Gandaulim (Ilhas)

{{Infobox settlement | official_name = Gandaulim | native_name = ''São Brás'' | image_skyline = St. Blaise Church and it's Altar, Gandaulim.jpg | image_caption = Igreja de São Brás, Gandaulim | settlement_type = Village | pushpin_map = India Goa | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|India}} | subdivision_type1 = State | subdivision_name1 = Goa | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = North Goa | subdivision_type3 = Sub District | subdivision_name3 = Ilhas | founder = | named_for = Saint Blaise | leader_title = Sarpanch | leader_name = unknown | established_title = | established_date = 1540s | area_total_km2 = | area_footnotes = | population_as_of = 2021 | population_total = approx. 300 | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = Gandaulicar | population_footnotes = | demographics_type1 = Languages | demographics1_title1 = Official | demographics1_info1 = Konkani | demographics1_title2 = Also spoken (understood) | demographics1_info2 = English, Marathi, Hindi | demographics1_title3 = Historical | demographics1_info3 = Portuguese | demographics_type2 = Religions | demographics2_title1 = Dominant | demographics2_info1 = Christianity | demographics2_title2 = Minor | demographics2_info2 = Hinduism | demographics2_title3 = Historical | demographics2_info3 = Roman Catholicism | timezone = IST | utc_offset = +5:30 | coordinates = {{coord|15|30|44.5|N|73|56|28.9|E|region:IN|display=inline,title}} | elevation_m = 8 | postal_code_type = Postcode | postal_code = 403505 | area_code_type = Telephone code | area_code = 08343 | government_type = Panchayat | website = | footnotes = }}{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Use Indian English|date=May 2021}}

'''Gandaulim''' (historically known as''' São Brás''') is a village located on the western bank of the Cumbarjua Canal, within Ilhas in the state of Goa, India. It marked the eastern end of the metropolitan City of Goa as a populous suburb in the 16th to 18th centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fonseca |first=José Nicolau da |title=An historical and Archaelogical sketch of the city of Goa |date= |publisher=Thacker & Co, Limited, Bombay, 1878 |year=2026 |isbn=9788119808687 |edition=Reprint}}</ref> == History == [[File:Croatian_India_-_Location_of_São_Braz_in_Goa.jpg|thumb|Map of "Sao Braz" in Goa, 1630]] Croatian sailors and merchants from the Republic of Ragusa in Dalmatia established contact with Goa, India, in the 16th century, then amidst Portuguese colonization.<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |last=Fernandes |first=Paul |date=2021-11-15 |title=Croatian documentary team’s visit stirs up Gandaulim’s historic past |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/croatian-documentary-teams-visit-stirs-up-gandaulims-historic-past/articleshow/87705040.cms |access-date=2026-01-19 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Between 1530 and 1535, adventurers from Dubrovnik joined the Portuguese to establish Sao Braz, a small Ragusan colonial settlement in the modern-day village of Gandaulim.<ref name=":22">{{Cite news |title=Why this Goan village will root for Croatia |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/why-this-goan-village-will-root-for-croatia/articleshow/64983827.cms |access-date=2025-03-26 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> The colony was named after Saint Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik.<ref name=":22" /><ref name=":1" /> In the annals of 1605, Jakov Lukarević noted that Ragusan merchants invested in decorating a local church.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last=Andrijanić |first=Ivan |date=26 February 2018 |title=Hrvatska i Indija: Kulturno-povijesne i gospodarsko-političke veze |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/196110?lang=en |journal=Zbornik sveučilišta Libertas |language=hr |location=Zagreb, Croatia |publisher=Libertas international university |volume=3 |page=351 |issn=2584-6167 |quote=U Goi, na zapadnoj obali indijskoga potkontinenta, trgovci iz Dubrovnika bogato su uresili crkvu Sv. Vlaha (São Braz). Na temelju toga svjedočanstva, koje navodi Jakov Lukarević (1605),[21] neki su istraživači pretpostavili postojanje dubrovačke kolonije São Braz u blizini Goe, ali za potvrdu te tvrdnje za sad nema dovoljno dokaza (Bašić, 1999: 85–93). |number=3}}</ref> Goese historian Gomes Catão documented the town to have a population of 12,000 settlers.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Tomas|first=Lora|date=2014-05-19|title=Distant liaisons|url=https://www.himalmag.com/distant-liaisons/|access-date=2021-09-20|website=Himal Southasian|language=en-GB}}</ref> The 1667 Dubrovnik earthquake destroyed the city of Dubrovnik which left the Ragusan Republic financially strained.<ref name=":22" /> Trading disputes with Portuguese settlers and declining trade with Indians forced the Republic of Ragusa to surrender their colony.<ref name=":12" />

