Historical Sketch

Portuguese navigators arrived at the Indian shores in the late 15th century, and Portuguese trading posts were soon established along the coast. In 1510, the Indian Viceroyalty was established at Goa. Until the 19th century the Portuguese possessions had been reduced to Goa, Daman, and Diu territories. Portugal did not cede its colony to Independent India in 1947, in 1951, it was converted into an overseas province like everywhere in the Portuguese colonial empire. In December 1961, India took the three Portuguese possessions by force and annexed them the following year. Portugal renounced to its claim only after the revolution of 1974.

Monetary History Overview

In 1775, the colonial government reformed the accounting system in the colony which had been aligned with the local Indian accounting standards so far. The circulating medium had been a mix of Indian and Portuguese coins. The Goa Ashrafi (Xerafim) accounting was based on the local South Indian standard, but was a bimetallic currency defined in Portuguese weights. In 1818 the gold-to-silver ratio was modified, otherwise the monetary situation remained unchanged. The Goa mint issued crude silver coins, plus very few gold pieces, while in the other settlements only subsidiary copper and lead pieces were produced. Otherwise, Indian and Portuguese coins were current. In July 1875, the colonial administration initiated a modernization of the monetary situation. However no new coins were produced, as the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1878 brought an alignment between the two European colonial powers in India. As a consequence, Portugal took over the British Indian standard. The Portuguese Indian Rupee of 1881 was at par with the British Indian Rupee, thereby about 9% heavier than the Goa standard. The Portuguese National Overseas Bank had begun operations in India already in 1868. However, initially it had no authority to issue paper money, which remained exclusively with the government. Only in 1906, the bank started issuing paper money for the colony. In 1953, Portugal passed a new constitution for its overseas territories which prescribed the unification of the colonial currencies. Originally, India was exempt, but nevertheless in January 1959, the Portuguese Indian Escudo replaced the Rupee. It was at par with the metropolitan currency.

In 1947, British India had attained independence. No agreement was reached with Portugal such that India annexed the different parts of Portuguese India between 1954 and December 1961, when Goa was occupied. The Portuguese Indian currency was demonetized until May 1962.

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