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Thomas Stephens (Jesuit)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Stephens was a Jesuit priest missionary
in Portuguese India
, writer and linguist.
, en route for Goa
which he reached on the 24 October 1579, probably the first Englishman to set foot on Indian soil. This is, however, disputed by G. Schurhammer and others. After a few months of theological studies he was ordained priest in 1580. He learned to read and write in Konkani and Marathi.
(1583). Except for a year in Vasai (Bassein), Portuguese holding north of Bombay (Mumbai), he spent all his pastoral years in Salcete, being parish priest in Margao, Benaulim, Marmugao, and several other places. He died in 1619.
It is very likely that Roberto de Nobili
, SJ, met Thomas Stephens upon landing in Goa, and before proceeding to the Madurai Mission. Falcao has shown that there are terms common to both these pioneers of inculturation, e.g. jnana-snana (bath of knowledge or enlightenment), a term which Stephens used for baptism, and which de Nobili seems to have borrowed; the term is still current in Tamil Christian usage.
These variations, together with variations in the titles of the Khristapurana, add to the difficulty of tracing print editions and manuscript copies of the latter.
's Principal Navigations (in 1599) in which he gives a description of Portuguese India
and its languages.
. His Arte da Lingoa Canarim, written in Portuguese
, was the first printed grammar of what is now called the Konkani language. It was published in 1640, as enlarged by Diogo Ribeiro, SJ and four other Jesuits, and became the first ever printed Indian Language grammar. The published work bore the title Arte da lingoa Canarim composta pelo Padre Thomaz Estevão da Companhia de IESUS & acrecentada pello Padre Diogo Ribeiro da mesma Cõpanhia e nouemente reuista & emendada por outros quarto Padres da mesma Companhia. 1640. A second edition was produced by J.H. da Cunha Rivara, and published under the title: Grammatica da Lingua Concani composta pelo Padre Thomaz Estevão e accrescentada por outros Padres da Companhia de Jesus. Segunda Impressão, correcta e annotada, a que precede como introducção A Memoria sobre a Distribução Geographica das Principaes Linguas da India por Sir Erskine Perry, e o Ensaio historico da lingua Concani pelo Editor. Ed. J.H. da Cunha Rivara. Nova Goa: Imprensa Nacional. 1857. The language, called Canarim or Bramana-Canarim in Stephens' time, was, by the time of Cunha Rivara, known as Konkani.
Stephens also prepared a catechism in the same language, as per the instruction of the council of Trent
. The Dovtrina Cristam Em Lingoa Brahmana Canarim (translation: Christian Doctrine in the Canarese Brahman Language) incorporates also a collection of Christian prayers in Konkani.
, an epic poem on the life of Jesus Christ written in a mix of Marathi
and Konkani. Adopting the literary form of the Hindu
puranas it retells the entire story of mankind, from the creation days to the time of Jesus in lyrical verse form. The Christian Puranas - 11,000 stanzas of 4 verses - were very popular in the churches of the area where they were sung on special occasions up to the 1930s. Although no copy of the original edition is extant it is believed to have been written or published in 1616.
The Khristapurana of Thomas Stephens was printed thrice in Goa, but no copies have been found. The fourth printing was that of Joseph L. Saldanha in Mangalore (1907); this was a collation of at least 5 manuscripts, one of them in Devanagari script, together with a substantial life sketch and introduction. The fifth edition was by Prof. Shantaram Bandelu of Ahmednagar; this was the first printed edition in the Devanagari script, but was a transliteration of the Saldanha text.
In 1923, however, Justin E. Abbott discovered two Devanagari manuscripts (parts 1 and 2) of the Khristapurana in the Marsden Collection of the School of Oriental Studies, London. Bandelu acknowledges this discovery in his introduction, but argues, against Abbot, that the Roman script was the original. He was not able, however, to make proper use of the manuscripts in his text. This job fell to Caridade Drago, SJ; but here also it would seem that Drago merely followed the Bandelu text, contenting himself with providing an extensive appendix in which he compares the variations between the Roman and the Devanagari script texts.
Recently (2009) Nelson Falcao has published the seventh edition of the Khristapurana, providing for the first time the Marsden version in Devanagari script, together with a prose translation into contemporary Marathi. An English translation with transliteration of the Marsden version into Roman script is in progress.
Paixao de Cristo
Recently, S.M. Tadkodkar has attributed two of the three Passion poems found in the Goa Central Library MS of the Khristapurana to Thomas Stephens.
