The missionary zeal of the rulers would not permit them to rest in patience until the Hindu temples fell into ruins for want of repairs. They also sa… - Anant Priolkar
" "The missionary zeal of the rulers would not permit them to rest in patience until the Hindu temples fell into ruins for want of repairs. They also saw that the Hindus were migrating with their gods beyond the reach of their power. A pretext was therefore found in 1567 to destroy the temples of Salsete and break the images of gods found therein. The incident which provided the occasion for this action was as ,follows : Diogo Rodrigues, Captain of the fort of Rachol, had summoned some villagers of Loutolim, but they did not appear. He was advised to burn the houses of these villagers by way of punishment for their disobedience. Rodrigues felt that it would be a more effective punishment if the principal temple of the viHage was burnt down and he acted accordingly. The villagers sought redress from the ‘‘ Capitéo ds Justigas de sua Magestade”’ in Goa who ordered that Rodrigues should make amends by rebuilding the temple which he had burnt. Rodrigues appealed against this decision and he received the powerful support of Archbishop Primaz and the Provincial who told the viceroy that the decision was deplorable. As a result the viceroy ordered Rodrigues to burn down as many temples of Salsete as possible. Elated at his success, Rodrigues returned to Rachol and with the active assistance of the missionaries of Salsete strove day and night to burn down temples and break the images found therein. Francisco de Souza writes that the number of temples destroyed at this time was 280.
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About Anant Priolkar
Anant Priolkar (1895 - 1973) was an Indian historian.
Also Known As
Alternative Names:
Anant Kakba Priolkar
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Scholars are generally agreed that the Inquisition of Goa had earned ‘‘a sinister renown as the most pitiless in Christendom.” From the foregoing account of the use of torture by its counterparts in Europe it should be possible to imagine the cruel excesses which the Inquisition of Goa must have practised to have merited such notoriety.
In the present chapter it is proposed to review in brief various measures taken by the Portuguese rulers in India with the object of converting the natives to Christianity. The measures tall into two broad categories. Firstly, there were those the object of which was to make it difficult for the natives to continue to retain their old religion. The temples and shrines of the Hindus were destroyed and they were forbidden to erect or maintain new ones even outside the Portuguese territories; practice of Hindu rites and ceremonies such as the marriage ceremony, the ceremony of wearing the sacred thread, ceremony performed at the birth of a child, was banned ; priests and teachers of the Hindus were banished ; Hindus whose presence was considered as undesirable from the point of view of propagation of Christianity were sent into exile ; those who remained were deprived of their means of subsistence and ancestral rights in village communities; they were also subjected to various humiliations, indignities and disabilities ; ‘‘ orphan” children of the Hindus were snatched away from their families for being baptised ; and men and women were compelled to listen to the preaching of Christian doctrine. In the second category can be classed the measures intended to provide positive incentives for conversion to Christianity, such as, those which sought to give the Christians a monopoly of public posts, altered the laws of inheritance in favour of persons who changed their religion, discriminated in favour of Christian converts in the matter of the rights and privileges in the village community. As would be expected, the Inquisition played a prominent role both in bringing pressure on the secular authorities to pass discriminatory legislation and in enforcing the measures with characteristic sternness and severity.
On April, 3, 1582, the following royal decree was issued : “ Being informed that Brahminsand Hindus of these parts of India are collectors and contractors of my revenues and also serve my Officials in matters relating to their offices, which is greatly detrimental to Christianity and contrary to canonical law, and although the governor had provided against this by his order of the year 1557 the same was not being executed, and being desirous of providing in this matter in pursuance of my duty to propagate our Holy Catholic Faith in the said parts, I hereby order that from now onwards no Hindu, whatever be his status or condition, should hold public office.’’2?
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