Repression of Buddhism in Sri Lanka By Portuguese (1505 – 1658) - Part 2

Repression of Buddhism in Sri Lanka by Portuguese

Methods employed for conversion and suppression of non –Christian religions

The Portuguese used a number of methods in their pursuit to convert people to Christianity and suppress non – Christian religions prevailing in territories under their control. They can be distinguished as follows :

i) Carrot and Stick Policy

The Portuguese used a carrot and stick policy in converting people living in the immediate vicinity of Portuguese strongholds particularly along the West Coast of India and in the lowlands of Sri Lanka.(13)

ii) Enactment of harsh and oppressive laws

The Portuguese lawmakers enacted a large number of harsh and oppressive laws with the aim of putting a stop to the public practice of non – Christian religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam in territories controlled by the Portuguese. These laws were followed by a number of other decrees designed to favour converts to Christianity with Portuguese patronage. The Ecclesiastical Councils at Goa laid down rules for missionary work and these rules had a significant bearing on the conduct of Christian missionary work in Sri Lanka, particularly after 1567. The pioneer Ecclesiastical Council of 1567 in adopting a series of decisions was guided by three main considerations, namely:

a) All religions other than orthodox Roman Catholicism were intrinsically wrong and harmful in themselves.

b) The Crown of Portugal had a fundamental duty to spread the Christian faith and the power of the State must be utilized to support the work of the Catholic Church

c) Conversion of non-Christians into Christianity must not be made by force, for nobody comes to Christ by faith unless he is drawn by the love of God. (14)

The third consideration stated above on non –use of force was negated by several other decisions of the Council which had the sanction of law by virtue of promulgation of a Vice –regal decree at Goa in December 1567. This decree enacted among other things the following decisions of the Ecclesiastical Council: (15)

• All heathen places of worship in Portuguese controlled areas should be demolished

• All non –Christian clergy, teachers and holy men must be expelled

• All their sacred texts such as the Koran should be seized and destroyed where ever found

• Buddhists and Hindus must be prohibited from visiting their respective temples in the neighboring provinces under the control of other rulers

• The transit passage of Asian pilgrims to these places of worship must be prohibited

• The celebration of non – Christian weddings and religious processions must strictly forbidden

• Conversions from either Islam to Buddhism to Hinduism, and vice - versa were not allowed but the conversion to Christianity from other religions should be permitted and encouraged

• Every married man should be required to practice monogamy irrespective of his religion

• Non – Christian orphans should be required to be handed over to Christian guardians or foster parents and then baptized by Catholic priests

• Christians should be forbidden to live together or lodge with non – Christians (16)

In addition the Portuguese authorities are held as responsible for the following repressive practices, which if adopted today would, tantamount to explicit violation of human rights and cultural genocide:

• In Goa nominal rolls were made of Hindu families and they were forced in groups of fifty to visit local churches and convents and listen to Christian sermons on alternate Sundays (17)

• Fines were imposed on a sharply escalating scale on those who made attempts to keep away from complying with these obligations (18)

• There was official and legal discrimination against non –Christians who were denied public employment. On the other hand public offices and remunerative posts were reserved for Christian converts only and where there was no such reservation the latter group was favoured (19)

• Buddhist Temples, Hindu Kovils and Muslim Mosques were systematically destroyed by the Portuguese conquistadors and Roman Catholic churches were built on or near the sites of such destruction.

• Income drawn from the lands belonging to Buddhist Temples, Hindu Kovils etc. were channeled to support and maintain Roman Catholic Churches and missionary educational institutions.

The penal laws against the public practice of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam which, were enacted after 1540 in some of Portugal’s eastern possessions were inspired by laws that had been adopted in European countries against the practice of what the then European rulers considered as ‘heretical’ or ‘subversive’ forms of Christianity(20). For example the treatment of the Roman Catholics in England during the period of the Reformation, the exclusion of Jews from public life in many parts of Europe (21), and the torture and burning at the stake of ‘ witches’ were based on such penal laws enacted during the period of the Christian Inquisition.

C.R. Boxer observes:

“It is obvious that these discriminatory and coercive measures, if they did not actually force people to become Christians at the point of the sword, made it very difficult for them to do anything else. Deprived of their priests, teachers, holy men, sacred books and public places of worship, not to mention the free exercise of their respective cults, it was confidently expected by the legislators of 1567 that ‘ the false heathen and Moorish religions’ would wither and die on territory controlled by the Portuguese Crown” (22)

However it must be noted that the application of these laws in Portuguese controlled territories varied significantly according to the time, place and circumstances and more importantly according to the disposition of the arch bishops, vice-roys and Captain –Generals (in Sri Lanka) whose decision making powers were immense(23).

