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Cuncolim Revolt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuncolim_Revolt
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Cuncolim Revolt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A 17th-century painting in a church in Colva depicting the massacre of the five Jesuits in Cuncolim, Goa on July 25, 1583.
Five Jesuit priests along with one European and 14 Indian Christians were killed in the incident.[1] The Portuguese government retaliated by summarily executing most of the Gaonkar leaders without trial, and destroying the economic infrastructure of Cuncolim.[3]
The incident was the first show of defiance against the Portuguese by the local population since the conquest of Goa in 1510.[4]
Contents
Background
Following the conquest of Goa by Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510, missionaries of the newly founded Society of Jesus were sent from Portugal to Goa with the goal of fulfilling the papal bull Romanus Pontifex, which granted the patronage of the propagation of the Christian faith in Asia to the Portuguese. The Portuguese colonial government in Goa supported the mission with incentives for baptized Christians. They offered rice donations to the poor, good positions in the Portuguese colonies to the middle class and military support for local rulers.[5]A campaign was launched in Bardez in North Goa resulting in the destruction of 300 temples. Enacting laws, prohibition was laid from 4 December 1567 on Hindu rituals and which required all persons above 15 years of age to listen to Christian preaching, failing which they were severely punished. In 1583 many Hindu temples at Assolna and Cuncolim were destroyed through army action.[6]
Cuncolim was inhabited by a devout Hindu population who were mostly members of the warrior Kshatriya caste. It was prosperous compared to neighbouring areas due to its fertile land, with abundant and fresh water from rivers descending from the hinterland of Goa.[7] Surplus agricultural production had enabled this village to develop crafts of a very skilled order and it was known for its metal work. As Afonso de Albuquerque wrote in his letters back to Portugal, guns of good quality were manufactured in Cuncolim, which he found comparable to those made in Germany.[8]
There were 12 vangodds (Konkani: clans) of ganvkars (freeholders) in Cuncolim. Their names, in order of precedence, were Mhal, Shetkar, Naik, Mangro, Shet, Tombdo, Porob, Sidakalo, Lokakalo, Bandekar, Rounom and Benklo. The Gauncars, who held common ownership of the village and paid all taxes, were also the founders and caretakers of the main village temple.[9]
Cuncolim depended on a permanent bazaar at the end of more than one caravan route, connecting it with the mainland through the Ghats of Ashthagrahar province.[10]
In keeping with the traditional fairs connected with temple and religious festivities, the bazaar economy of Cuncolim depended upon its temple and religious celebrations. Due to this, there was an angry reaction of the dominant Hindu class to the destruction of its temples by the Portuguese government and to the attempts of the Jesuits who sought to establish Christianity in Cuncolim and its satellite villages of Assolna, Veroda, Velim and Ambelim in 1583. The demolition of local temples implied deprivation of religious and cultural traditions that sustained an established social structure and its underlying economic base.[2]
In protest, the ganvkars of Cuncolim refused to pay rent to the Portuguese authorities. They also refused to give up their practice of the Hindu religion, and continued to build temples, despite a banning order. They re-built their destroyed temples and conducted their rituals and festivals openly in defiance of Portuguese ordinances. As such, the Portuguese missionaries found it impossible to convert them.[11][12]
The Portuguese chronicler Diogo do Couto described Cuncolim as "The leader of rebellions" and its people as "The worst of all villages of Salcete".[13] Jesuit priest Valignani described Cuncolim as 'rigid and obstinate' in its adherence to idolatory.[9]
In 1583, five jesuit priests led by Fr. Rodolfo Acquaviva received orders from their superior to go to Salcette to maintain law and order, destroy temples, construct churches and effect conversions. They chose Cuncolim to make their first survey of the situation, as they saw it as an ideal ground for constructing a church.[11]
The Massacre
The five Jesuits met in Orlim Church on 15 July 1583, and thence proceeded to Cuncolim, accompanied by one European—Goncalo Rodrigues—and 14 native converts, with the objective of erecting a cross and selecting ground for building a church. Meanwhile, several villagers in Cuncolim, after holding a council, advanced in large numbers, armed with swords, lances, and other weapons, towards the spot where the Christians were.[1]According to the account given by the Catholic Encyclopaedia, published by the Vatican, Gonçalo Rodrigues attempted to confront the advancing crowd with a gun, but was stopped by Fr. Pacheco who stopped him and stated: "We are not here to fight." Then, he addressed the crowd in Konkani, their native language, and stated "Do not be afraid". Following this, the villagers attacked the party. Father Rudolph received five cuts from a scimitar and a spear and was killed on the spot. According to the Vatican, he died praying God to forgive the assailants, and pronouncing the Holy Name.[1]
