page_title: Mangalorean Catholics
section_title: Migration era
hierarchical_section_title: Mangalorean Catholics / History / Migration era
caption_attribution_description: English: Sambhaji Maharaj Statue
context_page_description: Mangalorean Catholics are an ethno-religious community of Catholics following the Latin Rite from the Mangalore Diocese on the southwestern coast of Karnataka, India. They are Konkani people and speak the Konkani language.
  Contemporary Mangalorean Catholics descend mainly from the New Christians of Portuguese Goa, who migrated to South Canara between 1560 and 1763 throughout the course of the Goa Inquisition, Portuguese–Adil Shahi wars, and the Portuguese–Maratha wars. They learned Tulu, and Kannada whilst in South Canara, but retained Konkani as their mother tongue and preserved much of their pre-Portuguese ways of living. Their 15-year captivity at Seringapatam imposed by Tipu Sultan, the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, from 24 February 1784 to 4 May 1799 led to the near extinction of the community. After Tipu's defeat and subsequent death in battle against the British in 1799, the community resettled in South Canara, and later prospered under British rule.
  Although early assertions of a distinct Mangalorean Catholic identity date from the migration period, a developed Mangalorean Catholic cultural identity only emerged following the captivity.
context_section_description: In 1510, a Portuguese fleet under Afonso de Albuquerque, sent by King Manuel I of Portugal, wrested the region of Goa from Sultan Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur. In 1534, the Diocese of Goa was established. Soon missionaries were sent to Goa, which led to conversion of a sizeable population to Roman Catholicism. The bulk of Christian settlers came in three major migration waves towards South Canara. These migrations occurred in periods of great unrest: the Goa Inquisition occurred from 1560 onwards; the Portuguese–Adil Shahi wars were between 1570–79; and the Portuguese–Maratha wars occurred between 1667–83 and 1737–40. Other factors that led to mass migrations were disease epidemics, famines, natural calamities, overpopulation, poor living conditions, heavy tax burdens, and social discrimination by the Portuguese.
  In 1542, the Navarrese Jesuit Francis Xavier, co-founder of the Society of Jesus; arrived in Goa. He discovered that the newly converted Christians were practising their old Hindu customs and traditions. He requested the Portuguese king João III to install an Inquisition in Goa in 1545. Many of the Goan ancestors of the present Mangalorean Catholics fled Goa when the Inquisition began in 1560. King Sebastião I decreed that every trace of Indian customs should be eradicated through the Inquisition. Many Christians of Goa were tenaciously attached to some of their ancient Indian customs, especially their traditional Hindu marriage costumes, and refused to abandon them. Those who refused to comply were forced to leave Goa and to settle outside the Portuguese dominion, which resulted in the first major wave of migrations towards South Canara.
  The Christians who left Goa were for the most part skilled agriculturists who abandoned their irrigated fields in Goa to achieve freedom. The remainder were skilled carpenters, goldsmiths, artisans, and merchants. At the time of migration, Canara was ruled by the Keladi king Shivappa Nayaka (1540–60). He evinced great interest in the development of agriculture in his empire and welcomed these agriculturists to his kingdom, giving them fertile lands to cultivate. They were recruited into the armies of the Bednore dynasty. This was confirmed by Francis Buchanan, a Scottish physician, when he visited Canara in 1801. In his book A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar (1807), he stated that "The princes of the house of Ikkeri had given great encouragement to the Christians, and had induced 80,000 of them to settle in Tuluva." Later, this was identified as a probable mistake and should have read "8,000". This figure included the second emigration of Christians from Goa. The taxation policies of the Keladi Nayakas during 1598–1763 enabled the Goan Catholic migrants to emerge as prominent landowning gentry in South Canara. These migrants usually brought their own capital from Goa, which they invested in their new lands, thereby indirectly contributing to the prosperity of the Keladi kingdom.
  Under the provisional treaties between the Portuguese and the Bednore rulers, and the Padroado, the Christians were allowed to build churches and help foster the growth of Christianity in South Canara. The arrival of the British and the Dutch halted the activity of the Portuguese, and they were gradually unable to send the required number of missionaries to Mangalore. Shivappa Nayaka had previously expelled the Portuguese from their forts a little before 1660, which brought about considerable changes in the ecclesiastical situation. The appointment of the Vicar Apostolic of Mangalore was felt by the Holy See to be of critical importance. Nayaka pressured the church authorities to appoint a native priest as the Vicar Apostolic, which resulted in the appointment of Fr. Andrew Gomez to the post; however, he died before the nomination papers could reach Mangalore.
  At the recommendation of the Vicar General of Verapoly, Mons. Joseph Sebastiani, Pope Clement X appointed Bishop Thomas de Castro, a Goan Theatine and Bishop of Fulsivelem, as the Vicar Apostolic of Propaganda
caption: The Maratha ruler Sambhaji's onslaught was responsible for the third and final great wave of migrations to South Canara.
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