, run by the Society of Jesus
, is an institute dedicated to the study and propagation of the Konkani Language; it was founded in 1989 and located in Goa
. It was named after Father Thomas Stephens in gratitude to his contribution to the Konkani Language.
It possesses a manuscript of the Khristapurana that seems to have belonged to a certain M.G. Saldanha, and may have been one of the copies used by J.L. Saldanha while preparing his monumental 1907 edition (he speaks of a Marian Saldanha, whom he describes an as enthusiast of Purannic literature). Whether this M.G. Saldanha is the same as the well-known Goan professor and scholar Mariano Saldanha, is yet to be established.
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
in Portuguese India
Portuguese India
The Portuguese Viceroyalty of India , later the Portuguese State of India , was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of a sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de...
, writer and linguist.
Early years and studies
The son of a merchant, Stephens studied in Oxford before becoming a Catholic. He went to Rome where he entered the Society of Jesus in 1575. He did some philosophical studies at the Collegio Romano before departing for LisbonLisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, en route for Goa
Goa
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...
which he reached on the 24 October 1579, probably the first Englishman to set foot on Indian soil. This is, however, disputed by G. Schurhammer and others. After a few months of theological studies he was ordained priest in 1580. He learned to read and write in Konkani and Marathi.
In Goa
He was superior of Salcete (1590-1596) and in such capacity had to handle the aftermath of the death of the so-called martyrs of CuncolimMartyrs of Cuncolim
The Cuncolim Revolt was a massacre of Christian priests and civilians by Kshatriyas in Cuncolim, Goa on Monday, 25 July 1583, as a protest against attempts by the colonial Portuguese administration to demolish Hindu temples in the locality and forcibly convert the local population to...
(1583). Except for a year in Vasai (Bassein), Portuguese holding north of Bombay (Mumbai), he spent all his pastoral years in Salcete, being parish priest in Margao, Benaulim, Marmugao, and several other places. He died in 1619.
It is very likely that Roberto de Nobili
Roberto de Nobili
Roberto de Nobili was an Italian Jesuit missionary to Southern India. He used a novel method of adaptation to preach Christianity, adopting many local customs of India which were, in his view, not contrary to Christianity.Born in Montepulciano, Tuscany in September 1577, Roberto de Nobili arrived...
, SJ, met Thomas Stephens upon landing in Goa, and before proceeding to the Madurai Mission. Falcao has shown that there are terms common to both these pioneers of inculturation, e.g. jnana-snana (bath of knowledge or enlightenment), a term which Stephens used for baptism, and which de Nobili seems to have borrowed; the term is still current in Tamil Christian usage.
Variations in the name
The many variations of Thomas Stephens’ name must be noted. Cunha Rivara notes that the Bibliotheca Lusitana “clearly but erroneously calls him Esteves.” J.L. Saldanha observes: “Among his clerical brethren he was known as Padre Estevam, and the laity seem to have improved upon the appellation and turned it into Padre Busten, Buston, and the grand and high-sounding de Bubston.” Saldanha also notes that Monier-Williams renders the name ‘Thomas Stevens,’ while also pointing out that Dodd’s Church History speaks of Stephen de Buston or Bubston. Mariano Saldanha instead gives the name as ‘Tomás Estêvão.’ The Catholic Encyclopedia (see External Links below) itself seems to have two voices on the same person: Thomas Stephens and Thomas Stephen Buston.These variations, together with variations in the titles of the Khristapurana, add to the difficulty of tracing print editions and manuscript copies of the latter.
In English
Before the end of the century he was already known in England thanks to a letter written to his father, and published in the 2nd volume of Richard HakluytRichard Hakluyt
Richard Hakluyt was an English writer. He is principally remembered for his efforts in promoting and supporting the settlement of North America by the English through his works, notably Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America and The Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and...
's Principal Navigations (in 1599) in which he gives a description of Portuguese India
Portuguese India
The Portuguese Viceroyalty of India , later the Portuguese State of India , was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of a sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de...
and its languages.
In Konkani
Stephens is remembered above all for his contribution to the Konkani languageKonkani 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...
. His Arte da Lingoa Canarim, written in 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...