Next, the crowd turned on Fr. Berno who was horribly mutilated, and Fr. Pacheco who, wounded with a spear, fell on his knees extending his arms in the form of a cross. Fr. Anthony Francis was shot with arrows, and his head was split open with a sword.[1]
Br. Aranha, wounded at the outset by a scimitar and a lance, fell down a deep declivity into the thick crop of a rice-field, where he lay until he was discovered. He was then carried to a Hindu idol, to which he was bidden to bow his head. Upon his refusal to do this, he was tied to a tree and was shot to death with arrows. The spot where this tree stood is marked with an octagonal monument surmounted by a cross, which was repaired by the Patriarch of Goa in 1885.[1]
Along with the five priests, Gonçalo Rodrigues, a Portuguese, and fourteen native Christians were also killed. Of the latter, one was Dominic, a boy of Cuncolim, who was a student at Rachol Seminary, and had accompanied the priests on their expeditions to Cuncolim and pointed out to them the Hindu temples. He was killed by his own Hindu uncle for assisting the priests.[1]
Alphonsus, an altar-boy of Fr. Pacheco had followed him closely, carrying his breviary. The Hindus cut off his hands on his refusal to part with the breviary and cut through his knee-joints to prevent his escape. He survived in this condition until the next day when he was found and killed. He was later buried in the church of the Holy Ghost at Margao in South Goa. According to the Vatican, several of the victims, including Francis Rodrigues and Paul da Costa had earlier affirmed their desire to be martyred for the Church.[1] However, the native Goans killed with the Jesuits were excluded from the list of the martyrs of the faith when the church beatified the missionaries.[14] This was due to the then prevailing attitude among the missionaries that the local Catholics were by nature incapable of performing spiritual feats.[14]
Portuguese retaliation and aftermath
Following the massacre, the captain-major in charge of the Portuguese Army garrison at the Assolna Fort was determined to avenge the deaths of the Jesuit priests.[9] As retribution, the Portuguese army raided and destroyed orchards in the village and unleashed many atrocities on the local population.[3]The Kshatriya ganvkars of Cuncolim were then invited for talks at the Assolna fort situated on the banks of the River Sal where the present-day Assolna church stands and in an act of treachery, sixteen of them were summarily executed without trial by the Portuguese authorities. One of them escaped execution by jumping into the Assolna River through a toilet hole and fleeing to neighbouring Karwar in the present day state of Karnataka.[15]
Following the execution of their leaders, the villages of Cuncolim, Velim, Assolna, Ambelim and Veroda refused to pay taxes on the produce generated from their fields and orchards to the Portuguese government. As a result, their lands were confiscated and entrusted to the Condado of the Marquis of Fronteira. Forcible conversions perpetrated by the Portuguese led the villagers of Cuncolim to move their places of worship. One of the temples of the goddess Shri Shantadurga Cuncolikarian was moved to the neighboring village of Fatorpa some seven kilometres away.[3] Most of Cuncolim's population was converted to Christianity, in the years following the massacre. The Church of Nossa Senhora de Saude was constructed by the Portuguese at the site of the massacre.[16]
In 2003, a memorial to the slain chieftains was constructed in Cuncolim, initiative of Prof. Vermissio Coutinho, head of the Cuncolim Chieftains Memorial Trust.[3] Prior to its construction, however, the memorial met with strong opposition from the local Catholic parish, on the grounds of its proximity to another memorial built 102 years ago in memory of the five slain Jesuit priests. They instead argued that the memorial should be built in Assolna, where the chieftains were massacred.[17]
Biographies of the Jesuits killed in the murders
Fr. Rodolfo Acquaviva
Rodolfo Acquaviva was born on 2 October 1550, at Atri in the Kingdom of Naples. He was the fifth child of the Duke of Atri, and nephew of Claudius Acquaviva, the fifth General of the Society of Jesus, while on his mother's side he was a cousin of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. Admitted into the Society of Jesus on 2 April 1568, he landed in Goa on 13 September 1578. Shortly after his arrival he was selected for an important mission to the court of Mughal emperor Akbar, who had sent an embassy to Goa with a request that two learned missionaries might be sent to Fatehpur Sikri, the city near Agra which Akbar had constructed as a capital. After spending three years at the Mughal court, he returned to Goa, much to the regret of the whole Court and especially of the emperor. On his return to Goa, he was appointed superior of the Salcete mission, which post he held until his martyrdom. After hearing of Fr. Acquaviva's death, Emperor Akbar is believed to have grieved; "Alas, father, my advice was good that you should not go, but you would not follow it."[16]Fr. Alphonsus Pacheco
