Saturday, February 02, 2008
The evils of Western Colonialism
I found this interesting passage from a book, Caste, Class and Catholicism in India 1789-1914, by Kenneth Ballhatchet, Oxford professor of the history of South Asia:
A Jesuit missionary, Padre Duarte, favored the use of native Indian priests. Why? Prof. Ballhatchet on page 75 tells us:
Indian priests, according to Padre Duarte, understood Indian Catholics better than European missionaries could. They realised that low castes had an imperfect grasp of the Catholic faith, and might even keep Hindu idols in their homes. Indian priests knew how to be severe with such low-caste people, whereas European missionaries tended to be too indulgent.
So much for those evil Europeans.
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The Brits had the reputation of being tolerant, but the Portugese? They didn't. Of the 4 major European powers that had colonies in India in the 15th-16th century, the English, the Dutch and even the French (who at the time were quite intolerant of their own Hugenots) were pretty tolerant in India, not least because India was an extention of the various battlegrounds that they had in Europe.
But the Portugese were unique in targeting India for conversion. In some cases, Hindus bore their brunt, like in the case of the Elephanta caves in Bombay. OTOH, the Portugese were very useful allies of some major Hindu rulers of the region, and since the bulk of Indian rulers at the time were Muslim, the Portugese conquests in Goa, Daman, Diu and other places tended to put them in confrontation with Muslim sultans.
My favorite story of the Portugese was when a Sultan of Gujarat went offshore on a Portugese ship to negotiate with them. Somehow, the negotiations broke down and he took a raft to get back to shore. The Portugese however killed him while he was making his escape, thereby putting him out of his misery - and theirs.
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