Roman Catholic Kshatriya
Encyclopedia
The Roman Catholic Kshatriya is a caste among the Goan
and Mangalorean Catholics, of modern-day descendants of Goan Kshatriya
and a few Vaishya
converts to Roman Catholicism. They are respectively known as Chardo in the Goan Catholic dialects of Konkani ((Devanagari
: चारड्डो) and Charodi (Kannada
: ಚರೋಡಿ; Tsāroḍi), in the Mangalorean Catholic dialect of Konkani
. They are an endogamous
group and have traditionally avoided inter-marriage
with Catholics of other castes.
constituted the nobility and warrior class, and ranked second in the Hindu Varna system
. Those involved in the trading profession were known as Chattim, which was an occupational appellation common to Brahmins as well. 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 Kshatriyas to Christianity
. The caste appellation of Chardo eventually fell into disuse among the Hindu Kshatriyas, who began calling themselves Marathas
(Konkan Marathas), in order to differentiate themselves from those Kshatriyas who had embraced Christianity
. Another reason for the name change was because of the ascendancy of the Maratha
s in the political arena of the Maratha Confederacy
. The Marathas and Vaishya Vani
s who were among the last to convert, were incorporated into the Chardo caste.
The earliest known instance of Kshatriya conversions to Christianity took place in 1560, when 700 Kshatriyas were baptised en masse in Carambolim
, Tiswadi
. Their decision to embrace Christianity was made after deliberation of the village assembly, and came about as they were subjects of the Portuguese government. Another instance of a Kshatriya group seeking conversion to Christianity is mentioned in a letter of a Jesuit missionary Luís Fróis
, dated 13 November 1560:
The Charodis form the second largest group in the Mangalorean Catholic community. In South Canara
, many Charodis took up service in the army of the Keladi Nayaka
s, and came to constitute the bulk of the Christian soldiers in their army. The Lewis-Naik family of Kallianpur
near Udupi, produced many distinguished soldiers and officers in the Keladi army. In recognition of their service, the Nayakas rewarded them with large tracts of land in Kallianpur. During the Indian independence struggle
, the Indian Christian nationalists widely perceived the Chardos to be more sympathetic to Indian nationalist leanings and less likely to be pro-Portuguese loyalists than the Bamonns
. In his autobiography, Indian nationalist Eddie Pereira (himself of Chardo heritage) stated about the origins of the Chardos:
The Chardos have traditionally been an endogamous
group, and while they never inter-married or mingled with the low caste Sudirs (Konkani: Shudra
s), Mahar
s, and Chamar
s, the statutes and norms of the Roman Catholic church restrained them from discriminating against the latter.
Goan Catholics
The Goan Catholics are an ethno-religious community of Roman Catholics and their descendants from the state of Goa, located on the west coast of India. They are Konkani people and speak the Konkani language...
and Mangalorean Catholics, of modern-day descendants of Goan Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
and a few Vaishya
Vaishya
Vaishya is one of the four varnas of the Hindu social order. According to Vedic tradition, this caste primarily comprises merchants, farmers, cattle-herders and artisans.-Duties of Vaishyas:...
converts to Roman Catholicism. They are respectively known as Chardo in the Goan Catholic dialects of Konkani ((Devanagari
Devanagari
Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
: चारड्डो) and Charodi (Kannada
Kannada script
The Kannada script is an alphasyllabary of the Brahmic family, used primarily to write the Kannada language, one of the Dravidian languages of southern India and also Sanskrit in the past. The Telugu script is derived from Old Kannada, and resembles Kannada script...
: ಚರೋಡಿ; Tsāroḍi), in the Mangalorean Catholic dialect of Konkani
Konkani language
KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...
. They are an endogamous
Endogamy
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group, rejecting others on such basis as being unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. A Greek Orthodox Christian endogamist, for example, would require that a marriage be only with another...
group and have traditionally avoided inter-marriage
Exogamy
Exogamy is a social arrangement where marriage is allowed only outside of a social group. The social groups define the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. In social studies, exogamy is viewed as a combination of two related aspects:...
with Catholics of other castes.
