Latest / The Rise of Colonialism: How Europe Divided the World — Fexingo History / The Portuguese Inquisition in Goa: Faith, Fear, and Assimilation
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about how the Portuguese built their empire in Asia — the forts, the trade, the naval battles. But there's a darker, more intimate side to that story that we haven't touched on yet: the Portuguese Inquisition in Goa. Luna: Wait, the Inquisition wasn't just in Spain and Portugal? Lucas: That's a common assumption, but no — the Portuguese took it to their colonies. In fact, the Goa Inquisition was established in 1560, just 16 years after the one in Portugal proper. And it was brutal. It lasted until 1812, so over 250 years of religious persecution. Luna: Who were they targeting? Lucas: Primarily the native converts to Catholicism — Hindus and Muslims who had been baptised, often under pressure, and were then suspected of secretly practicing their old faith. The Inquisition called them 'crypto-Hindus' or 'crypto-Muslims'. But also, later on, any Christian who deviated from orthodoxy — including any European who embraced Protestant ideas. And it wasn't just about belief; it was a tool of social control. Lucas: It's fascinating and horrifying how it began. One of the key figures pushing for it was St. Francis Xavier — yes, the famous Jesuit missionary. He wrote letters back to Portugal complaining that the new converts in Goa were still following their old customs, that they were 'perverting' the faith. He essentially asked for the Inquisition to be set up. Luna: So a saint requested an institution that tortured people? That's a side of him they don't teach in Sunday school. Lucas: Exactly. And the Portuguese crown was happy to oblige. The Inquisition was officially installed in Goa in 1560, with the first Grand Inquisitor being a Dominican friar named Aleixo Dias Falcão. They set up their tribunal in the heart of Old Goa, right near the Sé Cathedral. Lucas: Now, the procedure was terrifying. They'd issue an 'Edict of Faith' that called on everyone to denounce anyone they suspected of heresy — neighbors, family members, even servants. You could be reported for simply not eating beef on a Friday, or for wearing a sacred thread under your clothes. Anonymously. Luna: So it was a system of mass surveillance. What happened if you were accused? Lucas: You'd be arrested and taken to the Inquisition prison. Your property would be confiscated immediately — often before you were even convicted. Then came the trial, which was secret. You weren't told who accused you or what the evidence was. Torture was used to extract confessions — things like the strappado, where they'd suspend you by your arms with weights on your ankles, or waterboarding. Lucas: And the public climax was the auto-da-fé — the 'act of faith'. These were huge ceremonies held in the main square of Old Goa, with the viceroy, the archbishop, and all the nobility present. The condemned would march in wearing penitential robes called sanbenitos, with conical hats. Some would be sentenced to public flogging, others to exile, and the worst cases — the 'relapsed' heretics — would be burned at the stake. Luna: Were there any famous cases? Lucas: There are many recorded. One that stands out is the trial of a Brahmin named Gonçalo Fernandes — originally a Hindu named Govinda. He had converted, but was accused of secretly worshipping Hindu gods. Under torture, he confessed and was sentenced to burn. But then, at the auto-da-fé, he recanted his confession, saying it was false. The Inquisition convicted him anyway and he was executed. Stories like that were common. Lucas: The Inquisition also destroyed an enormous amount of culture. Temples were demolished all over Goa. Hindu and Muslim manuscripts were burned. They banned the use of local languages like Konkani in religious contexts, forcing people to learn Portuguese. The idea was to completely erase the old culture and replace it with a Portuguese Catholic identity. Luna: But thousands of people must have resisted. Did anyone flee? Lucas: Yes, many did. There were waves of emigration from Goa to neighboring regions like Mangalore, Karnataka, and even Kerala. These were the 'Goan Catholics' who preserved their Hindu-influenced traditions in secret. Inside Goa, though, the pressure to conform was immense. By the 18th century, practically everyone in Goa was at least nominally Catholic. But underneath, many continued to practice their old rites in private. Lucas: The Inquisition finally began to decline in the late 1700s. The Marquis of Pombal, the powerful Portuguese prime minister, was a rationalist who saw the Inquisition as backward and economically damaging — because it drove away merchants and talent. He got the pope to suppress the Inquisition in Portugal in 1774, and it was abolished in Goa in 1812, after a long period of atrophy. Luna: So in the end, it was pragmatism, not morality, that ended it? Lucas: Pretty much. But the damage was done. The Goan Inquisition left a deep trauma. It created a society where outward conformity was mandatory, but inner belief was hidden. That legacy of fear and double lives persisted for generations. And it's a dark reminder that colonialism wasn't just about extracting resources — it was about reshaping souls. Lucas: There's an echo of this in modern India, too. Some Hindu nationalists point to the Inquisition as proof of the violent intolerance of Christianity, while Catholic Goans emphasize their unique cultural blend. Either way, it's a chapter that's often forgotten in the broader story of the Portuguese empire. Luna: Thanks for bringing it to light. It really makes you think about how religion was weaponized. Lucas: Absolutely. And that's the thing about history — the more you dig, the more complexity you find. Next time, we might look at how the Inquisition also targeted European Protestants who made their way to Goa, or how it compared to the Spanish Inquisition in the Americas. But for now, that's the story of the Goa Inquisition.