THE PRIESTS OF MOODGUL.
The town of Moodgul is situated in the western division of the district
which lies between the Krishna river to the north and the Toongbaddra
river to the south, and has always been a place of importance in
the country. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it was a
never-failing object of contention between the Hindoos of Beejanugger
and the Mussulman kings of the Dekhan, and many a bloody action
between immense armies on both sides had been fought near it for its
possession, and that of its dependencies. Ráichoor, the capital of the
eastern portion of the Dooab, as the province was called, was at that
time of comparatively small importance, and Moodgul was the capital
of the province and the seat of the local Government. The league of
the Mussulman kings of the Dekhan against the Maharajah of Beejanugger
terminated in a desperate action called the battle of Talicota by
historians, but which was fought in December 1569, on the south bank
of the Krishna, about thirty miles west of Moodgul. The destruction
of the Hindoo kingdom ensued, and at the period of this tale the town
and its fortress were in quiet possession of the Mussulmans, who have
still retained it. It was then the chief station of the south-western
province of the Beejapoor kingdom, and a very considerable force was
always stationed there ready to act against any disturbance of the
frontier, and to overawe the various military tribes of Beydurs and
others, who, though they paid tribute and professed allegiance to the
Mussulman Government, were yet turbulent and often defiant, and much
given to marauding, cattle lifting, and other nefarious practices.
Even now, ruined as it is for the most part, the fort of Moodgul is a
striking and picturesque object. Built partly by the Hindoos and partly
by the Mussulmans, it occupies the summit of a group of singularly
fantastic granite rocks, which seem to have been raised one upon
another, but which belong to one of the great eruptions that took place
at some immensely remote period. They are quite isolated, and rise
from a level plain, which is fertile to their very base. Necessarily
the fort is of very irregular construction, advantage having been
taken of the highest accessible portions of the rocks on which to
build bastions, while the intervals between each group are closed
by single, double, and treble rows of curtains and bastions, as the
ground requires. On the north side is a considerable tank, or lake, for
irrigation, which is still perfect, and affords means of cultivation of
a tract of land; and there are many groves of fine mango and tamarind
trees about its shores, which soften the otherwise rugged character of
the landscape, and above which the rocks and towers of the fort rise
with very picturesque effect. The town lies to the eastward of the
fort, and is still tolerably populous; but the ruins on every side show
that the prosperity of the place was at one time much greater than at
present, and the fort itself is utterly deserted: many of its proud
towers and long portions of the curtains have become heaps of ruins,
and those that remain only show how strong the citadel must have been
in the early times we write of. The place was famous for two kinds of
manufactures: one of weaving cotton fabrics of all kinds, for which the
adjacent parts of the province furnished ample material; the other, of
a kind of camlet blankets, some beautifully fine and others coarse,
woven from yarn spun from the fleeces of the large herds of sheep
which were tended on the wide plains by local shepherds--a powerful
and numerous clan, which, though ostensibly following a peaceful,
industrious calling, had notwithstanding taken part in local wars and
the defence of their fort; and both weavers and shepherds remain still
in their normal condition.
It will be deemed strange, perhaps, that these shepherds and blanket
weavers were Christians at the period of this tale, and that they have
continued faithful through all vicissitudes to the present time. At
what exact period they were converted, or by whom, is not precisely
known, but a Jesuit monk belonging to the mission of St. Francis Xavier
had penetrated to Moodgul, gathered the shepherds about him, and,
preaching to them in their own language--Canarese--had converted and
baptised them, and they proved steadfast and obedient. In the town of
Ráichoor other conversions followed, chiefly among the potters, and
there were, and still are, smaller congregations in other villages;
but the most numerous flock was that of Moodgul, and the church there
is pre-eminently the head of all others in the province. The building
itself is a small one with a tiled roof, and in the Goanesque style of
architecture, and there are two supplementary chapels. The decorations
of the cathedral, as it may be called, are poor and tawdry enough; but
there is, or was, one picture of the Virgin by some Portuguese artist
which has merit. There are schools attached to the mission in which
Canarese is taught, and which are presided over by the priest, if he be
present, or, in his absence, by one of the deacons.