, was the first printed grammar of what is now called the Konkani language. It was published in 1640, as enlarged by Diogo Ribeiro, SJ and four other Jesuits, and became the first ever printed Indian Language grammar. The published work bore the title Arte da lingoa Canarim composta pelo Padre Thomaz Estevão da Companhia de IESUS & acrecentada pello Padre Diogo Ribeiro da mesma Cõpanhia e nouemente reuista & emendada por outros quarto Padres da mesma Companhia. 1640. A second edition was produced by J.H. da Cunha Rivara, and published under the title: Grammatica da Lingua Concani composta pelo Padre Thomaz Estevão e accrescentada por outros Padres da Companhia de Jesus. Segunda Impressão, correcta e annotada, a que precede como introducção A Memoria sobre a Distribução Geographica das Principaes Linguas da India por Sir Erskine Perry, e o Ensaio historico da lingua Concani pelo Editor. Ed. J.H. da Cunha Rivara. Nova Goa: Imprensa Nacional. 1857. The language, called Canarim or Bramana-Canarim in Stephens' time, was, by the time of Cunha Rivara, known as Konkani.
Stephens also prepared a catechism in the same language, as per the instruction of the council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
. The Dovtrina Cristam Em Lingoa Brahmana Canarim (translation: Christian Doctrine in the Canarese Brahman Language) incorporates also a collection of Christian prayers in Konkani.
The Christian Purana or the Khristapurana
More than technical language books what earned him the title of Father of Christian Literature in India is his Krista PuranaKrista Purana
Krista Purana, |Fr.Thomas Stephens, S.J.]] . Adopting the literary form of the Hindu puranas it retells the entire story of mankind, from the creation days to the time of Jesus in lyrical verse form. The Christian Puranas - 11,000 stanzas of 4 verses - were very popular in the churches of the area...
, an epic poem on the life of Jesus Christ written in a mix of Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
and Konkani. Adopting the literary form of the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
puranas it retells the entire story of mankind, from the creation days to the time of Jesus in lyrical verse form. The Christian Puranas - 11,000 stanzas of 4 verses - were very popular in the churches of the area where they were sung on special occasions up to the 1930s. Although no copy of the original edition is extant it is believed to have been written or published in 1616.
The Khristapurana of Thomas Stephens was printed thrice in Goa, but no copies have been found. The fourth printing was that of Joseph L. Saldanha in Mangalore (1907); this was a collation of at least 5 manuscripts, one of them in Devanagari script, together with a substantial life sketch and introduction. The fifth edition was by Prof. Shantaram Bandelu of Ahmednagar; this was the first printed edition in the Devanagari script, but was a transliteration of the Saldanha text.
In 1923, however, Justin E. Abbott discovered two Devanagari manuscripts (parts 1 and 2) of the Khristapurana in the Marsden Collection of the School of Oriental Studies, London. Bandelu acknowledges this discovery in his introduction, but argues, against Abbot, that the Roman script was the original. He was not able, however, to make proper use of the manuscripts in his text. This job fell to Caridade Drago, SJ; but here also it would seem that Drago merely followed the Bandelu text, contenting himself with providing an extensive appendix in which he compares the variations between the Roman and the Devanagari script texts.
Recently (2009) Nelson Falcao has published the seventh edition of the Khristapurana, providing for the first time the Marsden version in Devanagari script, together with a prose translation into contemporary Marathi. An English translation with transliteration of the Marsden version into Roman script is in progress.
Paixao de CristoPaixao de CristoSeveral poems, known popularly as Paixao de Cristo in Portuguese, and as Christi Vilapika in Marathi, were written in Goa during the 17th century in Marathi language and Roman script, based on the sublime pathos of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Some of these poems were well-known to scholars...
Recently, S.M. Tadkodkar has attributed two of the three Passion poems found in the Goa Central Library MS of the Khristapurana to Thomas Stephens.Recognition
The Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr (Thomas Stephens Konkani Centre)Thomas Stephens Konkkni Kendr
Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr is a Jesuit-run research-institute working on issues related to the Konkani language, literature, culture and education. It is based in Alto Porvorim, on the outskirts of the state capital of Goa, India.-Aim:...
, run by the Society of Jesus
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...
, is an institute dedicated to the study and propagation of the Konkani Language; it was founded in 1989 and located in Goa
Goa
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...
. It was named after Father Thomas Stephens in gratitude to his contribution to the Konkani Language.
It possesses a manuscript of the Khristapurana that seems to have belonged to a certain M.G. Saldanha, and may have been one of the copies used by J.L. Saldanha while preparing his monumental 1907 edition (he speaks of a Marian Saldanha, whom he describes an as enthusiast of Purannic literature). Whether this M.G. Saldanha is the same as the well-known Goan professor and scholar Mariano Saldanha, is yet to be established.