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Roman Catholic Brahmin (IAST Bamonns /baməɳ ~ bamɔɳ/ in Romi Konkani & Kupari in Bombay East Indian dialects) is a Christianised caste among the Goan,^[1]^[2]^[3] Bombay East Indian^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] & Mangalorean Catholics;^[9]^[10]^[11] who are patrilineal descendants of Konkani Brahmin and Daivajna converts to the Latin Church. This occurred parts of the Konkan region that were annexed into the Portuguese East Indies, with the capital (metropole) at Velha Goa & Bombay (Bom Bahia) was the largest territory (province) of Portuguese India. They retain some of the ethno-social values and customs of their ancestors, and most of them exhibit a noticeable hybrid Latino-Concanic culture.^[12]^[13]

Origins

In Goa, the Brahmins were engaged in the priestly occupation, but had also taken up various occupations like agriculture, trade, goldsmithing, etc.^[14] The origins of this particular caste can be traced back to the Christianisation of the Velhas Conquistas (Portuguese: Old Conquests) that was undertaken by the Portuguese, during the 16th & 17th centuries. It was during this period that, the Jesuit, Franciscan and Dominican missionaries converted many Brahmins to Christianity.^[15] The first mass conversions took place among the Brahmins of Divar and the Kshatriyas of Carambolim (Karmali).^[16]

All converts from Brahmin sub-castes (Chitpavan Brahmin, Deshastha Brahmin, Karhada Brahmins, Saraswat Brahmin) & the Daivadnyas; were unified into a single Christian caste of Bamonn.^[17]^[18]^[19] Since the conversions of Brahmins of a particular area, were instrumental in the conversions of members of other castes, due to the resulting loss of priests, such converts were highly valued by the church & Portuguese rulers alike.^[15]

The Christian Brahmins were even allowed to wear the Yajnopavita (sacred threads) & other caste markings by a special dispensation of Pope Gregory XV in 1623; on the condition that these were to be blessed by a Catholic priest.^[20]

The Bamonns in general consider their Indian caste system, to be a class form of social categorisation.^[21] Since their concept is divorced from the religious elements associated to it, by their Hindu counterparts, they tend to justify their maintenance of caste as a form of social stratification, similar to the Western class concept.^[21] They are an endogamous group and have generally refrained from inter-marriage with Catholic Christians of other castes.^[21]^[22] However, while the Bamonns never inter-married or mingled with the lower castes, the statutes and norms of the Roman Catholic church restrained them from practising Hindu caste based discrimination against the latter.^[23] Although most now carry Portuguese surnames, they have retained knowledge about their ancestral pre-conversion surnames, such as Bhat, Kamat, Nayak, Pai, Prabhu, Shenoy and Shet.^[24]^[25] The konkanised variants of these surnames are Bhôtt, Kāmot, Nāik, Poi, Porbų (Probų), Šeņai, and Šet.^[25] However, only Pundit, Bhatta, Shenoy (Shenvi) & Joshi suggest Brahminical roles; such as priesthood, astrology, etc.^[26]^[27]^[28] The meanings of the other surnames are as follows: Kamath (cultivator or landholder), Nayak (military leader), Dessai (headman), Pai/ Prabhu (lord), Baaliga (soldier) & so on.^[29]^[30]

Mudartha is a unique surname to be found among some Bamonn families that hail from Udipi district in Karnataka.^[31] Some Mangalorean Catholic Bamonn families trace their patrilineal descent to Konkani Saraswat Brahmins.^[9]^[10]^[11]^[32] There was one instance in the Mangalorean Catholic community, wherein some Protestant Anglo-Indians were admitted into the Bamonn fold, by Catholic priests at the time of their conversion to Catholic Christianity,^[33] their descendants are known as Pulputhru Bamonns (Pulpit Brahmins).^[33]^{[verification needed]}

In 1976, a genetic testing study conducted on three groups of Goan Saraswat Brahmins & one group of Goan Catholic Bamonns in Western India; confirmed the historical and ethnological evidence of a relationship between, Goan Catholic Bamonns & Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins.^[34] The study further revealed that intergroup differences between the subject groups suggested a genetic closeness, with genetic distance ranging from 0.8 to 1.5.^[34]

Some Christian Brahmins^{[citation needed]} such as the Pinto brothers Jose Antonio and Fransisco from the famous Goan noble family joined the army of Baji Rao II in Poona (Pune), after trying to overthrow Portuguese rule in the Conspiracy of the Pintos.^[35]^[36]

In popular culture

In her poem entitled de Souza Prabhu, the Goan poet Eunice de Souza muses about her Bamonn heritage:^[37]

"No, I'm not going to

delve deep down and discover,
I'm really de Souza Prabhu
even if Prabhu was no fool
and got the best of both worlds.
(Catholic Brahmin!