King Ibrahim Adil Shah I., who died in 1557, was the first benefactor
to the mission by recognising it, and conferring lands upon it by his
Royal deeds of grant; and Ally Adil Shah followed, with settlements of
money from the customs duties and other sources, which have hitherto
been respected by local and general rulers. Dues are also collected
from the congregation, both in money and in kind, and in all respects
the mission is self-supporting and independent. The service, when by
a priest, is generally in Latin; but the offices of the church have
been translated into excellent Canarese, as also homilies, which are
preached, and selections from the Old and New Testament. Portions
of these are read on saints' days and other solemn occasions, and
invariably on the Sabbath by the deacons of the Church, who, when the
priest is not present, carry on the regular services, except the mass,
which is reserved for the priest alone. Some of these manuscripts
are exquisitely written in a somewhat older and stiffer character
than prevails at present, and the authors of them were unquestionably
excellent scholars in the copious language they had to deal with,
though it is impossible to conceive how they could have acquired it so
perfectly.
It may be difficult also to account for the unusual toleration of the
Mussulman kings of Beejapoor in allowing Christian missions to be
established in their territory, and endowing them with Royal gifts;
but Ibrahim Adil Shah I. and Ally Adil Shah had intimate relations
with the Portuguese, who had assisted Ibrahim on one occasion with
3,000 European infantry; and though both kings had quarrels with their
neighbours, and Ally Adil Shah on one occasion beleaguered Goa for
nine months and was obliged to raise the siege, yet the Mussulmans and
Christians contrived to make up their quarrels, and at the period we
write of were very good friends. The mission at Moodgul was, therefore,
in an easy and flourishing condition--outwardly, at least--but within
there was trouble.
There were two priests in charge of the Moodgul church and mission.
One, Dom Diego di Fonseça, had been for some time in the office of the
Inquisition; and the steadfast character of the missions being doubted,
he had been sent specially to relieve his predecessor, who had been
suspected of laxity in morals and practice. This man professed himself
to be a champion of the Church, a Jesuit. He had already visited
Bengal and China, and had, after the fashion of the time, made many
converts, and examined the internal discipline of the missions with
a notorious severity; but his private character was infamous, and,
but for his official zeal and services, he might, indeed, have been
condemned to the horrible death to which he had assisted to devote
so many. Dom Diego was of a noble family in Portugal, and had been
intended for the Church there; but his fiery disposition would not
brook control, and he chose a missionary life in the Indies, where
his peculiar qualifications would find full employment. In person Dom
Diego was remarkable. His noble figure towered over all around him,
and the haughty expression of his features was in accordance with his
bodily power; but though handsome, they were vicious and repellant. In
complexion he was dark, and the sun of India had still more bronzed
his face and hands, till they were darker than those of many of his
Moodgul flock. All soon feared him; none loved him. He was to their
simple minds an incarnation of power and force which must be obeyed,
and, knowing his official authority and rank, the native Christians did
not dare objection, much less disobedience. God would punish his evil
ways some time--in His own time--they said among themselves, and they
watched his actions alike with wonder and amazement. Could this fiend
be a priest of the Holy Church of Christ and His tender-loving mother,
whom in their simple faith they adored?
