Martyrs of Cuncolim
| Cuncolim Revolt | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Portuguese conquest of Goa | |||||||||
 A 17th-century painting in a church in Colva depicting the massacre of the five Jesuits in Cuncolim, Goa on July 25, 1583. |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Portuguese Empire |
Kshatriyas of Cuncolim Bijapur Sultanate |
||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| unknown | unknown | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 60 Civilians | 500 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 5 Priests 14 Indian Christians 1 Portuguese Civilian |
none | ||||||||
The Cuncolim Revolt (also termed the Cuncolim Martyrdom by the Catholic Church) was a massacre of Christian priests and civilians by Kshatriyas in Cuncolim, Goa on Monday, 25 July 1583, as a protest against attempts by the colonial Portuguese administration to demolish Hindu temples in the locality and forcibly convert the local population to Christianity.
Five Jesuit priests along with one European and 14 Indian Christians were killed in the incident. The Portuguese government retaliated by summarily executing most of the Gaonkar leaders without trial, and destroying the economic infrastructure of Cuncolim.
The incident was the first show of defiance against the Portuguese by the local population since the conquest of Goa in 1510.
Following the conquest of Goa by Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510, missionaries of the newly founded Society of Jesus were sent from Portugal to Goa with the goal of fulfilling the papal bull Romanus Pontifex, which granted the patronage of the propagation of the Christian faith in Asia to the Portuguese. The Portuguese colonial government in Goa supported the mission with incentives for baptized Christians. They offered rice donations to the poor, good positions in the Portuguese colonies to the middle class and military support for local rulers.
A campaign was launched in Bardez in North Goa resulting in the destruction of 300 temples. Enacting laws, prohibition was laid from 4 December 1567 on Hindu rituals and which required all persons above 15 years of age to listen to Christian preaching, failing which they were severely punished. In 1583 many Hindu temples at Assolna and Cuncolim were destroyed through army action.
Cuncolim was inhabited by a devout Hindu population who were mostly members of the warrior Kshatriya caste. It was prosperous compared to neighbouring areas due to its fertile land, with abundant and fresh water from rivers descending from the hinterland of Goa. Surplus agricultural production had enabled this village to develop crafts of a very skilled order and it was known for its metal work. As Afonso de Albuquerque wrote in his letters back to Portugal, guns of good quality were manufactured in Cuncolim, which he found comparable to those made in Germany.
...
Wikipedia