Vasco da Gama

History

The city, in the former Portuguese territory of Goa, is named after the famous Portuguese explorer and navigator Vasco da Gama, who held the title of Governor of Portuguese India. The city was named so by then Governor Ferreira de Amaral in 1886 when the Mormugao Port was being developed. Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India (1497–1499) was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route, connecting the Atlantic and the Indian oceans and, in this way, the West and the East. He reached Goa on 11 September 1524 but died at Kochi three months later. His remains were eventually returned to Portugal and interred at St Jeronimos monastery. After the Liberation of Goa in 1961, reports suggest that the city was renamed to Sambhaji Nagar, after Sambhaji, in 1971 and this is reflected in a few government records. This has long been cited as a political move by right-wing parties such as the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party in the 1960s and the other members of the Sangh Parivar, in 1997 and the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2015. Some sources also claim Sambhaji as the original name of the city, before the Portuguese. The renovation work was completed in 2017 with funding provided by the Rajaram and Tarabai Bandekar Charitable Trust, and the clock was brought in from Nashik.