My own genealogical work points to an early migration of Goans to Karachi (as early as the 1820's) that increased after 1869 when the Suez Canal was built and with the rise in cotton production after the US Civil War (1861-65). It was a substantial community by the time St. Patrick's Cathedral was built in 1881. But there were other Goan communities besides Karachi, in Lahore and Peshawar. The Goan community in Pakistan was in regular contact with their ancestral families in Goa and Bombay.
How the 1947 partition impacted the estimated 15,000 (Portuguese estimate) Goans in what would be Pakistan is an important and less documented subject. So I would welcome further research. We have to remember that Portugal or France were not party to the British partition process (unless we find proof otherwise). Formal Pakistani-Portuguese relations were established in 1949. With regards to post-partition, family history points to the fact that air and sea entry to Goa just before 1961 from India was difficult and I have documentation that shows that Goans (from the Gulf or East Africa) would sail directly from Karachi to Goa as they could not do so from Bombay. The changes brought about in 1961 would therefore have severed movement between Pakistan and Goa. From what I have heard the level of education, social and economic life was very high compared with that for Goans in post-partition India with enclaves within the better areas of the growing city of Karachi, until the political scene changed in the last thirty years. Pakistani Goans are now found in Canada, the USA, the UK and Australia. Clifford Pereira (in HongKong) ________________________________ From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Frederick Noronha <[email protected]> Sent: 03 November 2024 1:56 AM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [GRN] Partition of India The expat Colva-linked Karachi writer Menin Rodrigues has written a book length work describing the Goans of Karachi. It's called Footprints on the Sands of Time. When you say "affected by the Partition", I'm not sure i understood right, but the Goans were affected in different ways because their migration to Karachi was neither political or religion based, but mostly pre-1947 (or surely pre-1961) and for purely economic reasons. Those who decided to opt out after Partition mostly moved West. A few returned to Goa. Many are still affected by blocks to get visas sometimes even to just visit Goa (except in group 'pilgrimages'). Recently one Goan got citizenship under the changes CAA rules and much was made of it. Our senior group member Dr Celsa Pinto, former Director of Education, Government of Goa, is Karachi born, and she could perhaps give insights into how this sometime was treated here. FN On Sat, 2 Nov, 2024, 11:16 pm Helga Do Rosario Gomes, <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Could Fausto Jules, the genealogist also help? His family has deep roots in the Goan Karachi community. And Rochelle, you do choose some interesting topics of research. Best, Helga Sent from my iPhone On Nov 2, 2024, at 12:26, William Robert Da Silva <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Goans settled in Karachi before Partition and independence were affected. I had contact with five families about thirty years ago. At present, I do not have any hint about their whereabouts. They had narrated to me all about their plight during Partition. I was working on Goa and the spread of Konkani in those decades. You could inquire around for such Goans settled in Karachi and elsewhere there and their dispersed families after Partition. William Robert Da Silva On Sat, Nov 2, 2024 at 8:28 AM Rochelle Fernandes <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Good day! I’m working on a project concerning the Partition of India with a focus on Goa. Do you know anyone of Goan origin who has been affected by the Partition? 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