I can hear his fat chuckle still.)"

The main protagonist of Mangalorean writer Richard Crasta's erotic novel The Revised Kamasutra is Vijay Prabhu, a small-town, middle-class Bamonn youth living in Mangalore during the 1970s.^[38] Filled with erotic longing and a deep desire to flee staunchly conservative Mangalore, he embarks on a sexual and spiritual odyssey that eventually lands him in the relatively liberal United States.
The protagonists of Konkani novellist V.J.P. Saldanha's novels such as Balthazar from the novel Belthangaddicho Balthazar (Balthazar of Belthangadi), Sardar Simaon and Sardar Anthon from Devache Kurpen (By the Grace of God), Salu and Dumga Peenth from Sordarachim Sinol (The sign of the Knights) are Bamonns. A few characters such as Jaculo Pai and Monna Kamath from Sordarachim Sinol,^[39] Sardar Simaon Pedru Prabhu, Sardar Anthon Paul Shet and Raphael Minguel Kamath from Devache Kurpen have evidently Brahmin surnames.^[40]
Antonio Gomes' debut novel The Sting of Peppercorns (2010) focuses on the trials and tribulations faced by the de Albuquerques, a Bamonn family from Loutolim in Salcette. The family is headed by its patriarch Afonso de Albuquerque, a namesake of the conqueror of Goa to whom the family is linked through legend. Apart from him, it consists of his wife Dona Isabella, their two sons Paulo and Roberto, their daughter Amanda, an aunt Rosita noted for her cooking skills, ayah Carmina, and several servants who live on the de Albuquerque estate.^[41]
Shakuntala Bharvani's novel Lost Directions (1996) features a minor Goan Bamonn character, Donna Bolvanta-Bragança. She is a fervent Catholic who takes pride in her Brahmin heritage, scornfully reprimanding the protagonist Sangeeta Chainani for mistaking her to be an Anglo-Indian.^[42] When Chainani innocently inquires as to how she can call herself a Brahmin while adhering to Roman Catholicism, her inquiry is contemptuously dismissed by the character.^[43]

Notable persons

Footnotes

a ^{^} In his A Konkani grammar published in Mangalore by the Basel Printing Press in 1882, Italian Jesuit and Konkani philologist Angelus Francis Xavier Maffei stated that Mangalorean Catholic Bamonn families then were still referred to by their paik surnames.^[25] In the book, Maffei also gives a Konkani language grammar exercise:

Mezār lugaţ gallāiñgī? Galtāñ.
Have you covered the table with cloth? I will!
Suriār kiteñ assā moņ, amkāñ sǎrkeñ kǎļnāñ: zipki mǎnis moņtāt, suriār sǎbār kǎtañ assāt.
We do not know properly what’s there in the moon: Learned people say that there are many spots in the moon.
Kitleañ uorānčer amiñ yēzāi? Dånparā yā sānjer.
At what time should we come? Afternoon or in the evening?
Amiñ Devā kurpā sāmbaļtāuñ moņasăr, Deu amger rāutā.
God resides at our home, as long as we keep His grace.
Pātkiānger Deu rãutãgī? Rāutā, puņ išţa bǎri niñ.
Does God stay at sinners' home? He stays, but as a friend.
Tuzo pūtų khǎiñ assā? To seireānger assā.
Where is your son? He is at a relatives' house.
Tūñ khǎiñčea gǎrānt assāi? Āuñ Porbuger assāñ, mozo bāu Kāmtiger, moji boiņ Nāikāger, moji māusi Šēţiger, mozo sentur Šeņǎiñger.
In whose house do you reside? I stay at the Prabhu household, my brother at the Kamath household, my sister at the Naik household, my aunty at the Shet household, my great-grandchild at the Shenoy household.
Somi Jezu Krist vāur kǎrtālo, teātz jinsār tūñ vāur kǎr ani asseñ sompūrņ zatoloi.
Everyone should live as Jesus Christ did; Live like him and you will become complete.