Public interest in the former colony was revived in 1999, when Croatian Indologist Zdravka Matišić discovered a reference to ties between Ragusa and Goa while studying Sanskrit texts in India.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/why-this-goan-village-will-root-for-croatia/articleshow/64983827.cms|title=Why this Goan village will root for Croatia|website=The Times of India|date=14 July 2018 }}</ref> After an official Croatian delegation visited the village that year, benefactors have since donated to and refurbished local buildings.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=D’Souza |first=Clinton |date=16 July 2024 |title=Unveiling a 400-yr-old bond: Historical connection between Croatia & Goa |url=https://www.thegoan.net/tg-life-sunday/unveiling-a-400yrold-bond-historical-connection-between-croatia-goa/116030.html |access-date=20 January 2026 |website=The Goan |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.croatiaweek.com/the-croats-of-goa-india/|title=The Croats of Goa, India|date=27 May 2018}}</ref> The Church of Saint Blaise in the village is a common tourist attraction buoyed by Croatia–India relations.<ref name=":22" /><ref name=":12" /> Since the 2000s, heritage tourism between Dubrovnik, Croatia and Gandaulim has increased.<ref name=":2" />

Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Romani people in Croatia originated in northwestern India and migrated to Europe as a group.<ref name="IsabelMendizabal">{{cite journal |last=Mendizabal |first=Isabel |date=6 December 2012 |title=Reconstructing the Population History of European Romani from Genome-wide Data |journal=Current Biology |volume=22 |issue=24 |pages=2342–2349 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.039 |hdl=10230/25348 |pmid=23219723 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free}}</ref> Romani people were mentioned for the first time in the Republic of Ragusa in 1362 in some commercial records.<ref name="Obilježja Roma u RH">{{cite web |title=Ured vlade za nacionalne manjine-Obilježja Roma u RH |url=http://www.vlada.hr/hr/uredi/ured_za_nacionalne_manjine/nacionalni_program_za_rome/obiljezja_roma_u_rh |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216140539/http://www.vlada.hr/hr/uredi/ured_za_nacionalne_manjine/nacionalni_program_za_rome/obiljezja_roma_u_rh |archive-date=2013-02-16 |access-date=2013-03-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tomas |first=Lora |date=19 May 2014 |title=Distant liaisons |url=https://www.himalmag.com/distant-liaisons/ |url-access=registration |website=Himal Southasian}}</ref><ref name="Comas">{{cite news |author=Sindya N. Bhanoo |date=11 December 2012 |title=Genomic Study Traces Roma to Northern India |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/science/genomic-study-traces-roma-to-northern-india.html?_r=0 |work=New York Times}}</ref> Sushma Swaraj, Indian Minister of External Affairs, stated that the people of the Roma community in Croatia were to be recognized a part of the Indian diaspora.<ref name="diaspora">{{cite web |date=29 February 2016 |title=Can Romas be part of Indian diaspora? |url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/international/india/can-romas-be-part-of-indian-diaspora |access-date=4 March 2016 |publisher=khaleejtimes.com}}</ref>

==Infrastructure==

In 2016, a bridge was constructed on the outskirts of the village, over the canal. This bridge now links the islands of Tiswadi taluka to Cumbarjua.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tpf.eu/projects/gaundalim-bridge-goa/|title=Gaundalim Bridge, Goa | TPF|website=www.tpf.eu}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegoan.net//gaundalim-cumbarjua-bridges-opened-for-traffic/15899.html|title=Gaundalim, Cumbarjua bridges opened for traffic|website=The Goan EveryDay}}</ref>

== Gandaulim Fort == Gandaulim was a site of the historical Gandaulim Fort, which was demolished in early 21st century for a road expansion project. <gallery class="center"> File:Gandaulim Fort Entrance Gate.jpg|Gandaulim Fort Entrance Gate File:Gandaulim Fort Entrance Gate after Demolition.jpg|Gandaulim Fort Entrance Gate after Demolition File:Gandaulim Fort Entrance Gate post Demolition.jpg|Gandaulim Fort Entrance Gate post Demolition </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Villages in North Goa district Category:1530s establishments in Portuguese India