Roman Catholic Brahmin

Roman Catholic Brahmin
Bamonn
Total population
approx 95,000
Regions with significant populations
Goa 20,000
Mangalore 5,000
Rest of India 1,000
Languages
Konkani and Portuguese
Religion
Predominantly:
Roman Catholic
Related ethnic groups
Other Hindu Brahmins

The Roman Catholic Brahmin, also referred to as Bamonn (Devanagari: बामण, Kannada: ಬಾಮಣು; IAST: Bāmaṇ; pronounced /baməɳ ~ bamɔɳ/) in Konkani, is a caste among the Goan[1][2][3] and Mangalorean Catholics,[4][5][6] of modern-day descendants of Konkani Brahmin converts to Roman Catholicism.

Origins

In Goa, the Brahmins were originally engaged in the priestly occupation, but had taken up various occupations like agriculture, trade, goldsmithy, etc.[7] 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 and 17th centuries. It was during this period that the Jesuit, Franciscan and Dominican missionaries converted many Brahmins to Christianity.[8] The first mass conversions took place among the Brahmins of Divar, and the Kshatriyas of Carambolim.[9] In his Oriente conquistado a Jesu Christo pelos padres da Companhia de Jesus da Provincia de Goa (1710), Portuguese Jesuit priest, Fr. Francisco de Sousa gives an account of the mass conversions of Brahmins in Divar:[10]

All converts from Brahmin sub-castes such as the Goud Saraswat Brahmins, Padyes, Daivadnyas, etc., were lumped into the Christian caste of Bamonn.[11][12][13] Since the conversions of Brahmins of a particular area became instrumental in the conversions of members of other castes, such converts were highly valued and esteemed by the church and Portuguese authorities alike.[8] They were even allowed to wear the Yajnopavita (sacred thread) and other caste markings by special dispensation of Pope Gregory XV in 1623, on the condition that these were blessed by a Catholic priest.[14] Historian Charles Ralph Boxer observed:[15]

"The converted Brahmenes retained their pride of caste and race, and they very seldom intermarried with the Portuguese and never with their Indian social inferiors. Similarly, the lower castes who became Christians did not lose their ingrained respect for the Brahmenes, and they continued to venerate the latter as if they were still their 'twice-born' (dvija) and natural superiors."

The Bamonns in general, consider their caste system to be an Indian class form of social categorisation.[16] Since their concept is divorced from all 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.[16] Traditionally, they are an endogamous group and have refrained from inter-marriage with Catholics of other castes.[16][17] However, while the Bamonns never inter-married or mingled with the low caste Sudirs (Konkani: Shudras), Mahars, and Chamars, the statutes and norms of the Roman Catholic church restrained them from discriminating against the latter.[18] Although most now carry Portuguese surnames, they have retained knowledge about their paik (ancestral pre-conversion surnames) such as Bhat, Kamat, Nayak, Pai, Prabhu, Shenoy, and Shet.[19][20] The konkanised variants of these surnames are Bhôtt, Kāmot, Nāik, Poi, Porbų (Probų), Šeņai, and Šet.[20][a] Mudartha is a unique surname to be found among some Bamonn families that hail from Udupi district in Karnataka.[21] Bamonns constitute the largest caste in the Mangalorean Catholic community.,.[4][4][5][6] Most Mangalorean Catholic Bamonn families trace their patrilineal descent to Goud Saraswat Brahmins, with a small minority to Daivadnya Brahmins.[4][5][6] There were a few historical instances in the Mangalorean Catholic community, wherein some Anglo-Indians were admitted into the Bamonn fold by Catholic priests.[22] Their descendants are known as Pulputhru Bamonns (Pulpit Bamonns).[22]

A 1976 genetic analysis study conducted on three groups of Saraswat Brahmins and one group of Goan Catholic Bamonns in Western India, confirmed the historical and ethnological evidence of a relationship between Goan Catholic Bamonns and Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins.[23] 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.[23]

"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.)"

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.[20] In the book, Maffei also gives a Konkani language grammar exercise:

See also

Citations

  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. 1 2 3 4 Silva & Fuchs 1965, p. 6
  5. 1 2 3 Prabhu 1999, p. XV
  6. 1 2 3 Fernandes 1969, p. 246
  7. ↑ Gomes 2004, p. 176
  8. 1 2 de Mendonça 2002, pp. 39–40
  9. ↑ Gomes 1987, p. 64
  10. ↑ Pinto 1999, p. 166
  11. ↑ Gune & Goa, Daman and Diu (India). Gazetteer Dept 1979, p. 238
  12. ↑ Gomes 1987, p. 77
  13. ↑ Shashi 1996, p. 117
  14. ↑ Manrique & Collis 1995, p. 47
  15. ↑ Boxer 1969, p. 254
  16. 1 2 3 Westin et al. 2010, pp. 227
  17. ↑ Silva & Fuchs 1965, p. 15
  18. ↑ Sinha 2002, p. 74
  19. ↑ Pinto 1999, p. 168
  20. 1 2 3 Maffei 1882, p. 217
  21. ↑ D'Souza 2009
  22. 1 2 D'Souza 1996, p. 58
  23. 1 2 Bhatia et al.
  24. ↑ Mehrotra 1992, p. 119
  25. ↑ 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."
  26. ↑ D'Souza 2004, p. 64
  27. ↑ D'Souza 2004, p. 52
  28. ↑ Gomes
  29. ↑ 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!'"
  30. ↑ 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: 458–467. PMID 827488. doi:10.1159/000152841. 
  • 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 14 February 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. .
  • Gomes, Antonio, My Books (Official website of Antonio Gomes), janthonygomes.com, Archived from the original on 25 February 2012, retrieved 25 February 2012 
  • Gomes, Olivinho (2004). "Goa". Village Book Trust. .
  • Gomes, Olivinho (1987). "Village Goa: a study of Goan social structure and change". S. Chand. .
  • 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. .
  • 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. .
  • 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. .
  • Silva, Severine; Fuchs, Stephan (1965). "The Marriage Customs of the Christians in South Canara, India". Asian ethnology. 2. Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, Nanzan University (Japan). 24: 1–52. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2011.  External link in |journal= (help)
  • 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. 

Further reading

  • de Sousa, Bernardo Elvino (2011). The Last Prabhu: A Hunt for Roots, DNA, Ancient Documents and Migration in Goa. Goa, 1556. ISBN 978-93-8073-915-1. .
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