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"Since idolatry is so great an offence against God, as is manifest to all , it is just that Your Majesty should not permit it within your territories, and an order should be promulgated in Goa to the effect that in the whole island there should not be any temple public or secret, contravention whereof should entail grave penalities ; that no oiticial should make idols in any torm, neither of stone, nor of wood, nor of copper nor of any other metal; that no Hindu festival should be publicly celebrated in the whole island ; that Brahmin preachers from the mainland should not gather in the houses of the Hindus ; and that persons who are in charge of St. Paulâs should have the power to search the houses of the Brahmins and other Hindus, in case there exists a presumption or suspicion of the existence of idols there. ... If Our Lord defend the lands of Salsete and Bardez, which he caused Idalc&io (Adilshah) to give to Your Majesty, as it will please Him to do on account of your piety, it will be just and proper that in His interest and that of Your Majesty, you should, for commendation and honour of God, remove all traces of idolatry which exist therein and work for the conversion of these adjoining lands."
"Sunday, 25 December. Christmas Day. In the morning, after having prayed in the Carmelite Church, I went to the Cathedral, where I hoped to hear a good sermon, and to see the Viceroy in his splendour and all the fine folk of Goa; but I was much surprised at finding hardly anyone in the streets and no worshippers in the church of Saye [Cathedral], or scarcely any priests to celebrate High Mass. After twelve Oâclock I returned to the church and found the doors shut. I went to the Augustinians, the Paulists, the Dominicans, and the Franciscans, without getting my sermon; so I rang the bell at some convents to ask the porter when and where there was a preacher. They all informed me very rudely that there were no sermons that day, and that I had no business to ring their bell, at a time when the priests were at rest. I was, therefore, obliged to apologize to these good brother-porters and to ask them to excuse me, as I was a stranger and did not know the habits of the Indian-Portuguese. I returned, scandalized at not finding any service or sermon, and not even a church open for prayer on Christmas Day in this large city of Goa, formerly so flourishing and celebrated for its divine worship and the propagation of our Holy Faith. When I returned to the Carmelite Fathers, I did not fail to express my astonishment at this to the Father Superior, who, being French, knew well with what solemnities and crowds of worshippers we celebrate Christmas in our churches in France. He laughed at hearing my complaints of the want of devotion I had found that day in Goa; and told me that I must not be surprised, as it was the custom of the Portuguese. They sat up on the night of Christmas Eve for the Midnight Mass, and considered that God owed them a dayâs rest after this effort, and therefore passed Christmas Day in repose or in feasting in their houses â laity as well as priests â which was the reason why so few people were in the streets and the churches were shut. He also told me that high-born ladies, if they were zealous and pious, and wished to hear Mass on that day, had an altar raised in their bedrooms and brought in a priest to say Mass at the foot of their beds. They stay in bed all day, in case of an indisposition which they feared might result from the hard work they had undergone in keeping awake in order to attend Midnight Mass. In this state they received visits from relations and friends, who came to pass the day in feasting with the doors shut. âWhat!â I exclaimed to this Father, âare these the Christians who treat all other Christian nations as heretics and ignorant, compared to themselves. I should not be surprised if they celebrate in the same way the greatest festivals of our Church, or if they reform to the same extent the beautiful customs and practices which we employ to encourage devotion in our churches in Europe. No, I am no longer surprised to see them living in this fashion, as they will not recognize the authority, the bulls, nor the bishops coming from His Holiness, because forsooth the King of Portugal did not send them, nor ratify their missions.â"
"On the twenty-ninth of the same month, being the day of S. Pietro Martire, who, they say, was the Founder of the Inquisition against Hereticks, the Inquisitors of Goa made a Festival before their House of the Inquisition which is in the Piazza of the Cathedral and was sometimes the Palace of Sabaio, Prince of Goa, when the Portugals took it, whence it is still callâd la Piazza di Sabaio. After solemn Mass had been sung in the Church of San Dominico, as Vespers had been the day before, in presence of the Inquisitors, who, coming to fetch the Fryers in Procession, repairâd thereunto in Pontificalibus, in the evening, many carreers were run on horse-back by the Portugal Gentry, invited purposely by the Inquisitors; and a day or two after (for this Evening was not sufficient for so many things) there was in the same Piazza a Hunting, or Baiting, of Bulls after the Spanish fashion; but the Beasts, being tame and spiritless, afforded little sport; so that I had not the curiosity to be present at it. This is a new Festival lately instituted by the present Inquisitors, who, I believe, will continue it yearly hereafter."
