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Christianization of Goa
The indigenous population of the erstwhile Portuguese colony of Goa, Daman and Diu was Christianised following the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510 and the subsequent establishment of the Goan Inquisition. The converts in the Velhas Conquistas (Old Conquests) to Catholic Christianity were then granted full Portuguese citizenship. Almost all of the present-day Goan Christians are descendants of these native converts; they constitute the largest Indian Christian community of Goa state and account for 25 percent of the population, as of 2011 Census of India.
Many Kudali, Mangalorean and Karwari Catholics in present-day Karnataka and Maharashtra share common origins with Goans, due to migration in the 16th and 17th centuries. Korlai and Bombay East Indian Catholics of the Konkan division, and the Damanese of Damaon, Diu & Silvassa have had Goan admixture and interactions in the Portuguese Bombay territory, which was ruled from the capital at Old Goa. Bombay East Indians were formerly Portuguese citizens until the Seven Islands of Bombay were taken over by the English East India Company, via the dowry of Catherine de Braganza, in marriage to Charles II of England. Salsette islanders and Basseinites of the Bombay East Indian community were also Portuguese citizens, until the Mahratta Invasion of Bassein in 1739.
It has been said that prior to the en-masse Christianization, there were a few communities of Eastern Christians (Nestorians) present in the age-old ports of Konkan, that were caught up in the Spice trade and the Silk Route. The conversion of the Indo-Parthian (Pahlavi) King Gondophares (abbreviated Gaspar) into the Thomasine Church, and the finding of a Persian Cross in Goa, are subjects of ongoing debate and research.
The first converts to Christianity in Goa were native Goan women who married Portuguese men that arrived with Afonso de Albuquerque during the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510.
During the mid-16th century, the city of Goa, was the center of Christianization in the East. Christianization in Goa was largely limited to the four concelhos (districts) of Bardez, Mormugao, Salcette, and Tiswadi. Furthermore, evangelization activities were divided in 1555 by the Portuguese viceroy of Goa, Pedro Mascarenhas. He allotted Bardez to the Franciscans, Tiswadi to the Dominicans, and Salcette, together with fifteen southeastern villages of Tiswadi, including Chorão and Divar, to the Jesuits. The city of Old Goa was shared among all, since all the religious orders had their headquarters there. Prior to that, the Franciscans alone christianized Goa till 1542. Other less active orders that maintained a presence in Goa were the Augustines, Carmelites, and Theatines.
The first mass conversions took place among the Brahmins of Divar, and the Kshatriyas of Carambolim. In Bardez, Mangappa Shenoy of Pilerne converted to Christianity in 1555, adopting the name Pero Ribeiro and thus becoming the first native Christian male convert of Bardez. His conversion was followed by that of his brother Panduranga and his uncle Balkrishna Shenoy, who is the direct patrilineal ancestor of Goan historian José Gerson da Cunha. In Salcette, Raia was the first village to have been Christianized, when its populace converted en masse to Christianity in 1560.
In 1534, Goa was made a diocese and in 1557 an archdiocese. The Archbishop of Goa was the most important ecclesiastic of the East, and was from 1572 called the "Primate of the East". The Portuguese rulers implemented state policies encouraging and even rewarding conversions among Hindu subjects. Conversion was aided by the Portuguese economic and political control over the Hindus, who were vassals of the Portuguese crown.
The process of Christianization was simultaneously accompanied by Lusitanization, as the Christian converts typically assumed a Portuguese veneer. The most visible aspect was the discarding of old Konkani Hindu names for new Portuguese Catholic names at the time of Baptism. The 1567 Provincial Council of Goa — under the presidency of the first Archbishop of Goa Gaspar Jorge de Leão Pereira, and then under the presidency of his successor Jorge Temudo — passed over 115 decrees. One of them declared that the Goan Catholics would henceforth not be permitted to use their former Hindu names.
