While the history of the South Asian diaspora readily maps on to the contours of the British empire, this is not the full story and especially not so in the case of displaced Goans. Of course, having been a Portuguese colony from 1510 to 1961, it may be considered likely that Goa saw its migrants seek opportunities in other Portuguese overseas territories. Again, not entirely the case.

In her new book, Guts, Glory and Empire: The Epic Story of Goans in Zanzibar, 1865-1910, Selma Carvalho offers a reconceptualisation of Goan diasporic history as having been the result of the small community navigating the intricacies of multiple and overlapping political dispensations. For Goans in nineteenth-century Zanzibar, their official citizenship may have been Portuguese, but they had to contend with the region becoming a British protectorate; in the meanwhile, the Indian Ocean island was also ruled by Omani sultans.

Slavery, colonialism, and trade have created a complex multicultural heritage in Zanzibar that contrasts with its diminutive size at just over 1500 square kilometres. While currently the Goan presence on the island has been diminished, much like the remembrance of its history, Carvalho chronicles an intrepid community who simultaneously benefitted from, colluded with, and were sidelined by European imperial machinations...

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