It must be further stated that the great abuses that took place in almost all of the Portuguese overseas mission – fields, including the use of force and farcical baptism of ignorant converts, did not proceed unnoticed and without a protest by some members of the Catholic Clergy living in Portugal. C.R. Boxer refers to a petition to the Portuguese Crown drawn up at Lisbon in February 1567 by the Bishops of Ceuta, Lisbon, Tangier, Angra, Portalegre, Lamego and the Algarve protesting against the use of unsavoury methods by Portuguese missionaries overseas (24). Boxer then adds that it was unlikely that seven leading Portuguese prelates would have made such grave allegations unless they were quite certain of their facts (25).

iii) Strategic conversions

The Portuguese missionaries were aware that some of the methods employed to convert Buddhists and Hindus into Christianity were dubious and indefensible. But nevertheless they still persisted with rough and ready methods of conversion in the knowledge that though the first generation of converts was likely to be superficial Christians, their descendants would become devout Christians in due course of time. The Bishop of Dume, the pioneer prelate of Goa, was aware of these outcomes and he is reported to have said in 1561 that those who remained inside Portuguese territory and accepted baptism rather than be expelled for refusing to become Christians could hardly be expected to become good Christians ‘ yet their children will become so ’ (26).

C.R. Boxer comments ‘This is, in fact, exactly what happened’ and he compares this position to a similar situation that occurred in Europe where the descendants of the Saxons, Teutons and Slavs, who in many instances were forcibly converted to Christianity, later became ardent Christians (27).

iv) The Ruler and the Ruled must be of the same faith

Both the Catholics and Protestants in Europe readily accepted the principle that the Ruler and the Ruled should belong to the same faith, which is expressed in Latin as follows:‘ cujus regio illius religio ’ (28).

Conversion was no longer a question of faith. The conversion of kings was sought because their subjects were expected to follow as a matter of course. The Portuguese wrote to their King in Lisbon as follows: "If the King became a Christian that would be sufficient for all to become the same: this Lordship can take as certain, for such is the nature of this people” (29)

The Portuguese missionaries in Sri Lanka launched a concerted campaign to achieve this result when they forced the grandson (Dharmapala) of King Bhuvenaka Bahu to renounce his Buddhist faith and adopt Roman Catholicism as his religion.

The noted historian P. E. Pieris observes that "The King's change of religion was a grave political blunder: the social organization of his people was based on Buddhism, and his defection could not fail to estrange them from him, the more so when the revenues of their most venerated shrines were being diverted towards Christian propaganda. It was not long before the Portuguese priests guided his counsels, Portuguese officers controlled his army, and Portuguese names were the fashion at Court. ’’ (30)

v) Forcible conversion of orphans

The use of force was permitted in a series of royal and vice –regal decrees in respect to the conversion of Hindu orphans in Goa and Bacalm in India. Legislation enacted both at Lisbon and Goa specifically authorized the use of force in removing orphans from the custody of their relatives, guardians, or friends. They were then taken to the College of Sao Paulo of the Company of Jesus in Goa and baptized, educated and catechized by the Fathers of the College (31).

It is quite possible that similar measures were adopted in respect to Buddhist and Hindu orphans living in Portuguese controlled territories of Sri Lanka.

vi) Gun Boat Policy

The Portuguese used force or the threat of the use of force as a tool in their conversion policy. The writings of Jesuit priests who served in Catholic missions in various parts of Portuguese controlled territories in Asia substantiate the adoption of this practice.

Padre Alexandre Valignano, a well – known Jesuit priest who organized the Jesuit mission in Asia, observes that some of the indigenous people in the East were incapable and primitive in respect to matters concerning God, and consequently reasoning would not make an impression as force (32). He laments that it would be difficult to establish Christian communities ‘ among the Niggers’ and more difficult to preserve such communities except in areas under Portuguese Rule, or in regions where the Portuguese power could be extended such as the sea coast through the use of the Portuguese naval fleet that can ‘ cruise up and down, dealing out favors and punishments according to what the people there deserve’ (33)

Padre Alexandre Valignano adds that the striking success of the missionary work of Francis Xavier on the Fishery Coast was primarily due to the deliberate mixture of threats and blandishments (34). The Portuguese fleet lying off shore had the capacity to deprive people of their fishing and sea borne trade and using this power Xavier influenced a large number of people living in coastal areas to embrace Christianity (35).

C.R. Boxer observes that ‘gun boat’ policy methods were widely prevalent among the Portuguese missionaries in the East and adds that the term ‘Christian militant’ was no figure of speech (36)

vii) Exploiting Buddhist injunctions against taking away of animal life

The Portuguese were well aware of the Buddhist reverence for all forms of life and the strict injunctions against the taking away of any form of life including animals whatever the need. Kill and eat is not a Buddhist tenet. On the contrary Christianity takes the view that animals and plants were created by God for the benefit of humans and therefore man is free to kill animals and eat their flesh.

