    saint gonsalo garcia, o.f.m., (, ) (1556 â 5 february 1597) was a roman catholic franciscan friar from india, who died as a martyr in japan and is venerated as a saint, one of the twenty-six martyrs of japan so venerated. the first indian to attain sainthoodd'mello, ashley, "st gonsalo garcia: the 1st indian saint", the times of india, october 13, 2008 was born in the western coastal town of vasai, now an exurb of the city of mumbai, he hailed from the townâthen known as baÃ§aim in portuguese, later bassein in englishâduring the time the town was under portuguese colonial rule. the festival of st. gonsalo has come to be held on the first sunday nearest to the neap tide following christmas in vasai.  ==background== bassein or vasai is about 30 miles north of bombay. the portuguese ruled this place for about 205 years (1534-1739 a.d). in 1498 a.d vasco da gama arrived at the harbour of calicut (kozhikode) on the western coast of india. it was after this that the portuguese established their power on the western coast of india. during that time john iii of portugal had ascended the throne of portugal. he appointed nuno da cunha as the governor of goa in order to conquer the island of diu from the sultan of gujarat. under his leadership, the portuguese started endeavours to conquer the island of diu. the portuguese tried to siege bassein, because they believed that conquering bassein would provide them a strategic momentum to acquire diu. during this period governor nuno da cunha learn that the sultan bahadur shah of gujarat had sent his forces to built a small fort in bassein. governor nuno da cunha soon realized that if the sultan built the fort in bassein, their desire to conquer diu w
1556_births 1597_deaths 16th-century_Christian_saints 16th-century_executions_by_Japan Franciscan_martyrs Franciscan_saints Indian_Roman_Catholic_saints Indian_people_executed_abroad Indian_people_of_Portuguese_descent Japanese_Roman_Catholic_saints Murdered_missionaries People_executed_by_crucifixion People_from_Thane_district Portuguese_Roman_Catholic_saints Roman_Catholic_missionaries Twenty-six_Martyrs_of_Japan