"On the 28th of June of 1541 in his own dwelling at Goa, ...they were informed by the same Controller of Finances, that a few days earlier they were told that they should, with free will, be prepared to give and donate the income of the lands belonging to the temples and situated in this island, since these temples were entirely destroyed and there was no chance of their ever being built again and as previously they did not use this income fruitfully but spent all of it towards the same temples and its Gurous (ministers), dancing girls, brahmins, blacksmiths, carpenters, washermen, barbers, shoemakers, painters and other servants of the aforesaid temples...â, it was resolved that the income should in future be applied towards and donated to the chapels built in this island, and also to defray the expenses of the confraternity of the converts to the faith."
"In the Evening of every Fryday of Lent there is a Sermon upon the Passion in the Church of Giesu; and so likewise in other Churches, but upon other dayes and hours. At the end of these Sermons certain Tabernacles are openâd, and divers figures, representing some passages of the Passion (according to the subject of the Sermon), are with lighted Tapers shewn to the People; as one day that of the âEcce Homo;â another day Our Lord with the Cross upon his shoulders; and the last day the Crucifix; and so every day one thing suitable to the purpose. Oftentimes they make these figures move and turn, as they made the Robe fall off from the Ecce Homo and discover the wounded Body; at which sight the devout People utter prodigious Cryes, and the Women force themselves to shriek out; and the Signore, or Gentlewomen, are so zealous that they not onely cry out themselves, but make their Maids do so too and beat them even in the Church if they do not and that very loudly, whether they have a will to it, or no. Strange devotion indeed!"
"On March the first there was also another Procession in Goa of the Disciplinanti, which I went not to see; the like is made every Fryday during all Lent, and therefore I shall not stay to describe it. I believe there is no City in the world where there are more Processions than in Goa all the year long; and the reason is because the Religious Orders are numerous, and much more than the City needs; they are also of great authority and very rich, and the People, being naturally idle and addicted to Shews, neglecting other Cares of more weight and perhaps more profitable to the Publick, readily employ themselves in these matters; which, however good as sacred ceremonies and parts of divine worship, yet in such a City as this which borders upon Enemies and is the Metropolis of a Kingdom lying in the midst of Barbarians and so alwayes at Warr, and where nothing else should be minded but Arms and Fleets, seem according to worldly Policy unprofitable and too frequent, as also so great a number of Religious and Ecclesiastical persons is burdensome to the State and prejudicial to the Militia."
"There also took place in this year the destruction of the Hindu temples which existed in these territories of Your Majesty, of which none remains, for the priests of St. Francis also razed out of memory all those which existed in Bardez."
"I order that no Hindu temple be erected in any of the territories of my King, the lord of these parts, and that Hindu temples which already have been erected be not repaired without my special permission, contravention of which will entail the penalty of such temples being destroyed and their value applied towards the expenses of pious works."
"Since my principal aim in regard to matters relating to these parts, which I have in mind oftener than any other, is that our Lord should be served and His faith increased, to me it appears good that from the mainlands of Bardez and Salsete which Idalcio presented to me should be abolished all vestiges of idolatry which therein exist and that efforts should be made to effect the conversion of the Hindus living therein."
"Minguel Vaz, was so much favoured by the king, and a man of such quick despatch and se-much in a hurry that, having left India in January of 1545, he was back in Goa once again in October of 1546. He commenced to destroy Hindu temples and to suppress idolatry in accordance with the amplest provisions and powers which he had brought, and provoked against himself the odium of the Hindus to such an extent that they gave him poison, of which he came to die at Chaul as generously as he had lived. There were in India men who had the temerity to impute his death to the jealousy of Bishop D. Joao de Albuquerque and wroteâ to Portugal to that effect."
