Dr. Jai Maharaj
2014-09-30 23:44:08 UTC
Forwarded message
Details of the Goa Inquisition
Christian historian, Dr. T. R. de Souza
At least from 1540 onwards, and in the island of Goa before
that year, all the Hindu idols had been annihilated or had
disappeared, all the temples had been destroyed and their
sites and building material was in most cases utilized to
erect new Christian Churches and chapels. Various viceregal
and Church council decrees banished the Hindu priests from
the Portuguese territories; the public practices of Hindu
rites including marriage rites, were banned; the state took
upon itself the task of bringing up Hindu orphan children;
the Hindus were denied certain employments, while the
Christians were preferred; it was ensured that the Hindus
would not harass those who became Christians, and on the
contrary, the Hindus were obliged to assemble periodically
in Churches to listen to preaching or to the refutation of
their religion."
"A particularly grave abuse was practiced in Goa in the
form of 'mass baptism' and what went before it. The
practice was begun by the Jesuits and was alter initiated
by the Franciscans also. The Jesuits staged an annual mass
baptism on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (January
25), and in order to secure as many neophytes as possible,
a few days before the ceremony the Jesuits would go through
the streets of the Hindu quarter in pairs, accompanied by
their Negro slaves, whom they would urge to seize the
Hindus. When the blacks caught up a fugitive, they would
smear his lips with a piece of beef, making him an
'untouchable' among his people. Conversion to Christianity
was then his only option."
The Goan inquisition is regarded by all contemporary
portrayals as the most violent inquisition ever executed by
the Portuguese Catholic Church. It lasted from 1560 to
1812. The inquisition was set as a tribunal, headed by a
judge, sent to Goa from Portugal and was assisted by two
judicial henchmen. The judge was answerable to no one
except to Lisbon and handed down punishments as he saw fit.
The Inquisition Laws filled 230 pages and the palace where
the Inquisition was conducted was known as the Big House
and the Inquisition proceedings were always conducted
behind closed shutters and closed doors. The screams of
agony of the culprits (men, women, and children) could be
heard in the streets, in the stillness of the night, as
they were brutally interrogated, flogged, and slowly
dismembered in front of their relatives. Eyelids were
sliced off and extremities were amputated carefully, a
person could remain conscious even though the only thing
that remained was his torso and a head.
Diago de Boarda, a priest and his advisor Vicar General,
Miguel Vazz had made a 41 point plan for torturing Hindus.
Under this plan Viceroy Antano de Noronha issued in 1566,
an order applicable to the entire area under Portuguese
rule:
"I hereby order that in any area owned by my master, the
king, nobody should construct a Hindu temple and such
temples already constructed should not be repaired without
my permission. If this order is transgressed, such temples
shall be, destroyed and the goods in them shall be used to
meet expenses of holy deeds, as punishment of such
transgression."
In 1567 the campaign of destroying temples in Bardez met
with success. At the end of it 300 Hindu temples were
destroyed. Enacting laws, prohibition was laid from
December 4, 1567 on rituals of Hindu marriages, sacred
thread wearing and cremation. All the persons above 15
years of age were compelled to listen to Christian
preaching, failing which they were punished.
A religious fatva was issued on the basis of the findings
of Goa Inquiry Commission. It stated,"...Hereby we declare
the decision that the conventions mentioned in the preamble
of the fatva as stated below are permanently declared as
useless, and therefore prohibited".
Prohibitions Regarding Marriages
o The instruments for Hindu songs shall not be played.
o While giving dowry the relatives of the bride and groom
must not be invited.
o At the time of marriage, betel leaf packages (pan) must
not be distributed either publicly or in private to the
persons present.
o Flowers, or fried puris, betel nuts and leaves must not
be sent to the heads of the houses of the bride or groom.
o Gotraj ceremony of family God must not be performed.
o On the day prior to a wedding, rice must not be husked,
spices must not be pounded, grains must not be ground and
other recipes for marriage feast must not be cooked.
o Pandals and festoons must not be used.
o Pithi should not be applied.
o The bride must not be accorded ceremonial welcome. The
bride and groom must not -be made to sit under pandal to
convey blessings and best wishes to them.
