History of Mangalorean Catholics

The History of Mangalorean Catholics comprises three major eras. The first era consists of the Aryan inheritance from their ancestors, who once lived at the regions of the now extinct Saraswati River, and later migrated to Goa possibility due to the drying up of the river and/or Muslim invasion. The second era was the Lusitanian legacy, due to the conversion of their Hindu ancestors in Goa to Roman Catholicism by the Portuguese, and the final era being the migration of these Roman Catholics in Goa to Mangalore and other parts of South Canara between the mid-16th and mid-18th centuries, forming a new Mangalorean Catholic identity, and the subsequent growth and development of the community. Several centuries of living in South Canara gave these Catholics an identity of their own.

The Roman Catholics from Goa migrated to Mangalore in three major waves, the first after 1560, the second after 1570, and the third in about 1683. The first wave of migrants left due to the Goa Inquisition of 1560. The second and third waves left Goa because of famines, epidemics, and political upheavals such as the Portuguese–Maratha wars. During Hyder Ali's regime, the community had flourished. Soon after his son Tippu Sultan gained possession of Mangalore in January 1784, he issued orders to seize the Christians in Canara, confiscate their estates, and deport them to Seringapatam. They had to suffer extreme hardships, torture, death, and persecutions during the captivity. Many Christians were forcibly converted to Islam. Of the 60,000-80,000 Christians taken captive, only 15,000-20,000 made it out alive as Christians. The captivity ended with the death of Tippu in the Battle of Seringapatam (1799).