The Portuguese governor-general surrendered on 19 December 1961, ending 451 years of Portuguese rule in Goa.
01Four and a half centuries
Afonso de Albuquerque took Goa from the Bijapur sultanate in 1510. Under Portuguese rule its temples were pulled down in the 16th century and the Goa Inquisition worked from 1560 until 1812; many Hindu families carried their deities across the river into the hills of Ponda, where the Mangeshi and Shantadurga temples stand today. After 1947 Lisbon refused to negotiate. In 1955 satyagrahis who marched peacefully into Goa were fired on by Portuguese troops, and many were killed.
02Operation Vijay
In the early hours of 18 December 1961 Indian troops crossed into Goa from the north and east, and columns entered Daman and Diu. The Indian Navy engaged the Portuguese frigate Afonso de Albuquerque off Mormugao and drove her aground, and Indian Air Force aircraft struck the Dabolim airfield. Anjadip island saw the hardest fighting. Vassalo e Silva, ordered from Lisbon to fight to the end, chose to surrender on the evening of 19 December, sparing the city. Goa celebrates 19 December as Liberation Day.
Goa’s liberation removed the last European colony from the Indian mainland and closed the story that began with Vasco da Gama in 1498.