Professor Mascarenhas made so many interesting points only I, a Moidekar, could possibly possess the temerity to examine his arguments given that he's a world renowned intellectual and I (sigh) am just a *ganvtti* sort who believes in the adage: *soglleanchem aikunchem, punn mhaka borem dista tem korpachem. *
Jo : Point One : I am a great admirer of the Jesuits. I am even aware why, Marquis de Pombal, had them expelled. He did India and the world a great favour. Oh yes, think of the hundreds of children they taught and if this was not enough over the decades they started several Institutions of Learning all over India and beyond. Many many intellectuals... Me: I have no doubt Professor that you are aware as to why the Marquis de Pombal expelled the Jesuits. An ignorant person like me would have appreciated it if you explained to us what you know with a few sources. Not having access to books like you especially during the lockdown I had to rely on unreliable websites like https://www.pahor.de/books/other/goa-portuguese-india-piracy-pombaline-legal-reforms-collection-of-4-royal-decrees.html I've edited out some stuff from the website above to focus on Pombal and Goa. *Goa and the Pombaline Reforms* Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (1699 - 1782), better known as the Marquis of Pombal (a title he gained in 1770), was one of the greatest statemen of the European Enlightenment, who utterly transformed Portugal (and its empire) following a period of national crisis. Hailing from a very low place in the aristocracy, he always bitterly resented Portugal’s establishment, which consisted of the great noble families and the Church; he considered them decadent and corrupt, and it followed that their sloth was holding Portugal back. Pombal was a brilliant diplomat, who served with unusual distinction in the important roles as Ambassador to London and Vienna. Upon the ascension of King José I (1750-77), who condsidered himself a reformer, Pombal was appointed Foreign Minister. He was despised by the majority of the Royal Court, who found his ‘extreme’ liberal views and forceful personality unsettling. However, they were somewhat relieved that he seemed preoccupied with external affairs, having little power to threaten their traditional privileges. The Great Earthquake of Lisbon (November 1, 1755), which virtually destroyed the city and much of Portugal’s domestic economy, changed everything. While others dithered, Pombal confidently took control of the situation, gaining José’s complete confidence. He was appointed Prime Minister and, given the king’s weak nature, became the autocrat of Portugal. In what became known as the Pombaline Reforms, he acted with alacrity and boldness to transform the country and its overseas possessions. He quickly rebuilt Lisbon on a rational, modern plan, and radically overhauled the country’s economy to stimulate the manufacturing sector, international trade and to raise government revenues. He tackled corruption and inefficiency, unlocking the potential of manyindustries. He encouraged Enlightenment education and science, abolished slavery, ended the Inquisition and removed the prohibition on Jews. Pombal was met with extreme blowback from members of the establishment; however, he managed to ruthlessly bulldoze his opposition. In 1758, he had the entire Távora Family (a leading noble house and his arch-nemesis) either executed or exiled on flimsy evidence that they attempted to assassinate the King; and in 1759, on Pombal’s designs, Portugal became the first country to abolish the Jesuit Order (which he despised). In 1762, he solidified his power when Portugal defeated a Spanish invasion, a victory due to Pombal’s’ reinvigoration of the military and his excellent diplomatic rapport with London (which yielded timely British military assistance). With Metropolitan Portugal back on track, Pombal turned his attention to reforming its overseas empire, such that it could once gain economically benefit Lisbon. He supported Brazil to expand its boundaries into new, resource-rich parts of the South American Interior, while imposing much needed reforms to the administration of Angola and Mozambique. In the late 1760s, Pombal turned his attention to Goa and its dependencies. Goa had been the main Portuguese base in Asia since 1510. Described as the “Rome of Asia” for the next century and a half, it was inarguably the most important European centre in Asia, controlling a vast maritime empire of trading ports that extended from Mozambique to Japan. Made vastly wealthy through spices, precious metals and other treasures, Goa was the largest single source of wealth for the Portuguese crown. However, during the mid-17th Century, Portugal lost most of its Asian possessions following a series of conflicts with the Dutch East India Company (the VOC). It also came to lose much of its market share of the European-Asian trade to the VOC, as well as English and French competition. By the beginning of the 18th Century, the Estado da Índia was a shadow if its former self, being limited to Goa and few minor dependencies along the west coast of the subcontinent. Goa was, however, still a great entrepôt of commerce generating significant revenues for Portugal, which had itself suffered economic decline. That being said, the colony’s government and economy were blighted by corruption. While graft and inefficiency were common in all colonies (not to mention