In 1583, the Cuncolim villagers had to face the fury of the Portuguese for having killed the five priests and five laymen whoweere forcibly converting the Hindus and also destroying their temples. The Portuguese destroyed orchards in the village and unleashed many atrocities on the local population. More trouble was in store for them.The village chieftains were invited for talks at a fort in the neighboring village of Assolna, where the church of Assolna stands today. All except one was executed. The one who survived did so by escaping through a toilet to swim across the "River Sal" and fleeing to the neighboring Karwar district, which now forms part of the southern state of Karnataka.As part of the memory of the murdered village chieftains, Cuncolim as recently as six years ago erected a "chieftains' memorial" thanks to the initiative of Vermissio Coutinho, who took the lead in the building of the memorial. The chieftains' memorial stands close to the martyrs' chapel.The subsequent execution of the chieftains -- cold-blooded murder -- did not diminish the fighting and valorous qualities of the villagers. If though the Khastriyas of Cuncolim failed to match the superior armed forces of the colonial rulers, who destroyed their orchards and unleashed other atrocities, the villagers continued the struggle through a non-cooperation movement of not paying taxes to the Portuguese.Centuries later, Mahatma Gandhi would launch a similar movement of not paying taxes to British rulers.The villages of Cuncolim, Velim, Assolna, Ambleim and Veroda refused to pay taxes on the produce generated from their fields and orchards. As a result, their lands were confiscated and entrusted to the Condado of the Marquis of Fronteira.The villagers waged a strong struggle but it was through the efforts of the visionary Dr. Rogociano Rebello, a general medical practitioner who studied law, that they got their land back.He took their case from the Goa law courts established by the Portuguese to the highest court in Portugal. Finally, it bore fruit.
The "martyrdom" and conversion of Cuncolim did not end the exploitation by the vested interests. New ones replaced the older ones and the conversion does not seem to have made a great difference. The later history of Cuncolim-Veroda as Condado of The Marquis of Fronteira since its donation in perpetuity to João da Silva and his descendents in 1585 could be the theme for a long study and it will require access to the records of the House of Fronteira and to many case files in the court (julgado) of Quepem of the comarca of Salcete. There are also records among the Mhamai House Papers at The Xavier Centre of Historical Research pertaining to the administration of the revenues by Narayan Camotim Mhamay as Rendeiro of the Condado frorn 1809 to 1818 or so. Apparently, the administration of the Condado was more benevolent than that of the Jesuits in the neighbouring Assolna-Velim-Ambelim. But only a more detailed study could establish the truth of the appearances, because even for the short period of the administration of revenues by Narayan Mhamai Kamat one comes across umpteen cases of confiscation of lands and other personal possessions of several village inhabitants who are sued in the court of law as bad debtors to the revenue far-mer. (27) I have come across instances of popular representations against the administration of the Condado, and there are cases of Rendeiros complaining against the abuse of authority and funds by the procurators of the House of Fronteira in Goa. Such complaints seem to be motivated by the rivalry among the candidates for the revenue-farming of the Condado. (28)
The Portuguese chronicler Diogo do Couto describes Cuculi (sic)"The leader of rebellions" and its people as "The worst of all villages of Salcete". (17) The prosperity of this village seems to have been derived from its fertile land that had abundant and fresh waters from rivers descending from the New Conquests and crossing it before they became brackish in the neighbouring villages nearing the coast. (18)
Surplus agricultural production had enabled this village to develop crafts of a very skilled order. Cuncolim is still known for its skilled metal works. But already in the letters of Afonso de Albuquerque one reads that guns of good quality were manufactured in Cuncolim, and he finds them comparable to those made in Germany. (19)
A century later the viceroy D. Jeronimo d'Azevedo was banning the manufacture of guns in Cuncolim under penalty of four years in the galleys and even gallows! (20) This kind of developed crafts can give us some idea of the economic interests that had developed in Cuncolim when the Jesuits arrived.
