|
The Captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam (1784–1799) was a 15-year imprisonment of Mangalorean Catholics and other Christians at Seringapatam in the Indian region of Canara by Tipu Sultan, the ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore.〔 Estimates of the number of captives range from 30,000 to 80,000 but the generally accepted figure is 60,000, as stated by Tipu in the ''Sultan-ul-Tawarikh''.〔 The captivity was the most disconsolate period in the community's history. Its cause is disputed, although most historians consider it happened for political rather than religious reasons, owing to the alliance between the Mangalorean Catholics and the British during the Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780–1784). The Mangalorean Catholic community in Mangalore flourished during the regime of Tipu's father, Hyder Ali. Soon after Tipu inherited the territory in January 1784, he issued orders to seize the Christians in Canara, confiscate their estates, and deport them to Seringapatam. His orders were carried out on 24 February 1784. Twenty thousand Christians died during the journey from Mangalore to Seringapatam. During captivity they suffered extreme hardships, torture, death, and persecutions with many Christians forcibly converted to Islam. Their captivity led to a near disintegration of the community and ended only when Tipu was killed by the British at the Battle of Seringapatam on 4 May 1799, during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. Of the 60,000–80,000 Christians taken captive, only 15,000–20,000 both made it out alive and retained their original faith. The episode had a deep impact on the Literature of Mangalorean Catholics.〔 The bi-centennial anniversary of the Christians' release from captivity was celebrated across the region on 4 May 1999. ==Background== (詳細はRoman Catholics from the South Canara district on the south-western coast of India, under the jurisdiction of the Mangalore Diocese, are generally known as Mangalorean Catholics.〔 "This city () has a very influential proportion of Roman Catholics, numbering over a good quarter of the total population. It is the seat of the Mangalore Roman Catholic Diocese, and hence when we speak of the Mangalorean Catholics, we do not limit ourselves only to the roughly 60,000 Catholics within the city limits, but to a total of much over 2,000,000 Catholics spread over the whole diocese."〕 They are Konkani people who speak the Konkani language.〔, "The Konkani speaking Christians of Mangalore are generally Catholics. They use their mother tongue not only for their religious purpose in the churches as well as at homes but also in their social activities as a medium of oral and written communications."〕 All earlier records of South Canara's Christians were lost at the time of their deportation by Tipu in 1784 and it is not known when Christianity was introduced in South Canara. It is possible that Syrian Christians settled in South Canara as they had in Malabar, a region south of Canara. During the 13th century Italian traveller Marco Polo recorded that there were considerable trading activities between the Red Sea and the Canara coast. Scholars have surmised that foreign Christian merchants were visiting the coastal towns of South Canara during that period for commerce, and that some Christian priests possibly accompanied them in their evangelical work. In 1321, the French Dominican friar Jordanus Catalani of Severac in south-western France, arrived in Bhatkal, North Canara. According to historian Severine Silva, no concrete evidence has yet been found that there were any permanent settlements of Christians in South Canara before the 16th century.〔 Propagation of Christianity in the region only began after the arrival of the Portuguese in 1498,〔 when Vasco da Gama's landed on St Mary's Islands in South Canara and planted a cross there on his voyage from Portugal to India. In 1500, the Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral arrived at Anjediva in North Canara with eight Franciscan missionaries under the leadership of Frei Henrique Soares de Coimbra. On arrival they converted 22 or 23 natives to Christianity in the Mangalore region. In 1526, during the viceroyship of Lopo Vaz de Sampaio, the Portuguese took possession of Mangalore whereupon Portuguese Franciscans began slowly spreading Christianity in Mangalore.〔 Contemporary Mangalorean Catholics are descended mainly from the Goan Catholic settlers, who migrated to Canara from Goa, a state north of Canara, between 1560 and 1763 in three major waves. The first wave of immigrants came to Mangalore to escape the trials of the Goa Inquisition of 1560. These migrants were welcomed by the native Bednore rulers of Canara for their agricultural skills. They were followed by a second major wave precipitated by the Portugal–Adil Shahi wars between 1570 and 1579. A final influx of immigrants arrived during the Portugal–Maratha wars in Goa during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. According to Mangalorean historian Alan Machado Prabhu, the Mangalorean Catholics numbered about 58,000 by the time of the capture of Canara by Hyder Ali in 1765. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|