The Portuguese and Jesuits in Goa and Salcete

Please provide footnote text The Portuguese and Jesuits in Goa and Salcete In late 1510, after almost a year of intermittent fighting, the island city and har- bor of Goa on the west coast of India was finally wrested from the control of the rulers of Bijapur by the Portuguese adventurer Afonso de Albuquerque (1453–1515). The port and the four landlocked islands of Chorāo, Divar, Jua, and Tiswadi in the estuary of the Mandovi River became the administra- tive and commercial center of Portuguese affairs throughout the East, while at the same time the Portuguese gradually extended their influence into the neighboring hinterland (see map 1).1 Although some Dominican friars arrived in 1510, no large missionary enterprise was undertaken before the arrival of the Franciscans in 1517. From their headquarters in Goa, Franciscan preach- ers visited many parts of western India and journeyed as far as Sri Lanka and the Malay Archipelago. Such was their success that in 1534 Pope Paul III Farnese (r.1534–49) made Goa a bishopric, with spiritual jurisdiction over all Portuguese possessions from the Cape of Good Hope across South and East Asia to China, though itself suffragan to the archbishopric of Funchal in Madeira. When Francis Xavier (1506–52) landed at Goa on May 6, 1542, he took over the Franciscan college of Santa Fé for the training of native missionaries; this was re-named the College of Saint Paul and became the headquarters of all Jesuit missions in the East. It was from here that the Jesuits expanded fur- ther along the Indian coast. Their general mode of operation was to destroy Hindu temples and embark on a policy of conversion, backed by economic enticements from the Portuguese as well as their military might. As historian Mariano José Dias has observed: “Missionaries steeped in scholastic thought treated Indian religious traditions and practices with contempt as the devil’s handiwork.”2 Cuncolim and several surrounding villages, at the end of the long Salcete plain, resisted the Portuguese advances the most. This was probably due to several factors: they were farthest away from the center of government; 1 “The extent to which Goa was a mere outpost in a worldwide network, albeit a well-regarded and a well-decorated one (with cathedrals, convents, etc.), can be seen by the fact that Goa imported most of its food in the sixteenth century. Its ties to the hinterland were weak.” Robert S. Newman, Of Umbrellas, Goddesses and Dreams: Essays on Goan Culture and Society (Goa: Other India Press, 2001), 132. 2 He continues: “The duty of Christian rulers to discriminate against non-Christian subjects was sought to be supported by irrelevant decretals issued by Gregory IX in a different con- text. The Compelle intrare and Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus were the justification for the trucu- lent attitude adopted.” Mariano José Dias, “The Hindu–Christian Society of Goa,” Indica 17 (1980): 109–16, here 109. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��8 | doi ��.��63/97890043566�0_004 18 The Portuguese and Jesuits in Goa and Salcete they were surrounded by rivers and creeks, which made attacks more difficult; and they were very prosperous, thanks to abundant fertile land and being the end of the trade route over the Ghats. By the mid-1570s, Cuncolim was in a state of intermittent rebellion.3 This disputed border territory had a long history of unrest, which only increased when the Salcete peninsula came under Portuguese rule.4 Although the triumphalist policy of erecting churches on the sites of Hindu temples de- stroyed by the missionaries was resented, religious beliefs were not the main issue, but the economic and political implications of conversion, which undermined the authority of the Hindu ruling class.5 Hindu temples and shrines were knocked down and buildings burned, but they were regularly rebuilt soon afterward, often at great expense.6 The tension increased as the destruction escalated. Appeals to the viceroy and Inquisition had no effect, for the missionaries had argued that if the Hindus in Salcete were granted concessions, others would ask for them too, and their achievements and authority would be undermined.7 In 1583, a force of Portuguese and Indian soldiers was sent to deal with the rebels once and for all. Accompanied by the captain of the fortress at Rachol, they made a two-pronged attack: one up the Sal River, burn- ing and laying waste to the village of Assolna; the other overland to Cuncolim, where they set fire to the Santeri and several temples. But as historian Joseph Velinkar has observed, “the villagers did not mend their ways. They defiant- ly rebuilt their temples. So the Viceroy again sent in the army to pull down and burn the temples.”8 They were accompanied by several priests, including Pietro Berno (c.1550–83). They burned the big temple to the goddess Shanta Durga and some smaller ones, cut down coconut trees, ravaged the gardens and paddy fields, killed a sacred cow and polluted the temple tanks with its intestines so the people could not continue to worship there. Although the villagers were pardoned, not long after the destruction it was announced that 3 Newman, Of Umbrellas, 132–33. 4 A full account is given in Valignano’s account of the massacre; see appendix 4. 5 “The ruling caste of Cuncolim felt their whole way of life threatened—land, trade, livelihood, religion, and power. They began to refuse to pay taxes, to assault and even kill various repre- sentatives of Portuguese power, mostly low-level individuals. The Portuguese retaliated but not in great number.” Newman, Of Umbrellas, 133. 6 Teotόnio R. de Souza, “Why Cuncolim Martyrs? An Historical Re-assessment,” in Jesuits in India: In Historical Perspective, ed. Teotόnio R. de Souza and Charles J. Borges (Macao: Xavier Centre of Historical Research, 1992), 35–47, here 44. 7 Délio de Mendonça, Conversions and Citizenry: Goa under Portugal 1510–1610, Xavier Centre Historical Research Studies Series 11 (New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, 2002), 273–74. 8 Velinkar, “Francisco Aranha,” 143..

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