The village also had other important economic resources. One of these was its permanent bazar at the end of more than one caravan routes connecting it with the mainland through the Ghats of the Ashthagrahar province. One of these cut through the Donkorpem Ghat and another through the Kundal Ghat, leading to Netarli and Naiquini respectively. Besides these two Ghat passages there was another coming from Dighi Ghat to Veroda via Talvarda. It was frequented by caravans bringing cloths and other provisions. (21)
Cuncolim bazar needs to be considered as an important factor in its socio-economic development. In keeping with the traditional fairs connected with temple and religious festivities, also the bazar economy of Cuncolirn depended upon its temple and religious celebrations. One should analyse against this background the reaction of the dominant class of Cuncolim to the destruction of its temples and to the attempts of the Jesuits who sought to establish Christianity in Cuncolim and its satellite villages of Assolna, Velim and Ambelim in 1583.
THE CASE OF CUNCOLIM
I have discussed the process of the disintegration of village economy as having been more marked in the areas subject to market influences of the city. However, Cuncolim was experiencing a similar process at work though it was far from the city of Goa, and not to close to the provincial town of Margão. We need to examine the other factors at work in the interior. If Cuncolim led the revolt against the Portuguese in association with its neighbouring villages, this fact needs perhaps to be understood against the background of its own economic development and interests that were affected by the new tax impositions and administrative-religious controls of the Portuguese.
The Portuguese chronicler Diogo do Couto describes Cuculi (sic)"The leader of rebellions" and its people as "The worst of all villages of Salcete". (17) The prosperity of this village seems to have been derived from its fertile land that had abundant and fresh waters from rivers descending from the New Conquests and crossing it before they became brackish in the neighbouring villages nearing the coast. (18)
Surplus agricultural production had enabled this village to develop crafts of a very skilled order. Cuncolim is still known for its skilled metal works. But already in the letters of Afonso de Albuquerque one reads that guns of good quality were manufactured in Cuncolim, and he finds them comparable to those made in Germany. (19) A century later the viceroy D. Jeronimo d'Azevedo was banning the manufacture of guns in Cuncolim under penalty of four years in the galleys and even gallows! (20) This kind of developed crafts can give us some idea of the economic interests that had developed in Cuncolim when the Jesuits arrived.
The village also had other important economic resources. One of these was its permanent bazar at the end of more than one caravan routes connecting it with the mainland through the Ghats of the Ashthagrahar province. One of these cut through the Donkorpem Ghat and another through the Kundal Ghat, leading to Netarli and Naiquini respectively. Besides these two Ghat passages there was another coming from Dighi Ghat to Veroda via Talvarda. It was frequented by caravans bringing cloths and other provisions. (21)
Cuncolim bazar needs to be considered as an important factor in its socio-economic development. In keeping with the traditional fairs connected with temple and religious festivities, also the bazar economy of Cuncolirn depended upon its temple and religious celebrations. One should analyse against this background the reaction of the dominant class of Cuncolim to the destruction of its temples and to the attempts of the Jesuits who sought to establish Christianity in Cuncolim and its satellite villages of Assolna, Velim and Ambelim in 1583. 1 do not wish to repeat here the details that are sufficiently well known about the wanton destruction of these villages by the Portuguese soldiery preceding and following the murder of some Jesuit Fathers and some others associated with their conversion drive in these villages. (22) They see The "Devil at work". What I wish to stress, in keeping with the line of argument I have proposed, is a thorough analysis of the socio-economic compulsions behind the political and religious events that have been discussed ad nauseam in writings concerning Cuncolim. It is important to see their hostility to Christianity in terms of threat to their established economic and social privileges connected with the temples and bazar. It is not so easy, however, to assign priority to material considerations in the actual practice of religion and the religious feelings connected with it. It is a case comparable to the Portuguese classic claim of seeking souls and spices in India! The people directly connected with the religious worship or responsïble for its promotion generally speak more in terms of purely spiritual motivations. However, their activities are sustained by the material wherewithal provided by those engaged in economic activities. So also the reactions of the natives of Cuncolim after the destruction of their temple were possibly a mixture of open expressions of spiritual revulsion and less expressed anger over the damage to socio-economic prospects of the dominant groups of the village population. The demolition of the temples implied deprivation of religious and cultural traditions that sustained an established social structure and its underlying economic base.
