadi Ilhas (Ilhas de Goa)
Sub-District
Location of Ilhas in North Goa, Goa
Coordinates: 15°29′55″N 73°49′46″E / 15.498598°N 73.829341°E / 15.498598; 73.829341Coordinates: 15°29′55″N 73°49′46″E / 15.498598°N 73.829341°E / 15.498598; 73.829341
Country	India
State	Goa
District	North Goa
Headquarters	Panjim
Settlements	1 City 9 Towns 22 Villages
Government
• Tehsildar	na
• Lok Sabha constituency	na
• Assembly constituency	na
• MLA	na
Population  (2011)
• Sub-District	167,197
• Urban	83%
Demographics
• Literacy rate	na
• Sex ratio	na
Vehicle registration	GA-07
Rain	na

Tiswadi is a tehsil (sub-district) of the North Goa district of Goa state, in the Konkan region of India, on which the state capital Panjim is situated. It largely consists of the Goa island, it has the historical sites of the pre-Portuguese Govapuri, and Velha Goa the capital of the Portuguese East Indies, and later it was the site of territorial capital of both Goa and Damaon.

The word Tiswadi itself, originated in the late 1970s, it refers to thirty settlements of Goud Saraswat Brahmins and Daivadnyas who settled when they migrated to Goa. The descendants of these settlers now form the native Roman Catholic Brahmins.

It is geographically made up of several river islands within the Mandovi River forming its northern boundary, the Cumbarjua Canal making its eastern border and the Zuari River making up its southern border.

As the native name suggests, the sub-district of Ilhas de Goa (Islands of Goa) includes the smaller islands of:

• Goa,
• Chorão,
• Divar,
• St Estevam,
• Cumbarjua,
• Vanxim and
• Several other small mangrove islands and sand banks.

The present capital - Panjim as well the former capital - The City of Goa, both lie on the largest island.

History[]

Tiswadi along with the rest of Goa regularly exchanged hands between the Muslim Bhahmani Sultanate and the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire of South India prior to the 14th Century. By the 15th century the Bijapur Sultanate under the Adil Shahi dynasty conquered Goa and it came under Muslim rule. The City of Goa was the regional capital of the Sultanates as well as a hub for the Hajj pilgrimage. Numerous temples were demolished under the rule of the sultanates. The Adil Shahi dynasty was defeated by a Portuguese-Vijayanagar alliance, and Ilhas de Goa was conquered under Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510. By the time Tiswadi was relieved from Muslim rule, Hindus formed a minority in the region, and the Portuguese started conversion efforts against the Muslim majority. The populace was made to accept Christianity or leave the Islands. There was a mass exodus of natives who left the Islands, for the safer havens of Ponda and the Canara, Malabar Coast, Chandgad and Joida.

The first temple to be built in Panjim was in the mid 1700s, when the Portuguese authorities granted permission to the Hindus to build their place of worship.

The evangelization of Tiswadi was spearheaded by the Dominicans, who were assigned 15 villages, and the Jesuits, who were assigned the remaining part along with the smaller islands of Chorão and Divar, by the Portuguese authorities. In 1552, the island of Chorão had a population of 300 Christians out of 3,000 and, by this time, also had a small church which was visited by a Jesuit from St. Paul's every Sunday. By the end of 1559, over 1,200 had accepted baptism. The following year, the first bishop from the Jesuit order, Dom João Nunes de Barreto, set up residence in Chorão, which eventually became a Noviciate. Most of Chorão's population converted en masse to Roman Catholicism in mid-1560.^[1]

By January 1563, the Jesuit provincial claimed that Ilhas de Goa had been completely Christianized, with a population of 70,000, the great majority of which had converted in the last six years, corresponding to the terms of Viceroys Francisco Barreto and Constantino of Braganza, whose 2+1⁄2-year term saw between 25,000 and 30,000 conversions.^[1]

Highlights[]

Panjim, Velha Goa and its monuments, Divar, Chorão

Settlements[]

Cities[]

Towns[]

Villages[]

See also[]

• Konkani people
• History of Goa
• Salcette
• Bardez
• Goan Catholics

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tiswadi.