Indian Antiquary Vol 46

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 27

JANUARY, 1917] THE HISTORY OF THE NAIK KINGDOM OF MADURA
good, and soon he died. It is said that, at the point of death, he expressed the hope that the cabin from which he had been removed for safety's sake, would be safe and sound. while the fortress and the town would be no more; and that the prophecy was afterwards fulfilled; for "it is recorded that the French of Pondicherry drove the Portuguese out of Mylapore, and were in turn driven out by the Sultan of Golcondah, the ally of the Portuguese who, fearing the return of the French, razed the walls, and took the stones into the country, leaving only the little cabin." (Chandler).
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Such were the life and labours of the remarkable man who founded the Jesuit Mission in Madura. Defects there were in his character. Questionable were his actions. Positively repulsive were some of the means he employed. But who will deny that for the acuteness of his vision, the profundity of his scholarship, the originality of his method, and the clearness of his view, he stands unrivalled in the history of Christianity in India? Who will deny that this "Romish Brahman", this saint and scholar, this sage and seer, was the most transcendental personality in the annals of Indian missions? By his merits and demerits, by his actions and sufferings, by his methods and means, he became a model and example, and though he never ceased to be looked on with a controversial eye, and though his career unfortunately introduced certain objectionable principles into the Christian propaganda, yet the success of the Christians was due to his genius, his skill and his example. As Chandler says, he was the greatest missionary in India of his century, and impressed upon the Madura mission, certain lasting features. "One was the adaptation of the life of the missionary to that of the people. Another was the appropriation of harmless customs and ceremonies for Christian use. A third was the thorough study of the vernacular with a view to influency of speech and writing, and accurate knowledge of the literature of the people." These are the three-fold bases of the Jesuit Mission.
The organization of the Mission.
The history of South Indian Christianity after the practical retirement of De Nobilis can be traced from two standpoints,-from the standpoint of organisation and from the standpoint of method. As regards organisation, what we have to remember is that, by 1660, Christianity had extended throughout the regions now covered by the five vicariates of Madura, Pondicheri, Coimbatore, Mysore and Madras. A distinct group of priests and fathers worked in each sphere, and carried on the work which the great Jesuit priest had planned and begun. Each father had the oversight of a certain extent of territory called a Residence. Between Trichinopoly and Mysore there were the two Residences, of Pasur52 in the north and Satyamangalam in the West. "Tanjore was of course an important Residence. To the North of it lay the Residence of Kallayi, "a villages 20 miles South West of Ginji and nearly 100 miles North of Tanjore." Between Tanjore and Madura there was the Residence of Nandavanam, an area of 60 miles east and west, and 12 miles
52 It extended 87 miles in one direction and 126 in another. Satyamangalam was 25 miles either way, and included 130 villages with 23 churches. Owing to frequent invasions of the Mysoreans these Residences declined between 1660 to 1670.
53 This included Vellore and Trinomali. See S. Arcot Manual, 389-90. The chief Fathers of the mission were Martine (d, 1656); P. Erandi (1670); Andre Freire, (1676) in whose time it was divided into two districts. It was at Tattuvancheri that D. Britto afterwards resided.