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Christianization of Goa AI simulator
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Christianization of Goa
The indigenous population of the erstwhile Portuguese colony of Goa, Daman and Diu was Christianised following the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510 and the subsequent establishment of the Goan Inquisition. The converts in the Velhas Conquistas (Old Conquests) to Catholic Christianity were then granted full Portuguese citizenship. Almost all of the present-day Goan Christians are descendants of these native converts; they constitute the largest Indian Christian community of Goa state and account for 25 percent of the population, as of 2011 Census of India.
Many Kudali, Mangalorean and Karwari Catholics in present-day Karnataka and Maharashtra share common origins with Goans, due to migration in the 16th and 17th centuries. Korlai and Bombay East Indian Catholics of the Konkan division, and the Damanese of Damaon, Diu & Silvassa have had Goan admixture and interactions in the Portuguese Bombay territory, which was ruled from the capital at Old Goa. Bombay East Indians were formerly Portuguese citizens until the Seven Islands of Bombay were taken over by the English East India Company, via the dowry of Catherine de Braganza, in marriage to Charles II of England. Salsette islanders and Basseinites of the Bombay East Indian community were also Portuguese citizens, until the Mahratta Invasion of Bassein in 1739.
It has been said that prior to the en-masse Christianization, there were a few communities of Eastern Christians (Nestorians) present in the age-old ports of Konkan, that were caught up in the Spice trade and the Silk Route. The conversion of the Indo-Parthian (Pahlavi) King Gondophares (abbreviated Gaspar) into the Thomasine Church, and the finding of a Persian Cross in Goa, are subjects of ongoing debate and research.
The first converts to Christianity in Goa were native Goan women who married Portuguese men that arrived with Afonso de Albuquerque during the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510.
During the mid-16th century, the city of Goa, was the center of Christianization in the East. Christianization in Goa was largely limited to the four concelhos (districts) of Bardez, Mormugao, Salcette, and Tiswadi. Furthermore, evangelization activities were divided in 1555 by the Portuguese viceroy of Goa, Pedro Mascarenhas. He allotted Bardez to the Franciscans, Tiswadi to the Dominicans, and Salcette, together with fifteen southeastern villages of Tiswadi, including Chorão and Divar, to the Jesuits. The city of Old Goa was shared among all, since all the religious orders had their headquarters there. Prior to that, the Franciscans alone christianized Goa till 1542. Other less active orders that maintained a presence in Goa were the Augustines, Carmelites, and Theatines.
The first mass conversions took place among the Brahmins of Divar, and the Kshatriyas of Carambolim. In Bardez, Mangappa Shenoy of Pilerne converted to Christianity in 1555, adopting the name Pero Ribeiro and thus becoming the first native Christian male convert of Bardez. His conversion was followed by that of his brother Panduranga and his uncle Balkrishna Shenoy, who is the direct patrilineal ancestor of Goan historian José Gerson da Cunha. In Salcette, Raia was the first village to have been Christianized, when its populace converted en masse to Christianity in 1560.
In 1534, Goa was made a diocese and in 1557 an archdiocese. The Archbishop of Goa was the most important ecclesiastic of the East, and was from 1572 called the "Primate of the East". The Portuguese rulers implemented state policies encouraging and even rewarding conversions among Hindu subjects. Conversion was aided by the Portuguese economic and political control over the Hindus, who were vassals of the Portuguese crown.
The process of Christianization was simultaneously accompanied by Lusitanization, as the Christian converts typically assumed a Portuguese veneer. The most visible aspect was the discarding of old Konkani Hindu names for new Portuguese Catholic names at the time of Baptism. The 1567 Provincial Council of Goa — under the presidency of the first Archbishop of Goa Gaspar Jorge de Leão Pereira, and then under the presidency of his successor Jorge Temudo — passed over 115 decrees. One of them declared that the Goan Catholics would henceforth not be permitted to use their former Hindu names.