32 " the aim of opening new channels of commu­ and the Jesuits remained inactive in the regi­ nication between Cb.ina-bued and India­ on for almost three decades. Fr. Cacclla's Early Christian missions iD the Himalayas: baSed miuionaries. The fint western memoirs contain interesting historical and including a note OD the location of missionary archives in Italy missionary to cross the Himalayan passes ethnographic accounts of the area. around and visit the Tibetan plateau was a Portu­ Shigatse (cf. C. Wessels 1924: 1~3) •. At this time another Ponuguese. JeSUit, Dipak Raj Pant guese Jesuit, Father AnlOnio de ~e (15SO-1634).In 1624 he reached Tibet from Fr. Manoel Dias. wu sent to the eastern India. via Gubwal. andone year laterestab­ Himalayas by the Jesuit authorities at tished a residence and chapel at Tsaparang Cochin. Very little is known about his Christian missionaries were one of the in stimulating the Renaissance is well­ (orrTsa-bran) insoutb-westem Tibet. A fur­ ttaveis. Fr. Dias is supposed to have died in the Morang (rem) of Nepal on his way to most imponant channels through which the known. Petech(1952-56: 1.18) stresse.show ther visit to India enabled him 10 return to European world received historical and the story attributed to Muslim traders of Tsaparang with additional resources and Tibet. ethnographic informalion abool the Orient. .. ... remote. forgonen and degenerated manpowe r. Father Antonio de Ancnde Two Jesuit fathers. Jobann Grueber The eXACtitude, impartiality and tnllhfuJ­ Messiah-following communities" some­ wrote two reports on his tra... eis and and Albeit d'Orville, are said to have ness of their observations - and indeed their where inside the highJands and valleys of the missionary operations. which were publis­ reached Lhasa in 1661, thereby becoming missionary aim itself - may be questionable Asia InteriorfueUed European curiosity and hed under the titleNovo descombrimento do the first westerners to reach the political and for many today. but no one can deny that later stimulated missionary expeditions to Gram Cothayo 01.1 reinon de TlUbet. JUlIo cultural centre ofTibeL Fr. Jobann Orueber ethnologists and hiuorians today owe much the region. Most probably the Muslim padre Antonio th Andrade th Companhia (1623-1680), an Austrian JesUit, tnvelled as amissionaryto Macao in 1658andthenwent to the works oflhc early Christian mission­ tnders confused the Buddha-image with dt Jesu. PortOgiUZ. (JJlIIO de 1626 (see Pe­ aries. that of the Messiah. The Persian term for reiro.1921). His reports aroused mucbcuri­ on toPeking, where he remained for acouple The Himalayu. one of the regions aCthe idolatry bUt-parast; (bO t = statue. idol) osilY and were soon translated into Spanish, of yean. He was encharged to explore the world most difficult of access, was fustapp­ might be relate to the term Buddha (Buddha French. Italian and Polish. Called back to land-route from Otina to India. In 1661 he roached by missionaries in the early 17th > Budd > BIlt) whose images and statues India by his superiors in Oea. Fr. de Andrade passed through Tibet and Nepal in the com­ century. Over the next two hundred years were abundantly found in Central Asia when left the Tsaparang mission to his assistants. pany of the Belgian Jesuit. Fr. Alben d'Or­ many missionaries visited the region. some Muslims began to conven local peoples. About a decade later the centre was closed ville.lnthewinterof 1661 --62the twOJesuits of whom remained fora considcrabltperiod Christian missionaries were already in due to political upheavals and the subse­ halted at Kathmandu foramonth or50. whe­ of time, studying the local languages and the process of consolidating their bases in quent Ladakhi forces. who did nOl: view the re they were received by the then King, cultures. The documents relating 10 their China and India by the beginning of the 11th presence of Christian missionaries as a posi­ Pratap Malla. 1lIe fathers presented the activities (circulars. dec~, letters. century. Ooa, Macao and other Portuguese. tive influence in the region. Mallarulerwitha telescope. Theking wasan memoirs, tiC.) ronn a huge corpus of litera­ colonies served as base<amps forexplorati­ During the same period two other author of verses in Sanskrit and a great mre scattered in various ecclesiastical and ve ventures. 1be sea-way between China PonugueseJesuits, Fathers Estevio Cacena admirer of learned persons; so he was civil archives in Italy. Parts ofthat liltratwe and India became increasingly dangerous (1585-1630) and Joio Ca"'" (1599-1669), pleased to meet the twO erudite and experi­ have been edited by scholaR. the mosl due to the attacks of local pirates and Dutch arrived in the region. Fr. Estevio Cacella encedJesuit travellers. In one of the inscrip­ imponant of which for the missionary activ­ corsairs around Macao, the south Chinese went to Goa as a Jesuit missionary around tions found inside Hanuman-Dhoka words ities in Nepal and Tibet being Prof. Luciano watel1 and Indochmese coasts. The need for 1614. and worked for some time on the Ma­ in Roman letters have been found; the Petech's massive I miuionari ilaliani nt!l a new route between the o.inese mainland labarcoast insouthwestem India. In 1626he inscriptions belonged to Pratap Malla. It is Ti~t t nt!l Ntpal. 