FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2024
Sushila Sawant Mendes
This year the St Francis Xavier feast will not be celebrated on December 3, as this day falls on an Advent Sunday. The feasts of saints are not celebrated on Sundays in the Advent season. It is a public holiday and all communities celebrate this feast. Saint Francis Xavier is a much revered saint for the Catholic community, and is referred to as Goencho Saib by all Goans.
For Goans all over the world it is an important day for their identity as Goans. It is like the relationship of Indians to the Mahatma. Whether it is the Mahatma or St Francis Xavier, it is the faith of an individual to decide in whom he or she decides to believe in and respect with utmost devotion. The Constitution of our country gives all its citizens the right to practice, preach and propagate his or her faith. There are many among us who are atheists, but are good human beings, who are concerned about their fellow brethren irrespective to which community they belong.
Politicians sometimes play to vote bank politics and speak against missionaries and their activities but send their own children to these missionary run schools. When disgruntled politicians use and abuse history the needle of suspicion on their motives is clearly warranted.
There are many examples from oral history which exhibit the deep faith and adoration that people have for the saint. There is a reference of a pictorial article entitled, ‘Saint is asked for help’ in the American Life magazine, dated August 30, 1954.This time the event was the march of satyagrahis on August 15, 1954. The writer describes them as, “a ridiculous little band, mostly teen-agers and some unemployed.” One picture showed Goans on their way to Bom Jesus Church to seek the protection of St Francis Xavier from these satyagrahis!
Times change and history also changes. The Portuguese were however destined to leave only after all other European powers from this sub-continent, as it was believed that they had the blessings of St Francis Xavier who was the guardian of their faith and fate in India.
St Francis Xavier is venerated by many, because Goans believe that it was his intervention that saved Goa many times in Goa’s long history. It is Chhatrapati Sambhaji that is associated with the legend of the saint. Sambhaji wanted to make his base safe by controlling the Konkan before facing the Mughal problem and he could achieve that only by capturing Goa. The Portuguese on the other hand were in fact not very much favourable to the Mughal advances in the Deccan, but as they considered the Marathas greater enemies and gave all facilities and free passage to the Mughals from their territory. The book, Portuguese-Marathe Sambandha by P S Pissurlencar informs us that in retaliation the Marathas plundered and burnt several villages in Goa, captured small medium sized boats and even imprisoned two Portuguese fathers in 1682.
Sambhaji’s efforts to capture Chaul Fort in Raigard in July and August 1683, did not meet with success. With a view to divert the attention of the Marathas, the Portuguese Viceroy moved towards Ponda in October 1683 with a large force and artillery and landed at Durbhat, an important port town under Sambhaji. Dulaba Naik, the Dessai of Ponda, turned against Sambhaji and joined the Portuguese. The Marathas defended the fort with their limited resources and forces. The artillery of the Portuguese succeeded in breaking the wall of the fort, yet the Marathas did not surrender. When Sambhaji got the news of the siege of Ponda, he started from Rajapur immediately and reached Ponda on the November 9, 1683, and made a heroic entry into the fort with 600 handpicked soldiers. The Viceroy Conde Alvor was now helpless and suddenly retreated from the siege. Sambhaji dismantled the old fort and built a new one in its proximity called Mardangad.
Sambhaji’s final attempt to oust the Portuguese was made on the night of November 25 when he occupied the Juve Island (Santo Estevão) with a view to entering into Tiswadi by the Dhavaji pass at the time of the receding waters of the creek. At 10.00 pm warning bells started ringing in Goa, alerting the people about the impending attack from the Marathas. Portuguese priests, well equipped with arms, left their churches and gathered near the Mandovi which was overflowing. The Viceroy waited throughout the night and on the next morning marched towards the island and fought a fierce battle with the Marathas. However, the Maratha cavalry over-powered the Portuguese and the army was in disarray. The embankments of the fields on the river side were destroyed by the Portuguese which widened the width of the river.
Khando Chitnis saved Sambhaji from drowning along with his horse at the risk of his life. The attack was to be made when the water would recede; but it was rising and yet the attack was initiated. The Portuguese, referred in records as firangis, had strong equipment. Sambhaji’s forces were in Juve till the noon of November 26, 1683 but after reviewing the preparations of the Portuguese, retreated and locked themselves in the fort. This island was known as the Island of the dead (Ilha dos Mortos). Sambhaji then decided to attack Bardez and Salcete in December 1683. He started burning and plundering villages and capturing men and women as slaves. This went on for nearly 26 days. The Viceroy stated in his declaration of December 13, 1683 that the Marathas had publicly announced that henceforth no trace of the Portuguese or the Christians would be found in Goa.
It is in these difficult circumstances that the Viceroy sought help and mercy from the corpse of St Xavier preserved in Old Goa by putting the royal staff into the saints hand. It is believed that with this divine intervention the news of the arrival of Shah Alam came in January 1684 and relieved the Portuguese from Sambhaji’s destruction of Goa as he abruptly concluded a peace with the Portuguese and rushed back to Raigad. None of the parties to this peace followed it faithfully and fighting continued intermittently till the murder of Sambhaji in 1689.
The Viceroy decided to shift his capital to the Murgao Fort as a safety measure against the probable attack of the Marathas. Had Shah Alam not reached Bicholim in Jan 1684, Sambhaji would have wiped out the Portuguese power from India that year. The Portuguese had then prayed to the saint for his divine intervention and believed that their favours were answered by him. Today in the post-colonial period it is the Goans and other faithful, irrespective of faith, that believe in the saint and so the intercessions continue!
Saint Francis Xavier is fondly referred to as Goencho Saib, by Goans everywhere and venerated over centuries across communities and borders. Each person has a right to his or her beliefs provided they do not infringe on the rights of the community or society. St Francis Xavier has earned the title of Goencho Saib–it is not conferred to him by the Church or a government it reflects the faith and devotion of the people. Goans and Goencho Saib are intrinsically bound together in perfect harmony as a part of our Goan heritage!
(Dr. Sushila Sawant Mendes is a Professor in History, Author & Senior faculty)
