PANAJI: Indo-Portuguese historians from eight countries will meet from September 21 in Goa, where Europe first encountered India through Portuguese colonialism in the early 16th century.The International Seminar on Indo-Portuguese History series will have as its theme 'Indo-Portuguese History: The Global Trends'.

The ISIPH also celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

The five-day meet will assess the performance of the body at a special symposium on September 24. Professors K S Mathew, A T Matos and Teotonio R de Souza will submit their evaluations for discussion.

Nearly 40 participants from India, Brazil, the US, Belgium, Germany, France, Portugal and Australia will deliberate at the ISIPH.

The ISIPH was launched in the 70s.

"This was when official relations between Portugal and India were taking time to reach normalcy, despite the move of then Portuguese foreign minister (later president) Mario Soares, to recognise Goa's integration into India," says prominent Indo-Portuguese historian Teotonio de Souza, who is of Goan origin and is based in Lisbon.

Goa was the first European colony in South Asia, and indeed in almost all of Asia and Africa, and was ruled by Lisbon from 1510 to 1961.

Colonial rule ended here, unlike in the case of the British and French-ruled colonies, with bitterness. The recalcitrant Portuguese left only after Indian troops marched into Goa.

This marked a disruption in relations between New Delhi and Lisbon until the mid-70s, after the fall of the Portuguese dictatorship and the return of democracy to that country.

Former principal of the Mumbai-based St Xavier's College, Fr. John Correia-Afonso, who has also been director of the Heras Institute of Indian History and Culture, undertook the initiative for this.

The ISIPH series of seminars was born in December 1978 and was held alternately in India and Portugal and its overseas territories, including Macau, even in Brazil, to mark its occupation by Portugal 500 years ago.

These seminars are seen as having contributed immensely to update historical research about diverse parts of the globe, historically linked by the adventurous and once dominant small Iberian nation of Portugal since 1498.

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