1be mon: modest aim of and the Indian subcontinent. via terro, was and Fr. Joio Cabral went toexplore Tibet via supposed that the King learned Roman the present repolt is to sununariu these felt as an utmost priority by missionary Bengal and Bhutan. but they did not remain letters from these Jesuits. The king was fond missionary activities and to bring to the at­ authorities. The missionaries were not there for long. Fr. Cabral is said to have of teaming many languages and he used to tention of scholars, both from Europe and always esconed or assisted by the European retumed to India passing through Nepal in invite many scholars from different parts of the Himalyan region iuelf. theextentand lo­ powers so they sought to establish their own the yo.d628 (D.C. Slwma 1915: 195). the Indian subcontinent (D.C. Shanna: 168). cation of the missionary archives in Italy. routesand suppon centres. Many oftheearly In 1629 Fr. Cacella received a mandate Fr. d'OrviUe died after reaching Agra, tnlvellers. and especially the Jesuits. used to loopen a permanent missionary centre in the and Fr. Grueber went back to Europe via Early EXpeditions to the Himalayas operate autonomously. but they did nothesi­ area previously ... isited by him and Fr. Persia and Turkey. Many of the letters, Muslim traders were already active and tate to take full advantage of the facilities in­ Cabral. He left for Shigatse (south-eastem reports and memoil1 of Fr. Grueber are still geographically moMe in western and tentionaUy or unintentionaUy provided by Tibet) with a clear mandate and a long-term unedited. Wessels (1924) and Petech (1952- central Asia during the centuries preceding the European powers. projecL Soon after his arrival in Shigatse he 56) note that some were published by A. the EW'Opean Renaissance. Their role in The earliest missionary explorations of fell sick and died there in 1630. After his Kircber in Amsterdam (1661) and M. bridging the gap between East and West and the Himalayan region were undenaken with death the Shigatse mission was abandoned. Thevenot in Paris (1612). 34 " In 1679, another Jesuit. Fr. Marcan­ some valuable information about local con­ Bhaktapur - were approached by the emis­ completing their lake~ver , they did not tonio Sanwcci. Ls said to have visited lhc: Ne­ ditions. Fr. da PennabiUi was the first to saries ofthc MaIJa rulers. The rulers of the want a single miuionary or even a singlc pal valley. Fr. Santucci was an Italian translateOuistian writings in Tibetan and to Ncpal Valley and central midhills were nto<onven 10 remain. But nobody was missionary resident at the Paw quarters of prepare Italian-Tibetan vocabulary (cf. F. notorious for their rivalry and shifting alli­ physically harassed or killed for this reason. the Jesuits. Neilhc:r Grueber and d'Orville d'AnvenI934; also Pctech op. cit.). ances amoogst themselves. By that period The Nepalese nco-converts went to Bettiah nor Santucci uicd to use their foot-bold in Unlike the Jesuits, the Capuchin fat­ the presence ofwesterners in various pans of (Dihar) and sewed as an ex.i1cd community. the Nepal valley for the evangelization. but hers were less interested in learning about the Indian sulKontinent wu already well­ According to Petech (1952: 1.68) the they did collect accurate infonnation and local society through a study of local known 10 the Nepalese feudal lords. Many of Capuchin had been able to establish good building good rapport with the local authori­ language and culture. Instead. they were them were quite eager 10 build good rela­ contacts with the c6teric ofPrithvi Narayan, lies. mainly interested in evangclization.the taSk lions with the Europeans, which in theit the Gorkhali king; i.c. before the Gorkhali for which they had dedicated their lives.1be eyes, were replacing the Muslims as the take~verofthe valley (cf. Petech, ... op, vol. Missions to Nepal Capuchin mission had a mandate from the dominant power. By courting and favouring I, p. l..XVDl). In 1767, somc of the Capu­ After the explorative phase of the Church of Rome. The SanlaCongregazione the missionaries they wanted to establish chins are said [0 have visited Nuwakot Jesuits, Europeans with a more zea10us de PropagandtJ Fide (a huge section of the closer contaCt with the Indian-ba$cd Eur0- (nonh-wcst of Kathmandu, then under temperament and a clear religious goal Church of Rome presiding over the pean colonizers. They wanted to use the Gorkhali command) on the explicit request started to appcaron the HimaJayan scene.
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