In a nondescript Bengal village, the ancestry of the population links them to a small band of Portuguese mercenaries who saved the people from bandits in the 17th century, reports Snehangshu Adhikari
Mirpur, in Bengal’s East Midnapore district, is unlike any other village in the state. Many of its residents are of Portuguese descent.
The village has 140 Christian families, 90 of them Catholic, the rest Protestant. So in the two weeks before Christmas, Mirpur bustles with activity.
Preparations are on in full swing to usher in the Yuletide spirit.
The two cathedrals in the village – the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of North India – are being dressed up for December 25.
Residents tell us that Mirpur has another equally important annual festival – the birth anniversary of the Blessed Virgin Mary – on September 8.
Sitting on the steps of the Catholic Church, 13-year-old Bittu Nunez says: “We do celebrate Durga Puja and Kali Puja with our friends, but it is only for December 25 and sometimes for September 8 that we get new clothes.”
The free morning classes have just ended in the church as we enter the village. We find Bittu sitting on the stairs in the company of Simon Nunez (17), Saikat Tesra (10), Jacob Rosario (9) and a few others.
Francis Anthony, 43, arrives with a pot of tea in one hand and a plate of boiled eggs in the other. It’s time for a quick repast.
Francis was Benu Bhagat till August 5, 2005. He says: “It’s really tough to say when and how someone is drawn to Jesus. Eight years ago, my nephew embraced Christianity. He asked me to follow suit and something happened to me – I just offered myself to Lord Jesus. Today, I feel complete and happy.”
The residents of Mirpur do not look any different from the residents of neighbouring villages like the Muslim-dominated Shuklanpur and the Hindu-majority Bethkundu. And they speak the same language. Yet Thomas Tesra (13) and Nuno (52) are proud to grandly refer to themselves as ‘members of the Portuguese community’.
Legend has it that in the 17th century, a handful of Portuguese soldiers had arrived here to fight the borgees (a nomadic tribe of plunderers) and never went back. So, could Bittu, Augustine and Simon actually be descendents of those brave Portuguese warriors?
We ask village elder Anthony Rotha. “Yes, we are Portuguese,” he asserts without batting an eyelid. “But now we are all servants of Lord Jesus.”
His surname, he informs us, is a distortion of the Portuguese family name, Rocha, which literally means ‘rock’.
Both Anthony and his wife are bed-ridden, but he's all too willing to share with us his community’s chequered history. “I know only what my ancestors told me,” he says.
The story, clearly apocryphal, goes thus: many centuries ago, the ferocious borgees used to terrorise the villages in the region. The bandits would arrive on ships in bands of 50 to 100 and ransack the villages.
The people were at their wit’s end. It was either local ruler Queen Janaki or the King of Mahishadal – Anthony isn’t quite sure – who requested the Portuguese government to send some soldiers to fight the Borgees.
Portugal sent 15 men – basically convicts serving life terms – to protect the villages. The local Queen gave the mercenaries 100 bigha (about 35 acres) of land and the weapons that they needed for the fight. Astonishingly, this ragtag army sent the borgees packing.
Having done their job, the Portuguese soldiers unleashed their own reign of terror. They forcibly married local girls and made Mirpur their home.
“I love Lord Christ, so I don’t flinch from speaking the truth,” says Anthony. “I accept that my ancestors did resort to acts of tyranny... That’s a fact.”
As we part, he requests us to go and have a look at the space that he has booked in the nearby cemetery for tombs for himself and his wife. We cannot turn down what is clearly the final request of an infirm, dying man!
At the Roman Catholic Church, we speak to Father Michael Adesar. He tells us that after the Portuguese mercenaries settled down in Mirpur, a bishop followed and spread the faith. Many happily embraced Christianity.
But the prime debate is still alive, hovering around the dual identity of the ‘Portuguese Bengalis’. On one hand, they are known as children of dangerous pirates, and on the other hand, they claim to be a group of freedom fighters and saviours of the society.
However, today, most things have changed. Neither the royal gift of 100 bigha of tax-free land remains, nor does the Portuguese flavour. Anthony, mind you, can still utter a Portuguese word or two, though he does make heavy weather of it.
These days, the Hindus of the village join their Christian brothers to celebrate Christmas. Inter-community marriages are also common and perhaps love is all that matters to most to them anyway!
Previously, Mirpur was exclusively a Christian village. But later on, especially because of this tradition of intermarriage between different communities, the doors are now open for all comers. But the bitter truth is, while the Hindus from the vicinity are allowed to venerate the Christian palli of Mirpur, Muslims don't.
But given the enigmatic and mysterious beginnings of this quaint little Indian village, Mirpur, to this day, remains unique! The bloodline may well trace itself through oral tradition to a group of Portuguese convicts, and yet the soul, Christian or otherwise, remains unmistakably Bengali.
