We, Tamils hardly know the unfortunate portions of Portuguese occupation of Tamilnadu and the resultant havoc it played in changing the demography of the Tamil landscape alienating a significant portion of our brethren from us. Nodoubt, these are old history which doesn't have much of value now.But when the innocent tamil fishermen are made to believe that they converted for escaping out of the caste discriminations and due to the magnanimity showed by St.Xavier, I thought of citing the relevant historical facts, which show otherwise. Also we have to remember that if we don't learn from the mistakes of the past, we are bound to repeat them again and again. Historical records are filled with the stories of hapless Tamil fisherfolks being coerced to convert to Christianity when the already confused political situation of the 16th century Tamilnadu made them vulnerable to attacks from all sides threatening their livelihood and existence. Even though I came across several sources which point out to this, in view of the criticism levelled against me, earlier in this forum for quoting the sources which are not in the good books of the catholic church, I have decided to quote from an `authentic Christian' source accepted by the Vatican as well as the various churches of India. The following is the excerpts from a well-known Christian historian, George Mark Moraes, MA (Bom), D.Litt. (Rome), D.Litt. (Strasbourg), D.A. (Vatican). I have exactly reproduced excerpts from his celebrated book titled, A History of Christianity in India, published in the year 1964 and which was written with the assistance of Rev.Fr.E.R.Hambye, S.J, Rev.Fr.G.Schurhammer, S.J, Rev.A.D'Cruz and Dr.Simon Fernandes. I have given my comments in italics within brackets. Otherwise except may be for some typographical errors, this is the exact reproduction of pages 143-146 of this book. I thank a Christian friend of mine who is doing research into tamilfolk songs ,for inspiring me to venture into this venture by once mentioning during the course of conversation that the lack of support from the society only made these communities fall into the laps of church. I would also like to thank an online friend who motivated me to dig into the past , not as a means to divide the society, but as a means to unify the already divided society and to bring communities together by portraying the actual historical facts and errors committed by all of us in the past. QUOTE( START): " One such caste was that of the Paravas (parathavar- a Tamil fisher caste) who inhabited the fishery coast extending from cape comorin (kanya kumari) to the isle of mannar (Rameswaram) along the gulf that bears the name. The Paravas plied the trade of pearl fishing, diving for pearls to the bottom of the deep where they could stay for many hours. The season for pearl-fishing came round once in three years in the months of march and November when, in the absence of the strong winds, they were able to carry on their operations undisturbed- for pearls in March and for seed-pearls in November. They undertook these expeditions after elaborate preparations consisting of examination and sounding of the ocean. At the spots where they selected for beginning their operations- which generally in the vicinity of the Mannar and Tuticorin there they would spring during the season veritable colonies of these pearl-fishers only to be abandoned at the end of the season.(Silva Rego Documatacao Vol.-II pp359-60) The Paravas paid a small tax to the state for permission to scour the deep for pearls. In the first quarter of the 16th century, this contribution which was paid to the pandyas till then, came to be shared by the two powers between whom the coast was divided the king of Travancore, Chera Udaya Martanda, who annexed the southern half of the coastal territory and the Vanga Tumbichi Nayak, who possesed himself to the north. In 1516, however the state dues were farmed out by a Muslim who on account of the profits he has realized, became the virtual master of the coast (Documentacao vol.-II p361). According to Barbosa, he was so rich and powerful that the people of the land honoured him as much as the king. He executed judgement and justice on the Muslims without interference from the constituted authority. The fishers (parathavars) toiled for him for a whole week at the close of the season, and for themselves for the rest of the time except on Fridays when they worked for the owners of the boats (Dames, The book of Duarte Barbosa Vol.-II pp123-24). The Portuguese, who were the masters of the seas, coveted this business and soon wrested it from the Muslims. In 1523, Joao Froles, whom the Portuguese king appointed as Captain and Factor of the fishery coast, succeeded in farming out the dues of 1,500 cruzados a year (Corea oriente Portuguese vol.