Very well researched and written article, Frazer. Very informative too. Tino de Sa
On Thu, Jul 27, 2023 at 10:38 PM Frazer Andrade <andradefra...@gmail.com> wrote: > Good evening > I am attaching below an image of my article titled Os Martires de > Cuncolim, which was published on OHERALDO (July 27, 2023 edition). > Also I am writing here the whole of the researched and compiled matter > submitted for publication. > Kindly find the same > With regards > Frazer Andrade > > > > *Os Mártires de Cuncolim* > > Cuncolim is a little village in South Goa, blessed with fertile soil and > is bound by deep rivers, which led to traders and artisans settling here. > Historian Teotónio Rosário de Souza, in his writings mentions that the > metal industry in this village, which made guns, was of extreamly good > quality. Afonso de Albuquerque mentions that they were comparable in > quality to the arms manufactured in Germany at that time. However in the 17 > th century, the manufacturing of arms in Cuncolim was banned by viceroy > Dom Jerónimo de Azevedo. > > It is the month of July. The anniversary of the Cuncolim incident (15th > July 1583) has just been a few days ago. One may come across many, > demanding the need for the state to commemorate the chieftains (gãonkars) > who were executed by the Estado da índia for killing five Jesuit > missionaries and several native Catholics, as the first ever revolt against > the Portuguese. This is certainly a great example of the prevailing > amnesia about Goa’s past. This amnesia is not wholly but at least partially > induced on purpose. This is clearly seen from how the well-known Cuncolim > incident has been woven to satisfy as many nationalist tropes as possible. > The Portuguese are regarded as continuous oppressors, Goa as a land of the > Hindus, religious conversions as forced and violent, natives as Hindus > alone and as united against foreign rulers with no mention of castes. All > of this, makes the Cuncolim revolt, the first war of independence. > > It is a fact that although nationalists insist that Goa was Hindu before > the arrival of the Portuguese, many Goans of the time were actually Muslim > while several others were part of indigenous communities with their own set > of distinct beliefs and traditions. > > For Nationalists it is truly a matter of pride, since they believe that > the first ever revolt against the Portuguese (foreign) rule, in India (did > India exist in 1583?) took place in our beloved state of Goa, in Cuncolim > on the 15th day of July in 1583. However one needs to understand that > when the Portuguese (Afonso de Albuuerque) attempted to conquer Goa in > February 1510, he was welcomed by by some Goans but opposed by others. The > opposition was led by the Sultan of Bijapur and succeeded in driving away > the Portuguese by the end of May. It was in November that Afonso conquered > Goa for the second time. Thousands of soldiers and laymen lost their lives > in the battle and the turmoil that followed. Shouldn’t these individuals > who lost their lives (many of whom were Goans or residants of Goa) during > this period be considered as martyrs for the cause of seeking > independence? > > During the initial years of the first half of the 16th Century, the > southern parts of Goa were mainly ruled by Adilshah. During this time it > was only three talukas i.e Tiswadi, Bardez and parts of Salcéte which was > inclusive of today’s Mormugão, that were under Portuguese governance. > Cuncolim was still under the control of the local ‘*Sanātana*’ > Chieftains. Salcéte came under the Portuguese rule in 1543. > > Though Goa was very important a port for trade and control, and a major > strategic advantage for the Portuguese, their prime aspiration was > introduction and promotion of Latin Christianity (though Christianity was > first introduced into India and Goa by Saint Thomas, the apostle of Christ > Himself), in accordance with the papal bull ‘*Romanus Pontifex*’, which > granted the patronage of the propagation of the Christian faith in Asia, to > the Portuguese. > > Cuncolim was inhabited by a devout ‘*Sanatana*’ population who mainly > belonged the warrior ‘Kshatriya’ caste. There were 12 ‘*vangodds*’ > (clans) of gãonkars living here. Their names, were Mhal, Shetkar, Naik, > Mangro, Shet, Tombdo, Porob, Sidakalo, Lokakalo, Bandekar, Rounom and > Benklo. These Gãoncars, had common ownership of the village and paid all > taxes and were also the ‘mahajans’ (founders and caretakers) of the main > village temple. In 1583, five Jesuit priests led by Pe. Rodolfo Acquaviva > received orders from their superior to go to Salcéte to find an appropriate > site for constructing a church. > > The five Jesuit priests met at the Orlim Church on the 15th day of July > in 1583, and from there proceeded to Cuncolim, accompanied by Gonçalo > Rodrigues a European (Portuguese) and 14 local neo-converts, with the > purpose of setting up a cross and finding a suitable space for building a > church. Meanwhile, the gãonkars from Cuncolim, after holding a meeting, > showed up in large numbers, armed with lances, swords and other weapons, > towards the spot where the Clergy had arrived. > > In accordance to the writings of one Mr. Anthony D'Souza, in the *Catholic > Encyclopaedia*, Gonçalo Rodrigues stretched his gun towards the advancing > crowd, but however was stopped by Pe. Pacheco who said "We are not here to > fight". Then, he addressed the crowd, saying "Do not be afraid". Following > this, the villagers began their attack on the party. > > > > > > Pe. Rudolph received five cuts from a spear and a scimitar and was killed > on the spot. As per D'Souza, he died asking God to forgive the attackers. > The crowd then turned on Pe. Berno who was horribly mutilated and Pe. > Pacheco who was badly wounded with a spear, knelt on the ground stretching > his arms in the form of a cross. Pe. Anthonio Francis was shot with arrows, > and his head was split open with a sword. > > Brother Aranha, wounded at the outset by a scimitar and a lance, fell down > into the thick crop of a paddy field, where he is believed to have layed > until he was discovered by an unknown person. Aranha was then carried to a > Hindu idol, to which he was forced to bow his head. Upon his refusal to do > the same, he was tied to a tree and was shot to death with arrows. The spot > where this tree once stood is marked with an octagonal monument surmounted > by a cross, which was renovated in 1885 by the Patriarch of Goa. > > Gonçalo Rodrigues and fourteen native new converts were also killed. Of > the latter, there was Dominic, a young 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 > very own Hindu uncle for being associated with the priests. > > Alphonsus, an altar-boy of Pe. Pacheco had followed him closely with a > holy book. His hands were cut off on his refusal to part with the book and > was 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 Holy Spirit in Margão in South Goa (the > fourth edition of the building). The remains were then transferred to the > fifth edition of the church in 1675. > > Following the massacre in Cuncolim, the captain-major in charge of the > Portuguese Army garrison at the Fort in Assolna, was determined to inflict > harm to the chieftains in return of brutally killing the Jesuit priests. As > punishment, the Portuguese army raided and destroyed orchards and fields in > the village and unleashed many atrocities on the local population of > Cuncolim. > > The Kshatriya gãonkars of Cuncolim were then invited for a talk at the > Assolna fort situated on the banks of the River Sal where today, stands the > Assolna church and in an act of betrayal of their trust, sixteen of them > were summarily executed by the Portuguese authorities. It is said that one > among them escaped execution by jumping into the River and swam to Karwar > located , in the present day state of Karnataka. > > After the execution of the the gãonkars, the villages of Cuncolim, Velim, > Assolna, Ambelim and Veroda refused to pay taxes on the produce harvested > from their orchards to the Portuguese government. Hence their lands were > confiscated and entrusted to the Condado da Marquis de Fronteira. The > temple of the Goddess Shri Shantadurga Cuncolikarian was relocated to the > neighboring village of Fatorpa, situated about seven kilometres away from > Cuncolim. The Church of Nossa Senhora de Sáude was constructed by the > Portuguese at the site of the massacre. > > It is necessary to mention that the village of Cuncolim was not united as > a whole against the Jesuits and their companions. We can say this since > firstly, the elites were devided among themselves; a newly converted > Christian local villager is said to have rescued one of the Portuguese > missionary attacked. > > One clear evidence of divisions amongst the villagers was the case of > Domingos da Costa, a Brahmin youth from Cuncolim, studying in Rachol who > was killed for accompanying the soldiers who had earlier destroyed local > temples from Cuncolim. > > The bodies of the 5 priests were thrown into a well, which still stands > today inside the chapel of St. Francis Xavier, located in Cuncolim. The > bodies, when discovered after about two and a half days, but showed no > signs of decomposition. They were solemnly buried in the church of Our Lady > of the Snows at Rachol, and remained there until 1597. The bones were > exhumed and were shifted to the St Paul’s College, in Old Goa. The remains > the Cuncolim Martyrs are now housed at the Sé Cathedral and the Basilica de > Bom Jesus in Old Goa. > > The five priests were declared as martyrs by the Catholic Church in 1741. > On 16 April 1893, the five martyrs were beatified at St. Peter’s Basilica > in Rome. This beatification was celebrated in Goa in 1894, and the feast > has ever since then been celebrated with great solemnity in Cuncolim. The > Calendar of the Archdiocese of Goa has fixed the 27th day of July as > their feast day. > > The greatest fatality in the whole narrative of the Cuncolim massacre, is > the complete delebrate exclusion of the Bijapuri rule, even though the > region within which Cuncolim was geographically located, was managed by > governors appointed by the Adilshahi administration of Bijapur which was > known for supplying soldiers for Adilshah’s army. Goa definitely did not > even exist at that point in time, before the Portuguese put it together out > of many territories, kingdoms, chieftains, some parts of which stretched > out into today’s Konkan and Canara coasts also Deccan. Considering this, > if one wants to wipe off all Portuguese traces in today’s Goa, it means > wiping off the map of Goa too! > > Cuncolim’s narrative was mainly about the local landed elites fighting to > protect and preserve their indigenous lifestyle which was inclusive of > their casteist peivilages over the village land and gãonkari. In fact the > natives of Cuncolim continued insisting that their hereditary pre-Christian > and caste dependent privileges in various rituals be continued even in the > 20th Century. > > A lot of nationalists will not prefer commemorating Adilshahi rebellions > in the same manner as they do for the Cuncolim rebellion. This is since the > notion about the nation is that of it being a Hindu one. However, one > cannot deny that, as a struggle for the freedom of Goan elites, the revolt > of Cuncolim definitely wasn’t the first. The Adilshahi revolts were > considerably bigger, more costly in terms of ‘martyrs’ they yielded and > were much earlier in time. > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Goa-Research-Net" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to goa-research-net+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAE%3DBhsqgKQC4EXDxy8wrv%2BVu0HL3iSPEtaF84gix%2BQp%2Bh9SdjQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAE%3DBhsqgKQC4EXDxy8wrv%2BVu0HL3iSPEtaF84gix%2BQp%2Bh9SdjQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- *Anthony de Sa, IAS (Retd), **MA, FRICS, MPA (Harvard)* *Former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh,* *& Chairman, MP Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA)* *Address:* *Flat 608, "Sonata",* *Behind Goa Science Centre,* *Miramar, Panaji,* *Goa - 403001* *Mobile (WhatsApp): +91-9810981818* *e-mail: anthonydesa....@gmail.com <anthonydesa....@gmail.com>* * tinod...@gmail.com <tinod...@gmail.com>*