Gonsalo Garcia

Saint Gonsalo Garcia, O.F.M.
St Gonsalo Garcia of Bassein
Born	February 5, 1557 Bassein (Baçaim), Portuguese India Deccan Sultanates
Died	February 5, 1597 Nagasaki, Japan
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	14 September 1627 by Pope Urban VIII
Canonized	8 June 1862 by Pope Pius IX
Major shrine	St. Gonsalo Garcia Church Gass, Vasai, India
Feast	February 5
Patronage	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay East Indian Community

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay

Gonsalo Garcia, O.F.M., (Portuguese: Gonçalo Garcia) (1556 – 5 February 1597) was a Franciscan lay brother from Portuguese India, who died as a martyr in Japan and is venerated as a saint, one of the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan so venerated. The first Indian born to attain sainthood was born in the western coastal town of Baçaim, later Bassein in English (now known as Vasai, an exurb of the city of Mumbai. During his lifetime, the town was under Portuguese colonial rule.

Bassein (or Vasai) is about 30 miles north of Bombay. The Portuguese ruled this place for about 205 years (1534-1739 A.D). In 1498 A.D Vasco da Gama arrived at the harbour of Calicut (Kozhikode) on the western coast of India. It was after this that the Portuguese established their power on the western coast of India. During that time John III of Portugal had ascended the throne of Portugal. He appointed Nuno da Cunha as the Governor of Goa in order to conquer the island of Diu from the sultan of Gujarat. Under his leadership, the Portuguese started endeavours to conquer the island of Diu. The Portuguese tried to siege Bassein, because they believed that conquering Bassein would provide them a strategic momentum to acquire Diu.

During this period Da Cunha learned that the Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat had sent his forces to build a small fort in Bassein. Governor Nuno da Cunha soon realized that if the Sultan built the fort in Bassein, their desire to conquer Diu would soon be vanished. Ultimately Governor Nuno da Cunha decided to conquer Bassein, after consulting the council of Fidalgos (noblemen) in Goa. Portuguese Fidalgos and thousands of naval soldiers sailed in the direction of Bassein on 150 ships. A battle took place between the Portuguese forces and those of the Sultan of Gujarat on 20 January 1533, which was won by the Portuguese on the feast day of Saint Sebastian. The fort came into the actual control of Portuguese on 23 December 1534 when Bahadurshah signed a treaty with the Portuguese to hand over the complete authority of Bassein. Following the event, Captain Garcia de Sá was appointed to build Fort Bassein and the work began on 20 January 1536.