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Pinto Conspiracy
For those not conversant with even the barest details of the CONJURAÇÃO dos
PINTOS (PINTO CONSPIRACY), this was a conspiracy conceived by a group of Goan
military officers and men together with several clergymen, to get rid of the
Portuguese from Goa. The plan was for the action to start on 10th August 1777.
But, on the morning of the 6th, a certain Antonio Eugenio Toscano , clerk at
the Comunidade de Aldona appeared before the Governor spilled the beans, giving
him full details of the plot. The Governor did not pay heed to the news
thinking it a laughable absurdity, probably occasioned by personal animosity.
But, in the evening of the same day, a high ranking officer of the LEGIAO de
Bardez came to the Governor bringing along a junior officer to confirm the
story. While the Governor was still mulling over the matter, the following
morning he received from the Archbishop the summary of a sworn deposition by
three clerics, attesting to the same. There was thus little doubt that there
was something afoot. My matenal granduncle, Lt. Manoel caetano Pinto, was a key
conspirator
The Governor issued immediate orders for the apprehension of the culprits. The
first to be apprehended was Fr. Caetano Francisco do Couto in Piedade. The
apprehension of the others followed.
After being tried, all the military personnel underwent the same execution
process as Manoel Caetano Pinto. On the appointed day of the execution, Manoel
Caetano's feet were tied to a horse's tail and the horse was taken all over the
city of Old Goa until arriving at the site of the execution, where his hands
were cut off and then he was hanged. After death, he was decapitated and the
rest of the body quartered. The hand and body parts were then mounted on swords
and taken by horsemen to the district capitals and villages of origin of the
culprits. There they were impaled on wooden poles for the populace to see what
happens to those that try to rise up. All the fifteen clergymen were spared
their lives and sent into exile. Some of those were pardoned in later years and
returned home.
Manoel Caetano Pinto's brother, Antonio Caetano Pinto was studying in Lisbon
when news of the conspiracy reached there. He swiftly made his way to Paris
from where he moved to Italy. From Italy Antonio Caetano returned to India, but
not to Goa. He went to Poona where the Pintos had a strong lobby at the Peshwa
Court due to the influence of General Cunha (married to Antonio Francisco's
sister). There he fought against the British attaining the rank of Lt. Colonel.
He was left for dead on the battlefields but recovered. The British, his foes
of the battlefield, offered him a post in their administration because of his
great learning (he had studied in Lisbon, Paris and Rome and was fluent in
French and Italian), and his specialized knowledge of agriculture. But he
turned down the post, as well as another offered by the Goa Governor as
Professor at the newly opened Military Academy in Goa. He dedicated himself to
agriculture and was the first to introduce mills for producing sugar from
sugar-cane at Saligão
Francisco Caetano Pinto, another brother, and my great grand-father, also
gravitated to Poona and fought against the British until the final defeat of
the Peshwas in Sholapur in 1818. Lt. Col. Francisco Caetano Pinto fought with
great valour against the British, who, nevertheless, awarded him an annual
pension of Rs. 2,500/- (currency value of 1818) in recognition of his having
saved the life of two British soldiers, Hunter and Morrison, who had been made
prisoners by the Mahrattas and were being prepared to be put to death.
[GRANT-DUFF in the “History of the Marattas” and WALLACE in “Memories of India”
spoke of them.]
Though the conspiracy has been named after the PINTOs, possibly because it was
hatched in their house, the brains behind it were of two clergymen: Fr. Jose
Antonio Gonçalves and Caetano Francisco do Couto.
Fr. Caetano Francisco do Couto was extremely intelligent and soon after
becoming a priest, was appointed Governor (sort of intermediary between a
vicar-general and a bishop) in Cochin. Due to factors too long and unnecessary
to detail here, he went back to Goa, and was involved in the conspiracy. He was
apprehended as one of the main instigators of the conspiracy and sent to Lisbon
in 1789, landing ultimately in the St. Francis Convent there. It is said that
he was seized with episodes of madness attributed by some to an extreme guilt
complex as he had been instrumental in providing the most detailed information
on the participants of the plot, which led to their detention and subsequent
excruciating execution. No one knows for sure what was his ultimate fate. There
is no record of his death anywhere, though there were reported contemporary
sightings of him in Goa.
Fr. Jose Antonio Gonçalves has been described as the most intelligent, astute,
proud and ambitious of the conspirators. He had a Doctorate in Theology from
Rome. He was dining at a friend's home when he got news that all the associates
were being rounded up. He swiftly left and made his way to Guirim, and,
following morning to Chorao. From Chorao, through the help of parishioners and
friends, travelling through woods, he managed to reach Azarem, with Government
troops in hot pursuit. Azarem happened to lie in Mahratta territory and thus,
out of bounds for the pursuing troops. The local Governor refused to hand him
over unless he got orders from Poona. Despite strenuous demarches by the Goa
Government, the handover was not forthcoming. This was partly due to the strong
PINTO lobby in the Peshwa's court in Poona, who exerted strong pressure to
avoid the extradition. But, after the defeat of the Peshwas by the British, the
situation changed dramatically and Fr. Gonçalves had to disappear from
circulation. He eventually turned up in Calcutta where he eked out an existence
with emoluments from Masses and proceeds from an English school he had opened
there. He died in Calcutta on 1 st July 1818. Thus ended GOA's First War of
Independence, nipped in the bud by treachery.
