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Cuncolim Massacre
The Cuncolim Massacre or Cuncolim Revolt was an
Cuncolim Revolt
incident that involved the massacre and mutilation of
Part of Christianization of Goa
Christian priests and civilians by Hindu chieftains in the
Portuguese Goa village of Cuncolim on Monday, 15 July 1583.

Five Jesuit priests along with one Portuguese civilian and 14

Goan Catholics were killed in the incident.[1] The local
Portuguese garrison retaliated by executing the village
chieftains involved, and destroying the economic
infrastructure of Cuncolim.[2]

Background
Following the Portuguese conquest of Goa by Afonso de
Albuquerque in 1510, missionaries of various religious orders
(Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, Augustinians, etc.) were
sent from Portugal to Goa with the goal of fulfilling the papal A 17th-century painting in a church
bull Romanus Pontifex, which granted the patronage of the in Colva depicting the massacre of
propagation of the Christian faith in Asia to the Portuguese. To the five Jesuits in Cuncolim, Goa on
promote assimilation of the native Goans with the Portuguese July 15, 1583.
people, the Portuguese authorities in Goa supported these Location present-day Church
missionaries.[3] of Our Lady of Health
(Igreja da Nossa
Almost half of Salcete (present-day Salcete and Morumugão Senhora de Saúde),
Sub-District) remained Hindu till 1575, but the city of Goa was Cuncolim, Salcete,
almost completely Christian by this time.[4] (Tiswadi was Goa.
completely christianized by January 1563.[5]) Cuncolim was a Coordinates 15°10′53″N
border village, inhabited by a majority Hindu population. It 74°00′01″E
was prosperous compared to neighboring areas due to its
Date July 15, 1583
fertile land, with abundant and fresh water from rivers
descending from the hinterland of Goa.[6] Surplus agricultural Weapons swords, clubs,
production had enabled this village to develop crafts of a very machetes
skilled order and it was known for its metal work. As Afonso de Deaths 5 Jesuits
Albuquerque wrote in his letters back to Portugal, guns of good 14 Goan Catholics
quality were manufactured in Cuncolim, which he found 1 Portuguese Civilian
comparable to those made in Germany.[7] Injured none
Perpetrators Kshatriyas from
There were 12 Vangodds (Konkani: clans) of Gaonkars
Cuncolim
(landlords) in Cuncolim. Their names, in order of precedence,
~ 500 soldiers
were Mhal, Shetkar, Naik, Mangro, Xette, Tombdo, Porob,
Sidakalo, Lokakalo, Bandekar, Rounom and Benklo. The
Gaonkars, who held common ownership of the village and paid all taxes, were also the founders
and caretakers of the main village temple.[8]

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Cuncolim depended on a permanent bazaar at the end of

more than one caravan route, connecting it with the
mainland through the Ghats of Ashthagrahar province.[9]
In keeping with the traditional fairs and religious
festivities, the economy of Cuncolim depended upon its
temple and religious celebrations. Due to this, there was an
angry reaction from the Brahmin caste towards the
attempts of the Jesuits who sought to establish Christianity
in Cuncolim and its satellite villages of Assolna, Veroda,
Velim and Ambelim in 1583. The abandonment of local
temples by Goan Catholics would lead to the financial
deprivation of the Brahmins.[10]
Painting showing Jesuit missionary
The Gauncars of Cuncolim refused to pay taxes to the Francis Xavier taking leave of John III of
Portuguese authorities. They built temples illegally on Portugal before his departure to Goa in
1541, by Avelar Rebelo (1635)
lands owned by Christian converts. They also rebuilt
temples that had been demolished by the Bahamani
Sultanate and Bijapur Sultanate before the arrival of the
Portuguese. Hence the Portuguese missionaries found it
difficult to convert them.[11][12]

The Portuguese chronicler Diogo do Couto described Cuncolim

as "The leader of rebellions" and its people as "The dangerous
of all villages of Salcete".[13] Jesuit priest Alessandro Valignano
described Cuncolim as 'rigid and obstinate' in its adherence to
idolatory.[8] This was due to their refusal to give up their native Christian maidens of Goa meeting a
religions and customs. Portuguese nobleman seeking a
wife, from the Códice Casanatense
(c. 1540)
The massacre
Five Jesuits, including Rodolfo Acquaviva, met in the church at
Orlim on 15 July 1583 and then proceeded to Cuncolim. They were accompanied by one
Portuguese layman (Gonçalo Rodrigues) and 14 native converts, with the objective of erecting a
cross and selecting ground for building a church. Meanwhile, several villagers in Cuncolim, after
holding a council, advanced in large numbers, armed with swords, lances, and other weapons,
towards the spot where the Christians were.[1]