Zōkōņ Jezu Kristāčer sǎtmāndināñ, pātienāñ ani tātso mōg kǎrināñ, takā zǎrti zāun zǎli.
The man who does not trust, believe in, and love Jesus Christ, will be judged.

Citations

^ Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) & Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses 2001, p. 638
^ Risley & Crooke 1915, p. 80
^ Rao 1963, p. 45
^ "Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute". 1939.
^ "The Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay". 1968.
^ Baptista, Elsie Wilhelmina (1967). "The East Indians: Catholic Community of Bombay, Salsette and Bassein".
^ Baptista, Elsie Wilhelmina (1967). "The East Indians: Catholic Community of Bombay, Salsette and Bassein".
^ Congress, Indian History (1972). "Proceedings".
^ ^a ^b Silva & Fuchs 1965, p. 6
^ ^a ^b Prabhu 1999, p. XV
^ ^a ^b Fernandes 1969, p. 246
^ Rathore, Ashok (16 February 2017). Impact of Christianity on Indian and Australian Societies. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 9781514494615.
^ "The Connecticut Evangelical Magazine: And Religious Intelligencer". 1808.
^ Gomes 2004, p. 176
^ ^a ^b de Mendonça 2002, pp. 39–40
^ Gomes 1987, p. 64
^ Gune & Goa, Daman and Diu (India). Gazetteer Dept 1979, p. 238
^ Gomes 1987, p. 77
^ Shashi 1996, p. 117
^ Manrique & Collis 1995, p. 47
^ ^a ^b ^c Westin et al. 2010, pp. 227
^ Silva & Fuchs 1965, p. 15
^ Sinha 2002, p. 74
^ Pinto 1999, p. 168
^ ^a ^b ^c Maffei 1882, p. 217
^ "Digging deep into surname stories". The Times of India. 24 April 2016. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023.
^ https://web.archive.org/web/20210506192748/https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/pundit
^ "Bhatts Rajput Jammu and Kashmir". Archived from the original on 18 July 2024.
^ Kamath, M. V. (1991). A Banking Odyssey: The Canara Bank Story. Vikas Publishing House. ISBN 978-0-7069-5830-0.
^ Hanks, Patrick (8 May 2003). Dictionary of American Family Names: 3-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-977169-1.
^ D'Souza 2009
^ D'sa 1965, pp. 71–72
^ ^a ^b D'Souza 1996, p. 58
^ ^a ^b Bhatia et al. 1976
^ "Noted Goans during Peshwe era in Pune-3: 2 Goans follow illustrious kin".
^ "Goan colonel decorated in the Maratha army".
^ Mehrotra 1992, p. 119
^ Crasta 1992, p. 12 (Stream of consciousness narration by the protagonist) "When I was born, many years later, there was the problem of naming me, a Christian descendant of Brahmins – and earlier of colonizing Aryans from South-eastern Europe."
^ D'Souza 2004, p. 64
^ D'Souza 2004, p. 52
^ Gomes
^ Bharvani 1996, p. 50 "She hissed aloud, 'I'm no Anglo! I'm Donna Bolvanta-Bragança and I'm a Catholic Brahmin from Goa. That infidel lick-spittle of the British, that toad, that nanoid Negritic Nirad Chaudhuri who calls Goans half-caste Meztizos, may his body and soul burn in hell-fire!'"
^ Bharvani 1996, p. 50 "'I studied at a Convent in Bombay,' said Sangeeta, in an attempt to calm the eyes pouring forth fire and brimstone, 'and I have the greatest respect for the Catholic community. I go to Church quite often – sometimes even to the Novenas at the Mahim Church on Wednesdays. But how is it, I don't quite understand, since you are a Catholic, can you still call yourself a Brahmin? I thought only we Hindus were plagued by this shameful caste system?'... Miss Bolvanta-Bragança wiggled a snake-like finger threateningly at her. 'Has somebody put you up to this, my girl? Has Belial been at it again? I'm a Brahmin Goan and I'm not here to listen to any of your nonsense, Miss whatever-your-name-is!'"