Alphonsus Pacheco was born about 1551, of a noble family of New Castile, and entered the Society on 8 September 1567. In September 1574, he arrived in Goa, where he so distinguished himself by his rare prudence and virtue that in 1578; he was sent to Europe on important business. Returning to India in 1581, he was made rector of Rachol Seminary. He accompanied two punitive expeditions of the Portuguese to the village of Cuncolim, and was instrumental in destroying the pagodas there.Fr. Peter Berno
Peter Berno (or Berna) was born of humble parents in 1550 at Ascona, a Swiss village at the foot of the Alps. After being ordained priest in Rome, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1577, arrived in Goa in 1579, and was soon appointed to Salcete. He accompanied the expeditions to Cuncolim, and assisted in destroying the Hindu temples, destroyed an ant-hill which was deemed very sacred, and killed a cow which was also an object of Hindu worship. He used to say constantly that no fruit would be gathered from Cuncolim and the hamlets around it till they were bathed in blood shed for the Faith. His superiors declared that he had converted more pagans than all the other fathers put together.Fr. Anthony Francis
Anthony Francis, born in 1553, was a poor student of Coimbra in Portugal. He joined the Society in 1571, accompanied Father Pacheco to India in 1581, and was shortly afterwards ordained priest in Goa. It is said that whenever he said Mass, he prayed, at the Elevation, for the grace of martyrdom; and that on the day before his death, when he was saying Mass at the church of Orlim, a miracle prefigured the granting of this prayer.Br. Francis Aranha
Brother Francis Aranha was born of a wealthy and noble family of Braga in Portugal, about 1551, and went to India with his uncle, the first Archbishop of Goa, Dom Gaspar. There he joined the Society of Jesus on 1 November 1571. Being a skilled draughtsman and architect, he built several fine chapels in Goa.Beatification of the Priests
Following the massacre the bodies of the five martyrs were thrown into a well, water of which was afterwards sought by people from all parts of Goa for its miraculous healing. The well still stands today inside the St. Francis Xavier chapel situated at Maddicotto Cuncolim and is opened for people to view once a year on the feast day of St Xavier, celebrated in the first week of December.[3]The bodies themselves, when found, after two and a half days, allowed no signs of decomposition. They were solemnly buried in the church of Our Lady of the Snows at Rachol, and remained there until 1597, when they were removed to the Saint Paul's College, Goa, and in 1862 to the cathedral of Old Goa. Some of these relics have been sent to Europe at various times. All the bones of the entire right arm of Blessed Rudolph were taken to Rome in 1600, and his left arm was sent from Goa as a present to the Jesuit College at Naples.[1]
In accordance with the request of the Pacheco family, an arm and leg of Blessed Alphonsus were sent to Europe in 1609. The process of canonization began in 1600, but it was only in 1741 that Pope Benedict XIV declared the martyrdom proved. On the 16 April 1893, the five martyrs were beatified at St. Peter's in Rome.[1]
This beatification was celebrated in Goa in 1894, and the feast has ever since then been kept with great solemnity at Cuncolim, even by the descendants of those who participated in the murders. The Calendar of the Archdiocese of Goa has fixed 26 July as their feast day.[1]
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Saturday, 10 January 2015
The Cuncolim Revolt of 1583 - religious persecution in Goa under Portuguese rule
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| The Cuncolim Revolt,Goa 1583 |
In the wake of conquest of Goa by Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510 and solid construction of Portuguese settlements, on orders from Government administration in Portugal, missionaries of the newly founded Society of Jesus arrived from Portugal to Goa mainly for propagation of Christian faith among the natives. As enticement or bonus, they offered several incentives to locals including military support for local rulers to follow Christian faith for salvation. As this largesse rather bait, did not work with Hindus, Jesuits took recourse to religious persecution such as ban on Hindu rituals, books, symbols, etc and compulsory attendance of Christian preaching, failing which people will be severely punished.