"In this land of Goa and the whole of India there are numerous ancient edifices of the pagans. In a small island nearby called Divari, the Portuguese in order to build the land of Goa have destroyed an ancient temple called Pagoda, which was built with a marvellous artifice, with ancient figures of a certain black stone worked with the greatest perfection, of which some still remain standing in ruins and damaged because the Portuguese do not hold them in any esteem. If I could obtain one of these sculptures thus ruined, I would have sent it to your lordship, so that you may judge in what great esteem sculpture was held in antiquity."
"In 1534 Goa was made a bishopric with authority extending over the entire Far East. Special instructions were issued to the Portuguese Viceroy to root out the infidels. Hindu temples in Goa were destroyed and their property distributed to religious orders (like the Franciscans) in 1540 . The Inquisition was established in 1560."
"The Portuguese power became ruthless the more it got itself established in India. Royal Charters were issued from time to time making invidious distinctions between Christians and non-Christians and subjecting the latter to untold disabilities. In 1559 an enactment was passed debarring all Hindus from holding any public office. In the same year another law was enacted confiscating the properties of non-Christian orphans if they refused to be converted to Christianity. Yet another law ordered destruction of Hindu temples and images and prohibited all non-Christian religious festivals. In 1560 all the Brahmans and goldsmiths were ordered to accept Christianity otherwise they were to be turned out of Goa. By a law passed in 1567 the Hindus were prohibited from performing their important religious ceremonies such as investiture of sacred thread, marriage ceremonies and even cremation rites. Hindu religious books were proscribed. All non-Christians above the age of 15 were forced to attend the preaching of Christian religion. Hindu temples were destroyed and in their place churches were built. In 1575 another law was passed by which the Hindu nationals were debarred from their civic right of renting state land. People of Goa were prohibited to use their native language by an order of 1684 and were allowed three years to learn the Portuguese language under pain of being proceeded against under law of the land."
"At least from 1540 onwards, and in the island of Goa before that year, all the Hindu idols had been annihilated or had disappeared, all the temples had been destroyed and their sites and building materials were in most cases utilised to erect new Christian churches and chapels. Various vice regal and Church council decrees banished the Hindu priests from the Portuguese territories; the public practice of Hindu rites including marriage rites, was banned; the state took upon itself the task of bringing up the Hindu orphan children; the Hindus were denied certain employments, while the Christians were preferred; it was ensured that the Hindus would not harass those who became Christians, and on the contrary, the Hindus were obliged to assemble periodically in churches to listen to preaching or to the refutation of their religion."
"It would be a service to God to destroy these temples, just in this island of Goa, and to replace them by churches with saints. Anyone who wishes to live in this island should become a Christian, and in that case may retain his lands and houses just as he has them at present; but, if he is unwilling, let him leave the islandsâŚIt may be that these people will not become good Christians, but their children will beâŚand so God will be servedâŚ"
"All the Hindu temples be destroyed, not leaving a single one on any of the islands."
"Whereas all those who came out here were soldiers, who went about conquering lands and enslaving people, these same soldiers began to baptize the said people whom they enslaved without any respect and reverence for the sacrament, and without any catechizing or indoctrination. And since the inhabitants of these countries are very miserable, poor and cowardly, some were baptized through fear, others through worldly gain, and others for filthy and disgusting reasons which I need not mentionâŚMany people come in order to be baptized, and I ask them why they want to become Christians. Some reply because the lord of the land tyrannizes and oppresses them, and others reply that they must become Christians because they have nothing to eat. I then make them a little speech, explaining briefly what it means to be a Christian and why they should become one, for which purpose they must come for fifteen or twenty days to the church for instruction in the Christian faith, after which I will baptize them. They usually answer that they will become Christians if I baptize them there and then. Otherwise they will go away and not return, and this in fact is what they do."
"Since the goal of the conversion of infidels was the most important incentive that led the King our Lord to conquer these parts of India, once the island of Goa was conquered and its inhabitants at peace and accepting to be his vassals, the king sought to bring his holy intention to execution. He was informed that many inhabitants of the island were already Christians, but that the rest remained strong in their pagan faith. This was because they had been allowed to perform their rites and ceremonies to the idols they adore. The king therefore ordered that these idols be destroyed and that none would exist in the island of Goa and within its boundaries, and that in the lands under his dominion no pagan worship would be allowed. The purpose was that with this rigour of mercy (rigor de misericordia) they would forget their pagan cult and be converted to our holy faith, as already many had accepted and continue to accept conversion. In the fulfilment of this holy decision in the year [fifteen] forty the above mentioned idols were broken and destroyed."
