GOAN CHRISTIANS, HINDU AND HINDUISM OF 1830 By Franco Fernandes

In September 2013 the Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar  said “ Catholics in Goa are culturally Hindu and India is a Hindu nation in the cultural sense”

Now the Deputy Chief Minister of Goa Francis D’souza say “ India is a Hindu Country. It is Hindustan. All Indians in Hindustan are Hindus, including I-I am a Christian Hindu”.

The BJP/RSS Government in Goa are trying to Brainwashed Goan Christians in believing that they are Hindus.

But the Ancestors of the Present day Goan Christians did not identify themselves as Hindus. Goan Christian Ancestors  belong to different tribes they followed their own Cult and Moral Code. Some were even followers of Islam.  They fought  each other until the Portuguese united them under one Umbrella “Goeses”,.

Hindu was exclusively the foreign Geographic term for Indus valley (Pakistan region) in ancient times. It had nothing to do with the present day religion of Hinduism nor the region of present day India. This is proven in the Persian Achaemenian inscriptions at Persepolis and Greek texts like those of Herodotus.

It was many centuries later that the term Hindu/Hind/Hindustan was used by Muslims to further encompass much of  South Asia, again as a Geographic term having no Religious or National meaning.

 (8 CENTURY  A.D ) PERSIAN ORIGIN WORD HINDU

According to Gavin Flood “The actual term ‘Hindu’ first occurs as a Persian geographic term for the people who lived beyond the river Indus. The term ‘Hindu’ then was a geographic term and did not refer to a Religion. Reference “An Introduction to Hinduism – Cambridge University Press,Gavin Flood 1996

According to Harjot Oberoi -  “It is most striking that people we now call Hindus never used this term to described themselves. The Vedas, the Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita, which today are seen by many as the religious texts of the Hindus, do not employ the word Hindu. That term was first used by the Achaemenid Persians to described all those people who lived on or beyond the banks of the river Sindhu, or Indus. Therefore, at one stage the word Hindu as an ethno-geographic category came to englobe all those who live in India, without ethnic distinction. It was only under the Muslim rulers of India that the term began to gain a religious connotation. But it was not until British colonial times that the term “Hinduism” was coined and acquired wide currency as referring collectively to a wide variety of religious communities, some of them with distinct traditions and opposed practices. Communities like the Saivites, Vaishvanites and Lingyats, each with their own history and specific view of the world, were tied together under the blanket category “Hinduism.” Reference – The Construction of Religious Boundaries, Harjot Oberoi,  1994

According to Jawaharlal Nehru “the earliest reference to the word ‘Hindu’ can be traced to a Tantrik book of the eight century C.E, where the word means a people and not the followers of a particular religion. The use of the word ‘Hindu’ in connection with a particular religion is of a very late occurrence.” Reference ‘The Discovery of India’ p74-75, New Delhi

According to Sir Denzil Charles Jelf Ibbetson “ Every native who was unable to define his creed, or described it by any other name than that of some recognized Religion or of a sect of some such religion, was held to be and classed as a “Hindu” . This suggests that, until recently, Indians did not call themselves Hindus. In fact the term “Hindu” is a foreign appellation used initially by the Persians for the population living on the Indus River. With the penetration of the Muslims into Sindh (711-712 A.D), the word came to be used for the non-Muslim population. The Europeans followed this practice. Thus, in about 1830 A.D, the description of a population (all non-Muslims) became the description of a religion “Hinduism” but it did not exist as a unity in the consciousness of that population. – Religious life of Indian people : Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Amar Prakshan,1966

According to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan President of India (1962-67) “the term Hindu had originally a territorial and not creedal significance. It implies residence in a well-defined geographical area.”

(12 CENTURY AD) HINDUSTAN A GEOGRAPHIC WORD

The suffix ‘stan’ is an ancient Persian meaning land or place, for Example Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kabrastan etc.  It was Muhammad Ghori in 12 Century who first coined the word “Hindustan” and it denoted only the region of “North India” and not whole of India. The term came into common use under the rule of the Mughals who referred to their dominion centered in Delhi as “Hindustan”.

“The term Hindustan was first imposed on South Asian Nations by the Afghan dynasty of Ghori in the 12^th Century, this term was never used in South Asia prior to the Muslim era and is not even found in early (pre-12^th Century AD) Brahmanical or Buddhist texts. Such a term and concept has no historical dept in any social, religious, ethnic or national sense past the 12^th Century when Mohammed Ghori for the first time named his conquered subjects Hindus.” Reference - Sakasthan and India, Toronto, 1999, p.20 By G.Singh.