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Mirpur, in Bengal’s East Midnapore district, is unlike any other village in the state. Many of its residents are of Portuguese descent.
The village has 140 Christian families, 90 of them Catholic, the rest Protestant. So in the two weeks before Christmas, Mirpur bustles with activity.
Preparations are on in full swing to usher in the Yuletide spirit.
The two cathedrals in the village – the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of North India – are being dressed up for December 25.
Residents tell us that Mirpur has another equally important annual festival – the birth anniversary of the Blessed Virgin Mary – on September 8.
Sitting on the steps of the Catholic Church, 13-year-old Bittu Nunez says: “We do celebrate Durga Puja and Kali Puja with our friends, but it is only for December 25 and sometimes for September 8 that we get new clothes.”
The free morning classes have just ended in the church as we enter the village. We find Bittu sitting on the stairs in the company of Simon Nunez (17), Saikat Tesra (10), Jacob Rosario (9) and a few others.
Francis Anthony, 43, arrives with a pot of tea in one hand and a plate of boiled eggs in the other. It’s time for a quick repast.
Francis was Benu Bhagat till August 5, 2005. He says: “It’s really tough to say when and how someone is drawn to Jesus. Eight years ago, my nephew embraced Christianity. He asked me to follow suit and something happened to me – I just offered myself to Lord Jesus. Today, I feel complete and happy.”
The residents of Mirpur do not look any different from the residents of neighbouring villages like the Muslim-dominated Shuklanpur and the Hindu-majority Bethkundu. And they speak the same language. Yet Thomas Tesra (13) and Nuno (52) are proud to grandly refer to themselves as ‘members of the Portuguese community’.
Legend has it that in the 17th century, a handful of Portuguese soldiers had arrived here to fight the borgees (a nomadic tribe of plunderers) and never went back. So, could Bittu, Augustine and Simon actually be descendents of those brave Portuguese warriors?
We ask village elder Anthony Rotha. “Yes, we are Portuguese,” he asserts without batting an eyelid. “But now we are all servants of Lord Jesus.”
His surname, he informs us, is a distortion of the Portuguese family name, Rocha, which literally means ‘rock’.
Both Anthony and his wife are bed-ridden, but he's all too willing to share with us his community’s chequered history. “I know only what my ancestors told me,” he says.
The story, clearly apocryphal, goes thus: many centuries ago, the ferocious borgees used to terrorise the villages in the region. The bandits would arrive on ships in bands of 50 to 100 and ransack the villages.
The people were at their wit’s end. It was either local ruler Queen Janaki or the King of Mahishadal – Anthony isn’t quite sure – who requested the Portuguese government to send some soldiers to fight the Borgees.
Portugal sent 15 men – basically convicts serving life terms – to protect the villages. The local Queen gave the mercenaries 100 bigha (about 35 acres) of land and the weapons that they needed for the fight. Astonishingly, this ragtag army sent the borgees packing.
Having done their job, the Portuguese soldiers unleashed their own reign of terror. They forcibly married local girls and made Mirpur their home.
“I love Lord Christ, so I don’t flinch from speaking the truth,” says Anthony. “I accept that my ancestors did resort to acts of tyranny... That’s a fact.”
As we part, he requests us to go and have a look at the space that he has booked in the nearby cemetery for tombs for himself and his wife. We cannot turn down what is clearly the final request of an infirm, dying man!
At the Roman Catholic Church, we speak to Father Michael Adesar. He tells us that after the Portuguese mercenaries settled down in Mirpur, a bishop followed and spread the faith. Many happily embraced Christianity.
But the prime debate is still alive, hovering around the dual identity of the ‘Portuguese Bengalis’. On one hand, they are known as children of dangerous pirates, and on the other hand, they claim to be a group of freedom fighters and saviours of the society.
However, today, most things have changed. Neither the royal gift of 100 bigha of tax-free land remains, nor does the Portuguese flavour. Anthony, mind you, can still utter a Portuguese word or two, though he does make heavy weather of it.
These days, the Hindus of the village join their Christian brothers to celebrate Christmas. Inter-community marriages are also common and perhaps love is all that matters to most to them anyway!
Previously, Mirpur was exclusively a Christian village. But later on, especially because of this tradition of intermarriage between different communities, the doors are now open for all comers. But the bitter truth is, while the Hindus from the vicinity are allowed to venerate the Christian palli of Mirpur, Muslims don't.
But given the enigmatic and mysterious beginnings of this quaint little Indian village, Mirpur, to this day, remains unique! The bloodline may well trace itself through oral tradition to a group of Portuguese convicts, and yet the soul, Christian or otherwise, remains unmistakably Bengali.
Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM: What is E-PAT?
Planman Technologies is Leaders in educational publishing solutions
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM
IIPM Mumbai Campus
IIPM - Admission Procedure
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