-II PP 778-79,786-87). The Muslims couldn't yield to their rivals without a struggle. But the brunt of their attacks were visited upon the Paravas. For in their attempt to baulk the Portuguese of their gains, they constantly harassed the poor fishers. In consequence, the Portuguese had to maintain a flying squadron to beat off the attacks of the Muslim Corsairs-as they termed their enemies. Just at this juncture, Vijayanagar, which had earlier connived at the occupation of the coast by the King of Travancore and Tumbichi Nayak, vigorously intervened in support of the Pandya king. The Vijayanagar forces inflicted severe defeat on the Travancore army, and with the appearance of Vijayanagar on the fishery coast there was cessation of hostilities between the Portuguese and the Muslims (Silva Rego Oriente Portuguese Vol.-II pp362-65). About the year 1536 an incident occurred which threatened to throw the coastal people into the throes of a violent internecine warfare. In a scuffle between a Muslim and a Parava at Tuticorin, the Parava had his ear torn out by his adversary, who out of sheer greed for the ring it bore, carried with him. Now there was in the estimation of the Paravas no greater affront than to have one's ears boxed and much worse, to have the rings torn off. The incident sparked off a civil war between the Paravas and the Muslims, and it was soon apparent that the Paravas would be beaten in the struggle. A Muslim flotilla guarded the coast making it impossible for the Paravas to ply their trade, and offering five fanams ( panam, the then currency, even today in Tamilnadu its common for the tamil to term money as panam) for a Parava head(Luceana , Historia da Vida do padre S.Francisco Xavier , vol.-I liv II , cap .VII). Happily for the Paravas, there happened to arrive at cape comorin (present day kanya kumari) at this time Joao da Cruz, a horse dealer who was high in Portuguese favour. He was a page of the zamorin who had sent him to Portugal towards the end of 1512, when he was negotiating a treaty with Albuquerque. He was converted to Christianity while he was there and was admitted to the order of the Christ. He was now no longer in the service of the zamorin, having incurred his displeasure for changing his religion. Joao da Cruz, who was awaiting payment for his deal at the cape (kanya kumari) , was approached by the Paravas for advice. Da Cruz could see no way of saving them from their predicament other than conversion to Christianity. For then they would be entitled to the protection of the Portuguese and could, as a matter of right, invoke the aid of the Padroado Portuguese. The Paravas had no alternative but to agree and Da Cruz led a deputation of twenty pattankattis (leaders) of the Paravas to cochin to wait on Pero Vaz, the Vedor da Fazenda, and Miguel Vaz, the Vicar-General. These pleaded the case of the Paravas before Nuno da Cunha, the Governor, and it was decided that they be helped against their Muslim opponents. Accordingly a Portuguese squadron appeared before cape comorin (Kanya kumari). The Muslim flotilla sought safety in flight and the Paravas freed from bondage could from now on ply their trade independently of the farmers, both Muslim and Portuguese. In the meanwhile, Da Cruz persuaded the King of Travancore not to object to the conversion of the Paravas in a body to the Christian religion, assuring him that if he was friendly with the Portuguese he could depend on his supply of war steeds, the mainstay of the army in those days. ( we have to remember that there are other versions of this `agreement' some mentioning that the Travancore king was paid some amount most probably a part of the gratitude-money which was extracted from the Tamil fisherfolks by the Portuguese, in addition to the conversions. The Paravas apart from getting converted also had to shell out 60000 fanams to Portuguese as protection money. This was further used to induce more conversions. I shall write on this later ). Miguel Vaz thereupon visited the Paravas accompanied by four priests and administered baptism to about twenty thousand people. In a few years, the number rose to eighty thousand men, women, and children and the Christianity spread among these people, settled both on the malabar and coromandel coasts(Documentacao Vol.-II PP 257-59; Schurhammer ,art cit. pp304-07). The Paravas now had the protection of the Portuguese fleet and could follow their profession undisturbed .. UNQUOTE (END) |
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