1
It was “Saint” Francis Xavier who ordered the horrific Inquisition in Goa. He made the request to the King of Portugal on May 16, 1545 from Amboina (Moluccas). He asked for permission to begin the Inquisition & more preachers to carry out conversion activities.
2
The essential focus of the Inquisition was to punish those who were charged with heresy against Christianity. If they confessed, their punishment was not too harsh. If they refused to confess, they were tortured until officials heard a confession or the victim died.
3
The Manual of Regulations of the Inquisition was the original guide book for the Inquisitors of the Goa Tribunal to carry out the confession & torture . The Inquisition of Hindus & other Indians in Goa is documented to be far more cruel than what had happened in Europe.
4
The first recommended method of torture for Indians was the Polé (pulley). The victim had their hands tied behind their back. A rope would be tied to the wrists and passed over a pulley. As the accused was pulled off of the ground, they were hanging from their arms.
5
Variations of the Polé included using weights strapped to the limbs to cause more resistance and pain. The inverted and extended shoulders would separate from their sockets. At times, sharply jerking the hanging victim would cause the shoulders to break.
6
Even in its kindest form, the Polé would separate the shoulders and cause agonizing pain to the victim. Permanent nerve, ligament, tendon damage & death were all possible effects. Elaborate methods to extend the pain were described.
7
The next recommended method was water torture of Potro, designed to make the victim feel as if they were drowning by being forced to lay on their back & strapped to a board. Ankles, wrists, arms, and legs were secured to the board to prevent the accused from thrashing around.
8
Once secured, a rag or some type of cloth would be inserted into the mouth. Water would then be poured into the victim’s mouth to make the person feel like they were drowning. This technique was repeated, for days, until the victim confessed.
9
As the torture increased in frequency breathing would become harder. At first, the victim was given enough time to catch their breath after the water torture. If no confession came, the length of water pouring would increase while the breaks for breath would decrease.
10
Often the victim would lose consciousness from lungs filling with water. Death was a distinct possibility. This was such a horrific torture that it was not advised for women, but it was upto the discretion of the Tribunal & many times women too had to suffer this torture.
11
Traditional methods like stretching the victim’s body on a Rack were also used. The victim’s tendons & ligaments were stretched till they snapped loudly. When stretched out too much, their muscles would lose the ability to contract & victims would be paralyzed for life.
12
A Wheel was used similarly as a rack where the victim was stretched & beaten. The spaces between the spokes would allow bones to break upon contact with a club or other device. Once the torture was finished, the victim would be removed from the wheel before death.
13
Other techniques such as thumb screws, leg crushers, & nail beds were also used. Victims were strapped to the torture device & have boiling oil poured on their legs, burning sulphur dropped on their bodies & lighted candles held beneath their armpits.
14
Hindu women were particular targets during the Goan Inquisition. The Inquisitors at the Goa Tribunal imprisoned beautiful women who had refused to be molested by them. They were raped, tortured with the famous breast rippers & finally burnt at the stake as heretics.
15
Such was the legacy of "kindness, peace & love" unleashed by the Inquisition ordered by Saint Francis Xavier upon the Hindu victims of Goa. It was one of the most cruel accounts of forced conversion, torture & terror ever imposed on innocent victims by Christian missionaries.
16
References:
The Goa Inquistion - Anant Kakba Priolkar
A Life of Saint Francis Xavier - M.T. Kelly
The Life of St. Francis Xavier - From the Italian of D. Bartoli & J.P. Maffei
Images - History Collection - Torture devices of the Inquistion

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @MumukshuSavitri

1 Dec
1
The city of Kashi epitomizes the unshakeable resilience & unity of Hindus. Devastated multiple times by Islamic invaders, it rose again every time to be rebuilt & renewed by Hindus from all over India, who ensured its perpetual rebirth & existence.
2
Hindu temples of Varanasi were devastated so many times, that almost no ancient temple site could escape modification. The 10th c. Kardameshwar temple of Siva, in Kandura village near BHU is the only temple in its original state dating from the pre-Muslim period.
