Portuguese India (Port. India Portuguesa or Estado da India) was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India. It included the enclave of Goa proper, as well as the enclaves of Daman (Port: Damão), Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and the island of Anjediva , but was sometimes referred to generically as simply Goa.

In 1954, bands of Indian irregulars took over the enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. India refused to allow Portuguese troops to transit through its territory to restore colonial rule, and annexed the enclave in August 1961. In December 1961, India invaded and annexed—or, as India sees it, liberated—the rest of Goa, which was never formally offered the opportunity to decide its own destiny by a legal referendum.

The Salazar regime in Portugal refused to recognise Indian sovereignty over Goa, Daman and Diu, which continued to be represented in Portugal's National Assembly until 1974. Following the Carnation Revolution that year, the new government in Lisbon restored diplomatic relations with India, and recognised Indian sovereignty. However, the people of its former Indian territories continued to have the right to Portuguese citizenship.

Postage stamps and postal history

Early postal history of the colony is obscure, but regular mail is known to have been exchanged with Lisbon from 1825 on. Portugal having a postal convention with Great Britain, much mail was probably routed through Bombay and carried on British packets. Portuguese handstamped postmarks are known from 1854.

The first postage stamps were issued 1 October 1871. These were purely local, and stamps of British India were also needed for overseas mail. The design of these first stamps simply consisted of a denomimation in the center, with an oval band containing the inscriptions "SERVIÇO POSTAL" and "INDIA POST". The dies were recut several times, and printed on several kinds of paper, resulting in an extremely complicated situation that has been intensively studied; about 55 types have been identified as appearing between 1871 and 1877, some of them quite rare.

In 1877, Portugal included India in its standard "crown" issue, with nine values ranging from 5r to 300r. These stamps ran out in 1881, and the old local stamps were surcharged with various values, resulting in nearly 100 distinct types. Additional "crown" stamps arrived in 1882, but in the following year were supplemented by additional values of the original local design.

From 1886 on, the pattern of regular stamp issues followed that of the other colonies closely, the main exception being a series of surcharges in 1912 produced by perforating existing stamps vertically through the middle and overprinting a new value on each side.

In 1925, a commemorative stamp marked the 400th anniversary of the death of Vasco da Gama, and in December 1931 a set of six promoted the Exposition of St. Francis Xavier held at Goa. Sets in 1946 and 1948 commemorated notable historical figures related to the colony. Portuguese India's first stamp exhibition , in 1952, was commemorated with a pair of stamps, one reproducing the design of the first issue, the other depicting St. Francis Xavier. A definitive series in 1956 commemorated the 450th anniversary of Portuguese settlements in India, and included portraits and maps of old forts, while a 1959 series depicted various coins.

The last regular issue was on 25 June 1960, marking the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator. Stamps of India were first used 29 December 1961, although the old stamps were accepted until 5 January 1962. Although Portugal continued to issue stamps for the lost colony, none of these were ever offered for sale in the colony's post offices, and are thus not considered valid stamps.

External links

• Goacom
• Dutch Portuguese Colonial HistoryDutch Portuguese Colonial History: history of the Portuguese and the Dutch in Ceylon, India, Malacca, Bengal, Formosa, Africa, Brazil. Language Heritage, lists of remains, maps.