Caption: The 11th panel of the silver work surrounding the Mastrillian casket containing the relics of St Francis Xavier depicts the saint wearing a black robe and holding a crucifix in his hand when he went to face the Badaga army.
By J M John Marshal –
St Francis Xavier landed in Goa in May 1542. This ‘Rome of the East’ became the epicentre of his mission to the East. In Goa, he was asked by the Vicar General Miguel Vaz to work among the community of Paravas of the pearl fishery coast of Tamil Nadu, who embraced Catholicism in 1532.
Two kingdoms laid their claim over the pearl fishery coast: the Travancore and the Madurai Nayaks. The princely state of Travancore/Venad consisted of today’s Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu and the Kollam and Trivandrum districts of Kerala. These kings claimed affiliation with Vrishnis, the clan of Sree Krishna. Sree Padmanabaswamy temple, Trivandrum was their family temple (It made headlines as the richest temple in the world some years ago).
During 1544, Travancore was ruled by Unni Kerala Varma Thiruvadi, who was affectionately called by Xavier as ‘Iniquitribirin’. After the fall of the Pandyan dynasty, the Madurai Nayaks ruled southern Tamil Nadu as vassals of Vijayanagara rulers. They had tax collectors known as ‘Badagas’ who often terrorised people.
During 1544, representing the general Vithala of Vijayanagara the Badagas marched towards Travancore. On their way, they persecuted the Parava Christians and plundered their houses and churches. St Francis Xavier was deeply troubled as we see in his letters to Fr Mansilhas.
However, the Badagas were soon defeated by the king of Travancore, thanks to the miraculous intervention of St Francis Xavier.
The Travancore king was eager to get the favour of the Portuguese Governer D Martin Afonso De Sousa to counter the attack. Alonso asked Xavier to visit the king, offering Portuguese support.
Wearing a black robe and holding a crucifix in his hand the saint went to face the army and rebuked them. Not being able to stand his fiery look, the Badaga army fled away. This is attested by many historical sources and it is also represented in the 11th panel of the silver work surrounding the Mastrillian casket containing the relics of St Francis Xavier.
Though one may or may not accept the phenomenon of Miracles, we can conclude based on the historical sources that St Francis Xavier contributed greatly to the victory of the Travancore king because it is a historically attested fact that Xavier became a great friend of the king after this event.
Tradition states that after hearing the victory, the King embraced Xavier and said, “I am called the Great King, and from now on you will be called the Great Father”. The king also gave permission to the persecuted Paravas to settle down in his kingdom and to carry out missionary work.
Although the Portuguese is accused of persecuting the non-Christians, St Francis Xavier was fair to everyone, loved them and reprimanded the Portuguese for their behaviour. He wrote to Fr Mansilhas in 1544 to ask the Captain not to permit any wrongs to be done to the Hindus of Travancore.
During the Badaga attack on Kanyakumari, the saint took help from a person who was not a Christian and called him as his own friend as evidenced by the letter to Fr Mansilhas dated 1544.
Also, during the same attack, a Brahmin was involved in the negotiation of peace. Francis Xavier advised Fr Mansilhas to help him with the ship so that he may sail to Tuticorin for the same purpose.
Father Antonio Criminali, a missionary in Kanyakumari, wrote to St Ignatius of Loyola, stating that Francis Xavier was a great servant of God and most suited for this region, and that he was much loved by the Christians, Muslims and Hindus.
He had touched the hearts of both Christians and people of other faiths to such an extent that they felt sad and shed tears at his departure. Though many may accuse this ‘Great Father’ today, he is still the beloved ‘Goencho Saib’ who embraces the people of all the faiths.
(The writer is a Goa-based researcher on the Carmelite religious congregation)