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The Goa Inquisition was the office of the Inquisition acting in the Indian state of Goa and the rest of the Portuguese empire in Asia. It was established in 1560, briefly suppressed from 1774-1778, and finally abolished in 1812. In Europe, the Goa Inquisition became notorious for its cruelty and use of torture, and the French philosopher Voltaire wrote "Goa is sadly famous for its inquisition, which is contrary to humanity as much as to commerce. The Portuguese monks deluded us into believing that the Indian populace was worshiping The Devil, while it is they who served him."

Beginning

The first inquisitors, Aleixo Dias Falcão and Francisco Marques, established themselves in what was formerly the raja of Goa's palace, forcing the Portuguese viceroy to relocate to a smaller residence. The inquisitor's first act was forbidding Hindus from publicly practice of their faith through fear of death. Sephardic Jews living in Goa, many of whom had fled the Iberian Peninsula to escape the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition to begin with, were also persecuted. The narrative of Da Fonseca describes the violence and brutality of the inquisition. The records speak of the necessity for hundreds of prison cells to accommodate fresh victims. Seventy-one "autos da fe" were recorded. In the first few years alone, over 4000 people were arrested, with 121 people burnt alive at the stake.

Persecution of Hindus

R.N. Sakshena writes ".. in the name of the religion of peace and love, the tribunal(s) practiced cruelties to the extent that every word of theirs was a sentence of death".

The inquisition supplied the ecclesiastic Jesuit priests with a strong state-sanctioned weapon to use against the Hindu population of the region. Moderate Catholics who tried to build bridges with Hindus were also persecuted. Even the governor of Goa from 1588-1591 was investigated when he consulted Hindu clerics about the auspicious dates concerning the arrival of ships. The adverse effects of the inquisition were tempered somewhat by the fact that Hindus were able to escape Portuguese hegemony by migrating to other parts of the subcontinent.

Persecution of Christians (non-Catholic-Syrian Christians)

In 1599 under Aleixo de Menezes the Synod of Diamper converted the Syriac Saint Thomas Christians (of the Orthodox faith) to the Roman Catholic Church under the excuse that they allegedly practiced Nestorian heresy. The synod enforced severe restrictions on their faith and the practice of using Syriac/Aramaic. The Kerala Christians of Malabar were independent of Rome. What resulted in it was the persecution of the Syrian Christians of Malabar. They were first made politically insignificant and their Metropolitanate status was discontinued by blocking bishops from the Middle East. There were assassination attempts against Archdeacon George so as to subjugate the entire church under Rome. Even the common prayer book was not spared. Every known item of literature was burnt and any priest professing independence was imprisoned. Some altars were pulled down to make way for altars conforming to Catholic criteria. St. Thomas Christians resentful over these acts later swore the Coonan Cross Oath, severing relations with the Catholic Church. They swore that from that day they nor their children would have any relations with the church of Rome thereby raising the first freedom movement against the western powers in India.

In addition, non-Portuguese Christian missionaries who were in competition with the inquisition were often persecuted even though they were outside the sphere of influence of the inquisition. When the local clergy became jealous of a French priest operating in Madras, they lured him to Goa, then had him arrested and sent to the inquisition. He was saved when the Hindu King of Carnatica (Karnataka) interceded on his behalf, laid siege to St. Thome and demanded the release of the priest.

Persecution of Jews

The Jews in the region were rounded up, together with the Hindus. Both groups were charged with "paganism", but the Jews were doubly charged with "Judaism".

The anti-semitic aspect of the inquisition ran parallel to the contemporaneous inquisitions in Spain and Portugal, working its havoc in Goa, among other places in the Iberian sphere of influence. There was a large population of Jews in the Konkan region. The inquisition mandated that celebrating the Jewish Sabbath in Goa was enough to get an Indian Jew burned at the stake. The Indian Jews were shackled in irons and imprisoned in filthy prisons for long periods of time before they were tried and executed.

The Jewish presence in the South Indian state of Kerala has been notable. Eventually, they sought refuge with the Hindu King of Cochin. In a letter written by the Portuguese to their king in 1513 permission is sought for their extermination. They also destroyed the Jewish settlement in Cochin and damaged the Jewish synagogue as well as their historical documents.

In 1662 CE the Dutch attacked Cochin but were driven out. The Jews were severely punished by the Portuguese for allegedly aiding the Dutch. In 1663 CE the Dutch returned and defeated the Portuguese. The Jews were treated more tolerantly by the Dutch rulers. The Cochin Jews reestablished their links with European Jews. In 1687 a Jewish delegation from Amsterdam arrived under the leadership of Mr. Thomas Perera. His report published in 1687 under the name "NOTSIAS DOS JUDEOS DE COCHIM " details the history of Cochin Jews.

End of the Inquisition

Though officially repressed in 1774, it was reinstated by Queen Maria I in 1778. The last vestiges of the Goa Inquisition were finally swept away when the British occupied the city in 1812.

Footnotes

1. Voltaire, Lettres sur l'origine des sciences et sur celle des peuples de l'Asie (first published Paris, 1777), letter of 15 December 1775
2. Hunter, William W, The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Trubner & Co, 1886
3. Sakshena, R.N, Goa: Into the Mainstream (Abhinav Publications, 2003), p. 24
4. ^ Benton, Lauren A, Law and Colonial Cultures: Legal Regimes in World History, 1400-1900, p. 122
5. Shirodhkar, P. P., Socio-Cultural life in Goa during the 16th century, p. 123
6. ^ Rule, William Harris, History of the Inquisition, Wesleyan Conference Office, London 1868
7. AUTO DA FÉ,Jewish Encyclopedia
8. P K John, Kerala History - Jews of Kerala on ananthapuri.com. Accessed 11 December 2006.

References

• Streatfeidl-James, Douglas and Thomas, Bryn. Lonely Planet - Goa. Lonely Planet Publications, 1998.
• Henry James Coleridge, ed. The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier. 2d Ed., 2 Vols. London: Burns & Oates, 1890.
• The Goa Inquisition (book) by Anant Priolkar

See also

• Auto da fe
• Spanish Inquisition
• Portuguese Inquisition
• Marranos
• History of Goa
• History of the Jews in India

External links

• http://www.atributetohinduism.com/European_Imperialism.htm
• Inquisition of Goa
• Recall the Goa Inquisition to stop the Church from crying foul
• Inquisition Goa
• St. Francis Xavier
• Inquisition Goa
• Flight of the Deities: Hindu Resistance in Portuguese Goa Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 30, No. 2. (May, 1996), pp. 387-421.

• 1560 establishments
• Antisemitism
• Anti-Judaism
• Anti-Hinduism
• Christian and Jewish interfaith topics
• Christianity in India
• Hindu history
• History of Catholicism in Asia
• History of Goa
• Jewish history
• Jewish Portuguese history
• Jews and Judaism in India
• Portuguese Inquisition
• Portuguese rule in India
• Religion and violence
• Religious persecution
• Roman Catholic Church in India
• Sephardi Jews topics