Storia do Mogor 265.18
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 265.18
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265.18.1
Long ago, when the Portuguese were still great and rich, citizens kept many Kaffir slaves in their houses. Each householder had fifty, seventy, and up to a hundred, or thereabouts. At night these men were masters [217] of the city, moving in all directions, robbing, murdering, and committing many excesses. They paid no heed to the Portuguese soldiers, and in the morning these guards would be found lying dead in the streets. At Goa, in the time of the viceroy Dom Phelipe Mascarenha, there were every morning dead soldiers, plundered houses, and robbed individuals. The viceroy found that the patrols could not overcome the great number of Kaffirs, and therefore ordered the citizens to keep all their Kaffirs within doors from eight o'clock at night. He then gave secret orders to the captains of infantry to post soldiers at night, with orders to kill every Kaffir they came across. On receiving such orders, the Portuguese soldiers were delighted to take vengeance on the Kaffirs for their misdeeds, at the same time acquiring liberty for themselves to wander about at night. In executing the viceroy's orders, owing to their ill-feeling towards the Kaffirs, they collected one morning two hundred and fifty dead bodies, not reckoning wounded who had got away. Continuing this process for several days, the Kaffirs were intimidated, and did not venture on so much violence. In spite of this, there continues to this day to be some of this disorder.
265.18.2
In addition, the soldiers were the perpetrators of much oppression. When I was present once at the house of the lord archbishop there came a woman there, her hair streaming, and cried aloud for help, because a soldier had carried off from her house a maiden daughter; and she prayed for speedy succour, before the soldier could dishonour the captive. A domestic took a message inside to the archbishop, who sent word for the woman to go to a public scribe and reduce her petition to writing, stating therein what were her grievances. On perusing this, he would dispose of the case. On hearing such an answer, the old woman raised her hands to her head and went home weeping. I was amazed to see such inattention; and I was revolted, for, in all the lands I have lived in, never have I beheld, in similar circumstances, the same want of energy.
265.18.3
I will say something more about this city of Goa, which, as it seems to me, is dominated by some disquieting planet, or by demons who throw it into confusion, filling it with murder, disunion, and oppression, as I have tested by experience. Seeing that what I have said of the lay inhabitants is not the whole truth, I must add that it is the same thing in the convents of men dedicated to the religious life. In them there is also discord, as I have myself witnessed. There are opposing factions in the same convent, one virulent against the other, carrying [218] cutlasses and fire-arms hidden beneath their gowns. Walking through the city, should they encounter the other side, there is a fight. In the end they threw the prior out of a window, and he died from the injuries. This case happened at the convent of the Augustinians.
265.18.4
This discord lasts up to this day without anyone succeeding in stopping it. The friars wander outside their convents, do not obey their priors; they scatter themselves over the kingdoms of the Mahomedans, live as they please, and are bound by no scruples. There was a similar quarrel in the convent of the Carmelites, but in the course of time they were reconciled. During the viceroyalty of Antonio de Mello de Castro, in sixty-five (1665), the Dominicans also began a disturbance of the same sort. The viceroy was desirous of putting a stop to it, but they paid no heed to him. He ordered out pieces of artillery to knock down the convent. To pacify him and avert this damage the lord archbishop and the inquisitors acted as mediators, and they quickly brought the parties to terms. On the part of the Jesuits no such behaviour occurred, for they ruled their concerns with more prudence. If among them any difference arises, it is kept such a secret that no one hears of it. All the same, a notable case happened among them, during the time that the government was held by the viceroy Dom Bras de Castro. It was this: there came to Goa a favourite of Sultan Muhammad 'Adil Shah, King of Bijapur, to be treated medically. He was in charge of the royal jewels, and he brought from the royal treasury a precious stone of great price. On it he borrowed twenty thousand asharfis (gold coins) from Father Gonsallo Martins, Jesuit, known widely as a great money-dealer.
265.18.5
When some time had passed the favourite went to redeem his stone, and offered the interest that he owed. Gonsallo Martins, impelled by his grand ambitions, denied everything — had never heard of the man, knew nothing of such a stone. The owner, finding that his efforts produced no effect, made the matter known to his king. The latter, in order to find out the truth, sent other officials, who pretended to be jewel merchants. Arriving in the city of Goa, they purchased a number of stones, and paid a good price. They announced their desire to buy some larger stones of high value. Gonsallo Martins, fancying he would now make the profit he wanted, showed the disputed stone to the merchants. They identified it as the same, said nothing, and disagreed as to the price. Then they reported to their king, Sultan Muhammad 'Adil Shah, who employed the following device to recover his stone. He wrote several letters to the provincial of the Jesuit convent at Goa, in which he said that God had made him a man of learning, he knew that the true faith was that of the Messiah, and to save his soul he wanted to become a Christian, he, his family, and the nobles of the kingdom. For this reason he begged the prior to send him his most learned priests, specifying each by name, and including Gonsallo Martins [219]. On this news reaching Goa, great joy spread over the whole city, the bells were set pealing, and there was much rejoicing.
265.18.6
The priests referred to started for Bijapur; they were well treated on their road, and on reaching the king's court he gave them a civil reception, and entertained them at a splendid banquet. When this was over, the treasurer and the pretended merchants appeared, and the king, in place of entering on religious discussion, asked him (Martins) if he had brought the stone pledged to him by the treasurer. On hearing these words the priests were upset, especially Gonsallo Martins. The latter denied absolutely, and would not give way to the arguments of the witnesses. Seeing this persistence in denial, the king ordered them all to be seized, dealing with Gonsallo Martins more rigorously, by flogging, torture, and starvation. The king threatened to kill them if they did not return his stone. Finding themselves in this predicament, they wrote to their provincial of the Jesuit house at Goa, asserting that through his fault they were suffering innocently, while Gonsallo Martins, unable to endure his sufferings, wrote separately, asking him to send the stone, so that he and the other prisoners might regain their liberty. At Goa no heed was paid to their supplications, and the question was evaded. On finding out this evasive conduct, the king wrote the details to the viceroy, sending the witnesses at the same time. The viceroy took steps to obtain satisfaction for the said king, but was unable to convince the Jesuits.
265.18.7
When the king saw that he could not obtain his rights pacifically, he dispatched an army against Goa, destroying the country in Salsette and Bardes. Finding himself in this danger, and the contumacious Jesuits declining to hand over the stone, the viceroy was obliged to post sentries round the Jesuit college, and stop all supplies. Finally he made preparation by posting artillery round the college to knock down its walls if they did not yield up the stone. Most assuredly he would have done it. But at last, being in this extremity, they surrendered the stone, though very much against the grain. The viceroy sent it to the King of Bijapur, and thereby the investment was raised and the priests released. The story of this affair spread through the city, creating great astonishment everywhere, and there were many murmurings. As a diversion to these murmurs they invented colouring a donkey they had in use a green colour, and then tying some thorns beneath its tail. They let it loose at the gate of the bull-ring. Hurt by the thorns, the donkey went plunging and lashing out through the city. Thus in those days talk about the stone ceased, and nothing was heard of except the green donkey. This affair was notorious throughout India, and I knew Father Gonsallo Martins in the year one thousand six hundred and sixty-six (1666), when he was procurator for the Queen of Portugal.