"âUntil 1560 in Salsete there existed but one church and mission house in the fort of Rachol. In the course of less than 50 years a major part of the inhabitants of that province had embraced Christianity and 28 parishes had been established. It is known how such rapid and extensive conversions took place : some by fear of physical force; others from moral cowardice ; many because they could not overcome the love for the country of their birth from which they would otherwise be expelled ; not a few to avoid the loss of their properties and interests ; some with their eyes on lucrative jobsâand almost none from conviction. The conviction, the faith, these would come later....ââ"
"As regards the first duty, viz., conversion of unbelievers, in these parts of India this does not commonly occur as a result of sermons and doctrine, but is effected by other just means, such as, obstructing the idolatrous practices of the unbelievers and meting out just punishment therefor, refusing them favours which can justly be refused, and offering them to those who are newly converted, and honouring, assisting and protecting the latter in order that others might thereby get converted. The Father of Novices should try his best to see that none of these means is left unavailed of and thus help the conversion of unbelievers. Since almost all of these means have already been approved by the sessions of Concilio Provincial in Goa and in the measures promulgated by the king of Portugal and his viceroys of India in favour of Christianity, the Father of Novices should strive to be thoroughly versed in all these things and try hard to see that all comply therewith and implement them, inasmuch as experience has shown, that many are thus converted."
"In this land of Goa and of the whole of India there are innumerable ancient edifices of the gentiles and in a little neighbouring island that is called Divari, the Portuguese in order to build the land (town) of Goa, have destroyed an ancient temple called a pagoda which was built with wonderful skill, with ancient figures of a certain black stone worked with very great perfection, of which some are standing, ruined and spoilt, but which these Portuguese hold in no esteem. Should I have in hand any (figure) thus ruined, I shall send it to Your Highness that Your Highness may see how in ancient times sculpture was appreciated every- where ."
"You will be rendering great service to God if from this island you send to Portugal a Hindu individual Krishna by name, a great servant of yours, who is here sunk in heathenism but has come very near to Christ as I have spoken many times to him, and gives no excuse other than that in Portugal after seeing Your Majesty he will convert himself to Christianity. Your Majesty should order that the poor mendicants who are known as Jogis should not enter this island from the mainland, because they bring flowers used in worship and other relics of their temples and devils with which they restore the heathenism of local people. In this island of Goa a friar has placed some crosses in the Hindu temples and the Hindus say that others come and tell them that they are already Christians and the latter would not speak with them any longer. âSir, there is a great temple in this island of Divar which has much freestone and a large part of it is already destroyed. We pray Your Majesty to make a gift of it to this monastery."
"ââ Around the territories of the neighbours of Goa, there exist in that island temples in which statues of the enemy of the Cross are worshipped and every year their festivals are celebrated. These are attended by many Christians, both Europeans and natives, which is very wrong in that it promotes idolatry. âIt will be service to God if these temples in the island of Goa are destroyed and in their stead churches with saints are erected, and it is ordered that whosoever desires to live in this island and have house and lands.there should become a Christian, and if he does not wish to be one should go out of the island. I assure Your Majesty that there would then be no individual who did not turn to the faith of Our Lord Christ, because if exiled from, this island he will have no means of livelihood."
"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 fall 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 undersirable 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; â orphan â 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..."
"Goa was divested of its hallowed sites during the period of Portuguese political ascendancy. A letter by Andre Corsali, dated 6th January 1515, mentioned an early instance of violation, In this island of Goa and of the whole of India there are innumerable ancient edifices of the gentiles and in a little neighbouring island that is called Divari, the Portuguese in order to build the land (town) of Goa, have destroyed an ancient temple called a pagoda which was built with wonderful skill, with ancient figures of a certain black stone worked with very great perfection..."
