Roman Catholic Brahmin (IAST Bamonns in Romi Konkani & Kupari in Bombay East Indian dialects) is a Christianised caste among the Goan, Bombay East Indian & Mangalorean Catholics; who are patrilineal descendants of Konkani Brahmin and Daivajna converts to the Latin Church. This occurred parts of the Konkan region that were annexed into the Portuguese East Indies, with the capital (metropole) at Velha Goa & Bombay (Bom Bahia) was the largest territory (province) of Portuguese India. They retain some of the ethno-social values and customs of their ancestors, and most of them exhibit a noticeable hybrid Latino-Concanic culture. They were known as the Brahmins among the "New Christians".

Origins

In Goa, the Brahmins were engaged in the priestly occupation, but had also taken up various occupations like agriculture, trade, goldsmithing, etc. The origins of this particular caste can be traced back to the Christianisation of the Velhas Conquistas that was undertaken by the Portuguese during the 16th and 17th centuries. It was during this period that the Jesuit, Franciscan and Dominican missionaries converted many Brahmins to Christianity. The first mass conversions took place among the Brahmins of Divar and the Kshatriyas of Carambolim. All converts from Brahmin sub-castes (Chitpavan Brahmin, Deshastha Brahmin, Karhada Brahmins, Saraswat Brahmin, Daivadnya Brahmin, etc) were unified into a single Christian caste of Bamonn. Since the conversions of Brahmins of a particular area, was instrumental in the conversions of members of other castes, as it resulted in loss of priests, such converts were highly valued and esteemed by the church & Portuguese rulers alike. They were even allowed to wear the Yajnopavita (sacred threads) and other caste markings by a special dispensation of Pope Gregory XV in 1623, on the condition that these were to be blessed by a Catholic priest. The Bamonns in general consider their Indian caste system, to be a class form of social categorisation. Since their concept is divorced from all the religious elements associated to it by their Hindu counterparts, they tend to justify their maintenance of caste as a form of social stratification similar to the Western class concept. They are an endogamous group and have generally refrained from inter-marriage with Catholics of other castes. However, while the Bamonns never inter-married or mingled with the lower castes, the statutes and norms of the Roman Catholic church restrained them from practising Hindu caste based discrimination against the latter. Although most now carry Portuguese surnames, they have retained knowledge about their ancestral pre-conversion surnames, such as Bhat, Kamat, Nayak, Pai, Prabhu, Shenoy and Shet. The konkanised variants of these surnames are Bhôtt, Kāmot, Nāik, Poi, Porbų (Probų), Šeņai, and Šet. However, only Pundit, Bhatta, Shenoy (Shenvi) & Joshi suggest Brahminical roles; such as priesthood, astrology, etc. The meanings of the other surnames are as follows: Kamath (cultivator or landholder), Nayak (military leader), Dessai (headman), Pai/ Prabhu (lord), Baaliga (soldier) & so on. Mudartha is a unique surname to be found among some Bamonn families that hail from Udipi district in Karnataka. Some Mangalorean Catholic Bamonn families trace their patrilineal descent to Saraswat Brahmins. There were a few historical instances in the Mangalorean Catholic community, wherein some Protestant Anglo-Indians were admitted into the Bamonn fold by Catholic priests at the time of their conversion to Catholicism, their descendants are known as Pulputhru Bamonns (Pulpit Brahmins). In 1976, a genetic testing study conducted on three groups of Saraswat Brahmins & one group of Goan Catholic Bamonns in Western India; confirmed the historical and ethnological evidence of a relationship between, Goan Catholic Bamonns & Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins. The study further revealed that intergroup differences between the subject groups suggested a genetic closeness, with genetic distance ranging from 0.8 to 1.5. such as the Pinto brothers Jose Antonio and Fransisco from the famous Goan noble family joined the army of Baji Rao II in Poona (Pune), after trying to overthrow the Portuguese government in the Conspiracy of the Pintos.

In popular culture

"'No, I'm not going to delve deep down and discover, I'm really de Souza Prabhu even if Prabhu was no fool and got the best of both worlds. (Catholic Brahmin! I can hear his fat chuckle still.)'"

Notable persons

Footnotes

Mezār lugaţ gallāiñgī? Galtāñ. Have you covered the table with cloth? I will! Suriār kiteñ assā moņ, amkāñ sǎrkeñ kǎļnāñ: zipki mǎnis moņtāt, suriār sǎbār kǎtañ assāt. We do not know properly what’s there in the moon: Learned people say that there are many spots in the moon. Kitleañ uorānčer amiñ yēzāi? Dånparā yā sānjer. At what time should we come? Afternoon or in the evening? Amiñ Devā kurpā sāmbaļtāuñ moņasăr, Deu amger rāutā. God resides at our home, as long as we keep His grace. Pātkiānger Deu rãutãgī? Rāutā, puņ išţa bǎri niñ. Does God stay at sinners' home? He stays, but as a friend. Tuzo pūtų khǎiñ assā? To seireānger assā. Where is your son? He is at a relatives' house. Tūñ khǎiñčea gǎrānt assāi? Āuñ Porbuger assāñ, mozo bāu Kāmtiger, moji boiņ Nāikāger, moji māusi Šēţiger, mozo sentur Šeņǎiñger. In whose house do you reside? I stay at the Prabhu household, my brother at the Kamath household, my sister at the Naik household, my aunty at the Shet household, my great-grandchild at the Shenoy household. Somi Jezu Krist vāur kǎrtālo, teātz jinsār tūñ vāur kǎr ani asseñ sompūrņ zatoloi. Everyone should live as Jesus Christ did; Live like him and you will become complete. Zōkōņ Jezu Kristāčer sǎtmāndināñ, pātienāñ ani tātso mōg kǎrināñ, takā zǎrti zāun zǎli. The man who does not trust, believe in, and love Jesus Christ, will be judged.

Citations