Prohibitions Regarding Fasts, Post-death Rituals
o The poor must not be fed or ceremonial meals must not
be served for the peace of the souls of the dead.
o There should be no fasting on ekadashi day.
o Fasting can be done according to the Christian
principles.
o No rituals should be performed on the twelfth day after
death, on moonless and full moon dates.
o No fasting should be done during lunar eclipse.
Conventions
o Hindu men should not wear dhoti either in public or in
their houses. Women should not wear cholis.
o They should not plant Tulsi in their houses, compounds,
gardens or any other place.
o Following the law of 1567, orphans were kidnapped for
converting them to Christianity.
On September 22, 1570 an order was issued that:
o The Hindus embracing Christianity will be exempted from
land taxes for a period of 15 years.
o Nobody shall bear Hindu names or surnames.
In 1583 Hindu temples at Esolna and Kankolim were destroyed
through army action.
"The fathers of the Church forbade the Hindus under
terrible penalties the use of their own sacred books, and
prevented them from all exercise of their religion. They
destroyed their temples, and so harassed and interfered
with the people that they abandoned the city in large
numbers, refusing to remain any longer in a place where
they had no liberty, and were liable to imprisonment,
torture and death if they worshipped after their own
fashion the gods of their fathers." wrote Sasetti, who was
in India from 1578 to 1588.
An order was issued in June 1684 eliminating Konkani
language and making it compulsory to speak Portuguese
language. The law provided for dealing toughly with anyone
using the local language. Following that law all the
symbols of non-Christian sects were destroyed and the books
written in local languages were burnt.
The Archbishop living on the banks of the Ethora had said
during one of his lecture series, "The post of Inquiry
Commission in Goa is regarded as holy." The women who
opposed the assistants of the commission were put behind
the bars and were used by them to satisfy their animal
instincts. Then they were burnt alive as opponents of the
established tenets of the Catholic church. The victims of
such inhuman laws of the Inquiry Commission included a
French traveller named Delone. He was an eye witness to the
atrocities, cruelty and reign of terror unleashed by
priests. He published a book in 1687 describing the lot of
helpless victims. While he was in jail he had heard the
cries of tortured people beaten with instruments having
sharp teeth. All these details are noted in Delone's book.
So harsh and notorious was the inquisition in Goa, that
word of its brutality and horrors reached Lisbon but
nothing was done to stop this notoriety and escalating
barbarity and it continued for two hundred more years. No
body knows the exact number of Goans subjected to these
diabolical tortures, but perhaps it runs into hundreds of
thousands, may be even more. The abominations of
inquisitions continued until a brief respite was given in
1774 but four years later, the inquisition was introduced
again and it continued un-interruptedly until 1812. At that
point in time, in the year of 1812, the British put
pressure on the Portuguese to put an end to the terror of
Inquisition and the presence of British troops in Goa
enforced the British desire. Also the Portuguese power at
this time was declining and they could not fight the
British. The palace of the Grand Inquisitor, the Big House,
was demolished and no trace of it remains today, which
might remind someone of inquisitions and the horrors inside
this Big House that their great saint Francis Xavier had
commenced.