"In 1545, the Vicar General, Fr. Minguel Vaz with Diogo Borba prepared a 41-point plan to effect the conversion ofnatives. Point No. 3 stated, Since idolatry is so great an offence against God, as is manifest to all, it is just that Your Majesty (king of Portugal) should not permit it within your territories, and an order should be promulgated in Goa to the effect that in the whole island there should not be any temple public or secret, contravention whereof should entail grave penalties; that no official should make idols in any form, neither of stone, nor of wood, nor of copper, nor of any other metal; and that no Hindu festival should be publicly celebrated in the whole island..."
"[The Father of Christians (Pae dos Christos),] he should obtain knowledge of the times and days when the festivals of the infidels, such as that of areca-tree, Setim and others, came, in order that persons may be prevented from participating therein and those guilty of participating may be punished. The same would apply to the times of the pilgrimages to the temples ; they should ascertain whether any of our infidel subjects go on such pilgrimages and whether, others who are not our subjects pass through our lands for that purpose, in order to prevent their doing so and punish those who do so, as His Majesty has ordered. The same would apply to the times when the Hindus customarily celebrate their marriages with Hindu. ceremonies. and festivities, in order to prevent them and punish those who perform them, although Hindu marriages performed without ceremonies and festivities cannot be prevented. He should ascertain whether in the parts where the infidels live there are any orphans who are without father, mother and grandparents and are aged under 14 years, so that they may, be sent to the College, as the king has ordered, educated and baptised ; they should also ascertain whether any infidels have removed the said orphans to the mainland for being kept until they cross the said age, so that they may not be baptised, and in the mean- while enjoy the income of their estates, in order that such persons might be punished as the king has ordered ; and the said estates sequestrated in the hands of Christians of sound credit, as the viceroy has ordered. And through his own efforts and those of the secular Pae dos Christaos, the solicitor and the procurator, he should see that this is put fully into execution and that Christian tutors are given to as many orphans of the infidels as may be possible, in conformity with the relevant provision as the king has ordered.ââ"
"Around the territories of the neighbours of Goa, there exist in that island temples in which status of the enemy of the Cross are worshipped and every year their festivals are celebrated. These are attended by many Christians, both Europeans and natives, which is very wrong in that it promotes idolatry. It will be service to God if these temples in the island of Goa are destroyed and in their stead churches with saints are erected, and it is ordered that whosoever desires to live in this island and have house and lands there should become a Christian, and if he does not wish to be one should go out of the island. I assure Your Majesty that there would be no individual who did not turn to the faith of Our Lord Christ, because if exiled from this island he will have no means of livelihood."
"The Inquisition was an infamous tribunal at all places. But the infamy never reached greater depths, nor was more vile, more black, and more completely determined by mundane interests than at the tribunal of Goa, by irony called the Holy Office. Here the Inquisitors went to the length of imprisoning in its jails women who resisted their advances, and after having satisfied their bestial instincts there, ordering that they be burnt as heretics."
"The cruelties which in the name of the religion of peace and love this tribunal practiced in Europe, were carried to even greater excesses in India, where the Inquisitors, surrounded by luxuries which could stand comparison with the regal magnificence of the great potentates of Asia, saw with pride the Archbishop as well as the viceroy submitted to their power. Every word of theirs was a sentence of death and at their slightest nod were removed to terror the vast populations spread over the Asiatic regions, whose lives fluctuated in their hands, and who, on the most frivolous pretext could be clapped for all time in the deepest dungeon or strangled or offered as food for the flames of the pyre."
"Every word of theirs was a sentence of death and at their slightest nod were moved to terror the vast populations spread over the Asiatic regions, whose lives fluctuated in their hands, and who, on the most frivolous pretext could be clapped for all time in the deepest dungeon or strangled or offered as food for the flames of the pyre."
"In the principal market was raised an engine of great height, at top like a Gibbet, with a pulley âŚwhich unhinges a manâs joints, a cruel torture... Portuguese also inaugurated slave trade by seizing able-bodied men and women in the neighbouring Indian territory and selling them. They opened a slave market in Goa."