Etymology
The precise etymology of the word Chardo is unknown. The two most probable explanations are as follows:- The roots of this Konkani word probably lies in the PrakritPrakritPrakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...
word Chavada, which the name of a tribe of warriors who migrated to Goa from Saurashtra in the 7th and 8th centuries, after their kingdom was destroyed by the ArabArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s in 740 AD. - Another explanation given by historian B.D. Satoskar is that the Konkani word comes from the SanskritSanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
word Chatur-rathi or the PrakritPrakritPrakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...
Chau-radi, which literally means "the ones who ride a chariot yoked with four horses".
Origins
The Kshatriyas of GoaGoa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
constituted the nobility and warrior class, and ranked second in the Hindu Varna system
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
. Those involved in the trading profession were known as Chattim, which was an occupational appellation common to Brahmins as well. The origins of this particular caste can be traced back to the Christianisation of the Velhas Conquistas
Velhas Conquistas
The Velhas Conquistas or “Old Conquests” are a group of four concelhos or administrative districts in Goa which were incorporated into Portuguese India in the 16th century...
(Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
: Old Conquests) that was undertaken by the Portuguese
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
during the 16th and 17th centuries. It was during this period that the Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
and Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
missionaries converted many Kshatriyas to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. The caste appellation of Chardo eventually fell into disuse among the Hindu Kshatriyas, who began calling themselves Marathas
Konkan Maratha
Konkan Maratha or Konkana are Konkani-speaking Hindus claiming Kshatriya status, with their ancestral homes in Karwar, Ankola, and Goa with surnames such as Shinde/Kadams,Naik/Nayak, Rane, Kadam, Powar/Pawar, Savant/Sawant, Khalwadekar, Gaonkar, Khanvilkar, Salunke, Desai/Dessai, Phal, Sail,...
(Konkan Marathas), in order to differentiate themselves from those Kshatriyas who had embraced Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Another reason for the name change was because of the ascendancy of the Maratha
Maratha
The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...
s in the political arena of the Maratha Confederacy
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km²....
. The Marathas and Vaishya Vani
Vaishya Vani
Vaishya Vani, is a trader/merchant community hailing from the western coast of India, residing in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, Goa,some parts of coastal and central Karnataka, and Kerala. This community commonly known as Vanis and sometimes Kudali Vanis...
s who were among the last to convert, were incorporated into the Chardo caste.
The earliest known instance of Kshatriya conversions to Christianity took place in 1560, when 700 Kshatriyas were baptised en masse in Carambolim
Karmali
Karmali is a village in North Goa district, Goa, India.-External links:* *...
, Tiswadi
Tiswadi
Tiswadi is a taluka of North Goa district of the state of Goa, India.The word Tiswadi itself means thirty settlements. It refers to the thirty settlements in which the Goud Saraswat Brahmins settled when they migrated to Goa. It is geographically an Island with the Mandovi river forming its...
. Their decision to embrace Christianity was made after deliberation of the village assembly, and came about as they were subjects of the Portuguese government. Another instance of a Kshatriya group seeking conversion to Christianity is mentioned in a letter of a Jesuit missionary Luís Fróis
Luís Fróis
Luís Fróis was a Portuguese missionary.He was born in Lisbon and in 1548 joined the Society of Jesus . In 1563, he came to Japan to engage in missionary work, and in the following year arrived in Kyoto, meeting Ashikaga Yoshiteru who was then Shogun...
, dated 13 November 1560:
The Charodis form the second largest group in the Mangalorean Catholic community. In South Canara
South Canara
South Canara was a district under the British empire, located at . It was bifurcated in 1859 from Canara district. It was the undivided Dakshina Kannada district...