References

Bharvani, Shakuntala (1996). Lost Directions. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 9788125006893. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
Bhatia, H. M.; Shanbhag, S. R.; Baxi, A. J.; Bapat, J.; Sathe, M. S.; Sharma, R. S.; Kabeer, H.; Bharucha, Z. S.; Surlacar, L. (1976). "Genetic studies among endogamous groups of Saraswats in Western India". Hum Hered. 26 (6): 458–467. doi:10.1159/000152841. PMID 827488.
Boxer, Charles Ralph (1969). The Portuguese seaborne empire, 1415–1825. A. A. Knopf..
Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France); Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses (2001). Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France); Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses (eds.). Lusophonies asiatiques, Asiatiques en lusophonies. KARTHALA Editions. ISBN 978-2-84586-146-6. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
Crasta, Richard (1992). The Revised Kama Sutra: A Novel of Colonialism and Desire. Invisible Man Books. ISBN 978-81-87185-07-9..
D'Souza, Eugene (5 September 2009), Prof Wilfred D'Souza — Third Generation Teacher Who Achieved Greater Heights, Daijiworld Media, archived from the original on 5 April 2012, retrieved 20 November 2011
D'Souza, Wilfred R. D'Souza (1996). History of the Mudarthas. Mangalore: Codialbail Press..
de Mendonça, Délio (2002). Conversions and citizenry: Goa under Portugal 1510–1610. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 978-81-7022-960-5. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
D'Souza, Edwin J. F. (2004). V.J.P. Saldanha (Makers of Indian literature). Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-260-2028-7. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
Fernandes, Praxy (1969). "Storm over Seringapatam: the Incredible Story of Hyder Ali & Tippu Sultan". Bombay: Thacker. OCLC 89143. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help).
Gomes, Antonio, My Books (Official website of Antonio Gomes), janthonygomes.com, archived from the original on 4 November 2014, retrieved 25 February 2012
Gomes, Olivinho (2004). "Goa". Village Book Trust. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help).
Gomes, Olivinho (1987). "Village Goa: a study of Goan social structure and change". S. Chand. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help).
Gune, Vithal Trimbak; Goa, Daman and Diu (India). Gazetteer Dept (1979). "Gazetteer of the Union Territory Goa, Daman and Diu: district gazetteer, Volume 1". Gazetteer Dept., Govt. of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help).
Maffei, Angelus Francis Xavier (1882). A Konkani grammar. Mangalore: Basel Mission & Tract Depository. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
Manrique, Angel; Collis, Maurice (1995). Manrique, Angel; Collis, Maurice (eds.). Land of the Great Image. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-1023-1. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
Mehrotra, Arvind Krishna (1992). The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian poets. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-562867-8..
Pinto, Pius Fidelis (1999). "History of Christians in coastal Karnataka, 1500–1763 A.D.". Mangalore: Samanvaya Prakashan. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help).
Prabhu, Alan Machado (1999). Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians. I.J.A. Publications. ISBN 978-81-86778-25-8..
Rao, R. P. (1963). Portuguese Rule in Goa 1510–1961. Asia Publishing House..
Risley, Herbert Hope; Crooke, William (1915). The people of India. Thacker & Co. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
Shashi, S.S. (1996). "Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Volume 100". Anmol Publications. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help).
Silva, Severine; Fuchs, Stephan (1965), "The Marriage Customs of the Christians in South Canara, India" (PDF, 2.48 MB), Asian Ethnology, 2, 24, Nanzan, Japan: Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, Nanzan University: 1–52
D'sa, Victor (1965), "The Marriage Customs of the Christians in South Canara (India)", Asian Ethnology, 2, 24, Nanzan, Japan: Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, Nanzan University: 71–87
Sinha, Arun (2002). Goa Indica: a critical portrait of postcolonial Goa. Bibliophile South Asia. ISBN 978-81-85002-31-6..
Westin, Charles; Bastos, José; Dahinden, Janine; Góis, Pedro (2010). Westin, Charles; Bastos, José; Dahinden, Janine; et al. (eds.). Identity Processes and Dynamics in Multi-Ethnic Europe. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-90-8964-046-8. Retrieved 1 January 2011.

