Elections for the Goan representatives to the Portuguese Cortes (parliament) in Lisbon were heavily manipulated by Portuguese governors, who needed to stay loyal to their patrons in Lisbon. Almost invariably, they fielded “official” candidates and used repressive tactics to guarantee their victories. A notorious case took place in the 1861 Bardez by-election, where the governor unleashed violence in Nagoa and Reis Magos to secure his man’s seat. From 1876 onward, when Liberals in Lisbon began to lose political strength, systematic electoral rigging in Goa became entrenched.
Into this environment stepped Dr. José Inacio de Loyola, leader of the Partido Indiano. Realizing the futility of direct resistance, he struck compromises with the governors, bartering Goan parliamentary seats in exchange for concessions, such as lifting restrictions on salt imports, even if it clashed with the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty. Yet, many within his own party, particularly the younger faction or “Young Turks,” condemned these deals as a betrayal of Goa’s right to representation. Pressured, Loyola devised a new arrangement where both sides could save face: the governor could maintain Lisbon’s political loyalty, while Goans retained a parliamentary voice.
As the 1889 elections approached, Loyola reached a deal with Governor Vasco Guedes de Carvalho e Menezes. The Portuguese candidate Ludovico Xavier Mourão Garcez Palha, Barão de Cumharjua, was withdrawn, allowing the Partido Indiano’s nominee, Cristovam Pinto, to secure election on November 10, 1889. But shortly afterward, the Lisbon government collapsed, the Cortes was dissolved, and fresh polls were called. Breaking his promise, Guedes fielded a new Portuguese candidate, Brandão de Albuquerque. When Partido Indiano stood firm and re-nominated Cristovam Pinto, it triggered a direct, unprecedented confrontation with the governor.
Incensed, Guedes summoned Loyola, demanding he withdraw Pinto’s candidature, threatening to dissolve the party and charge its leaders with sedition. The threats failed to deter Loyola. For the first time in Portuguese colonial history, a Goan candidate openly challenged an “official” nominee in a straightforward, legal contest. What followed was harsh retaliation. Three days before the April 20, 1890 election, Guedes deployed troops to Margão, confiscated ballot papers, and sent police to forcibly coerce voters, even waking them at night to seize their votes. Partido Indiano nonetheless pressed ahead with its own lawful polling process. The competing elections, one lawful, the other staged by the military, were contested before the Tribunal of Powers in Lisbon. The tribunal annulled the vote, but allowed Cristovam Pinto to continue in the Cortes temporarily.
Enraged, Guedes sent troops to occupy Margão’s municipal building for 13 days, suspending local governance. When Partido Indiano protested in court, Guedes retaliated by dissolving the Câmara (municipality), replacing it with a caretaker Ultramarino council, the first time in 26 years that Partido Ultramarino controlled Salcete’s affairs. Preparing for the fresh elections (now combined with municipal polls), the governor rigged the stage further: municipal constituencies were reduced from 14 to 10, voters from six villages were forced to vote in Margão, rolls were inflated with 6,000 dubious additions, traditional polling at village churches was cancelled, and regidores suspected of Indiano loyalty were dismissed.
The decisive election of September 21, 1890 loomed. Indiano boldly re-fielded the same dismissed Câmara members, while Guedes brought in reinforcements, 150 to 300 mulatto troops from Africa. He also banned carrying even walking sticks near polling booths.
On election morning, thousands of voters thronged outside Margão’s Câmara building. When officials, including Lt. Col. Luis Bernardo Carneiro de Sousa e Faro, arrived, they tried to smuggle a few pro-government voters inside while excluding the rest. The crowd resisted entry restrictions and broke the doors to release supporters beaten inside. Lt. Col. Faro lashed at voters with a horsewhip, insulting them as drunkards unfit to vote. The enraged crowd pelted stones, disarming two soldiers.
Troops were summoned. Leaders like Adv. Roque Correia Afonso calmed the people, urging them to regroup near the Holy Spirit Church and prepare a lawful protest petition. For a while, peace seemed restored. A photographer, José Pereira, captured pictures of the military blockade and the peaceful crowd by the church. Alarmed by this photographic evidence, Lt. Col. Faro panicked, drew his revolver, and ordered the African troops, arranged in arrow formation by retired Maj. Filipe Torres, to open fire. They unleashed three volleys, then charged with bayonets, mowing down innocent civilians.
The massacre, later known as Eleição Sangrenta de 21 de Setembro de 1890 (“Bloody Election of September 21, 1890”), left 17 people dead on the spot, 6 more dying within hours, and hundreds wounded. Victims included women inside the church, passersby buying medicines, a boy peering over a garden wall, and an intellectually disabled man-eating cake at a balcony, none were politicians or party men. Bullets even tore into the church altars, desecrating the holy space.
In the aftermath, authorities launched a reign of terror, raiding homes of Partido Indiano members, arresting, and assaulting them. Leaders went into hiding. Loyola escaped disguised as a baker through Varca and Betul, fleeing by sea to British India, where sympathetic officials thwarted extradition attempts under the Anglo-Portuguese treaty. Telegraph offices, under British control, allowed word of the slaughter to reach Bombay and the world. Reuters reported it globally, sparking outrage. Protest meetings erupted in Bombay, Pune, Nagpur, Sholapur, Karachi, even Zanzibar. The Archbishop of Goa placed the desecrated Holy Spirit Church under interdict, refusing sacraments there. Newspapers like Correio da India raised funds for victims’ families.
International indignation forced Lisbon to annul the rigged poll, reinstating Cristovam Pinto as deputy. Governor Guedes was recalled and replaced by Gen. Francisco Maria da Cunha. Despite Ultramarino’s brief municipal takeover, an independent Lisbon inquiry soon tested party popularity: Partido Indiano triumphed by 600 votes to just 6, proving their overwhelming support. Dr. António Xavier Heráclito Gomes became Salcete’s municipal president.
Meanwhile, Indiano leaders faced charges of sedition, treason, and attempted homicide in Goa. Rejecting amnesty, they awaited trial and were acquitted by the Goa High Court on September 18, 1891. Days later, they triumphantly returned to Goa, welcomed by cheering crowds at Margão station.
Bullet marks from the massacre were preserved as sombre memorials, as can be seen on the wall of one of the Alvares Houses in the Church square, while a mando, Setembrache ekvisaveru (“On the 21st of September”), was composed to enshrine the memory of the tragedy.
1.Setembracha ekvisaveri
Camrach'm fol-llem dero
Tinxim soldad dal-lle Morhgonvam
Ponnje kornum taro/tarum
2. Fidalgalea sacdary re Loiol
Retrat karhum' lagle
Cornety' vazun soldad re al-lle
Bainety' topum' lagle
3. Misso cabar zatrich Ponciananch'
Rogtach' zale vallo
Mulat kitul' kallo re Loiol
Povak marle faro
4. Igorjecha pateary re Loiol
Rogtach' zaleo zori
Padri Lucas yo anim agua bent mari
Atmem salvar kori