, many Charodis took up service in the army of the Keladi Nayaka
Keladi Nayaka
Keladi Nayaka Kingdom were an important ruling dynasty of post-medieval Karnataka, India. They initially started to rule as a feudatory of the Vijayanagar Empire...
s, and came to constitute the bulk of the Christian soldiers in their army. The Lewis-Naik family of Kallianpur
Kallianpur
Kallianpur is a hamlet of Tonse-East village about six km from Udupi. It is a developed hamlet with all modern amenities like schools, college, hospital, good transport and communication facilities. The people of Kallianpur have survived many ages and still retain great positions with attachment to...
near Udupi, produced many distinguished soldiers and officers in the Keladi army. In recognition of their service, the Nayakas rewarded them with large tracts of land in Kallianpur. During the Indian independence struggle
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
, the Indian Christian nationalists widely perceived the Chardos to be more sympathetic to Indian nationalist leanings and less likely to be pro-Portuguese loyalists than the Bamonns
Roman Catholic Brahmin
The Roman Catholic Brahmin, also referred to asBamonn in Konkani, is a caste among the Goan and Mangalorean Catholics, 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...
. In his autobiography, Indian nationalist Eddie Pereira (himself of Chardo heritage) stated about the origins of the Chardos:
The Chardos have traditionally been an endogamous
Endogamy
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group, rejecting others on such basis as being unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. A Greek Orthodox Christian endogamist, for example, would require that a marriage be only with another...
group, and while they never inter-married or mingled with the low caste Sudirs (Konkani: Shudra
Shudra
Shudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...
s), Mahar
Mahar
Mahar is an important social group within the Indian state of Maharashtra and surrounding states. A grouping of related endogamous castes, the Mahar are the largest scheduled caste group in Maharashtra, in which they comprise ten percent of the population .On...
s, and Chamar
Chamar
Chamar |tanner]]"; from the Sanskrit Charmakara) is a prominent occupational caste in India, Pakistan and Nepal. Chamar is a Dalit sub-caste mainly found in the northern states, such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and in Nepal at least north to the Himalayas...
s, the statutes and norms of the Roman Catholic church restrained them from discriminating against the latter.
See also
- Christianisation of Goa
- Christianity in GoaChristianity in GoaChristianity is the second largest religious grouping in Goa, India. According to the 2001 census, 27% of the population are Christian, while 66% are Hindu...
- Christianity in KarnatakaChristianity in KarnatakaChristianity is a minority within Karnataka state of India. Mangalorean Catholics are a community of centuries, though there also areMangalorean Protestants...
- Cuncolim Revolt
- Caste system among Indian ChristiansCaste system among Indian ChristiansThe Caste system among Indian Christians is attributed to the assimilation of local Hindu practices, which has caused caste distinctions to be retained after conversion. Some Christian groups have adapted the Indian caste system in diverse ways across the subcontinent, often reflecting their own...
- Roman Catholicism in Goa
- Roman Catholicism in MangaloreRoman Catholicism in MangaloreMangalorean Catholics are an ethno-religious community of Roman Catholics from the Mangalore Diocese on the southwestern coast of India...
- Roman Catholic BrahminRoman Catholic BrahminThe Roman Catholic Brahmin, also referred to asBamonn in Konkani, is a caste among the Goan and Mangalorean Catholics, 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...
- Padval
- Forward caste
- Konkani peopleKonkani peopleKonkani people , form a group of people mainly found in the Konkan Coast of western India whose mother-tongue is the Konkani language....
- Konkan MarathaKonkan MarathaKonkan Maratha or Konkana are Konkani-speaking Hindus claiming Kshatriya status, with their ancestral homes in Karwar, Ankola, and Goa with surnames such as Shinde/Kadams,Naik/Nayak, Rane, Kadam, Powar/Pawar, Savant/Sawant, Khalwadekar, Gaonkar, Khanvilkar, Salunke, Desai/Dessai, Phal, Sail,...
s