An intellectual giant “in absentia” of the Conspiracy was the famous GOAN, ABBE
FARIA, known as the Father of Hypnotism. JOSE CUSTODIO de FARIA, his baptismal
name, was from Candolim, his family being close to the Pinto family. His father
was from Colvale but became a Candolim “ghor zavuim” (i.e. married an only
daughter and came to live in her father's house, normally taking that surname).
However, due to alleged fighting spirit of a spoilt only daughter, the marriage
soon hit the rocks and after the son was born and the father died, the couple
decided to separate with the blessing of the Church. The mother became a nun at
S. MONICA's and the father took the son and went to Lisbon where he became a
priest, and so did the son. [The story of “Kator re bhaji” is too well known to
need repetition]. ABBE FARIA was deeply influenced by the principles of the
French Revolution, which possibly provided the matrix for the Conspiracy. ABBE
FARIA slipped away from Lisbon to Paris as soon as news of the Conspiracy
reached Lisbon. In Paris he participated actively in the barricades, was
imprisoned and freed. He then devoted his life and wrote on Hypnotism, refining
Mesmer's work. He died young of a fulminating apoplexy. GOANS visiting their
Motherland can see him hypnotizing a woman in the famous statue in front of the
current Secretariat in Panjim.
References: Cunha Rivara “A Conjuracão de 1787 em GOA and various cousas desse
tempo.”
There are two comments to be made on the Conspiracy. I have seen it bandied
about that this conspiracy was somehow linked to the Indian political movement
for independence, which is a patent absurdity. In 1780 the British had still
not completed their ascendance over India and were still fighting Tippu Sultan.
Even the most exalted Indian historians would admit that the earliest they can
optimistically trace some independence political movement would be the Sepoy
Mutiny of 1854 almost eighty years later (and many other historians would be
loath to admit political overtones to the Mutiny, considering it more of a
local manifestation that spread beyond expectations, propelled by rumours of
the use of pork fat in the new cartridges.) If we are to ascribe any
motivations to the conspirators it would more likely be the Principles of the
French Revolution. Secondly, though nationalism might have played a part in the
conspiracy, more mundane considerations were also a motivating factor. Fr.
Gonçalves harboured strong resentment against the Portuguese because, in spite
of holding a Doctorate from Rome (not a common occurrence in the 1770s) he was
denied a Bishopric either in Goa or Cochin or Mylapore (these two formed part
of the GOA Archdiocese then) and that simmering anger went a long way in
stoking the fire of revolt. The military officers too felt they were being
discriminated against. Manoel Caetano Pinto, for example, should by normal Army
standards have been a Captain but was kept as Lieutenant, at 27 years of age.
Finally, as regards to the plot itself, it does appear to have been rather
quixotic and not well thought out. The Portuguese had 2600 men in the Infantry
and Artillery besides a Regiment of Sepoys which followed their orders. As
against this, there were two local regiments (Legiao de Bardez and Legiao de
Ponda) comprising a total of 2200 indigenous soldiers. And barely 25-30
officers and men of these regiments were involved! No wonder the Governor's
initial reaction was one of incredulity
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P. S. UPDATED LATER
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The orginal house built by IGNACIO PINTO in 1760 was finally divided between my
great-grandfather, FRANCISCO CAETANO PINTO and his brother, the geater part
going to my greatgranfather, the two being separated only by a wall in the
entrance lobby of the first floor. The great door separating the two parts
adjoined the dispensay of Dr. LUIS CAETANO PINTO and thus there was always the
odour of dispensaries of those days. The doctor always greeted us from the
window, when we aarrived for the holidays specially my mother,Rosa, who was his
god child with a loud "Oh ROSA, cheirosa perfumosa ( Oh scented and perfumed
rose). He was always alone. I thus believed he was a confirmed bachelor until
recently when, researching family genealogies, I discvered he was in fact a
widower since 1936 ans so I might have seen his wife when I was around 3 yrs
and thus not remembering her. The SUPREME IRONY in the case was that he had
married in the TOSCANO family of Aldona, precisely the family one of whose
members had spilled the beans of THE CONSPIRACY leading to its being quashed
and the key leader, Manoel Caetano
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PINTO. the doctor's uncle being esecuted!!!
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This piece is from my AMAZON.om KINDLE BOOKS: " FEUILLES MORTES:LIFE's LOST
LEAVES", a demi-memoir, which features the house and details.
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