04-28-2007, 08:56 PM
This is not 'Thomas Myth', but related to 'History of christianism in India'.
This and following 5 or so posts are excerpts about christian terrorism by colonials (Portuguese) in Goa, taken from:
<b>Flight of the Deities: Hindu Resistance in Portuguese Goa</b>, Paul Axelrod; Michelle A. Fuerch, <i>Modern Asian Studies</i>, Vol. 30, No. 2. (May, 1996), pp. 387-421.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Though there was sporadic violent resistance to the Portuguese conversion policies,3 the contesting of power in colonial Goa was not directly over access to basic resources, especially for the landholding groups in Goa: for the dominant castes, the Gaud Saraswat Brahmans (hereafter GSB) and the Marathas (called Chardos among Catholics in Goa), material well-being and traditional high status could be had for conversion. High caste Hindus who fled Portuguese control often gave up access to their hereditary rights to basic resources in order to escape the orbit of Portuguese control. Those who stayed in Goa contested Portuguese rule in many aspects of their daily life.4
Hindu resistance to Portuguese hegemony in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries thus represents a bold, and in many ways unique, challenge to colonial state authority in the battle for control of 'master symbols.' It was successful in that it created a diaspora culture whose most visible symbols, the temples just outside the area of Portuguese control, still draw thousands to the numerous festivals. In a multitude of ways these festivals, many remarkably explicit, celebrate the vibrancy of the Hindu religion in the face of Portuguese attempts to stamp it out. Hindu resistance in Goa was different from the well-known nonviolent examples of protest. In the cases of Zionism in Africa, which transformed signs of Protestant orthodoxy into an ideology of resistance, and the informal discourses of peasants in Malaysia, which have been shown to negate hegemony,6 the appropriation of the symbols of resistance did not directly defy or confront those in charge. Goan Hindus, in contrast, sacrificed their livelihoods and, in some cases, their lives while challenging the rules and defying the decrees of the colonial authorities.
The evidence for the resistance to Portuguese rule can be found in both the palpable, direct defiance of colonial policies under threat of punishment and in the more subtle ways that losers, fearing punishment, are forced to make their arguments. Because some Hindu deities were transported by migrating groups7 and were simply relocated to avoid persecution in lieu of resisting it under Muslim rule,<b>8</b> the direct connection between the transport of the deities and the resistance to Portuguese policies in Goa needs to be demonstrated. Were Hindus merely fleeing the jurisdiction of a draconian repressive regime or actively resisting their policies? Portuguese documents and Hindu temple histories, from opposing positions, are remarkably explicit about the connection between the relocation and activities of the temples and their role in instigating the populations under Portuguese control to defy the rules and thus provide the foundation for making this connection. More subtle indications of resistance can be found in the rituals and festivals which delineate a common ground of Goan culture that celebrates sodalities and practices that were explicitly prohibited by the Portuguese.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Footnote:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->8 The reaction to Muslim conversion policies was varied and more complex than the Goan response. S. M. Ikram, <i>Muslim Civilization in India</i> (New York: Columbia University Press: r964), p. 232 and Aziz Ahmad, <i>Studies in Islamic Culture in the Indian Environment</i> (Oxford: Oxford University Press: 1964), p. 199 suggest <b>a connection between intensified Muslim conversion and various forms of Hindu resistance. However, in some instances, it appears that destruction of the temples by Muslim rulers led to complete cessation of activities associated with it.</b> See S. M. Bhardwaj, Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1g73), p. 77. The pattern of Muslim proselytization ranged from peaceful persuasion of missionaries to forcible conversion by fanatical rulers and the results differed depending on the policies of the rulers and the practices of the indigenous populations. <i>Susan Bayly, Saints, Goddesses and Kings</i>, provides examples of the varied reactions to Islamicization in her book on South India.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This and following 5 or so posts are excerpts about christian terrorism by colonials (Portuguese) in Goa, taken from:
<b>Flight of the Deities: Hindu Resistance in Portuguese Goa</b>, Paul Axelrod; Michelle A. Fuerch, <i>Modern Asian Studies</i>, Vol. 30, No. 2. (May, 1996), pp. 387-421.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Though there was sporadic violent resistance to the Portuguese conversion policies,3 the contesting of power in colonial Goa was not directly over access to basic resources, especially for the landholding groups in Goa: for the dominant castes, the Gaud Saraswat Brahmans (hereafter GSB) and the Marathas (called Chardos among Catholics in Goa), material well-being and traditional high status could be had for conversion. High caste Hindus who fled Portuguese control often gave up access to their hereditary rights to basic resources in order to escape the orbit of Portuguese control. Those who stayed in Goa contested Portuguese rule in many aspects of their daily life.4
Hindu resistance to Portuguese hegemony in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries thus represents a bold, and in many ways unique, challenge to colonial state authority in the battle for control of 'master symbols.' It was successful in that it created a diaspora culture whose most visible symbols, the temples just outside the area of Portuguese control, still draw thousands to the numerous festivals. In a multitude of ways these festivals, many remarkably explicit, celebrate the vibrancy of the Hindu religion in the face of Portuguese attempts to stamp it out. Hindu resistance in Goa was different from the well-known nonviolent examples of protest. In the cases of Zionism in Africa, which transformed signs of Protestant orthodoxy into an ideology of resistance, and the informal discourses of peasants in Malaysia, which have been shown to negate hegemony,6 the appropriation of the symbols of resistance did not directly defy or confront those in charge. Goan Hindus, in contrast, sacrificed their livelihoods and, in some cases, their lives while challenging the rules and defying the decrees of the colonial authorities.
The evidence for the resistance to Portuguese rule can be found in both the palpable, direct defiance of colonial policies under threat of punishment and in the more subtle ways that losers, fearing punishment, are forced to make their arguments. Because some Hindu deities were transported by migrating groups7 and were simply relocated to avoid persecution in lieu of resisting it under Muslim rule,<b>8</b> the direct connection between the transport of the deities and the resistance to Portuguese policies in Goa needs to be demonstrated. Were Hindus merely fleeing the jurisdiction of a draconian repressive regime or actively resisting their policies? Portuguese documents and Hindu temple histories, from opposing positions, are remarkably explicit about the connection between the relocation and activities of the temples and their role in instigating the populations under Portuguese control to defy the rules and thus provide the foundation for making this connection. More subtle indications of resistance can be found in the rituals and festivals which delineate a common ground of Goan culture that celebrates sodalities and practices that were explicitly prohibited by the Portuguese.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Footnote:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->8 The reaction to Muslim conversion policies was varied and more complex than the Goan response. S. M. Ikram, <i>Muslim Civilization in India</i> (New York: Columbia University Press: r964), p. 232 and Aziz Ahmad, <i>Studies in Islamic Culture in the Indian Environment</i> (Oxford: Oxford University Press: 1964), p. 199 suggest <b>a connection between intensified Muslim conversion and various forms of Hindu resistance. However, in some instances, it appears that destruction of the temples by Muslim rulers led to complete cessation of activities associated with it.</b> See S. M. Bhardwaj, Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1g73), p. 77. The pattern of Muslim proselytization ranged from peaceful persuasion of missionaries to forcible conversion by fanatical rulers and the results differed depending on the policies of the rulers and the practices of the indigenous populations. <i>Susan Bayly, Saints, Goddesses and Kings</i>, provides examples of the varied reactions to Islamicization in her book on South India.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->