Dom Diego's colleague was a very different person. Francis d'Almeida,
a Franciscan friar, was a very personation of a devout and humble
follower of his order. It was some years since he had left Portugal,
and on his arrival he applied himself with great assiduity to the
study of the native languages. Canarese and Mahratta were both used
and spoken at Goa, as well as the rough Oordoo of the Dekhan, used by
the lower orders of Mussulmans; but he had devoted himself to Canarese
as the most copious and expressive language of all, and best suited to
the translation of the Scriptures and the offices of the Church. In
the stirring ecclesiastical affairs of Goa he took but little part,
and succeeded in avoiding them, and only prayed to be sent to some
distant and lonely mission in Canara, where he could finish the work
he had begun. The two priests were as different in appearance as in
character--the one, dark, saturnine, and vindictive; the other, fair
for his country, with clear, soft, brown eyes, brown silky and curly
hair, which flowed over his shoulders, a gentle, expressive face, full
of devout thought and pity for the religious ignorance he found to
be existent. A selection from a thousand could not have supplied a
teacher and guide more fitting for his post than Francis d'Almeida.
His flock adored him. His gentle teachings and admonitions, delivered
with a purity of language which only a Brahmin could equal or surpass,
attracted others besides his flock to the mission church, and his
eloquent illustrations of true Christian life often moved his hearers
to tears. To the simple shepherds he was an incarnation of Divine love
and mercy, and under his pastoral care many new converts had been
registered and baptised, who had been prepared by teaching, for the new
creed.
He was not alone. His sister Maria, whom he had left in Portugal a
child, had grown up, and married Colonel Dom Philip de Pereira, who
commanded a battalion of infantry not long arrived from Portugal;
but he had been speedily affected by the climate in jungle warfare
on the frontier against the Mussulmans, and he had succumbed to the
treacherous, deadly malaria of the forests. Doña Maria might have
returned home, or, staying at Goa, might have re-married; but she had
seen her brother Francis, listened with wonder to tales of the manners
and customs of his flock, and at once dedicating herself, as she said,
to the Lord's work, she was sent up to Moodgul under an escort, and
had joined her brother some three years before the time we write of.
She was clever and studious. Under her brother's care she had learned
Canarese as perfectly as he had, and in her beautiful handwriting had
copied all her brother's rougher translations into the great volumes
of the Church, and these manuscripts were illustrated by her own simple
and elegant designs and quaint initial letters.
If her brother were almost worshipped by the shepherds, she herself had
a place in their affections even more tender. She visited the sick and
afflicted, and could comfort them; her sweet, persuasive tongue soothed
many a sad death-bed. Her instruction to the children of her school
was received by them as a joyful treat rather than in dull routine.
All she knew she communicated to them as they showed capacity. It was
not very much, perhaps, but it was pleasant to teach and pleasant to
be taught, and teacher and pupils enjoyed themselves. Doña Maria was
also a welcome guest in the Nawab of Moodgul's family. Dilawer Khan,
a famous general of the Beejapoor army, was no bigot; he loved the
Padré Francis for the good he did and for his consistent piety. He even
enjoyed arguments between the Padré and the local Mussulman priests
and learned men; and the fair Doña Maria was not only admitted to his
hareem, but was a welcome guest whenever she came. Then noisy children
gathered round her, and matrons too, and she told them of the holy
child Jesus of Nazareth, and what He did as He grew up; and taught the
elder ones embroidery, and almost persuaded some to be Christians.
Doña Maria was very fair, and the bright colour of her native land had
come back to her cheeks with the fresh Dekhan air; and it was a great
delight of the younger children to declare she had painted her face,
and to insist on washing it, which only brought out the rich colour
more vividly. And she sung to them in her sweet voice, accompanied by
her lute, the ballads and songs of her native land, and the noble hymns
of the Church, and these were ever welcome.
So in peace and love with all around them the brother and sister had
lived with great happiness. They had pleasant morning and evening walks
among the groves and by the little lake. They had each a Dekhan jennet,
and a gallop over the downs beyond was a rare pleasure, and gave them
health among their hard labours. They had their garden too, and grapes
and oranges grew well, and still grow in the Padré's garden. What could
they require more? What they had was spiritual wealth and comfort, and
as to worldly affairs, they needed no more. Would it but last! but
since Dom Diego's arrival, now a few months, they had had many grave
anticipations for the future.