Dr. Trasta Breganka Kunha, a Catholic citizen of Goa
writes, "Inspite of all the mutilations and concealment of
history, it remains an undoubted fact that religious
conversion of Goans is due to methods of force adopted by
the Portuguese to establish their rule. As a result of this
violence the character of our people was destroyed. The
propagation of Christian sect in Goa came about not by
religious preaching but through the methods of violence and
pressure. If any evidence is needed for this fact, we can
obtain it through law books, orders and reports of the
local rulers of that time and also from the most dependable
documents of the Christian sect
End of forwarded message
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
Details of the Goa Inquisition
Christian historian, Dr. T. R. de Souza
At least from 1540 onwards, and in the island of Goa before
that year, all the Hindu idols had been annihilated or had
disappeared, all the temples had been destroyed and their
sites and building material was in most cases utilized to
erect new Christian Churches and chapels. Various viceregal
and Church council decrees banished the Hindu priests from
the Portuguese territories; the public practices of Hindu
rites including marriage rites, were banned; the state took
upon itself the task of bringing up Hindu orphan children;
the Hindus were denied certain employments, while the
Christians were preferred; it was ensured that the Hindus
would not harass those who became Christians, and on the
contrary, the Hindus were obliged to assemble periodically
in Churches to listen to preaching or to the refutation of
their religion."
"A particularly grave abuse was practiced in Goa in the
form of 'mass baptism' and what went before it. The
practice was begun by the Jesuits and was alter initiated
by the Franciscans also. The Jesuits staged an annual mass
baptism on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (January
25), and in order to secure as many neophytes as possible,
a few days before the ceremony the Jesuits would go through
the streets of the Hindu quarter in pairs, accompanied by
their Negro slaves, whom they would urge to seize the
Hindus. When the blacks caught up a fugitive, they would
smear his lips with a piece of beef, making him an
'untouchable' among his people. Conversion to Christianity
was then his only option."
The Goan inquisition is regarded by all contemporary
portrayals as the most violent inquisition ever executed by
the Portuguese Catholic Church. It lasted from 1560 to
1812. The inquisition was set as a tribunal, headed by a
judge, sent to Goa from Portugal and was assisted by two
judicial henchmen. The judge was answerable to no one
except to Lisbon and handed down punishments as he saw fit.
The Inquisition Laws filled 230 pages and the palace where
the Inquisition was conducted was known as the Big House
and the Inquisition proceedings were always conducted
behind closed shutters and closed doors. The screams of
agony of the culprits (men, women, and children) could be
heard in the streets, in the stillness of the night, as
they were brutally interrogated, flogged, and slowly
dismembered in front of their relatives. Eyelids were
sliced off and extremities were amputated carefully, a
person could remain conscious even though the only thing
that remained was his torso and a head.
Diago de Boarda, a priest and his advisor Vicar General,
Miguel Vazz had made a 41 point plan for torturing Hindus.
Under this plan Viceroy Antano de Noronha issued in 1566,
an order applicable to the entire area under Portuguese
rule:
"I hereby order that in any area owned by my master, the
king, nobody should construct a Hindu temple and such
temples already constructed should not be repaired without
my permission. If this order is transgressed, such temples
shall be, destroyed and the goods in them shall be used to
meet expenses of holy deeds, as punishment of such
transgression."
In 1567 the campaign of destroying temples in Bardez met
with success. At the end of it 300 Hindu temples were
destroyed. Enacting laws, prohibition was laid from
December 4, 1567 on rituals of Hindu marriages, sacred
thread wearing and cremation. All the persons above 15
years of age were compelled to listen to Christian
preaching, failing which they were punished.
A religious fatva was issued on the basis of the findings
of Goa Inquiry Commission. It stated,"...Hereby we declare
the decision that the conventions mentioned in the preamble
of the fatva as stated below are permanently declared as
useless, and therefore prohibited".
Prohibitions Regarding Marriages
o The instruments for Hindu songs shall not be played.
o While giving dowry the relatives of the bride and groom
must not be invited.
o At the time of marriage, betel leaf packages (pan) must
not be distributed either publicly or in private to the
persons present.
o Flowers, or fried puris, betel nuts and leaves must not
be sent to the heads of the houses of the bride or groom.
o Gotraj ceremony of family God must not be performed.
o On the day prior to a wedding, rice must not be husked,
spices must not be pounded, grains must not be ground and
other recipes for marriage feast must not be cooked.
o Pandals and festoons must not be used.
o Pithi should not be applied.
o The bride must not be accorded ceremonial welcome. The
bride and groom must not -be made to sit under pandal to
convey blessings and best wishes to them.
