History of Mangalorean Catholics - Migrations From Goa

Migrations From Goa

Many of the Goan ancestors of the present Mangalorean Catholics fled Goa because of the Goa Inquisition introduced by the Portuguese in 1560. King Sebastian of Portugal decreed that every trace of Indian customs be eradicated through the Inquisition. The Inquisition characterized any vestige of Hinduism as heretical. Christian converts were banned from using Hindu names, attending any Hindu ceremonies including weddings, engaging the services of a Hindu doctor or midwife, wearing dhotis or cholis, and planting tulsi (Holy Basil). Those Christians who were not prepared to give up completely their former Hindu practices were declared heretics and apostates and could be condemned to death. But many Christians of Goa were attached to some of their ancient Indian customs, and refused to abandon them. Consequently they lived in constant danger for their lives. Those who refused to comply with the rules laid down by the Inquisition were forced to leave Goa and to settle outside the Portuguese dominion.

It is interesting and instructive, in this light, to view the rituals and practices of Mangalorean Catholics. These Catholics of South fled from Goa (mainly from its northern districts) in successive waves. A large number fled to escape the scrutiny of the inquistion. Among them the ritual substances banned by the inquistion such as betel leaves, areca nuts, rice and flowers, continue to be employed in domestic celebrations and the pattern of ritual practices appears much more resemble forms described in the Inquisitorial edict.

— A.P.L. D'Souza, Popular Christianity: A Case Study among the Catholics of Mangalore

The Christians who left Goa were skilled cultivators who abandoned their irrigated fields in Goa to achieve freedom. At the time of migration, Canara was ruled by the Bednore King Shivappa Naik (1540–60). He evinced great interest in the development of agriculture in his empire and welcomed these farmers to his fertile lands. This was confirmed by Francis Buchanan, a Scottish physician, when he visited Canara in 1801. In his book, A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar (1807), he stated that "The princes of the house of Ikeri had given great encouragement to the Christians, and had induced 80,000 of them to settle in Tuluva." Later, this was identified as a probable mistake and should have read "8,000". However even this figure included the second emigration of Christians from Goa. The Christians were also recruited into the armies of the Bednore dynasty. The Hindus left the Christians severely alone. The local Brahmins ignored the Christians, even those of Brahmin origin. On account of their change of religion, they refused to associate with them and did not admit them into their houses. Like the local Brahmins, the Bunts, who were largely self-sufficient in South Canara, also never associated with the Christians. A closer contact was, however, kept by the Christians with Goan Hindus of the same caste who were, like the Christians, refugees from Goa. The Christians used to invite their Hindu relatives to festivities such as birth celebrations, weddings and funeral feasts, and the Hindus used to accept such invitations.

Under the provisional treaties between the Portuguese and the Bednore rulers, the Christians were allowed to build churches and help the growth of Christianity in South Canara. The arrival of the British and the Dutch halted the activity of the Portuguese and gradually the Portuguese were unable to send the required number of missionaries to Mangalore. In 1568, the Church of Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Mangalore (Our Lady of the Rosary of Mangalore) was erected by the Portuguese at Bolar in Mangalore. The Churches of Nossa Senhora de Mercês de Velala (Our Lady of Mercy of Ullal) and São Francisco de Assis Igreja (St. Francis of Assisi) at Farangipet were also erected by the Portuguese during the same time in South Canara. These three churches were highlighted by the Italian traveller Pietro Della Valle, who visited Mangalore in 1623.

The Sultan of Bijapur attacked Goa in 1571 and ended Portuguese influence in the region. The Bijapur sultans were especially known for their loathing of Christianity. Fearing persecution, many Catholics from Goa migrated to South Canara. This migration is referred as the "Second Wave of Migration". The Milagres Church, one of the oldest churches in South Canara, was built in 1680 by Bishop Thomas de Castro, a Goan Catholic theatine priest who was appointed by Pope Clement X as the Vicar Apostolic of Canara. The attacks of the Maratha Empire on Goa, during the mid 16th century, was also a cause of migration. In 1664, Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha empire, attacked Kudal, a town north of Goa, and began his campaign for Goa. After Shivaji's death on 3 April 1680, his son Sambhaji ascended to the throne. The onslaught of Sambahji, along the northern territories of Goa drove nearly all the Christians from their homelands, and most of them migrated to South Canara. This migration is referred as the "Third Wave of Migration". From the Salcete district of Goa, according to one estimate, emigrations were around at the rate of 2,000 annually. From the Bardez district of Goa, Jesuit priests estimated that 12,000 Christians emigrated from Goa between 1710–1712, mot of them going southward. A Goa Government report of 1747 presently in the Panjim archives recorded that around 5,000 Christians fled from the Bardez and Tiswadi districts of Goa during the invasion of the Marathas. It was estimated that during the Maratha raids on Goa, about 60,000 Christians migrated to South Canara. During the later years, the migration slowed because of the Maratha-Mughal wars, which kept Sambhaji busy, and some 10,000 Christians returned to Goa. According to Alan Machado Prabhu, the Mangalorean Catholics numbered about 58,000 by 1765.