The postal history of Portuguese India goes back to the earlier days of the colony. The postal history begins with communication between the Viceroy and the Court at Lisbon soon after the conquest of Old Goa by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510. Letters, written in triplicate, were carried by separate ships because of the hazards of the voyage. Mail was carried by an overland route, as well. The early communications of Portuguese India had an official character and the correspondence is now to be found in museums and governmental and ecclesiastical archives.