From gothic Churches to Sao Tome port: The forgotten Portuguese imprints on Chennai

It was still the early part of the 16th century when a group of Portuguese traders and missionaries were struck by a hurricane in the deep sea. The group managed to survive the storm but was left adrift in the middle of the sea. With water extending to as far as eyes could see, the group had no way to know where they were headed or where they should try to reach. Having sailed for months, the group felt as if they were drifting through death. But when everything seemed lost, a glimmer of light was piercing through darkness. The group lost no time in setting the course of the ship towards the light. Guided by the light, the Portuguese landed at Pattinapakkam in Chennai.

As devout Roman Catholics, Portuguese always associated Mother Mary with radiating light. So, taking the light to be Mother Mary’s way of guiding them ashore, the group, in 1516, built a church near the spot they landed at and named it Our Lady of Light, Mother Mary — called Luz (meaning light in Portuguese) Church today.

Cut to 2023. Considered one of the oldest churches in Chennai, the Luz Church in Mylapore looks elegant, built in Gothic style 506 years back. While the Portuguese traders and missionaries who miraculously escaped the vagaries of sea travel, named it Our Lady of Light, locals called it Kattu Kovil (temple built in wilderness, referring to the place being inhabited then). Its foundation stone marks one of the oldest European monuments in India.

The San Thome Basilica, built by the Portuguese over the relics of St Thomas the Apostle in 1523 — renovated by the British in 1893 — in Mylapore and St. Thomas Mount Church which stands on a 300-foot St Thomas Mount hillock, stands testimony to Portuguese arrival and cultural impact on Chennai. St. Thomas Mount is a place where the Apostle was supposed to have been killed. It is called Parangi Malai in Tamil (Parangi-a colloquial deviation from firangi referring to outsiders and Malai a hillock).

While these together with De Monte Colony, St. Rita’s Chapel, St Lazarus’ Church and St Roque all stand testimony to Portuguese influence on Chennai which pre-dates the arrival of the British East India Company in 1639. The Portuguese imprint on Chennai has been long forgotten and historians often open the book of modern-day Chennai from 1639. The Portuguese constructed and consecrated many churches in the Mylapore-Santhome area when they first settled and these are some of the earliest churches built by Europeans not just in India but in South Asia.

The story of what made the Portuguese lose hold of Chennai, a foothold with which British colonists ruled over the Indian subcontinent, is an intriguing one. The process though was gradual.

While Goa is the state best known for reflecting the most apparent Portuguese influence, pockets of Portugal in Tamil Nadu have been witness to a rich history.

Tuticorin was settled by Portuguese and Dutch travellers much before the British reached, which is why the southern Tamil Nadu city has deep Portuguese influences, right from its architecture and people’s surnames. It is understood that currently, over 2 lakh fishermen in Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts have Portuguese surnames, by local census estimates.

Sea Ports: Sao Tome to Porto Novo

In 1522, when the Portuguese established their first port in Chennai, they named it Sao Tome (St Thomas in Portuguese language). The port is considered to be the precursor to the artificial port expanded by the East India Company. But the Portuguese influence ran much deeper. They built Porto Novo (new port) in present day Cuddalore district, which is about 200-odd kilometres away from Chennai on the Coromandel Coast. Today the district has a named Parangi Pettai, with Parangi originating from the Arabic word firangi and Porto becoming pettai.

“There were indelible imprints of Portuguese traders in the 17th century too when East India Company played a dominating role,” says MG Devasahayam, former civil servant who has studied the subject in detail.

“The story of trader De Monte was of more interest to us. A colony still exists in Chennai bearing his name [a Tamil movie was made on the locality], apart from large swathes of land he owned then,” Devasahayam told The Federal. “Like all Portuguese, De Monte was a Roman Catholic. His land holdings were spread across from Chennai to Puducherry. He lived, traded and died in India donating all his property to the Roman Catholic Diocese,” Devasahayam adds.

But our awareness of history is reflected in the fact that when the story of De Monte colony, believed to be haunted by ghosts, was filmed in Tamil, it showed the “inhabitants” to be English and not Portuguese.

How did the Portuguese lose control of Madras?

The Portuguese had a firm grip over today’s Chennai, putting them in a better position to colonise the Coromandel Coast than the English. As sea trade played a key role in the economy at that time, it provided an advantage. But the European nation wasn’t able to leverage it.

“If you want to find answers you have to look at the Goan inquisition,” says VV Rajesh, who teaches at the Department of History, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli and did his doctoral research on a related subject.

The Goan inquisition lasted for 251 years from 1561-1812. The then Portugese kings ordered en masse conversion of people living under their colonised territories, which is called an inquisition-Roman Catholic church decree against ‘heresy’.

It started with converting all Jews to Roman Catholic religion in Portugal even before Vasco Da Gama’s sea expedition began in 1497 and ultimately reached the Indian coast. The same was followed up in Goa, a territory ruled over by the Portuguese (1510-1961). Despite allegations of destruction of evidence, studies have dug out the ugly truth of Goan inquisition.

“Barathava community [present-day fishermen] of today’s Tuticorin and Kanyakumari coasts, who were seafarers and traders then, faced a similar predicament. Upon the assurance of Portuguese protection during sea trading, fishermen converted en masse to the Roman Catholic religion,” says Dr Rajesh.

Colonialism versus missionary goals

Colonists from England differed from their European peers like the Portuguese. English traders were focused more on trading and capturing power rather than missionary activities, said researcher K Raghupathi, member, Tamil Nadu SC-ST state commission. “My recent book on the impact roads and train tracks of East India Company talks about their priorities,” he said.

Britain was going through a major industrial revolution in the 18th century. The country needed raw material for its factories. “For the other European colonists missionaries and their activities stood first. But for the British, trade and power took precedence. It ensured smooth control over the territory they traded in, an advantage over other European colonists such as the Portuguese,” he said.

From the 16th century structures to cross pollination of words, there are many traces which stand for Portuguese presence in Chennai. Janela means window in Portuguese. In Tamil, it is jannal. The Portuguese words alamari (cupboard) and pena (pen) find similar sounding words in Tamil.

But looking back, Portuguese had a distinct trading and political advantage. They were the ones who landed first on the Indian coast.

So, even if it is called by different names, or changed depictions now, the Portuguese influence in Chennai is ubiquitous.