We know it from contemporary Jesuit records that the Hindus of Salcete tried to rebuild the temples and were ready to spend much money to do so. (23) This was confirmed in the case of Cuncolim by a stone inscription found in 1971 at the site of the bazar. This inscription of 12 lines in Marathi and deciphered as belonging to the year 1579 suggests that a temple of Mahadev was rebuilt by one Vithaldas Vithoji of Kshatriya descent. The inscription says that any Musulman destroying it will incur the sin of the violation of a holy place, and being a Maratha will incur the sin of killing a Brahmin. By reconstructing it a Musulman will have the merit of going on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and a Maratha doing the sarne will have the merit of a pilgrimage to Kashi. The inclusion of shapavakya(curses)and benediction for The Musulmans is interpreted as an expression of good treatment that the Hindus usually received from Muslims of Bijapur. (24) Obviously there was no question of curse or benediction for the Christians. Following the murder of the Jesuits in 1583 nothing was left of the reconstructed temple and the village elders (including two directly involved in the massacre of the Jesuits and their companions) who fell victims to the ruse of the Rachol captain Gomes Eannes de Figueiredo were murdered despite a safe-conduct assured to them. (25) It is important to note in the account of Diogo do Couto the reference to Aganaique and Ramagaro, who were among the village elders killed by the Portuguese captain and his soldiers treacherously, as "the most feared by all in the village". This could be a pointer to the role played by them in the traditional exploitative structure of the village. (26)
POST-CONVERSION INTRA-SOCIETAL CONFLICTS
The "martyrdom" and conversion of Cuncolim did not end the exploitation by the vested interests. New ones replaced the older ones and the conversion does not seem to have made a great difference. The later history of Cuncolim-Veroda as Condado of The Marquis of Fronteira since its donation in perpetuity to João da Silva and his descendents in 1585 could be the theme for a long study and it will require access to the records of the House of Fronteira and to many case files in the court (julgado) of Quepem of the comarca of Salcete. There are also records among the Mhamai House Papers at The Xavier Centre of Historical Research pertaining to the administration of the revenues by Narayan Camotim Mhamay as Rendeiro of the Condado frorn 1809 to 1818 or so. Apparently, the administration of the Condado was more benevolent than that of the Jesuits in the neighbouring Assolna-Velim-Ambelim. But only a more detailed study could establish the truth of the appearances, because even for the short period of the administration of revenues by Narayan Mhamai Kamat one comes across umpteen cases of confiscation of lands and other personal possessions of several village inhabitants who are sued in the court of law as bad debtors to the revenue far-mer. (27) I have come across instances of popular representations against the administration of the Condado, and there are cases of Rendeiros complaining against the abuse of authority and funds by the procurators of the House of Fronteira in Goa. Such complaints seem to be motivated by the rivalry among the candidates for the revenue-farming of the Condado. (28)
The population statistics maintained in the parish records give the Christian population of Cuncolim for every year between 1775 and 1942 as ranging between 4432 and 7236. Only from 1934 onwards figures are available also for the non-Catholic inhabitants of the village. The proportion of Hindus seems to be steady at little less than half of the Christian population. The number of Muslims is never more than 500. (29) Even though the former ganvkars of 12 vangad lost their old administrative rights after 1583, they continued to maintain their superior identity through the Church confraternities marked by caste exclusivism which resulted in unhappy incidents as recently as in 1983, ironically marking the fourth centenary of the "martyrdom" with a short-lived "Independent Church of Cuncolim"! (30)
CONCLUDING REMARKS
What has been possible to present in this paper is only a frame-work for understanding better what exactly the devil was doing in one single instance of the missionary history of Goa. The re-writing of the history of the Church in India, and in the Third World in general, can become relevant only if the local situation at the time is studied and analysed more carefully and with greater empathy. Every reference to "devil at work" in the missionary reports could thus become a suggestion for re-assessment and a starting point to write a new chapter in the history of the people and their religious-cultural development.
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