"The Portuguese friars and priests had been destroying Hindu temples in Portugal's Indian possessions for quite some time past. Cartas de Affonso de Albuquerque, published from Lisbon in 1915 on the basis of old records, carries a report from Andre Corsali stationed at Cochin in 1515. He writes that an ancient and magnificent temple on the island of Divari had been demolished in 1515 and its sculptures defaced. In 1534 when Goa was made a bishopric many Hindu temples had been destroyed under the new policy described as Rigour of Mercy. A list of 156 temples which had been destroyed in Goa in 1541 is provided in Tomba da Ilha des Goa e das Terras de Salcete e Bardes by Francisco Pais published in 1952, again on the basis of old records. The Hindu leaders of Goa had passed a âvoluntary resolutionâ that the income from lands assigned to these temples could be used for the maintenance of churches and missions. The arrival of a mighty missionary like Xavier gave an added impetus to the campaign. What followed in Goa and other Portuguese possessions in India has been very well documented by Christian historians in India. According to the History of Christianity in India, Vol. 1, 280 Hindu temples were destroyed in Salsette and another 300 in Bardez. The count for temples destroyed in Bassein (Vasai), Bandra, Thana and Bombay are not available. Missionary records, however, refer to many famous Hindu temples being converted into churches at these places. A beautiful Hindu temple in the Elephanta Caves was turned into a chapel. Many temples were pulled or burned down on the islands of Seveon (Butcher's Island) and Neven (Hog Island). Even private temples in Hindu homes were prohibited and âtransgressorsâ were severely punished. The Hindus in these places tried to circumvent the âlawâ by taking away their images to places outside Portuguese territories or building temples of their Gods in neighbouring lands. The missionaries discovered this âHindu trickâ very soon. The Portuguese authorities promulgated a law that Hindus found financing temples outside or going on pilgrimages to these temples were to be punished with heavy fines including confiscation of property."
"The Portuguese in this matter as in others followed the custom of the country: Linschoten recorded that they (Portuguese in Goa) never worked, but employed slaves, who were sold daily in the market like beasts, and della Valle notes that the âgreatest partâ of people in Goa were slaves."
"In its two and a half centuries of existence at Goa, the Inquisition burned at the stake 57 alive and 64 in effigy. Others sentenced to various cruel punishments totaled 4,046. The people who were converted but still continued secretly to perform Hindu rituals were treated even more harshly⌠The manner in which the Church enriched itself was just scandalous. Half the property of a person found in possession of idols went to the ChurchâŚThe Church acquired urban and rural properties on an impressive scale. The open performances of Hindu ceremonies were replaced by great public processions on Christian feast days. One of the worst criminals was Francis Xavier, later to be made into a saint."
"Uruguay-based Alfredo de Mello, a Goan born historian, in his Memoirs of Goa (2003) writes how in a span of 252 years, the inquisition held sway in Goa âwith a power that Stalin and other tyrants would have liked to hold.â Referring to the dreaded Goan Inquisition de Mello calls it âthe worst of the existing inquisitions in the Catholic orb of the five parts of the worldâ."
"âReligious bigotry and proselytism, fostered by the Inquisition, sapped the vitals of the empire while mere cruel terrorism took the place of the strengthâalbeit cruel strengthâon which the early giants had relied. In so faras any one date can be taken as of prime importance in the ruin of the Portuguese empire, it is 6 May 1542, when Francis Xavier sct foot.ashore at Goa. From then on the Jesuits did their worst, using every form of bribery, threat, and torture to effect a conversion. Burton, writing 80 years ago, refers to â fire and steel, the dungeon and the rack, the rice pot and the rupee, â which played ââ the persuasive part in the good work...assigned to them.â Facetious as_ this quotation may seem it sums up in nutshell the methods used, and the satisfaction at the result, for the Jesuits were fanatics, and like all fanatics they did irreparable harm.â"
"Apparently this market not only served the export trade but was in much demand by the local Portuguese whose lifestyle was extravagant and profligate. But we are also told that there was a lively trade in Kaffirs, a derogatory term for the natives of the Portuguese colony of Mozambique. The girls, who, we are told, were very much in demand, were paraded for sale in the nude."
"In 1560, the year the Inquisition was set up, 13,092 Hindus were forcibly converted. In 1578, the⌠missionaries pulled down 350 temples and converted 100,000 people."
