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History of Goa
The present-day state of Goa was established in 1987. Goa is India's smallest state by area. It shares a lot of similarities with Indian history, especially with regard to colonial influences and a multi-cultural aesthetic.
The Usgalimal rock engravings, belonging to the Upper Paleolithic or Mesolithic periods, exhibit some of the earliest traces of human settlement in India. The Mauryan and Satavahana Empires ruled modern-day Goa during the Iron Age.[citation needed] It was ruled by the Kadambha dynasty from the 2nd century CE to 1312 and by the Deccan from 1312 to 1367. The city was then annexed by the Kingdom of Vijayanagara and was later conquered by the Bahmanī sultanate, which founded Old Goa on the island in 1440.
The Portuguese invaded Goa in 1510, defeated the Bijapur Sultanate. The Portuguese rule lasted for about 450 years, and heavily influenced Goan culture, cuisine, and architecture. In 1961, India took control over Goa after a 36-hour battle and integrated it into India. The area of Goa was incorporated into Goa, Daman and Diu, which included the Damaon territory in the north of the Konkan region. In 1987, following the Konkani language agitation Goa was granted statehood. Goa has one of the highest GDP per capita and Human Development Index among Indian states.
There is evidence of the tectonic origins of Goa dating back to 10,000 BC. Further, evidence of human occupation of Goa dates back at least to the Lower Paleolithic Age, indicated by the archaeological findings of Acheulean bifaces in the Mandovi-Zuari basin. However, evidence suggesting the region's ancient foundation is obscured by the legend of Goa's creation by the Hindu sage Parashurama.
Some parts of present-day Goa appear to have been uplifted from the sea due to geological tectonic plate movement. There is evidence to support this theory as indicated by the presence of marine fossils, buried seashells, and other features of reclaimed topography in the coastal belt. fossilized branches have been found later in many villages on the foothills of the Sahyadri dating back more than 10,000 BC. Thus the geologists concluded that Goa has risen from the seabed as a result of violent tectonic movements. At the decline of the intensity of population in the last Pleistocene age around 10000 BC, the bottom of Deccan Plateau was lifted up and out of sea-waters by the tectonic movements, formed the West-coast of India, Goa being a part thereof.
Until 1993 the existence of humans in Goa during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic period was highly debated. The discovery of rock art engravings on lateritic platforms and granite boulders from Usgalimal on the banks of west-flowing river in Kushavati, has shed light on the prehistory of Goa. The rock shelter at Usgalimal has enough space for 25 to 30 people. The perennial stream in the vicinity which might have served Stone Age man for centuries as a source of water. An anthropomorphic figure of Mother goddess and tectiforms resembling tree-like motifs have been found. This site was discovered by Dr P.P.Shirodkar. Exploration of several Mesolithic sites of the Mandovi-Zuari basin, at other sites such as Keri, Thane, Anjuna, Mauxim, Kazur in Quepem, Virdi, has led to the discovery of several scrapers, points, bores, cones, etc. A hand axe has also been found at Usgalimal. Further unifacial choppers were recovered on a flat-based pebble of quartzite from a pebble conglomerate at Shigaon on the Dudhsagar River. Shirodakar made a detailed study of the rock engravings and dated them to Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic phases, or to 20,000–30,000 BC. These discoveries have demonstrated that the region had been supporting a population of hunter-gatherers well before the advent of agriculture. Evidence of Palaeolithic cave existence can be seen at Dabolim, Adkon, Shigaon, Fatorpa, Arli, Maulinguinim, Diwar, Sanguem, Pilerne, Aquem-Margaon et cetera. Difficulty in carbon dating the laterite rock compounds has posed a problem in determining the exact time period.
The prehistoric engravings at Usgalimal were discovered by PP Shirodkar in the early 1990s and subsequently studied by the Institute of Oceanography in Goa. More than 125 forms were found scattered on the banks of river Kushavati in south-eastern Goa. According to Kamat, these are evidence of a prehistoric Goan shamanistic practice. For hundreds of years, the Kushavati rock art of Goa was known locally as goravarakhnyachi chitram, or pictures made by cowherds. But people did not know how ancient the works were, nor could anyone interpret them. After thorough study of these forms, scholars have concluded that these petroglyphs differ from those found elsewhere in Goa. Deeper studies and analysis over a period of ten years showed these petroglyphs were an exquisitely carved ocular labyrinth, one of the best in India and Asia. Its ocular nature added to the evidence of prehistoric shamanism.
The studies have shown that the Kushavati culture was a hunter-gatherer culture with deep knowledge of local natural resources and processes – water, fish, plants, game, animal breeding cycles, seasons and natural calamities. The Kushavati culture was greatly concerned with water security, so they set up camps near the streams. The Kushavati found food security in the jungle near the streams. Like every culture, its members confronted the mysteries of illness, death and birth. Kamat believes that this culture dated to 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. On basis of recent DNA-based work on human migration, Dr. Nandkumar Kamat has ruled out the possibility of Kushavati shamans belonging to the first wave of humans to arrive in Goa. They were not negritoes or austrics. Most probably they were the earliest Mediterraneans who had descended the Western Ghats, probably in their search for sea salt on Goa's coast. As the Kushavati transitioned into a Neolithic society, they began the domestication of animals and were in the last phase of using stone tools. The entire realm of shamanism underwent a radical transition. Today evidence of the metamorphosis in masked dance drama Perni jagor can be seen in the same cultural region.
