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Jesuits
in the History of India Goa - Dec. 2002 1.01 The vast scope suggested by the title of the paper "Jesuits in Indian History" or Jesuits in the History of India" makes it necessary to restrict its contents to a few aspects of the question; and each of these aspects in turn must be confined to limited spans of time and space. 1.02 This restraint is necessary because the Society of Jesus has
been perhaps the only institution / organisation in India that has been
in existence practically continuously for the past well-nigh four
centuries and a half. 1.03 Also because the Societys influence has been present in one
form or other in almost every region of India - not only in what is
today the Republic of India, but what went by the name of India during
the peak-years of the British Raj, and also areas around it, including
many parts of the present day Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tibet, Ceylon,
Nepal, Sikkim and other geographical and political regions and
territories. 1.04 And this spread and influence of the Society in time and space
has a third dimension - it had permeated a large number of spheres like
religion and spirituality, politics, education, scientific and
technological progress, meteorology, warfare and diplomacy, indology,
culture, history, geography, language and literature, art and
architecture, sports and games, discipline, morality and ethics, social
reforms, tribal and aboriginal movements, dalit issues, schisms, travel
and trade, nation-building, medicine and health-care, formation of
youth...to mention but a few. 1.05 Thus, in evaluating the place of the Jesuits in Indian history
this - at least - threefold presence of the Society must not be lost
sight of - its presence 1) for almost half a millennium, 2) in every
region that ever formed a part of any of the many Indias, and 3) in the
dozens of fields where it has left its imprint. 1.06 Considering this vast scope of the topic, only partly outlined
above, it is hoped that it will be both understood and forgiven if the
paper omits much more than what it includes. 2.01 The Society of Jesus ( as mentioned above ) has been perhaps
the only institution / organisation of any size and impact in India that
has been in existence practically continuously for the past well-nigh
four centuries and a half. At this stage, without entering into any
detailed discussion, the mere dates of the various ruling dynasties or
organisations which wielded significant power in the second half of the
second millennium may be profitably scrutinised. It would be easily seen
that none of the powers dominated for more than a part of, and in most
cases a very small part of, the 450 years for which the Society has been
working in India. 2.02 Sultan Mahmud, last of the Bahmani dynasty of the Deccan ruled
from 1482 to 1528, the Sultans of Bijapur (1490 - 1686), the rulers of
Vijayanagar (1336 - 1585), the Lodi dynasty (1451 - 1526), the Sur
(Afghan) dynasty (1540 - 1557) , the Maratha Peshwas (1713 - 1818), the
family of Sindhia (1726...1827), the Sikh kingdom of the Punjab (1798 -
1849), the Nizams of Hyderabad (1713 - 1948), the Nawabs and Kings of
Oudh (1722 - 1856), the Nawabs of Bengal ( 1740 - 1770).1 2.03 True, the Maharajas of States like Cochin (Kochi) and
Travancore (Thiruvithamcoor) had ruled for long centuries; but the
nature and extend of their rule and realms were somewhat restricted and
curtailed. Hence it will be found that only the Great Moghals - spelt in
half a dozen different ways - and the British ruled over major portions
of India for somewhat lengthy periods. The Mogul rulers were in power as
follows: Babur (1526 - 1530), Humayun (1530 - 56), Akbar (1556 - 1605),
Jahangir (1605 - 27), Shah Jahan (1627 - deposed 1658 and died 1666),
Aurangzeb Alamgir (1658 - 1707), others from 1707 to 1857 when Bahadur
Shah II was deposed. And the British Governors-General from Fort William
in Bengal (Warren Hastings to Lord Bentinck) (1774 -1833),
Governors-General of India (1833 - 1858), Governors-General and Viceroys
(1858 - 1936), Governors-General and Crown Representatives (1937 -
1947).2 Thus it would be easily seen that none of these powers dominated
for more than a part of, and in most cases except for the Moghals and
the British, a very small part of, the 460 years for which the Society
has been working in India. 2.04 During the first half of the16th century the Indian peninsula
experienced the intrusion of two vigorous foreign elements - one from
across the Arabian sea and the other from the north and northwest of the
subcontinent. A Vyazhavattom or dozen years after Vasco da Gama landed
at Kappad near Calicut in Malabar, in 1510 the Island of Goa was
occupied by the Portuguese, under Albuquerques leadership, followed by