Prohibitions Regarding Fasts, Post-death Rituals
o The poor must not be fed or ceremonial meals must not
be served for the peace of the souls of the dead.
o There should be no fasting on ekadashi day.
o Fasting can be done according to the Christian
principles.
o No rituals should be performed on the twelfth day after
death, on moonless and full moon dates.
o No fasting should be done during lunar eclipse.
Conventions
o Hindu men should not wear dhoti either in public or in
their houses. Women should not wear cholis.
o They should not plant Tulsi in their houses, compounds,
gardens or any other place.
o Following the law of 1567, orphans were kidnapped for
converting them to Christianity.
On September 22, 1570 an order was issued that:
o The Hindus embracing Christianity will be exempted from
land taxes for a period of 15 years.
o Nobody shall bear Hindu names or surnames.
In 1583 Hindu temples at Esolna and Kankolim were destroyed
through army action.
"The fathers of the Church forbade the Hindus under
terrible penalties the use of their own sacred books, and
prevented them from all exercise of their religion. They
destroyed their temples, and so harassed and interfered
with the people that they abandoned the city in large
numbers, refusing to remain any longer in a place where
they had no liberty, and were liable to imprisonment,
torture and death if they worshipped after their own
fashion the gods of their fathers." wrote Sasetti, who was
in India from 1578 to 1588.
An order was issued in June 1684 eliminating Konkani
language and making it compulsory to speak Portuguese
language. The law provided for dealing toughly with anyone
using the local language. Following that law all the
symbols of non-Christian sects were destroyed and the books
written in local languages were burnt.
The Archbishop living on the banks of the Ethora had said
during one of his lecture series, "The post of Inquiry
Commission in Goa is regarded as holy." The women who
opposed the assistants of the commission were put behind
the bars and were used by them to satisfy their animal
instincts. Then they were burnt alive as opponents of the
established tenets of the Catholic church. The victims of
such inhuman laws of the Inquiry Commission included a
French traveller named Delone. He was an eye witness to the
atrocities, cruelty and reign of terror unleashed by
priests. He published a book in 1687 describing the lot of
helpless victims. While he was in jail he had heard the
cries of tortured people beaten with instruments having
sharp teeth. All these details are noted in Delone's book.
So harsh and notorious was the inquisition in Goa, that
word of its brutality and horrors reached Lisbon but
nothing was done to stop this notoriety and escalating
barbarity and it continued for two hundred more years. No
body knows the exact number of Goans subjected to these
diabolical tortures, but perhaps it runs into hundreds of
thousands, may be even more. The abominations of
inquisitions continued until a brief respite was given in
1774 but four years later, the inquisition was introduced
again and it continued un-interruptedly until 1812. At that
point in time, in the year of 1812, the British put
pressure on the Portuguese to put an end to the terror of
Inquisition and the presence of British troops in Goa
enforced the British desire. Also the Portuguese power at
this time was declining and they could not fight the
British. The palace of the Grand Inquisitor, the Big House,
was demolished and no trace of it remains today, which
might remind someone of inquisitions and the horrors inside
this Big House that their great saint Francis Xavier had
commenced.
Dr. Trasta Breganka Kunha, a Catholic citizen of Goa
writes, "Inspite of all the mutilations and concealment of
history, it remains an undoubted fact that religious
conversion of Goans is due to methods of force adopted by
the Portuguese to establish their rule. As a result of this
violence the character of our people was destroyed. The
propagation of Christian sect in Goa came about not by
religious preaching but through the methods of violence and
pressure. If any evidence is needed for this fact, we can
obtain it through law books, orders and reports of the
local rulers of that time and also from the most dependable
documents of the Christian sect
End of forwarded message
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj