Final post related to #72 and onwards:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Recent commentaries on the history of the temples affirm the Portuguese frustration, though from a Hindu perspective. Most of the important temples have published their own histories, written mostly in Marathi.<b>97</b> They are remarkably uniform in presentation: traditional accounts of the temple's place in its pre-Portuguese village in old conquest Goa are followed by lengthy accounts of the brutal period of Portuguese oppression and the secret removal and reinstallation of the deity outside the area of Portuguese control. Though occasional documents from the archives are cited in support of these claims, it is clear that these accounts are part of the collective memory of the temple's mahajans. Some edited excerpts from Shri Ramnath Devasthan's own version capture the flavor and format of these histories.
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In 1566 the Temple of Shantadurga of Keloshi was set on fire. During that year conversion movement in Salsette reached its climax. All of a sudden the Fort Officer of Raitur, Diogo Rodrigues ordered the residents of Lotli to be present at the Fort. However, the order was not obeyed for fear of conversion. Annoyed at this, he destroyed the front portion of the main temple of Ramnath Devasthan. The residents of Lotli, angered by such an action, filed a court case against Rodrigues and his mates . . . Dissatisfied by the decision of the judge to preserve the temple, the viceroy issued special permission to Rodrigues to demolish all of the temples of Salsette. Accordingly in 1567, Rodrigues demolished all of the remaining temples of Salsette. In the year 1566, due to fear of conversion, many residents of Lotli fled to places like Antruz Mahal, Kankon, Karwar, Mangalore, Cochin etc. A group of 250 persons marching towards the South were attacked by tigers. Twenty people were lost. A hunter asked them why they were risking their lives by going through the forest and subjecting themselves to risk. Why were they not returning to Goa where they could have land, jobs and everything else? They replied that nothing was more dear to them than their religion and that they would never leave their dearest and the best Hindu religion. It did not matter if they had to die for this.
In view of the atrocities committed by the Christian missionaries, the residents of Lotli became desperate and felt that they could not enjoy any stability and hence they shifted their revered deities to other places. Their intention was to take these deities to a place where they would be free from the influence of the Portuguese government and their fanatical priests. They selected the village Bandivdem (the modern day village of Bandora). They transported the idols by bullock cart. They acquired a vast plot of land on permanent lease from the Bandora village association for the purpose of the erection of the temple. The deities were brought to a safe place but the problem was how to manage the daily affairs. The entire wealth of the temple at Lotli was lost. Under such adverse circumstances they learned to do business in the surrounding areas of Salsette and were meeting the expense by contributions collected among themselves. They engaged in business by day and came back to Antruz Mahal [a territory in the new conquest district of Ponda, then part of the Bijapur kingdom] at night. The Lotlikars thought it to be their responsibility to revive the old glory of the temple, and they purchased some lands and finalized plans to build independent temples for the deities.<b>98</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Footnotes marked bold just above:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->97 In addition to the works cited above by Dhume and Pissurlencar on the Mangesh and Shantadurga temples, some other examples of temple histories include, S. S. Sunthankar, <i>Ase AhE Shri Damodar</i> (Belgaum: Jijisa Prakashan, 1974); B. D. Satoskar, <i>Shri Devkikrishna Ravalnath Devasthan</i> (Mashel, Goa: Shri Devkikrishna Ravanath Devasthan, 1982); S<i>hri Nagesh Devasthan, Its Past and Present</i> (Bombay: Wagle P. S. & P. Put. LTD, 1974); <i>Souvenir Issued in the Mother's Service</i> [In English and Marathi] (Bombay: Shree Shantadurga Seva Samati, r 966); <i>Shri Sansthan Gokarn Partagali Math Pancha-Shatabdhi Mahotsav</i> (Partagali Goa: 1977); <i>Shri Ramnath Devsthan</i> (Ramnathim-Ponda, Goa: Shri Ramnath Devasthan, n.d.).
98 <i>Shri Ramnath Devsthan</i>, pp. 9-16.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This bit explains how Hindus were fleeing to Hindu lands, and to places governed by Hindus in regions under islamic rule:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Other versions of these temple histories are similarly explicit about individuals and dates of events that took place more than 350 years ago. Some use Portuguese records to support their claims; others, even in the absence of records, are just as precise in their accounts of the relocation of the temple. Though the Portuguese records and temple histories present these events in quite different terms, as would be expected, there is certainly enough evidence to confirm the significance of the return of the deities to their homes in the old conquests.