Christian missionaries in predominantly Buddhist and Hindu lands achieved their most notable successes among the fisher castes and classes. Those who engage in vocations involving the breeding of animals for slaughter as well as destruction of animals, which are considered as Wrong Livelihoods, attract deep - seated prejudice in conventional Buddhist and Hindu societies. The Portuguese missionaries exploited this position and converted a large mass of fisher folk, ‘who found acceptance and enhanced self - respect in Christianity (37).

viii) Similarities in outward manifestation of the Roman Catholic Church vis –a- vis Buddhism and Hinduism

The use of images, incense, rosaries, orders of monks and nuns, colorful ceremonies and Churches etc. created a superficial similarity in the outward manifestation of Roman Catholicism vis – a –vis Buddhism and Hinduism, and in turn these similarities also contributed towards making the transition from the indigenous religions to the Roman Catholic faith relatively more convenient (38)

In contrast the austere practices of the Protestant religions failed to impress the mass of the common folk in territories under Dutch and later British control (39).

The Introduction of Christianity to Sri Lanka

The Portuguese landed in Colombo in 1505. Within a few years of their arrival they were able to establish permanent trading settlements and then indulge in a game of intrigue and blackmail with the various rulers and minor chiefs of the country. They harassed Bhuvenakabahu (King of Kotte from 1521 –1551) to a great degree and kept him in a state of dependence on both the military and sea power of the Portuguese. The Portuguese conspired with minor chiefs who owed allegiance to the King of Kotte and offered them various inducements to turn against the lawful sovereign of the country.

The Portuguese imperial agenda was to create discord in the country and then take maximum advantage of the situation for their benefit in terms of siphoning off wealth from Sri Lanka and converting Buddhists into Christianity, who then in their calculation would remain loyal to the Portuguese Crown rather than to the Sinhalese Kings of the land. The Portuguese period particularly from 1540 onwards witnessed a series of military conflicts in its most revolting form that left the maritime provinces of the country devastated and desolate.

Events moved in such a manner that Bhuvaneka Bahu was forced to rely totally on his foreign allies for his survival and that of his Kingdom. In 1543 Bhuvaneka Bahu desiring to make his grandson Dharmapala his successor dispatched a statue of his grandson made of ivory and gold and silver, and carrying on its head a jewelled crown studded with Lanka’s finest gems, to Lisbon, where a ceremony marking the coronation of the effigy by the Portuguese King Dom Joao III, was held.

The Portuguese exacted a heavy toll from the besieged royal house of Kotte. In return for this recognition of Dharmapala as heir to the Kingdom, the Portuguese demanded an open door to preach the Christian gospel anywhere in the dominion of the Sinhalese King. A party of Franciscan monks accompanied the envoys of Bhuvenakabahu on their return from Lisbon to Colombo in 1543. This group was led by friar Joao de Vila de Conde. They immediately set about their task of converting the Sinhalese. They brought undue influence on Dharmapala whom they had tutored in his youth, to renounce Buddhism, hitherto the State religion of Lanka and embrace Christianity. Dharmapala was baptized under the name Don Juan Periya Bandara and his Queen was baptized as Dona Catherina.

With the conversion of Dharmapala in 1557, members of the Sinhalese aristocracy followed suit. Dharmapala became a willing collaborator in the systematic repression of Buddhism. Such conduct generated hostility against Christianity.

Rajavaliya records:- "King Bhuvaneka Bahu having foolishly lived on terms of close intimacy with the Portuguese entrusted to the King of Portugal the Prince (Dharmapala) whom he had brought up. On account of this foolish act the Portuguese brought harm on the King. It should be noted that the King Bhuvaneka Bahu was the cause of the injustice which his posterity had to suffer; and that the harm done to the cause of Buddhism after this was due to the action of this King.” (40)

Father Fernao de Queyroz,the famed Portuguese Historian says "There were some who refused him ( Dharmapala ) allegiance holding it an insult to them that the heir to the Empire should follow Christ, and that it was harder than death to obey a Christian Prince. Dom Joao (Dharmapala) took little heed of this, punishing some and rewarding others and obliging many by his example to despise idols, and destroying the greater part of the pagodas ” (41).

Queyrozadds that Dharmapala soon after his conversion gave directions to his officials that all Buddhist Temple lands should be seized and diverted to the use of the seminaries and colleges run by the Franciscans (42). This step was taken most likely at the prompting of the Franciscans.

