Later Centuries in Goa and Significance

     The examples above show how the Goa printing press was able to impact a wide range of cultures and fields in the region. This is especially thanks to the Goa press printing in various forms of Indian Type. However, a time would eventually come when it was ordered for native groups of the region to give up their language in favor of Portuguese. 

    The order was made in 1684, and when it was carried out, the initial multilingual purpose the Goa printing press had was gone. Consequently, converting native people through their original languages was no longer needed, and “printing came to a standstill in Goa…another century and a half were to pass before it would reappear, in 1821” (Suarez, Woudhuysen 556). 

    Another reason for the eradication of the press in Goa was the failure to convert a meaningful number of native people through prints of their own dialect. The press consequently lost its main purpose and was no longer used (Naik). 

    By then, printing presses had begun to pop up in many regions around India due to dominant British colonization (Suarez, Woudhuysen 558). Still, the impact had been made. The Jesuits produced 86 dictionaries, 115 grammar books, and 45 journals in a total of 73 languages with the help of the press in Goa. The lasting significance of the press was one that set off "enlightenment and empowerment" for the entirety of India (Verghese).


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