At Bardez in North Goa about 300 Hindu temples were razed to the ground. In 1583 Portuguese army destroyed several Hindu temples at Assolna and Cuncolim villages. These villages and the surrounding lush, rich agricultural fields with copious water resources, were under the control of Kshatriya caste. These people depended on bazaars for their produce, and the bazaar economy relied on regular fairs, temple festivals, etc. The destruction of temples infuriated the locals as it meant deprivation of time-honored religious and cultural traditions that supported a well defined and established social fabric and its underlying economic base essential for sustenance, growth and survival.
The nefarious attempts of the Jesuits with total support from the government to establish Christianity in Cuncolim and other villages of Assolna, Veroda, Velim and Ambelim were blocked by the people. Christian faithfuls not only trespassed on their privacy and way of life but also pushed them to the fag end of their patience. Undaunted, the natives refused to pay taxes and give up their age- old religion. Arrogant as they were, on 25 July, 1583, five Jesuits accompanied by one European—Goncalo Rodrigues—and 14 native converts, went to Cuncolim with the main objective of erecting a cross and selecting ground for building a church.
In the ensuing violent retaliation by the villagers, five Jesuit priests along with one European and 14 Indian Christians were brutally killed in the incident and the Portuguese government took revenge by summarily executing most of the local leaders without trial, and destroying the economic infrastructure of Cuncolim - their fundamental source of livelihood. Later the village chieftains were invited for talks at a fort in Assolna where the government killed all but one.
The murdered priests were canonized by the church because their bodies, did not emit foul smell in spite of being in the well for a few days. The struggle between the Portuguese government and the village continued for a long period without any solution in sight leaving the natives in mental agony and pain.
At last through the efforts of the visionary Dr. Rogociano Rebello, a general medical practitioner who also studied law, the desperate villagers got their land back. The villagers' grievances were at last heard in the the highest court in Portugal. Finally the efforts of Dr Rogociano Rebello bore fruit.
“Martyrs’ chapel” was erected, dedicated to the priests and others killed in 1583. In 2003, a memorial to the slain chieftains in the same year was erected in Cuncolim at the initiative of Prof. Vermissio Coutinho, head of the Cuncolim Chieftains Memorial Trust.
Cuncolim revolt of 1583- First resistance against foreign rule in India.
Ref:
Church-Cuncolim Gaunkars clash over martyrs' memorial – November 13, 1999, Goa News.
en.wikipedia.org/Goa Inquisition.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuncolim_Revolt
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Goa s First Revolt against the Portuguese Rule - Cuncolim ...
www.cmccuncolim.com/cmc/revolt.php
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Cuncolim revolt of 1583- Villagers demand recognition from the government- The first resistance against foreign rule
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MLA says he’s clueless why 1583 revolt is not in syllabus
RELATED
CUNCOLIM: Cuncolim MLA Subhash 'Rajan' Naik said that he was unaware of
why the state government has delayed in fulfilling the demand of the
Cuncolim chieftains memorial trust to include the Cuncolim revolt in the
educational curriculum.
Naik made this remark while felicitating IIT JEE (advance) rank-holder Adil Dangui and 48 other meritorious students on the occasion of 'Cuncolim Day' jointly organized by the Cuncolim municipal council (CMC) and the Cuncolim chieftains memorial trust.
As it was on July 15, 1583, that 16 Cuncolim chieftains had revolted against the colonial Portuguese regime, a momentous historic day for Cunkolkars who term it as the ' First War for Independence' by these chieftains who fought for swaraj and swardharma.