External links

Ashley D'Mello (16 May 2010), "Only in India: A Brahmin groom for a Catholic bride", The Times of India, Mumbai
Kalpana Sahni (9 September 2006), "FOREIGN EXCHANGE: Teri Mary maa", Daily Times, archived from the original on 16 October 2012
Ines G. Županov (2006), Goan Brahmans in the Land of Promise: Missionaries, Spies and Gentiles in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Sri Lanka] (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 4 April 2018

[1] Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) & Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses 2001, p. 638

[2] Risley & Crooke 1915, p. 80

[3] Rao 1963, p. 45

[4] "Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute". 1939.

[5] "The Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay". 1968.

[6] Baptista, Elsie Wilhelmina (1967). "The East Indians: Catholic Community of Bombay, Salsette and Bassein".

[7] Baptista, Elsie Wilhelmina (1967). "The East Indians: Catholic Community of Bombay, Salsette and Bassein".

[8] Congress, Indian History (1972). "Proceedings".

[Silva-9] Silva & Fuchs 1965, p. 6

[Saraswat-10] Prabhu 1999, p. XV

[Fernandes-11] Fernandes 1969, p. 246

[12] Rathore, Ashok (16 February 2017). Impact of Christianity on Indian and Australian Societies. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 9781514494615.

[13] "The Connecticut Evangelical Magazine: And Religious Intelligencer". 1808.

[14] Gomes 2004, p. 176

[Carambolim-15] Mendonça 2002, pp. 39–40

[Divar-16] Gomes 1987, p. 64

[Bhatt-17] Gune & Goa, Daman and Diu (India). Gazetteer Dept 1979, p. 238

[18] Gomes 1987, p. 77

[19] Shashi 1996, p. 117

[20] Manrique & Collis 1995, p. 47

[Westin-21] Westin et al. 2010, pp. 227

[22] Silva & Fuchs 1965, p. 15

[23] Sinha 2002, p. 74

[24] Pinto 1999, p. 168

[Porbu-25] Maffei 1882, p. 217

[26] "Digging deep into surname stories". The Times of India. 24 April 2016. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023.

[27] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20210506192748/https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/pundit

[28] "Bhatts Rajput Jammu and Kashmir". Archived from the original on 18 July 2024.

[29] Kamath, M. V. (1991). A Banking Odyssey: The Canara Bank Story. Vikas Publishing House. ISBN 978-0-7069-5830-0.

[30] Hanks, Patrick (8 May 2003). Dictionary of American Family Names: 3-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-977169-1.

[31] D'Souza 2009

[32] D'sa 1965, pp. 71–72

[Pulpit-33] D'Souza 1996, p. 58

[Bamonn-34] Bhatia et al. 1976

[35] "Noted Goans during Peshwe era in Pune-3: 2 Goans follow illustrious kin".

[36] "Goan colonel decorated in the Maratha army".

[Eunice-37] Mehrotra 1992, p. 119

[Prabhu-38] Crasta 1992, p. 12 (Stream of consciousness narration by the protagonist) "When I was born, many years later, there was the problem of naming me, a Christian descendant of Brahmins – and earlier of colonizing Aryans from South-eastern Europe."

[39] D'Souza 2004, p. 64

[40] D'Souza 2004, p. 52

[Afonso-41] Gomes

[Bharvani-42] Bharvani 1996, p. 50 "She hissed aloud, 'I'm no Anglo! I'm Donna Bolvanta-Bragança and I'm a Catholic Brahmin from Goa. That infidel lick-spittle of the British, that toad, that nanoid Negritic Nirad Chaudhuri who calls Goans half-caste Meztizos, may his body and soul burn in hell-fire!'"

[Chainani-43] Bharvani 1996, p. 50 "'I studied at a Convent in Bombay,' said Sangeeta, in an attempt to calm the eyes pouring forth fire and brimstone, 'and I have the greatest respect for the Catholic community. I go to Church quite often – sometimes even to the Novenas at the Mahim Church on Wednesdays. But how is it, I don't quite understand, since you are a Catholic, can you still call yourself a Brahmin? I thought only we Hindus were plagued by this shameful caste system?'... Miss Bolvanta-Bragança wiggled a snake-like finger threateningly at her. 'Has somebody put you up to this, my girl? Has Belial been at it again? I'm a Brahmin Goan and I'm not here to listen to any of your nonsense, Miss whatever-your-name-is!'"

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PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Roman Catholic Brahmin

Origins

In popular culture

Notable persons

Footnotes

See also

Citations

References

Further reading

External links

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