The current orthodoxy attempts to show all migration out of Goa as being due to "religious persecution" (by the Portuguese). Migration has been going on even before the Portuguese came, and as is evident, even Christians migrated out of Goa. See below...
On 29/01/2008, Rajan P. Parrikar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > There was a forced migration of Goans out of Goa following > Portuguese persecution. Some of them went to Kerala. The > Konkani they speak evolved over time to imbibe flavours > and words from Malayalam. These ex-Goans still retain a > strong consciousness of their Goan roots. When I went to > their temples last June, I was warmly welcomed as one of > their own. Goa's lost children look for their roots... from Mangalore BY FREDERICK NORONHA PANJIM, April 21: Centuries after they left Goa in trying times, the Christians of Kanara are looking at their links with this region, and a number of books highlighting their connections with Goa have recently been published. Half-a-dozen titles published about the Mangalore Christians all point to their Goa connections -- a fact little recognised among the younger generations there, or pondered on by people in Goa. "The Hindu community migrated (to Karnataka and Kerala) much earlier, around the 13th century. But the bulk of the Christians went there (from Goa) around the seventeenth century, due to a variety of reasons," says Fr Pratap Naik, a Jesuit priest from Mangalore but researching Konkani in Goa. He estimates that there must be around 300,000 Christians and "ancestrally 98 to 99% are from here, but never returned after settling down (around Mangalore)". Pius Fidelis Pinto's book Konkani Christians of Coastal Karnataka in Anglo-Mysore Relations 1761-1799 looks at why Christians migrated out of Portuguese colonial Goa in such large numbers. Says he: "The arrival of the Christians, particularly from Goa to the coastal region of Karnataka was neither completely voluntary no completely peaceful. The migration was the result of religious, political, economic, cultural, social and other causes". Pinto attempts to expore these causes. Most studies say the migration out of Goa took place due to pressures and attacks from the Marathas; food shortages; epidemics and also the religious intolerance of the Inquisition. Distinguished Manglorean Catholics 1800-2000 by Michael Lobo is part of a three-volume, 6000-page endeavour to build a global directory and genealogical encyclopaedia of the community. Alan Machado (Prabhu)'s Sarasvati's Children, published in 1999, is a history of Mangalore's Christians. Its foreward calls this community "a fusion of two important historical and cultural elements -- their Aryan inheritance from their original home on the banks of the Sarasvati river, and their Lusitanian legacy following the Portuguese conquest of Goa and the conversion to Catholicism". Researchers have also found useful sources of information at the Historical Archives of Goa and the Central Library, both at Panjim. Dr Kranti Farias' The Christian Impact on South Kanara (1999) says Goa is both historically and georgraphically "the main centre of the Konkani language". But the Christians of Kanara, being not much touched by Portuguese influences, adopted fewer Portuguese words than their Goan counterparts in their language, and instead borrowed Kannada words. Another book, also by Pius Fidelis Pinto, History of Christians in Coastal Karnataka (1999) looks at the origin and development of Christian settlement, over some 71 pages. Kanara Christians, he says, have names of saints -- like Peter, John, James, Jacob -- and Portuguese surnames like Saldanha, Britto, Coelho, Pinto, Vas or the like. Some have Hindu surnames, like Shenoy, Shet, Kamath or Padival. Kanara's Christians have their caste stratification -- with Brahmins, Charodes, Gaudis, Sidis and Rander caste-based groupings present. There was no intermarriage and associations took place between different caste groups, except occasionally like when approaching for communion, Farias writes. Farias says the Christian community of South Kanara was "quite a scattered minority community in this district with a large Hindu population". Local Brahmins did not associate with the Christians of Goa "even if of Brahmin origin on account of their conversions, and did not admit them into their homes", she writes. So, the Christians remained isolated due to their 'foreign' origin (Goa), their language (Konkani) and religion (Christianity), comments Farias. Pius Fidelis Pinto argues that "practical considerations" probably prompted local rulers to welcome the Christians into their territory. Some migrants, especially the Konkani Christian merchants and landlords, "did not come to the Keladi Kingdom with open hands". Among the Christians were "highly skilled carpenters, goldsmiths, artisans and farmers". Agricultural land was easily available in the Keladi Kingdom, unlike in Goa. Christians farming migrants contributed much in this direction. "Above all, they exhibited particularly the qualities of discipline, hard-work, honesty and skill in the land where they migrated to and prospered," says Pinto. Fr Naik says one of the reasons the settlers from Goa were welcome there was because of their agricultural skills. "There was perhaps something in Goa that was superior (by way of such skills) at that time. What that was, one has to find out," says this researcher. British records describe the Christians of South Kanara as "excellent cultivators". Immigrant Christians -- particularly 'upper' caste groups like Kamaths and Pais -- were traders. They also contributed to the local armies, and spread Konkani in Karnataka. Because of a lack of Portuguese influences, the Mangalore Christian is "much closer to the Hindu community of Goa" in terms of its culture, says Fr Naik. Till Westernisation came 50-60 years back, a Christian lady from there look little different from her Hindu counterpart, he says. One traumatic episode in the lives of the Kanara Christian was the mass arrest and deportation of thousands -- estimates range from 20,000 to 80,000 --- of the community by eighteenth century ruler Tipu Sultan in February 1784. They were released from this captivity only after the death of Tipu some 15 years later, and at that time were kept at places like Srirangapatna. Memories of migration still remain with the Manglorean Christian, as seen from the folk-song which says: Goiam thaun aili mai/ Ruzai Saibin/ Meklya kesanim mai/ Dev li somdirak. (There came a Mother from Goa, Our Lady (Queen) of the Rosary, Adorned with long lovely hair, She made her abode here.) As Farias points out: "Today, Konkani Christians are found in Bangalore, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Kerala, Madras and North and South Kanara, unlike in the sixteenth century when they were confined to Goa only." (ENDS) -- Frederick Noronha http://fn.goa-india.org Ph +91-832-2409490 The Goa books blog: http://goabooks.wordpress.com Goa1556 (alt.publishing.goa): http://goa1556.goa-india.org