According to Anthony D'Souza, writing in the Catholic Encyclopaedia, Gonçalo Rodrigues leveled
his gun at the advancing crowd, but was stopped by Alfonso Pacheco who said: "We are not here to
fight." Then, he addressed the crowd in Konkani, their native language, he said "Do not be afraid".
Following this, the villagers attacked the party.[1]

Rodolfo received five cuts from a scimitar and a spear and was killed on the spot. According to
D'Souza, he died praying to God to forgive the assailants. Next, the crowd turned on Peter Berno
who was horribly mutilated, and Pacheco who, wounded with a spear, fell on his knees extending
his arms in the form of a cross. António Francisco was shot with arrows, and his head was split
open with a sword. Francisco Aranha, wounded at the outset by a scimitar and a lance, fell down a
deep declivity into the thick crop of a rice-field, where he lay until he was discovered. He was then
carried to a Hindu idol, to which he was bidden to bow his head. Upon his refusal to do this, he was

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tied to a tree and was shot to death with arrows. The spot where this tree stood is marked with an
octagonal monument surmounted by a cross, which was repaired by the Patriarch of Goa in
1885.[1]

Along with the five priests, Gonçalo Rodrigues and the 14 Goan Catholics were also killed. Of the
latter, one was Domingo, a boy of Cuncolim, who was a student at Rachol Seminary, and had
accompanied the priests on their expeditions to Cuncolim and pointed out to them the Hindu
temples. He was killed by his own Hindu uncle for assisting the priests.[1]

Afonso, a native of Margão or Verna, was an altar server of Pacheco and followed him closely,
carrying his breviary. His hands were cut off on his refusal to part with the breviary and he was cut
through his knee-joints to prevent his escape. The boy survived in this condition until the next day
when he was found and killed. He was later buried in the Church of the Holy Ghost at Margao in
South Goa. Several of the victims, including Francisco Rodrigues and Paolo da Costa had earlier
affirmed their desire to be martyred for the Church.[1]

Beatification of the priests

Following the massacre the bodies of the five priests were thrown into a well, water of which was
afterwards sought by people from all parts of Goa for its miraculous healing. The well still stands
today inside the St. Francis Xavier chapel situated at Maddicotto in Cuncolim and is opened for
people to view once a year on the feast day of Francis Xavier, celebrated on 3 December.[2]

Christian chroniclers state that the bodies themselves, when found, after two and a half days,
allowed no signs of decomposition. They were solemnly buried in the Church of Our Lady of the
Snows at Rachol, and remained there until 1597, when they were removed to the Saint Paul's
College, Goa, and in 1862 to the Cathedral of Goa. Some of these relics have been sent to Europe at
various times. All the bones of the entire right arm of Rodolfo were taken to Rome in 1600, and his
left arm was sent from Goa as a present to the Jesuit College at Naples.[1]

In accordance with the request of the Pacheco family, an arm and leg of Alfonso were sent to
Europe in 1609. The process of canonisation began in 1600, but it was only in 1741 that Pope
Benedict XIV declared the martyrdom proved. On the 16 April 1893, the five martyrs were beatified
at St. Peter's in Rome.[1]

Portuguese retaliation and aftermath

The captain-major of Rachol in charge of the Portuguese Army garrison at the (now extinct)
Assolna Fort, Gomes Eanes de Figueiredo, was determined to punish those responsible for the
deaths of the victims.[8] Hence the Portuguese army raided and destroyed orchards and fields
surrounding the village.[2]

The Hindu chieftains of Cuncolim, who had led the massacre, were then summoned to the Assolna
fort situated on the banks of the River Sal. (The Church of Regina Martyrum, built in memory of
the martyred Christians, now stands at this location.) Charged with treason, sixteen of them were
sentenced to death by the Portuguese authorities. One escaped execution by jumping into the
Assolna River through a toilet hole and fleeing to distant Karwar.[14]

