A majority of people in Goa were saved from being converted to Christianity due to 17th Century Maratha king Shivaji’s rule in the state, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said Wednesday. He said it was a “misconception” that the Portuguese had ruled “entire” Goa for 450 years. At a state-level event to celebrate Shiv Jayanti at Farmagudi in South Goa’s Ponda, Sawant said, “People are under the impression and are being taught in schools that Goa was under Portuguese rule for 450 years. In truth, only the talukas of Salcete, Tiswadi and Bardez were under Portuguese rule for 450 years. The rest of Goa was beyond their control… The reason being Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj… who stood up against the Portuguese and who only began battling them when they issued a decree that if one wanted to be a resident of Bardez, one would have to convert.” “It is for this reason that temples were destroyed only in Salcete, Tiswadi and Bardez (talukas). Shivaji stood against the Portuguese only for ‘dharma’,” he said. Sawant said the rest of Goa was under Shivaji’s ‘Shiv Shahi’, adding that it was only due to his rule that a majority of Goans were not forced to convert. “When the Portuguese issued orders for conversions in Bardez taluka, Shivaji launched an attack. A treaty was signed between the Portuguese and Shivaji, ensuring that forced conversions would stop. That is how conversions stopped,” he said. “Shivaji built the fort in Betul, which kept a check on the oppressive Portuguese rulers of Goa. It is only after his passing that the Viceroy of Goa himself admitted that they will be able to rule Goa in peace,” he said. In June 2023, during an event at the Betul Fort – a 17th Century fort built by Hawaldar of Balli on the orders of Shivaji - to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Maratha ruler's coronation, Sawant had called for wiping away the traces of the Portuguese rule from the state, claiming that they “destroyed temples” during their rule.
