Goa at the time of Albuquerque

The city of Goa, situated on a fertile island between two rivers, was the most strategically positioned trading post on the west coast of India. It lay on the fault line between two rival empires competing for the heart of Southern subcontinent: to the north, the Muslim kingdom of Bijapur, to the south its rivals, the Hindu rajas of Vijayanagar. Goa was fiercely contested between these two dynasties. It had changed hands three times in the past thirty years. Its particular value, and its wealth derived from its role in the horse trade. . . . . It had been an excellent deep water port sheltered from monsoon winds. The area was extremely fertile, and the island on which the city itself was located, Tiswandi or Goa Island, allowed all goods coming in and out to be efficiently taxed at custom points. As an island, it also suggested the possibilities to effective defense ~ Page 230

,b.Albuquerque en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afonso_de_Albuquerque set about the creation of Portuguese Gao with zeal. This was the first territorial acquisition in Asia. To mark its permanency, within a fortnight he had ordered the establishment of a mind “to mint new currency, in the service of his Highness, in this his new realm. . . . . To announce its inception publicly, the new coinage was carried through the streets in silver basins to the sound of drums and pipes, accompanied by clowns and dancers and heralds proclaiming in Portuguese and the local language that “this was the new currency of the king our lord, who ordered that it should run in Goa and its territories.” ~ Page 233

. . . And also Albuquerque had promised religious freedom, he recoiled in horror at the practice of ‘Sutee” – the immolation of Hindu widows on their husband’s funeral pyres – and banned it. . . . . Page 233

YES!
So thankx, Dinesh!