North Goa

North Goa

North Goa district is one of the two districts that constitutes the state of Goa, India. The district has an area of 1,736 square kilometres (670 square miles), and is bounded by Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra state to the north and by Belagavi district of Karnataka to the east, by South Goa district to the south, and by the Arabian Sea to the west.

North Goa

At the advent of the Portuguese in AD 1510, all of today's northern territories (Ilhas, Bardez, Pernem, Bicholim, Antruz, and Sattari) were part of the Bijapur Sultanate. Conflicts between the Adil Shahi dynasty and the Portuguese soon followed. Ilhas and Bardez were annexed by the Portuguese after their successful conquest and the region is now called Velhas Conquistas (Old Conquests). After the fall of the Deccan sultanates and rise of the Marathas in the late 1600s, the remaining region eventually fell under the control of the Maratha Kingdom of Sawantwadi until AD 1783. These territories were seen as safe haven for the Hindus, Muslims and new-Christians who fled the Portuguese Inquisition taking place in Goa. These territories were acquired by the Portuguese as part of Novas Conquistas (New Conquest) in the late 18th century. They remained with the Portuguese until 1961 when they were annexed by India.