"The papers which comprised the archive of that tribunal were found to be a vast mass, and there was no room in the office of the Secretary of State to permit of their being received, as I had decided. I, therefore ordered, that they be kept in the building of the Royal arsenal, being deposited in large sacks which would be sealed with the royal arms by the Inquisitor, and that the building be closed with three keys, one of which would remain with me, another at the secretariat, and the third in the hands of the intendant of the navy. I considered it was proper to take all these precautionary measures in respect of these records as I am informed that in them exist papers relating to al) the suits tried by the Holy Office since its inception, and if they are not guarded with all care, therein would be found motives to defame, even falsely, all the families in the state and these would provide occasions to feed the enmities and intrigues which so much abound in this country. It is meet that your Royal Highness should determine what should be done with this massof papers and processes. As I am persuaded that it is not expedient that they should be seen by any person, it appears to me that it would be appropriate to burn them.â ... [In reply to this communication dated September 27, 1818, contained the following directions on this point : ] As regards the huge mass of papers existing in the archive of the Inquisition, as-it does not appear wise to burn them without some kind of review, nor to commit them to the care of a person who is not in the secret of the said papers, His Royal Highness decided for this purpose'to order that the Promoter, in whom are found the talent and probity necessary for this task, should be placed in charge of such examination and as soon as he has finished and has made the necessary separation. of those papers which are worthy of being preserved, you will arrange to burn the rest, and remit those which are retained under proper security to this office of the Secretary of the State."
"And, above all, don't let us forget India, the cradle of the human race, or at least of that part of it to which we belong, where first Mohammedans, and then Christians, were most cruelly infuriated against the adherents of the original faith of mankind. The destruction or disfigurement of the ancient temples and idols, a lamentable, mischievous and barbarous act, still bears witness to the monotheistic fury of the Mohammedans, carried on from Mahmud the Ghaznevid of cursed memory down to Aureng Zeb, the fratricide, whom the Portuguese Christians have zealously imitated by destruction of temples and the auto da fe of the inquisition at Goa."
"In 1567 the Captain of Rachol Fort in South Goa bragged to his Portuguese king back home, âFor nights and nights went on the demolishing, demolishing, demolishing of 280 Hindu temples. Not one remained in the happy lands of our division.â Jesuit historian Francisco de Souza jubilantly praised the feat, âIt is incredibleâthe sentiment that the gentile were seized of when they saw their respective temple burning.â"
"Goa is sadly famous for its inquisition, equally contrary to humanity and commerce. The Portuguese monks made us believe that the people worshiped the devil, and it is they who have served him."
"The papers which comprised the archive of that tribunal were found to be a vast mass. I am informed that in them exist papers relating to all the suits tried by the Holy Office since its inception, and if they are not guarded with all care, therein would be found motives to defame, even falsely, all the families in the state and these would provide occasions to feed the enmities and intrigues which so abound in this country. ... As I am persuade that it is not expedient that they should be seen by any person it appears meet to me that it would be appropriate to burn them."
"As to the torture itself, it combined all that the ferocity of savages and the ingenuity of civilized man had till then invented. Besides the ordinary rack, thumb-screws, and leg crushers or Spanish boots, there were spiked wheels over which the victims were drawn with weights on their feet; boiling oil was poured over their legs, burning sulphur dropped on their bodies, and lighted candles held beneath their armpits."
"Since idolatry is so great an offence against God, as is manifest to all, it is just that Your Majesty should not permit it within your territories, and an order should be promulgated in Goa to the effect that in the whole island there should not be any temple public or secret, contravention whereof should entail grave penalties; that no official should make idols in any form, neither of stone, nor of wood, nor of copper nor of any other metal; that no Hindu festival should be publicly celebrated in the whole island,; that Brahmin preachers from the mainland should not gather in the houses of the Hindus; and that persons who are in charge of St. Paulâs should have the power to search the houses of the Brahmins and other Hindus, in case there exist a presumption or suspicion of the existence of idols there."
"There also took place in this year the destruction of the Hindu temples which existed in the territories of Your Majesty, of which none remains, for the priests of St. Francis also razed out f memory all those which existed in Bardez."