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History of Goa
The present-day state of Goa was established in 1987. Goa is India's smallest state by area. It shares a lot of similarities with Indian history, especially with regard to colonial influences and a multi-cultural aesthetic.
The Usgalimal rock engravings, belonging to the Upper Paleolithic or Mesolithic periods, exhibit some of the earliest traces of human settlement in India. The Mauryan and Satavahana Empires ruled modern-day Goa during the Iron Age.[citation needed] It was ruled by the Kadambha dynasty from the 2nd century CE to 1312 and by the Deccan from 1312 to 1367. The city was then annexed by the Kingdom of Vijayanagara and was later conquered by the Bahmanī sultanate, which founded Old Goa on the island in 1440.
The Portuguese invaded Goa in 1510, defeated the Bijapur Sultanate. The Portuguese rule lasted for about 450 years, and heavily influenced Goan culture, cuisine, and architecture. In 1961, India took control over Goa after a 36-hour battle and integrated it into India. The area of Goa was incorporated into Goa, Daman and Diu, which included the Damaon territory in the north of the Konkan region. In 1987, following the Konkani language agitation Goa was granted statehood. Goa has one of the highest GDP per capita and Human Development Index among Indian states.
There is evidence of the tectonic origins of Goa dating back to 10,000 BC. Further, evidence of human occupation of Goa dates back at least to the Lower Paleolithic Age, indicated by the archaeological findings of Acheulean bifaces in the Mandovi-Zuari basin. However, evidence suggesting the region's ancient foundation is obscured by the legend of Goa's creation by the Hindu sage Parashurama.
Some parts of present-day Goa appear to have been uplifted from the sea due to geological tectonic plate movement. There is evidence to support this theory as indicated by the presence of marine fossils, buried seashells, and other features of reclaimed topography in the coastal belt. fossilized branches have been found later in many villages on the foothills of the Sahyadri dating back more than 10,000 BC. Thus the geologists concluded that Goa has risen from the seabed as a result of violent tectonic movements. At the decline of the intensity of population in the last Pleistocene age around 10000 BC, the bottom of Deccan Plateau was lifted up and out of sea-waters by the tectonic movements, formed the West-coast of India, Goa being a part thereof.
Until 1993 the existence of humans in Goa during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic period was highly debated. The discovery of rock art engravings on lateritic platforms and granite boulders from Usgalimal on the banks of west-flowing river in Kushavati, has shed light on the prehistory of Goa. The rock shelter at Usgalimal has enough space for 25 to 30 people. The perennial stream in the vicinity which might have served Stone Age man for centuries as a source of water. An anthropomorphic figure of Mother goddess and tectiforms resembling tree-like motifs have been found. This site was discovered by Dr P.P.Shirodkar. Exploration of several Mesolithic sites of the Mandovi-Zuari basin, at other sites such as Keri, Thane, Anjuna, Mauxim, Kazur in Quepem, Virdi, has led to the discovery of several scrapers, points, bores, cones, etc. A hand axe has also been found at Usgalimal. Further unifacial choppers were recovered on a flat-based pebble of quartzite from a pebble conglomerate at Shigaon on the Dudhsagar River. Shirodakar made a detailed study of the rock engravings and dated them to Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic phases, or to 20,000–30,000 BC. These discoveries have demonstrated that the region had been supporting a population of hunter-gatherers well before the advent of agriculture. Evidence of Palaeolithic cave existence can be seen at Dabolim, Adkon, Shigaon, Fatorpa, Arli, Maulinguinim, Diwar, Sanguem, Pilerne, Aquem-Margaon et cetera. Difficulty in carbon dating the laterite rock compounds has posed a problem in determining the exact time period.
The prehistoric engravings at Usgalimal were discovered by PP Shirodkar in the early 1990s and subsequently studied by the Institute of Oceanography in Goa. More than 125 forms were found scattered on the banks of river Kushavati in south-eastern Goa. According to Kamat, these are evidence of a prehistoric Goan shamanistic practice. For hundreds of years, the Kushavati rock art of Goa was known locally as goravarakhnyachi chitram, or pictures made by cowherds. But people did not know how ancient the works were, nor could anyone interpret them. After thorough study of these forms, scholars have concluded that these petroglyphs differ from those found elsewhere in Goa. Deeper studies and analysis over a period of ten years showed these petroglyphs were an exquisitely carved ocular labyrinth, one of the best in India and Asia. Its ocular nature added to the evidence of prehistoric shamanism.
The studies have shown that the Kushavati culture was a hunter-gatherer culture with deep knowledge of local natural resources and processes – water, fish, plants, game, animal breeding cycles, seasons and natural calamities. The Kushavati culture was greatly concerned with water security, so they set up camps near the streams. The Kushavati found food security in the jungle near the streams. Like every culture, its members confronted the mysteries of illness, death and birth. Kamat believes that this culture dated to 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. On basis of recent DNA-based work on human migration, Dr. Nandkumar Kamat has ruled out the possibility of Kushavati shamans belonging to the first wave of humans to arrive in Goa. They were not negritoes or austrics. Most probably they were the earliest Mediterraneans who had descended the Western Ghats, probably in their search for sea salt on Goa's coast. As the Kushavati transitioned into a Neolithic society, they began the domestication of animals and were in the last phase of using stone tools. The entire realm of shamanism underwent a radical transition. Today evidence of the metamorphosis in masked dance drama Perni jagor can be seen in the same cultural region.