The diaspora and reconstruction of the temples in areas north and east of Goa, held by Adil Shah, and those west and south of Goa held by the Sonda kings, are thus confirmed by Portuguese records, temple histories, and Hindu rituals. The rather vivid collective memory of the traumatic events is not surprising. The survival and and the celebration of the Hindu resistance through movement of the deities and reestablishment of the temples outside of the area of Portuguese control are the best evidence. The persistence of the temples in the face of Portuguese oppression is a well-known tale to most devotees of the temple, and current accounts and reenactments of their historic connections to their ancestral villages conform to the documentary evidence.
To understand the opportunity for fleeing the Portuguese, something of the political order in the region adjacent to Goa is helpful. Goa and the region around it were in political flux just prior to and for more than a century after the arrival of the Portuguese. The Portuguese arrived in the wake of the decline of the Vijayanagar empire in the region and with the rise of the Adilshah rulers of Bijapur who secured the region during the last decade of the fifteenth century. It was from them that Goa was seized by the Portuguese. But during much of the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, the region around Goa was largely under the control of Hindu chiefs who were feudatories to the Bijapur rulers. To the south, the Suddha Nayaks of Sonda paid tribute initially to both the Bijapur and Vijayanagar rulers, but with the decline of both empires in the mid-seventeenth century, the Sonda rulers assumed the title of raja (king) in 1674. They controlled territory currently in the new conquest districts of Ponda, Quepem, and Canacona into which many of the deities were carried. Other hereditary chiefs, many of them with the titles <i>desai</i> and <i>sardessai</i>, ruled administrative districts to the east and north of Goa and achieved various degrees of independence as the Bijapur empire declined in the early seventeenth century. The Sawants of Wadi emerged as the main power in the areas of the modern districts of Pernem, Bicholim, Sattari, and Sanquelim in the new conquest territories to the north and west of Goa. But most of the relocation took place because of the power vacuum created by declining influence of the Islamic Bijapur and Hindu Vijayanagar empires in the area.
<b>The Portuguese documents often described the Hindus as fleeing to the land of the 'Moors,' a reference to the area under the nominal control of the Bijapur empire, but it was largely due to the local powers of the Hindu chiefs that the Hindus from Goa received hospitable reception.</b> Many of the important deities from the temples of Salsette were carried to what is today Ponda district, to the villages of Mardol, Bandora, Priol and Kavle, and <b>they attribute their relocation there to the hospitality of the Sonda kings and not the Bijapur rulers</b>.
Though the documentary evidence provides a murky picture of the events in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the ethnographic evidence and Marathi histories corroborate the trail of evidence in the documents which make the case for a sustained Hindu resistance during that period.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Recent commentaries on the history of the temples affirm the Portuguese frustration, though from a Hindu perspective. Most of the important temples have published their own histories, written mostly in Marathi.<b>97</b> They are remarkably uniform in presentation: traditional accounts of the temple's place in its pre-Portuguese village in old conquest Goa are followed by lengthy accounts of the brutal period of Portuguese oppression and the secret removal and reinstallation of the deity outside the area of Portuguese control. Though occasional documents from the archives are cited in support of these claims, it is clear that these accounts are part of the collective memory of the temple's mahajans. Some edited excerpts from Shri Ramnath Devasthan's own version capture the flavor and format of these histories.
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In 1566 the Temple of Shantadurga of Keloshi was set on fire. During that year conversion movement in Salsette reached its climax. All of a sudden the Fort Officer of Raitur, Diogo Rodrigues ordered the residents of Lotli to be present at the Fort. However, the order was not obeyed for fear of conversion. Annoyed at this, he destroyed the front portion of the main temple of Ramnath Devasthan. The residents of Lotli, angered by such an action, filed a court case against Rodrigues and his mates . . . Dissatisfied by the decision of the judge to preserve the temple, the viceroy issued special permission to Rodrigues to demolish all of the temples of Salsette. Accordingly in 1567, Rodrigues demolished all of the remaining temples of Salsette. In the year 1566, due to fear of conversion, many residents of Lotli fled to places like Antruz Mahal, Kankon, Karwar, Mangalore, Cochin etc. A group of 250 persons marching towards the South were attacked by tigers. Twenty people were lost. A hunter asked them why they were risking their lives by going through the forest and subjecting themselves to risk. Why were they not returning to Goa where they could have land, jobs and everything else? They replied that nothing was more dear to them than their religion and that they would never leave their dearest and the best Hindu religion. It did not matter if they had to die for this.