the mother countries themselves), it was especially serious in Goa. While the colonial Governor was directly appointed by Lisbon, many of the other officials, including judges, custom officials and civil administrators were chosen locally. Moreover, the Church, especially the Jesuit Order exercised immense power far beyond its religious mandate. The colony came to be completed controlled by a sophisticated syndicate of corruption and nepotism, managed by the Jesuits and local officials that was so powerful and resilient that it defied the efforts of honest governors to set it strait. By 1750, corruption was dramatically weighing down the colony’s economy. A large percentage of the annual revues that Goa was meant to remit to Lisbon was being taken by graft, while the colony’s mariners, merchants and farmers suffered terribly by having to pay enormous bribes to a variety of ever greedier officials and prelates. While an exact accounting is hard to measure, by this time it seemed that Goa was becoming a net drag upon Portugal. Pombal was determined to take a sledgehammer to the established power network in Goa through an elaborate process of legal reforms that would take five years to enact, between 1769 and 1774. The abolition of the Jesuit Order had already dealt a major blow to the colonial establishment; however, Pombalmoved to enforce the end of the Inquisition in Goa, which was done in 1774. This, and other reforms dramatically reduced the Church’s influence upon the colony. The Carta da Lei of April 10, 1769 gave Pombal the mandate to reshape Goa’s administrative system, granting Lisbon greater direct powers of the colony’s day-to-day governance. This charter was brought into life over the next five years by a series of separate legal acts, including the present four royal decrees, that triggered transformative changes to Goa’s civil establishment, economy, and its religious and social affairs. By 1774, these embraced virtually every aspect of the colonial life, with the view to making the colony less corrupt, less clerical, and more subject to Pombal’s centralizing liberalEnlightenment agenda.... ... *References:* An example of Item A: Bibl. Mun. de Elvas: JHT2172CCXCIX; Items B, C, D with no other examples traced in bibliographical databases, including Porbase (Portuguese Bibliographical database). Cf. [Background:] Instrucções com que el-rei D. José I. mandou passar ao Estado da India o governador, e capitão general, e o arcebispo primaz do oriente, no anno de 1774 (Panjim, Goa: na Typographia Nacional, 1841), passim.; Kenneth Maxwell, Pombal, Paradox of the Enlightenment (London, 1995), passim. According to Dr. Teotonio de Souza, Dr. Charles Borges S. J. has discussed at length the suppression of the Jesuits by Pombal in his doctoral dissertation Suppression "Economics of the Goa Jesuits before Suppression, 1542-1759" but unfortunately I have no access to it right now. Maybe this book will support your contentions. Incidentally if the book about the Jesuits of Goa mentioned all this I didn't notice. What Naik S. J. offers appears to be a tissue of lies, but then who am I, a mere *morador Moidekar, *to question an intellectual like a Jesuit? Prof. A. M: .Point One B? They did something else started dialogues with people of other faiths Me: True Professor. But that was during the rule of Emperor Akbar isn't it? (Or do you have any evidence as to what happened later?) After that encounter with Akbar didn't a lot of water flow down the river Mhadei, or Mandovi, if you prefer? Prof. A. M.: Point One C : Yes, they were interested in fruits and started several varieties of mangoes ? Me: Perhaps. I wish you would cite your sources Professor. Everyone isn't as learned as you to know what you're referring to. Please oblige, Professor. Prof. A. M.: who knows they may have even introduced the plantain in Moira. Me: They might. But I recall Dr. Teotonio de Souza saying that it was likely the Goans and specifically the Moidekars who exported the Moira banana elsewhere. I of course don't need to tell you that Moira was decreed to the Franciscans, and not the Jesuits. Prof. A. M.: Point Two A Saint Francis Xavier- he only spent 10 months in Goa, Me: Probably less. Prof. A. M.: Probably spent more time in Africa, and definitely more time in Japan and China. As a reader (GL) pointed some time ago in Goanet he was disgusted with the corruption in Goa. Me: Very true Professor. But what's your point? I know this as well as you but had you cared to read my post carefully you would have realised that what I was saying was that such information should be placed before those who don't know. I'm not certain but GL was probably saying that the 15th - 16th centuries were times when modern notions of human rights were nowhere around the place, but such an argument has to be buttressed with evidence relating to human rights violations across the board and in the Indian context stretching at least as far back as the Aryan invasion. Another way to look at it is from the ganvkari point of view: when they converted entire ganvkaria converted. If they destroyed temples these were the *ganvkars* own temples. So one cannot complain if stones of temples were used to build churches. But this argument needs to be carefully sourced and elaborated upon. Conclusion: This post is very long but still does not finish saying what I want. Perhaps you could help Professor Mascarenhas. Best, Augusto