(13 CENTURY A.D) ARAB TRAVELLERS

The Arabs adopted the Old Persian ‘Hindu’ as ‘Hind’. Neither of these words were used as applying to any Religion: they were purely Geographical terms.

According to Arab traveler Qazwini there were different Religions in the Indian Subcontinent , some even had No religion and he mentions Brahmanism as a separate religion. The Arab travelers never Mentioned any Religion as Hinduism during their Visit in the Subcontinent.

“ Qazwini (1203 AD-1280 AD) says that there are various sects among the people of Hind. Some believe in the creator, but not the prophet. They are the Brahmans. There are some who believe neither. There are some who worship idols, some the moon and some other, fire.” Reference -  ‘The Religious Sects of Southern India mention by Arab Geographers ‘ Bombay 1939 p.226-230 By S. Mahammad Husayn Nainar.

According to Arab traveler Muhammad Al Idrisi (1099-1166) there were 42 different religions in the Hind

“ Al Idrisi also observes that ‘Among the principal nations of Hind there are 42 sects. Some acknowledge the intercessory powers of graven stones, and others worship holy stones, on which butter and oil is poured. Some pay adoration to fire, and cast themselves into flame. Others adore the sun and considers it the creator and director of the world. Some worship trees, others pay adorations to serpents, which they keep in stables and feed as well as they can deeming to be a meritous work. Lastly, there are some who give themselves no trouble about any kind of devotion and deny everything.” Reference -  ‘India as described by the Arab travelers’ Gorakhpur 1967 p.57 By A.K Srivastava.

( 16 CENTURY A.D )PORTUGUESE AND GENTIOS

When the Portuguese arrived in Goa in 1510 they never used the word ‘HINDU’ or ‘HINDUISM” or any other variants to denote any Religion in Goa proving that Hinduism, did not exist as a Religion at the time of Afonso de Albuquerque. Instead they referred to the  various Pagans, Cults and Religions as Gentios

Duarte Barbosa  (1480-1521) was a Portuguese traveler and interpreter of Afonso de Albuquerque. Duarte Barbosa in his book “O Livro de Duarte Barbosa” refers the word Gentios and not Hindus for the Religions of present day Goa & Kerala.

PORTUGUESE DOCUMENTS

“And in this Kingdom there is another sort of Gentio who they call Baneanes.”  Reference - Duarte Barbosa, ed. Dames Vol. I,p.109

“ And before this kingdom of Guzerate fell into the hands of the Moors, a certain race of Gentios whom the Moors called Resbutos dwelt therein.” Reference – Duarte Barbosa, ed. Dames, Vol. I, p.109 cited in Asia, p.167.n3

“Os gentios do reino de Goa sao mais validos que os so reino de Cambaia.” Reference A Suma Oriental de Tome Pires.Ed Armando Cortesao, 1978.p.212-218.

“The original of this petition to Charles II is signed by 225 of the principalest inhabitants of this Island, viz.123: Christians and 84 : Gentuis, 18: Moores”- Reference  Anglo-Portuguese Negotiations relating to Bombay 1660-1677 (OUP) By S.A Khan,p.453

(18 CENTURY A.D) BRITISH AND GENTOOS

The British arrived in the Indian Subcontinent after the Portuguese and adopted the Portuguese word Gentios and anglicized it into Jentue, Gentoo or Gentues

“The first digest of Indian Legislation, which was complied under orders of Warren Hastings and published in 1773, has the title ‘ A Code of Gentoo Law.’ Reference ‘Influencia do vocabulario Portuguese m Linguas Asiaticas’ By Monsignor Sebastiao Rodolfo Daldado

“ The Gentues, the Portugal Idiom for Gentiles, are the Aborigines, who enjoyed their freedom till the Moors or Scythian Tartars.. undermining them, took advantage of their Civil Commotions.” Reference –Fryer, East India,Hak.Soc.Vol.I,p.81

“The late scarcity of provisions necessitating us to take some cows from the Jentue inhabitants to supply the fleet.” Reference – Forrest, Selections, Home Series, VOL.II, p.31

(19 CENTURY A.D ) THE ENGLISH INVENTION OF HINDUISM IN 1830 AD

The British added suffix ‘ism’  to ‘Hindu’ and it became ‘Hinduism’.

In 1830 the English census-compilers were assigned the daunting task of conducting the Indian head-count by the British Government. These people were not theologians and coined the term ‘ Hinduism’ as a blanket term to encompass several Religions in the Subcontinent. Thus a ‘Hindu’ was defined in the 1830 Census as anybody who was not a Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or Jain. Goa was not part of this Census in 1830.

