35053668-Empire-of-the-Soul-Paul-William-Roberts

112
EMPIRE OF THE SOUL
Xavier was undoubtedly not the only one to request the
Inquisition and he didn’t live long enough to help supervise the
fun himself. This holy terror was ostensibly not directed against
those Hindus obstinate or foolish enough to remain in Goa, but
rather was intended for those who had already accepted Christianity
but were suspected of not observing the Christian rites with
appropriate rigour and enthusiasm – or even of covertly practising
their old faith. The Inquisition, however, was determined to be fair:
it took an equal interest in any Hindus it discovered indulging
their beliefs, since everyone knew these beliefs were ‘magic and
witchcraft.’
But the Dominicans, who were keener about the Inquisition than
the other orders were – and the other orders were hardly apathetic –
took a special interest in the revertidos, the backsliders with their cutout
idols and furtive cremations. The culprits would be tracked down
and burned alive. Auto-da-fé – act of faith – was the lofty title given
to this inhuman practice. Far from disapproving of the burnings, the
viceroy, the man who had outlawed sati, attended them in pomp and
ceremony with his entire retinue.
Many of Goa’s new Christians had grave misgivings about the
faith that had been shoved down their throats, and few could discard
ancient beliefs and taboos as easily as their Portuguese masters felt
they should. Language was partly to blame. Far from being interested
in learning the Konkani spoken by their subjects, the conquistadores
swiftly set about burning everything written in the language on the
off chance it might contain ‘precepts and doctrines of idolatry.’
Indeed, fire appeared to be the final solution to whatever they did
not understand.
The priesthood could also be fairly described as ‘Christian
soldiers,’ since many in its rank and file were mercenaries. While
senior clergy might be men of education and sophistication, far
more had joined up in anticipation of the cushy and lucrative
existence the profession offered, especially in Goa. The historian T.
B. Cunha comments that ‘every sailor who came to Goa preferred
to be a monk.’ Most such sailors were after a more material form of
enlightenment, too. Not only were they intellectually ill-equipped
to pick up a very foreign language in order to assist their flock of