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Following the execution of their leaders, the Hindu landlords of Cuncolim and neighbouring
villages (Velim, Assolna, Ambelim and Veroda) rebelled by refusing to pay taxes on the produce
generated from their fields and orchards to the Portuguese government. As a result, their lands
were confiscated by the Portuguese Crown and entrusted to the Condado of the Marquis of
Fronteira in 1585.[2][10] Most of Cuncolim's villagers converted to Christianity in the years
following the massacre. The Church of Nossa Senhora de Saúde was constructed by the Portuguese
at the site of the massacre.[15] The conversion of almost all of the villagers to Christianity forced the
few remaining Hindus in Cuncolim to move their places of worship. The temple of the goddess
Shantadurga Cuncolikarian was moved to the neighboring village of Fatorpa to the south.[2]

Biographies of the Jesuits

Rodolfo Acquaviva
Rodolfo Acquaviva was born on 2 October 1550, at Atri in the Kingdom of Naples. He was the fifth
child of the Duke of Atri and nephew of Claudio Acquaviva, the fifth General of the Society of
Jesus, while on his mother's side he was a cousin of Aloysius Gonzaga. Admitted into the Society of
Jesus on 2 April 1568, he landed in Goa on 13 September 1578. Shortly after his arrival he was
selected for an important mission to the court of the emperor Akbar the great, who had sent an
emissary to Velha Goa requesting that two learned missionaries might be sent to Fatehpur Sikri,
the capital of the Moghul empire. After spending three years at the Mughal court, he returned to
Goa, much to the regret of the whole court and especially of the emperor. On his return to Goa, he
was appointed superior of the Salcette mission, a post he held until his martyrdom. After hearing
of Acquaviva's death, Akbar is believed to have grieved; "Alas, father, my advice was good that you
should not go, but you would not follow it."[15]

Alphonsus Pacheco
Alphonsus Pacheco was born about 1551, in Minaya (Spain) , and entered the Society on 8
September 1567. In September 1574, he arrived in Goa, where he so distinguished himself by his
rare prudence and virtue that in 1578; he was sent to Europe on important business. Returning to
India in 1581, he was made rector of Rachol Seminary. He accompanied two punitive expeditions
of the Portuguese to the village of Cuncolim, and was instrumental in destroying the pagodas
there.[1]

Peter Berno
Peter Berno (or Berna) was born of humble parents in 1550 at Ascona, a Swiss village at the foot of
the Alps. After being ordained priest in Rome, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1577, arrived in
Goa in 1579, and was soon appointed to Salcete. He accompanied the expeditions to Cuncolim, and
assisted in destroying the Hindu temples, destroyed an ant-hill which was deemed very sacred, and
killed a cow which was also an object of Hindu worship. He used to say constantly that no fruit
would be gathered from Cuncolim and the hamlets around it till they were bathed in blood shed for
the Faith. His superiors declared that he had converted more pagans than all the other fathers put
together.[1]

Anthony Francis

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Anthony Francis, born in 1553, was a poor student of Coimbra in Portugal. He joined the Society in
1571, accompanied Pacheco to India in 1581, and was shortly afterwards ordained priest in Goa. It
is said that whenever he said Mass, he prayed, at the Elevation, for the grace of martyrdom; and
that on the day before his death, when he was saying Mass at the church of Orlim, a miracle
prefigured the granting of this prayer.[1]

Francis Aranha
Francis Aranha was born of a wealthy and noble family of Braga in Portugal, about 1551, and went
to India with his uncle, the first archbishop of Goa, Gaspar de Leão Pereira. There he joined the
Society of Jesus on 1 November 1571. Being a skilled draughtsman and architect, he built several
fine chapels in Goa.

