Gandaulim

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Gandaulim
São Brás
Village
Igreja de São Brás, Gandaulim
Igreja de São Brás, Gandaulim
Gandaulim is located in Goa
Gandaulim
Gandaulim
Coordinates: 15°30′44.5″N 73°56′28.9″E / 15.512361°N 73.941361°E / 15.512361; 73.941361
Country India
StateGoa
DistrictNorth Goa
Sub DistrictIlhas
Established1540s
Named afterSaint Blaise
Government
 • TypePanchayat
 • Sarpanchunknown
Elevation
8 m (26 ft)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total
approx. 300
DemonymGandaulicar
Languages
 • OfficialKonkani
 • Also spoken (understood)English, Marathi, Hindi
 • HistoricalPortuguese
Religions
 • DominantChristianity
 • MinorHinduism
 • HistoricalRoman Catholicism
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Postcode
403505
Telephone code08343

Gandaulim (historically known as São Brás) is a village located on the western bank of the Cumbarjua Canal, within Ilhas in the state of Goa, India. It marked the eastern end of the metropolitan City of Goa as a populous suburb in the 16th to 18th centuries.[1]

History

Map of "Sao Braz" in Goa, 1630

Croatian sailors and merchants from the Republic of Ragusa in Dalmatia established contact with Goa, India, in the 16th century, then amidst Portuguese colonization.[2][3] Between 1530 and 1535, adventurers from Dubrovnik joined the Portuguese to establish Sao Braz, a small Ragusan colonial settlement in the modern-day village of Gandaulim.[4] The colony was named after Saint Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik.[4][3] In the annals of 1605, Jakov Lukarević noted that Ragusan merchants invested in decorating a local church.[5] Goese historian Gomes Catão documented the town to have a population of 12,000 settlers.[3] The 1667 Dubrovnik earthquake destroyed the city of Dubrovnik which left the Ragusan Republic financially strained.[4] Trading disputes with Portuguese settlers and declining trade with Indians forced the Republic of Ragusa to surrender their colony.[2]

Public interest in the former colony was revived in 1999, when Croatian Indologist Zdravka Matišić discovered a reference to ties between Ragusa and Goa while studying Sanskrit texts in India.[3][6] After an official Croatian delegation visited the village that year, benefactors have since donated to and refurbished local buildings.[7][8] The Church of Saint Blaise in the village is a common tourist attraction buoyed by Croatia–India relations.[4][2] Since the 2000s, heritage tourism between Dubrovnik, Croatia and Gandaulim has increased.[7]

Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Romani people in Croatia originated in northwestern India and migrated to Europe as a group.[9] Romani people were mentioned for the first time in the Republic of Ragusa in 1362 in some commercial records.[10][11][12] Sushma Swaraj, Indian Minister of External Affairs, stated that the people of the Roma community in Croatia were to be recognized a part of the Indian diaspora.[13]

Infrastructure

In 2016, a bridge was constructed on the outskirts of the village, over the canal. This bridge now links the islands of Tiswadi taluka to Cumbarjua.[14][15]

Gandaulim Fort

Gandaulim was a site of the historical Gandaulim Fort, which was demolished in early 21st century for a road expansion project.

See also

References

  1. Fonseca, José Nicolau da (2026). An historical and Archaelogical sketch of the city of Goa (Reprint ed.). Thacker & Co, Limited, Bombay, 1878. ISBN 9788119808687.
  2. Fernandes, Paul (15 November 2021). "Croatian documentary team's visit stirs up Gandaulim's historic past". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  3. Tomas, Lora (19 May 2014). "Distant liaisons". Himal Southasian. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  4. "Why this Goan village will root for Croatia". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  5. Andrijanić, Ivan (26 February 2018). "Hrvatska i Indija: Kulturno-povijesne i gospodarsko-političke veze". Zbornik sveučilišta Libertas (in Croatian). 3 (3). Zagreb, Croatia: Libertas international university: 351. ISSN 2584-6167. U Goi, na zapadnoj obali indijskoga potkontinenta, trgovci iz Dubrovnika bogato su uresili crkvu Sv. Vlaha (São Braz). Na temelju toga svjedočanstva, koje navodi Jakov Lukarević (1605),[21] neki su istraživači pretpostavili postojanje dubrovačke kolonije São Braz u blizini Goe, ali za potvrdu te tvrdnje za sad nema dovoljno dokaza (Bašić, 1999: 85–93).
  6. "Why this Goan village will root for Croatia". The Times of India. 14 July 2018.
  7. D’Souza, Clinton (16 July 2024). "Unveiling a 400-yr-old bond: Historical connection between Croatia & Goa". The Goan. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  8. "The Croats of Goa, India". 27 May 2018.
  9. Mendizabal, Isabel (6 December 2012). "Reconstructing the Population History of European Romani from Genome-wide Data". Current Biology. 22 (24): 2342–2349. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.039. hdl:10230/25348. PMID 23219723.
  10. "Ured vlade za nacionalne manjine-Obilježja Roma u RH". Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  11. Tomas, Lora (19 May 2014). "Distant liaisons". Himal Southasian.
  12. Sindya N. Bhanoo (11 December 2012). "Genomic Study Traces Roma to Northern India". New York Times.
  13. "Can Romas be part of Indian diaspora?". khaleejtimes.com. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  14. "Gaundalim Bridge, Goa | TPF". www.tpf.eu.
  15. "Gaundalim, Cumbarjua bridges opened for traffic". The Goan EveryDay.