In view of the atrocities committed by the Christian missionaries, the residents of Lotli became desperate and felt that they could not enjoy any stability and hence they shifted their revered deities to other places. Their intention was to take these deities to a place where they would be free from the influence of the Portuguese government and their fanatical priests. They selected the village Bandivdem (the modern day village of Bandora). They transported the idols by bullock cart. They acquired a vast plot of land on permanent lease from the Bandora village association for the purpose of the erection of the temple. The deities were brought to a safe place but the problem was how to manage the daily affairs. The entire wealth of the temple at Lotli was lost. Under such adverse circumstances they learned to do business in the surrounding areas of Salsette and were meeting the expense by contributions collected among themselves. They engaged in business by day and came back to Antruz Mahal [a territory in the new conquest district of Ponda, then part of the Bijapur kingdom] at night. The Lotlikars thought it to be their responsibility to revive the old glory of the temple, and they purchased some lands and finalized plans to build independent temples for the deities.<b>98</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Footnotes marked bold just above:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->97 In addition to the works cited above by Dhume and Pissurlencar on the Mangesh and Shantadurga temples, some other examples of temple histories include, S. S. Sunthankar, <i>Ase AhE Shri Damodar</i> (Belgaum: Jijisa Prakashan, 1974); B. D. Satoskar, <i>Shri Devkikrishna Ravalnath Devasthan</i> (Mashel, Goa: Shri Devkikrishna Ravanath Devasthan, 1982); S<i>hri Nagesh Devasthan, Its Past and Present</i> (Bombay: Wagle P. S. & P. Put. LTD, 1974); <i>Souvenir Issued in the Mother's Service</i> [In English and Marathi] (Bombay: Shree Shantadurga Seva Samati, r 966); <i>Shri Sansthan Gokarn Partagali Math Pancha-Shatabdhi Mahotsav</i> (Partagali Goa: 1977); <i>Shri Ramnath Devsthan</i> (Ramnathim-Ponda, Goa: Shri Ramnath Devasthan, n.d.).
98 <i>Shri Ramnath Devsthan</i>, pp. 9-16.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This bit explains how Hindus were fleeing to Hindu lands, and to places governed by Hindus in regions under islamic rule:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Other versions of these temple histories are similarly explicit about individuals and dates of events that took place more than 350 years ago. Some use Portuguese records to support their claims; others, even in the absence of records, are just as precise in their accounts of the relocation of the temple. Though the Portuguese records and temple histories present these events in quite different terms, as would be expected, there is certainly enough evidence to confirm the significance of the return of the deities to their homes in the old conquests.
The diaspora and reconstruction of the temples in areas north and east of Goa, held by Adil Shah, and those west and south of Goa held by the Sonda kings, are thus confirmed by Portuguese records, temple histories, and Hindu rituals. The rather vivid collective memory of the traumatic events is not surprising. The survival and and the celebration of the Hindu resistance through movement of the deities and reestablishment of the temples outside of the area of Portuguese control are the best evidence. The persistence of the temples in the face of Portuguese oppression is a well-known tale to most devotees of the temple, and current accounts and reenactments of their historic connections to their ancestral villages conform to the documentary evidence.
To understand the opportunity for fleeing the Portuguese, something of the political order in the region adjacent to Goa is helpful. Goa and the region around it were in political flux just prior to and for more than a century after the arrival of the Portuguese. The Portuguese arrived in the wake of the decline of the Vijayanagar empire in the region and with the rise of the Adilshah rulers of Bijapur who secured the region during the last decade of the fifteenth century. It was from them that Goa was seized by the Portuguese. But during much of the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, the region around Goa was largely under the control of Hindu chiefs who were feudatories to the Bijapur rulers. To the south, the Suddha Nayaks of Sonda paid tribute initially to both the Bijapur and Vijayanagar rulers, but with the decline of both empires in the mid-seventeenth century, the Sonda rulers assumed the title of raja (king) in 1674. They controlled territory currently in the new conquest districts of Ponda, Quepem, and Canacona into which many of the deities were carried. Other hereditary chiefs, many of them with the titles <i>desai</i> and <i>sardessai</i>, ruled administrative districts to the east and north of Goa and achieved various degrees of independence as the Bijapur empire declined in the early seventeenth century. The Sawants of Wadi emerged as the main power in the areas of the modern districts of Pernem, Bicholim, Sattari, and Sanquelim in the new conquest territories to the north and west of Goa. But most of the relocation took place because of the power vacuum created by declining influence of the Islamic Bijapur and Hindu Vijayanagar empires in the area.
<b>The Portuguese documents often described the Hindus as fleeing to the land of the 'Moors,' a reference to the area under the nominal control of the Bijapur empire, but it was largely due to the local powers of the Hindu chiefs that the Hindus from Goa received hospitable reception.</b> Many of the important deities from the temples of Salsette were carried to what is today Ponda district, to the villages of Mardol, Bandora, Priol and Kavle, and <b>they attribute their relocation there to the hospitality of the Sonda kings and not the Bijapur rulers</b>.
Though the documentary evidence provides a murky picture of the events in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the ethnographic evidence and Marathi histories corroborate the trail of evidence in the documents which make the case for a sustained Hindu resistance during that period.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->