This beatification was celebrated in Goa in 1894, and the feast has ever since then been kept with
great solemnity at Cuncolim, even by the descendants of those who participated in the murders.
The Calendar of the Archdiocese of Goa has fixed 27 July as their feast day.[1]

Controversies
The native Goans and the Portuguese layman who were killed along with the five Jesuits were
excluded from the list of the Martyrs of the Faith, when the Church opened its Beatification
process. According to writer Délio de Mendonça, this was due to the then prevailing attitude
among the missionaries that the resident Catholics were by nature incapable of performing
spiritual feats.[16]

In 2003, a memorial to the Hindu chieftains was constructed in Cuncolim, on the initiative of
Vermissio Coutinho, head of the Cuncolim Chieftains Memorial Trust.[2] Prior to its construction
however, the memorial met with strong opposition from the local Catholic parish, on the grounds
of its proximity to another memorial built 102 years ago in memory of the five slain Jesuit priests.
They instead argued that the memorial should have been built in Assolna, where the Hindu
chieftains were executed.[17]

References
1. D'Souza, Anthony X. (1913). "Martyrs of Cuncolim" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_En
cyclopedia_(1913)/Martyrs_of_Cuncolim). In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic
Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
2. India's First Revolt Against foreign Rule in 1583 (http://www.merinews.com/article/goas-first-rev
olt-against-portuguese-rule-in-1583/129629.shtml) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2016
0304212358/http://www.merinews.com/article/goas-first-revolt-against-portuguese-rule-in-158
3/129629.shtml) 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine.
3. D'Costa, Anthony (1965). The Christianisation of the Goa Islands 1510-1567. Bombay: Heras
Institute.
4. Mendonça 2002, p. 405.
5. Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians, Alan Machado Prabhu, I.J.A.
Publications, 1999, pp. 100–101.
6. XCHR Manuscripts – J. N. da Fonseca Papers: Contains replies sent by various villages and
other State bodies to a questionnaire circulated by Dr. J. N. da Fonseca in 1875 with the help
of J. H. da Cunha Rivara. These replies were partly used by Dr. Fonseca in preparation of his
classic An Historical and Archaeologícal Sketch of the City of Goa, Bombay, 1878.

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7. Cartas de Afonso de Albuquerque, ed. Bulhão Pato, Lisboa, 1884, Vol.I, p. 203.
8. Rowena Robinson, Cuncolim: Weaving a Tale of Resistance (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4405
091), Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 32, No. 7 (Feb. 15–21, 1997), pp. 334–340.
9. Ajuda Library (Lisbon), Ms. 54-X-20.
10. Goa History -WHY CUNCOLIM MARTYRS? (http://www.goacom.com/culture/history/cuncolim.
html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20080502142818/http://www.goacom.com/culture/
history/cuncolim.html) 2008-05-02 at the Wayback Machine.
11. Conversions and citizenry: Goa under Portugal 1510–1610, Délio de Mendonça, Concept
Publishing Company, 2002, p. 275.
12. Mendonça 2002, pp. 272–73.
13. Diogo do Couto, Decada X, P. I, L. III, Cap. XVI (Lisboa, 1788), pp. 383–85.
14. Cuncolim revolt of 1583- First resistance against foreign rule in India (http://www.shvoong.com/
social-sciences/political-science/1726108-cuncolim-revolt-1583-resistance-foreign/) Archived (h
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140107195148/http://www.shvoong.com/social-sciences/political-
science/1726108-cuncolim-revolt-1583-resistance-foreign/) 2014-01-07 at the Wayback
Machine.
15. I.J.A. Publications, Alan Machado Prabhu (1999). Sarasvati's Children: A History of the
Mangalorean Christians. p. 103.
16. Mendonça 2002, p. 335.
17. Church-Cuncolim Gaunkars clash over martyrs' memorial (http://www.goanews.com/news_dis
p.php?pageno=2&catid=155&newsid=32) – November 13, 1999, Goa News.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann,
Charles, ed. (1913). "Martyrs of Cuncolim". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton
Company.

Notes
D'Souza, Oriente Conquistado;
Goldie, First Christian Mission to the Great Mogul, The Blessed Martyrs of Cuncolim;
Gracias, Uma Donna Portuegueza na Corte do Grao-Mogol (1907).
Teotonio R. de Souza: Why Cuncolim martyrs? An historical re-assessment, in Jesuits in India
in historical perspective, Macao, 1992.
Mendonça, Délio de (2002), Conversions and citizenry: Goa under Portugal 1510–1610 (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=Mh3kKf0VSfQC), Concept Publishing Company, ISBN 978-81-
7022-960-5, retrieved 2011-12-05

External links
Why Cuncolim Martyrs? (http://goacom.com/the-cuncolim-martyrs-paper-by-prof-teotonio-r-de-
souza/)

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