Goa - Pombal and the Jesuits
The repressive policy of the Portuguese continued until the mid 1700’s and underwent a complete U-turn due to one individual-The Marquis of Pombal.
Sebastian Jose de Carvalho, later to be the Marquis of Pombal was the Prime Minister to the King of Portugal, Dom Joseph I. He was appointed in 1750 and was propelled to power by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. He successfully masterminded the rebuilding of Lisbon and this made him very powerful and influential in the eyes of the King and the court. The assassination attempt on the King on September 8th 1758 gave him an opportunity to purge his enemies and did so with a vengeance. These included the ex-Duke Alvario, the Marcioness of Tavora and her husband and two sons and the Jesuit fathers.
All the conspirators were executed. In 1761, Pombal issued an edict confiscating all Jesuit property to the crown and arrested and imprisoned all the Jesuits. A total of 53 Jesuit priests were executed as co-conspirators in the assassination plot. The Jesuit leader, Fr. Malagrida was hanged and others burned at the stake. All of the remaining Jesuits were expelled from Portugal.
The fallout of the Jesuit expulsion had its immediate ramifications on all aspects of life in Goa. The most important effect was felt on education. Replacing Jesuit teachers and professors was an arduous task. The greatest impact was however felt on the commercial front. The Jesuits had invested vast amount of their resources in every sphere of commercial activity in Portuguese Asia and were involved in shipping, building, trade and finance. They were the custodians of the crown funds, managers of Goa’s Royal Hospital and responsible for the upkeep of the fortifications and minting of coins at some places. They also owned large tracts of land all over. The most important other decision of Pombal that had far reaching effects and was welcomed by all was the suppression of the Inquisition in 1774.
It appears that Goa was Pombal’s greatest beneficiary. Though the expulsion of the Jesuits was controversial, the suppression of the Inquisition was welcomed by all. There was however more. For more than half a century before his coming to power, local Goan priests were used by the clergy to do the low rung work. They were never promoted or appointed to higher positions. The Cathedral chapter, the Vicarships and the professorships in Goa were all filled by Europeans only. Pombal’s historic decrees of 1761 and 1763 among others, called for opening up the the Clergy and various religious orders for all subjects irrespective of their being white or native in origin. As a result of this, the first Goan was appointed to the Cathedral chapter in 1762. Soon the Vicarships went to eligible locals. The Religious orders who had earlier refused to admit natives in their ranks a few years ago began accepting Goans. The local Theatines were the first to do so and soon all other religious orders followed suit.
The period from 1820s to 1920s are regarded as one of the best times for Goans with regards to religious and political freedom. Portugal was a monarchy until 1910 and was replaced by democracy and was declared a republic. Goans were given representation in the Portuguese parliament. All citizens, be they Hindus, Christians etc were guaranteed individual freedom and liberty under the civil code. All this changed in 1928 with the dictatorship under Dr. Antonio Salazar. His ‘Acta Colonial” denied everything promised previously and Goans were back to square one.
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