Tiswadi

History

Tiswadi, along with the rest of Goa, regularly exchanged hands between the Muslim Bhahmani Sultanate and the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire of South India prior to the 14th century. By the 15th century, the Bijapur Sultanate under the Adil Shahi dynasty conquered Goa, and it came under Muslim rule. The City of Goa was the regional capital of the sultanates as well as a hub for the Hajj pilgrimage. Numerous temples were demolished under the rule of the sultanates. The Adil Shahi dynasty was defeated by a Portuguese–Vijayanagar alliance, and Ilhas de Goa was conquered under Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510. By the time Tiswadi was relieved from Muslim rule, Hindus formed a minority in the region, and the Portuguese started conversion efforts against the Muslim majority. The populace was made to accept Christianity or leave the islands. There was a mass exodus of natives who left the islands, for the safer havens of Ponda and the Canara, Malabar Coast, Chandgad and Joida.