the establishment of Portuguese power on part of the adjoining mainland,
and at several points upon the coast, made possible by the almost
undisputed Portuguese control of the Indian seas.3 Also the Portuguese
from the very beginning adopted a frankly proselytizing policy. And the
Jesuits were part and parcel of this Portuguese outfit at least from
1542, when Francis Xavier s.j. arrived in India. 2.05 Sixteen years after the occupation of Goa by the Portuguese,
in 1526, Babur the first Great Mughal paved the way for his Indian
conquests, at the battle of Panipat during which Ibrahim Lodi met with
his death.4 Sixteen years after this event, in 1542, Francis Xavier
arrived in India paving the way with his fellow Jesuits for another type
of conquest for the greater glory of God. This work has been going on
almost uninterruptedly for the past 460 years. 3.02 " Of all the missionaries Europe had sent out to India, (
let me quote, and at some length -) St. Francis Xavier was, undoubtedly
the greatest. Scholars who profess different creeds in unision say that
St. Francis Xavier was the greatest missionary of modern times. The
virtues necessary for a missionary, namely an abiding love of God and
undying zeal for His glory, sympathy for the poor and needy and a strong
will to labour for God and fellow men, he had...He was a rare
combination of the contemplative and the man of action."5
"While his heart was burning with the love of God, his head was
busy with the work of building the Church on solid foundation. His was
an organising talent of a high order."6 3.03 It is to be noted that even during the short period of less
than ten years spent by Xavier in India between 1542 and 1552, large
portions of South India in both what Marco Polo calls the Malabar Coast
and the Maabar Coast i.e., the west and east coasts of India had
experienced the Jesuit way producing considerable impact not only on the
Christians there but also on the society there at large and even on the
Maharajas and their war councils and civil administrations, right from
Goa to Cochin to Cape Comorin to Manapad to Mannar to Mylapore. We see
the successors of the saint like Criminali and Enriquez continuing the
good work. 3.04 The famous Colegio de Santa Fe at Goa was handed over to the
Jesuits. The first students of this little seminary to be ordained
priests seem to have been the three young men from Tuticorin who
accompanied St. Francis Xavier to the Fishery Coast as his
interpreters.7 In 1614, the historian of the Society of Jesus in the
East, Father Sebastiao Goncalves, could write that the Santa Fe College
had produced many priests...8 "Goa remained the centre, from which
priests were sent to the vaious missionary areas. The local headquarters
was Cochin for the Malabar Coast, Cape Comorin and the regions situated
in the interior of the peninsula; Colombo for Ceylon; Mylapore for the
Fishery Coast, the Coromandel Coast and the neighbouring territories;
Calcutta for Bengal and Burma; Bassein for the Missions of the North;
Agra for the Jesuit Missions situated in the Moghul Empire."9 3.05 In the beginning the Jesuits in India were divided into just
two Provinces: that of the North, with Goa as its centre, and that of
the South (the Malabar Province) with Cochin as its headquarters. Under
the northern province came the Mission of the Great Moghul, started at
the request of Emperor Akbar, with Father Rudolph Acquaviva, the future
Martyr, as its first Superior. To the Southern Province belonged the
Madura Mission. Started early in the seventeenth century, it counted
among its members the celebrated Father Robert de Nobili, as well as
Saint John de Britto.10 3.06 These two Provinces saw speedy progress and in the course of
four centuries today the Jesuits have in the Republic of India itself
Provincial Headquarters at Panjim, Goa; Hazaribagh, Bihar; Ahmedabad,
Gujarat; Calcutta, W. Bengal; Bangalore, Karnataka; Madura-Dindigul,
TNadu; Pathalgaon, M.P.; Matigara-Darjeeling; Secundarabad, A.P.;
Jamshedpur, Bihar; Kozhikode, Kerala; Patna, Bihar; Delhi (Region);
Mumbai, Mahrashtra; Bihar - Dumka; Ranchi, Bihar; Pune, Mahrashtra; and
Kohima, Nagaland indicating the spread of the Society all over the
country and its presence in every nook and corner of the land. The
ubiquitous nature of the Society has through its varied missions become
one of the most powerful influences in Indian history.11 Today there is
hardly any Catholic ecclesiastical division in India or any revenue
district in the country for that matter which does not boast some Jesuit
enterprise or other, be it a school or a college, a technical training
institute or an engineering establishment, a printing press or an
infirmary, a seminary or a social service centre.... 4.01 One of the easiest methods to study the Jesuit presence in