There was a protest by Buddhist monks over this issue in front of the King’s Palace at Kotte, which led to the indiscriminate arrest of 30 Buddhist monks from a Temple in Kotte and their immediate execution under the orders of the Portuguese Captain – General. Professor Tennakoon Vimalananda comments “ Thus began the gradual destruction of Buddhism, the only organisation which existed for the spiritual and intellectual education of the people of Ceylon” (43)

Four Missionary Orders

The Portuguese era was marked by intense Roman Catholic missionary activity. The missionaries belonged to four different missionary orders – the Franciscans, the Jesuits, the Augustinians and the Dominicans. The Franciscans were the first to arrive (in 1543) and they had a monopoly of missionary activity for about fifty years. Father Paulo Trinidade, a Franciscan monk has left an account of his experiences in Ceylon, in a book written in 1638 called ‘ The Spiritual Conquest of the East ’. The Jesuits arrived in 1602. The Augustinians and the Dominicans set foot in Colombo in the same year i.e. 1606. There was also another group of missionaries called the Capuchin monks – they constituted a branch of the Franciscan Order. Intense rivalry between these missionary orders led to demarcation of their spheres of activity by the Vice-roy at Goa pursuant to a request made by the King of Portugal in 1609 (44)

Deceitful strategies in proselytizing Tamil Hindus

The Roman Catholic Church divided the country into two main zones for the purpose of proselytizing, There was a marked difference in the methods adopted for missionary work as between different regions. In the north Roman Catholic clergy pretended to be Brahamins from the West. But in the south they employed a different strategy (45)

The Roman Catholic clergy used deceitful methods to convert the Hindus of the North. Tennent comments as follows:

"They (Roman Catholic priests) assumed the character of Brahamans of a superior caste from the Western World; they took Hindu names, and conformed to the heathen customs of this haughty and exclusive race, producing, in support of their pretensions, a deed forged in ancient characters, to show that the Brahamans of Rome were of much older date than the Brahmans of India, and descended in an equally direct line from the Brahma himself." ( 46)

"They composed a pretended Veda, in which they sought to institute the doctrines of Christianity in the language and phraseology of the sacred books of the Hindus. They wore orange colored robes peculiar to the Saniasses. They hung a tiger's skin from their shoulders, in imitation of Shiva, they performed the ablutions required by the Shastras; they carried on their foreheads the sacred spot of sandalwood powder; and in order to sustain their assumed character to the utmost, they affected to spurn the Pariahs and lower castes who lay no claim to the same divine origin with the Brahmins." (47)

The Roman Catholic missionaries in employing methods such as e.g. pooja, processions, images, pilgrimages, holy water, feasts, fasts, prayers for the dead, dancers like the dancer in a Hindu Temple, that were utterly deceitful were impliedly indicating that they were prepared to go to any length however crooked the means adopted would be so long as their final objective could be achieved.

Professor Tennakoon Vimalananda says that ‘” By a system of mingled deception and hypocrisy they enlisted followers from other faiths to the Roman Catholic Church” (48)


Footnotes

13. Boxer, 66

14. Boxer, 67

15. Boxer, 67

16. Boxer, 68

17. Boxer, 68

18. Boxer, 68

19. Boxer, 69

20. Boxer, 73

21. Boxer, 73

22. Boxer, 68

23. Boxer, 68

24. Boxer, 71

25. Boxer, 71

26. Boxer, 72

27. Boxer, 72

28. Boxer,73

29. Peiris, P.E., Portugal in Ceylon 1505 –1658 ( Cambridge: Heffers, 1937) 5

30. Peiris, Portugal …. 4

31. Boxer, 70

32. Boxer, 76

33. Boxer, 76

34. Boxer, 76

35. Boxer, 76

36. Boxer, 76 –77

37. Boxer, 82

38. Boxer, 81 –82

39. Boxer, 82

40. Rajavaliya, 68

41. Queyroz, Fernao de, The Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon, quoted in O.M. de Silva Cosme, Fidalgos in the Kingdom of Kottte (1505 –1656), Colombo, 1990, 140

42. Queyroz, quoted in O.M. de Silva Cosme, Fidalgos in the Kingdom of Kottte (1505 –1656), Colombo, 1990, 144

43. Vimalananda, Tennakoon, Buddhism in Ceylon under the Christian Powers ( Colombo: M.D.Gunasena, 1963) xxv

44. Abeysinghe, Tikiri, Portuguese Rule in Ceylon 1594 – 1612 ( Colombo: Lake House Investments, 1966 ) 199

45. Vimalananda, Tennakoon, Buddhism in Ceylon under the Christian Powers …., xxvi

46. Tennent, Sir James Emerson, Christianity in Ceylon ( New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 1998) 17

47. Tennent, Sir James Emerson, Christianity in Ceylon ….. 17 48. Vimalananda, Tennakoon, Buddhism in Ceylon under the Christian Powers …., xxvii