“Hinduism did not exist before 1830. It was created by the English Colonialists in the 1830’s. This remarkable circumstance is evidenced by the fact that none of the travelers who visited India before English rule used the word ‘Hinduism’ or ‘Sanatana’.”  Reference –Myth of one religion Exploded, p.5.1 by Dr Hadwa Dom.

“The-‘Ism’was added to Hindu in around 1830 to denote the culture and religion of the high-caste Brahmans in contrast to other religions” Reference “An Introduction to Hinduism – Cambridge University Press,Gavin Flood 1996

“The English census-compilers created Hinduism in the 1830’s as a blanket term for several communities” Reference –Myth of one religion Exploded, p.8.1 by Dr Hadwa Dom.

“The term Hinduism was introduced in about 1830 AD By British Writers” Reference  - Encyclopedia Britannica,20 Hinduism’519

“ The non-Muslim people of the South Asian subcontinent called Hindu had no precede word for their religions. They were, as they are, divided into thousands of communities and tribes, each having its own religious beliefs, rituals, modes of worship, etc. Finding it difficult to get the names of the Religions of these communities, the British writers gave them the word “Hinduism” to be used as a common name for all of their religions in about 1830.”  Reference ‘Basic Elements of Hinduism’ By Babri Masjid Archive, EB 20:581

“The word “Hindu” is as much geography as anything else. The word ‘Hinduism’ is a generic term and did not come into popular use until the eighteenth century, coined by the British to simplify the work of the census takers.”  Reference – ‘A History of Ancient Indian Before the Aryan Migration’ by Kenneth Shouler & Susai Anthony

(20 CENTURY A.D) DEFINITION OF HINDUISM

“Hinduism is both a Civilization and a congregation of Religions; it has neither a beginning nor a founder, nor a central authority, hierarchy or organization. Every attempt at a specific definition of Hinduism has proved Unsatisfactory in one way or another.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 20 ‘Hinduism’ 519-520

 “The people called Hindu have nothing common in their Religious affairs. ‘Hinduism’ therefore cannot give any precise idea as to what it means. Attempts were made to define the term but could not succeed.” ‘Basic Elements of Hinduism’ By Babri Masjid Archive 1998.

“Hinduism as a faith is vague, amorphous, many sided, all things to all men, It is hardly possible to define it, or indeed to say definitely whether it is a religion or not, in the usual sense of the word. In its present form, and even it the past, it embraces many beliefs and practices, from the highest to the lowest, often opposed to or contradicting each other.” The Discovery of India p.37 By Jawaharlal Nehru.

“Hinduism defies definition. It has no specific creed.” Reference – India an Introduction, New Delhi, 1990,p.19 By Khushwant Singh.

“The more Hinduism is considered, the more difficult it becomes to define it in a single phrase. A Hindu may have any religious belief or none.” Reference –  India : A Modern History, Michigan, 1961,p.40 By Percival Spear.

“Frankly speaking, it is not possible to say definitely who is a Hindu and what Hinduism is. These questions have been considered again and again by eminent Scholars and so far no satisfactory answer has been given.” Reference – History of Hindu Imperialism, Madras, 1992,p.178 By Swami Dharma Theertha.

CONCLUSION

The foreign word “Hindu” simply became the term for many different local Religions of South Asia. Hinduism is a meaningless term and concept in the sense that it can include anything or nothing. Contradictory or opposing aspects are quite common in it, and as quoted by many Scholars it cannot be truly defined. Hinduism as a “Civilization of Hindus” is another hollow definition in the same way “ Western Civilization” or “Eastern Civilization” can include many different Religions, People, Cultures, Nations, Regions etc. To say “ Hinduism” has been evolving since ancient times is a farce as the term/word itself has recent origins and Humans and their Ideas/Beliefs have been evolving since time-immemorial all over the World.

RSS/Brahmins sometime use the word Sanatan Dharma(eternal religion) and sometime Vedic Dharma (religion of the Veda) etc for their Religion. But as names of their Religion, these words are also untenable as they do not imply anything precise for all the people Hindu.

In Conclusion it proves that the Ancestors of Goan Catholics were not Hindus and were not followers  of present day Hinduism. They converted to Christianity from their  Indigenous  Religions and Cults 300 years before the British concept of Hinduism 1830. Present day Goa was never part of Muhammad Ghori’s “Hindustan” or Mughal Empire’s “Hindustan”.