various fields would be to jot down the names and activities of the
Jesuit institutions and organisations functioning in either the
different dioceses of india or in the different revenue districts of the
country. Another method would be to jot down the names of two or three
dozen outstanding members of the Society down the centuries and to list
their various talents and achievements. However there is time for
neither now. Hence let me be content with the enumeration of the various
fields where Jesuits in India have made substantial contributions
whereby they have secured a place of prominence for themselves and the
Catholic Church in Indias history. 4.02 The spread of the Society and the Companions in time and space
has been observed in some detail. The third factor which has won the
Society a lasting place in the minds of the people and in the history of
the nation is the large number of spheres which it has penetrated and
permeated. Some of these spheres are religion and spirituality,
politics, education, scientific and technological progress, warfare and
diplomacy, indology, culture, language and literature, art and
architecture, sports and games, discipline, morality and ethics, social
reforms, tribal and aboriginal movements, dalit issues, schisms, travel
and trade, nation-building, health-care, formation of youth...to mention
only a few.12 4.03 Although a detailed consideration of the achievements of the
Society in each such area is essential for the full understanding of the
Societys place in Indian History as each field would require a paper for
itself the author would rather not attempt that task here. 4.04 It is obvious that the continuous existence of the Jesuits for
half a millennium13 in India in all the places where the action was has
made sure for the Society a place of pride in the History of India. And
that history has been skilfully recorded by many Jesuits in India. May I
take this opportunity to mention the names three such Jesuits that come
to mind - whom I call the 3Hs - Hosten, Heras, and Hambye. Forgive me if
I express the thought that there appears to be a certain void in the
efforts of the present day Jesuits to effectively contribute to the
various vineyards so efficiently nurtured by scores of their great and
scholarly predecessors. May I suggest that we get together to bring out
an Encyclopaedia Jesuitica Indica - excuse my Latin, Fr. Haas used to
have a hard time correcting my Latin during my days at the St. Josephs,
Trichy - and it continues to be Greek to me. Forgive me also if the
paper has exceeded the allotted time. Notes: 1. Michael Edwardes, A History of India From the Earliest Times to
the Present Day, Farrar, Straus, and Cudahy, New York, N. Y., 1961, p.
349 et. sq. 2. Id., ibid. 3. Sir Edward MacLagan, The Jesuits and the Great Mogul, Burns
Oates..., London, 1932, Introduction, p. xix. 4. M. Edwardes, op. cit., p.126 5. A. M. George Jagatheesan, "Saint Francis Xavier,"
article in The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Ed. George
Menachery, Vol. I, Trichur, 1982, p.16. Also cf. the many articles in
the same work on the saint, esp. J. M. Villarvarayan, "The Mission
and Life of Saint Francis Xavier in South India," Vol. II, Trichur,
1973, pp. 65-68. 6. Soares, The Catholic Church in India, quoted by George
Jagatheesan in the article cited. 7. cfr. Epist. Xaver.I, pp.127, 245. See n.22, "The Portuguese
Padroado in India," article by Carlos Merces de Melo in the STCEI,
I, Ed. George Menachery, 1982, p.26. 8. Historia dos religiosos da Companhia de Jesus nos reinos...da
India Oriental, c. 6. See n.23, "The Portuguese Padroado in
India," article by Carlos Merces de Melo in the STCEI, I, Ed.
George Menachery, 1982, p.26. 9. Memoria da Arquidiocese de Goa, p.47. 10. De Melo, Article in STCEI, I, p.22, and n.31, p.26. 11. The Catholic Directory of India, Great Jubilee 2000 Edition,
pp.1305-1306. 12. These areas are somewhat exhaustively covered by the articles,
books, and extracts from books in the various volumes of The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India,
The Indian Church History Classics, The Deepika Millennium Directory,
and in the CBCI-KCBC St. Thomas and St. Xavier Double Jubilee
Commemoration Volume (in the press). 13. Excepting perhaps a few years following the demise of the last
surviving Jesuit in India during the suppression of the Society. The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaeida of India The Thomapedia The Nazranies The Catholics I The Catholics II The Christians All Edited By Prof. George Menachery and Published from W. Bazaar
OLLUR Thrissur City India 680306 ORDER and help us keep and maintain and add to these two dozen
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