Recalling this historic day, the local MLA urged the youngsters in the audience to study their history while exclaiming his ignorance to the state government's delay to fulfill the demand of the trust to include this revolt in the educational curriculum. Director of municipal administration (DMA) Elvis Gomes pointed out to two aspects of this historic revolt that ought to be remembered; the struggle by the locals against injustice and their betrayal by the Portuguese. Gomes further praised the CMC for not just undertaking development work by constructing drains but also of 'human development' by felicitating the meritorious students and the five individuals who have excelled in their respective fields.
Retired college principal Sr Ema Noronha felicitated former Goa chief secretary Dr J C Almeida who was awarded the 'Cuncolim Bhushan' and remarked "This revolt in 1583 is the first in the world as it was then followed by the French Revolution, revolt of the Ranes and Pintos in Goa, etc. Cunkolkars do not deter but they fight."
Urging for further research on this subject so that it be made an important chapter in the history of Goa, Noronha questioned, "Does the blood of the chieftains flow into your veins?" and appealed to the audience to fight against corruption by emulating the example of these 16 chieftains.
Besides Almeida, the other awardees included retired banker Shripad Govind Dessai and retired headmaster Oscar Gracias (both 'Cuncolim Shree'), international woman footballer Elvy Fernandes e Goes ('Cuncolim Jyoti') and prominent educationist professor D L Naik ('Cuncolim Mitr').
Prior to the felicitation function, floral tributes were paid at the chieftains' memorial near the CMC building. Also present were the CMC chairperson Landry Mascarenhas, CMC chief officer Pandarinath Naik and the trust president Oscar Martins. Students of various Cuncolim schools presented a cultural programme of patriotic songs and folk dances.
Praising efforts in the academic field, the Cuncolim MLA said that the proposed national institute technology would commence shortly as the works had already been awarded. ==============================================
https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/Cuncolim,+Goa/@15.1854726,74.005726,35028m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x3bbe4d21564a2b73:0x3eea0880e6f75ecc
Naik made this remark while felicitating IIT JEE (advance) rank-holder Adil Dangui and 48 other meritorious students on the occasion of 'Cuncolim Day' jointly organized by the Cuncolim municipal council (CMC) and the Cuncolim chieftains memorial trust.
As it was on July 15, 1583, that 16 Cuncolim chieftains had revolted against the colonial Portuguese regime, a momentous historic day for Cunkolkars who term it as the ' First War for Independence' by these chieftains who fought for swaraj and swardharma.
Recalling this historic day, the local MLA urged the youngsters in the audience to study their history while exclaiming his ignorance to the state government's delay to fulfill the demand of the trust to include this revolt in the educational curriculum. Director of municipal administration (DMA) Elvis Gomes pointed out to two aspects of this historic revolt that ought to be remembered; the struggle by the locals against injustice and their betrayal by the Portuguese. Gomes further praised the CMC for not just undertaking development work by constructing drains but also of 'human development' by felicitating the meritorious students and the five individuals who have excelled in their respective fields.
Retired college principal Sr Ema Noronha felicitated former Goa chief secretary Dr J C Almeida who was awarded the 'Cuncolim Bhushan' and remarked "This revolt in 1583 is the first in the world as it was then followed by the French Revolution, revolt of the Ranes and Pintos in Goa, etc. Cunkolkars do not deter but they fight."
Urging for further research on this subject so that it be made an important chapter in the history of Goa, Noronha questioned, "Does the blood of the chieftains flow into your veins?" and appealed to the audience to fight against corruption by emulating the example of these 16 chieftains.
Besides Almeida, the other awardees included retired banker Shripad Govind Dessai and retired headmaster Oscar Gracias (both 'Cuncolim Shree'), international woman footballer Elvy Fernandes e Goes ('Cuncolim Jyoti') and prominent educationist professor D L Naik ('Cuncolim Mitr').
Prior to the felicitation function, floral tributes were paid at the chieftains' memorial near the CMC building. Also present were the CMC chairperson Landry Mascarenhas, CMC chief officer Pandarinath Naik and the trust president Oscar Martins. Students of various Cuncolim schools presented a cultural programme of patriotic songs and folk dances.
Praising efforts in the academic field, the Cuncolim MLA said that the proposed national institute technology would commence shortly as the works had already been awarded. ==============================================
https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/Cuncolim,+Goa/@15.1854726,74.005726,35028m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x3bbe4d21564a2b73:0x3eea0880e6f75ecc
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