3
The Islamic invasions began in In 1033 CE when Varanasi was plundered by Mahmud Ghazni’s son Nialtagin. By end of 11th c., Chandradeva, established the Gahadavala dynasty by regaining Kashi & built the Adi Keshava shrine with gold, valuables, 1000 cows & a village.
Read 24 tweets
30 Nov
The Persian Maasir-I-Alamgiri clearly describes Aurangzeb's order to destroy Mathura & Kashi temples in Jan-Feb, 1670. Aurangzeb ordered the mosque to be built on top of the destroyed Keshavanth Mandir in Mathura, one of the most magnificent temples in India.
Accomplishing this “seemingly impossible work showed “strength of the Emperor’s faith”. Aurangzeb celebrated by taking the broken Murtis & burying them under the steps of the mosque at Agra Fort, so that people would keep stepping on them and Hindus would be humiliated forever.
The great temple of Keshava Rai at Mathura was built by Bir Singh Deo Bundela during Jahangir’s time at a cost of 33 lakhs. The Dehra of Keshava Rai was one of the most magnificent temples ever built in India and enjoyed veneration of the Hindus throughout the land.
Read 4 tweets
22 Nov
1
During the Islamic invasions, there were countless, nameless Hindus who put their lives at stake to defend our temples & deities. In 1025 CE, the savage Mahmud Ghazni raided Gujarat, plundering the Somnath temple & devastating many sacred icons & temples.
2
The Tabakat-I-Nasiri by Minkaj-i-Siraj describes the earliest Islamic raids of Ghazni in detail including his attacks on Somnath. The book narrates a brief but fascinating account of a brave, unknown Hindu who played a role in the story.
3
Mahmud plundered immense booty worth 2 million dinars from Somnath & broke the Jyotirlinga into 4 pieces. The 1st piece to be buried under the masjid at Ghazni, the 2nd for the gateway of Mahmud’s palace & 3rd & 4th sent to Makkah and Madinah.
Read 11 tweets
8 Nov
1
It was not India but Europe which first invented the word “Casta” linking purity of blood & skin color to status in society. Hindus never had a word that meant caste. It's a racist term connoting white superiority as the measure of intelligence, civilization and morality.
2
"Casta" is an Iberian word meaning lineage. It is documented in Spanish since 1417. It is the root of the English word caste. It was historically used as a racial and social identifier where colonial Spanish & Portugese societies had a hierarchical race-based "caste system".
3
Originating from the Spanish concept of purity of blood called "Limpieza de sangre", during Christian conflict with Islam, Casta was used in Christian Spain to demarcate those of Jewish or Muslim heritage who were usually convicted by the Spanish inquisition for heresy.
Read 24 tweets
29 Oct
1
India’s milestone of 1 Billion doses for its Covid vaccine proved its capabilities regarding its own healthcare. It’s a huge leap forward for India which was decimated by the British, who caused horrific epidemics that killed over 81 million Indians in the last century alone.
2
In the 1800’s, Britain built vast networks of badly designed irrigation canals to squeeze profits from Indian agriculture. The canals changed the salinization of water bodies, allowing the Cholera bacteria to thrive. Historically, Cholera was never an epidemic in India.
3
The canals became breeding grounds for cholera & flooded over nearby land, picking up cholera from infected villages & spreading it. Britain's haphazard construction & disregard for India’s natural ecosystem caused the first Cholera epidemic at Jessore (Bangladesh) in 1817.
Read 25 tweets
12 Oct
1
From 1609-1616, the British sent ambassadors William Hawkins & Sir Thomas Roe to the court of Jehangir to get access to trade routes & permissions. Their description of Jehangir’s daily life reveals a lot about how responsibly the Mughals took the role of “nation builders”
2
Jehangir’s day started with Islamic prayers, followed by a couple of hours attending public court, then 2 hours sleep, food & harem time. From 12 - 3 in afternoon, he would revel in watching games where gladiators & animals fought against each other to satisfy his bloodlust.
3
During his afternoon diversions, the bloodthirsty Jehangir would sometimes kill men with his own hands. If gladiators did not entertain to his satisfaction, the Mughal king had “fun” punishments like watching gladiators' bellies ripped open by bears or stomped by elephants.
Read 10 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(