Portuguese Goan community played a vital role in the Karachi's history and development. Portuguese Goan community started migrating to Karachi in the 1820s as traders. The majority of the estimated 100,000 who came to Pakistan are primarily concentrated in Karachi.[3]
In 1886 the Goa-Portuguese Association was established, with L.C. Gomes as the first President. Cincinnatus Fabian D'Abreo was instrumental in starting the Association. In 1936 the name of the Goa-Portuguese Association was changed to the Karachi Goan Association (KGA) with C.M. Lobo as its first President.[3]
In 1886, Cincinnatus Fabian D'Abreo, helped found ILACO (formerly Indian Life Assurance Co) in Karachi. In 1926, Cincinnatus and other pioneering Goans also established Karachi's first township namely "Cincinnatus Town" (later to be called Garden East).[3]
Manuel Misquita, twice served as President of the Karachi Goan Association, first from 1941 to 1942 and then again in 1954. In 1946, Manuel Misquita was Mayor of Karachi under the British Raj and many Goans were councilors in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC). Many roads in Karachi -- including Britto Road, Pedro D'Souza Road, D'Cruz Road, D'Abreo Street, Nazareth Street, and DeSilva Street -- were named after pioneering Goans.[3]
Population of Goans in Karachi stood at some 6,000 Goans, down from around 15,000 Goans in the 1950s and 60s, as per Menin Rodrigues, the author of ‘Goans of Pakistan – Footprints on the Sands of Time,’ .[3]