The Portuguese Inquisition in Ceylon

Lucas: We’ve spent the last few episodes looking at the great kingdoms of Kandy and the fierce resistance they mounted against the Dutch and the British, but there’s an earlier layer of colonial occupation that often gets overlooked in the narrative of independence. Before the British took over, and even as the Kandyan kings were consolidating power in the interior, the Portuguese controlled the coastal belts of Ceylon for over a century. Luna: And they brought more than just guns and cinnamon to those ports. Lucas: Exactly. They brought the Inquisition. While the Dutch were primarily interested in trade and religious tolerance within their own ranks, the Portuguese viewed their empire through the lens of Catholic purity. By the time the Portuguese arrived in earnest in the early 1500s, they had already established the Goa Inquisition in India, which became the model for extending religious surveillance across their Asian territories. Luna: So this wasn't just about converting locals, it was about policing existing communities. Lucas: Right. The real target wasn't necessarily the Sinhalese or Tamil Buddhists who hadn't converted yet, but the 'New Christians'—people of Jewish descent who had been forced to convert in Portugal or Spain and then migrated to places like Goa and eventually Ceylon. These were families who might have practiced Judaism in secret while publicly maintaining Catholic rituals, living under the constant threat of denunciation. Luna: That sounds incredibly stressful to live with every day. Lucas: It was a life of profound anxiety. One of the most documented cases in Ceylon involves a man named Abraham Franco. He was a Sephardic Jew by ancestry, part of a wealthy merchant family that had settled in Colombo during the Portuguese period. Franco was successful enough to be involved in the lucrative cinnamon trade, dealing directly with European merchants, yet his background made him a prime candidate for suspicion. Luna: Did the Portuguese authorities actually go after someone so prominent? Lucas: They did. In the late 1500s, rumors began to circulate that the Franco family, along with other New Christian households in Colombo, were secretly observing Jewish laws. They were accused of keeping kosher, lighting candles on Saturdays, and hiding Hebrew texts. The Portuguese colonial administration, working closely with the Jesuit missionaries, launched an investigation that would eventually drag these men toward the tribunals in Goa. Luna: I didn't realize the Inquisition reached all the way to the Indian Ocean islands. Lucas: It did, because the jurisdiction of the Goa Inquisition covered all Portuguese holdings in Asia. If you were accused of Judaizing, you could be arrested in Ceylon and then transported to Goa for trial. The journey itself was brutal, but the trial process was where the real psychological torture happened. Accused individuals were isolated, questioned repeatedly, and pressured to name other members of their community. Luna: So it created this atmosphere of total distrust within the community. Lucas: Absolutely. It fractured families and neighbors. For Abraham Franco and others, the evidence was often circumstantial or based on the testimony of informants who wanted to settle personal scores or gain favor with the Church. The concept of 'fama pública'—public fame or rumor—was enough to warrant arrest in many cases, meaning you didn't need concrete proof to be dragged before the tribunal. Luna: What happened to Abraham Franco once he was caught? Lucas: His case is particularly interesting because he managed to navigate the system better than most. While many were sentenced to death or long terms in prison, Franco was able to secure some form of reconciliation with the Inquisition. He likely performed acts of penance and renounced his alleged secret practices publicly. But even if he survived physically, his reputation was forever stained in the eyes of the colonial elite. Luna: It must have changed how those families operated socially and economically. Lucas: It forced them into deeper concealment. Many New Christian families in Ceylon began to assimilate more thoroughly into the Catholic population, abandoning any remaining traces of their heritage to ensure survival. Others fled north to areas where Portuguese control was weaker, or later west when the Dutch took over, hoping that a different colonial power might offer more freedom. Luna: And the Dutch were known for being more tolerant of different faiths. Lucas: Yes, the Dutch East India Company generally cared little about the private religious beliefs of their subjects as long as taxes were paid and order was maintained. This opened up a new chapter for the descendants of those persecuted by the Portuguese, though the trauma of the Inquisition era left a deep mark on the collective memory of the Jewish community in Sri Lanka. Luna: It’s amazing how much history is hidden in those quiet coastal towns. Lucas: It really is. You walk through the old fort areas of Colombo today, and you can still feel the weight of those centuries. The synagogues are gone now, mostly, but the stories of people like Abraham Franco remind us that the struggle for identity and safety has always been part of this island's colonial experience. Luna: I’m glad we’re shining a light on this specific piece of the puzzle. Lucas: Me too. And since we’re focused on uncovering these deeper histories without commercial interruption, I want to mention that our ad-free model relies entirely on listener support. If you value this kind of deep dive, you can help us keep it going by visiting buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo — that's F. E. X. I. N. G. O. Luna: Yeah, it makes a huge difference to keep the production clean and uninterrupted. Lucas: It does. Looking back at the Portuguese era, one thing stands out: the resilience of those who lived under such pressure. They preserved fragments of their identity in ways that historians only recently began to understand. Luna: Do we know if any of their descendants still live here today? Lucas: There are small communities and families who identify with that heritage, though many have dispersed globally. The connection remains, however faint, in the names and the stories passed down through generations. It’s a reminder that history isn’t just about kings and battles; it’s about the everyday lives of people trying to survive and hold onto who they are. Luna: That’s a powerful way to end our look at the Portuguese influence. Lucas: Indeed. As we move forward into the Dutch period, we’ll see how these dynamics shifted again, but the scars of the Inquisition remained a part of the social landscape for decades. Next time, we’ll explore how the Dutch navigated this complex religious terrain. Luna: I can’t wait to hear how they handled the same issues. Lucas: It’s a fascinating contrast. The Dutch pragmatic approach versus the Portuguese ideological fervor creates a very different political environment in Ceylon. Luna: Let’s dive into that next week. Lucas: We will. Thanks for listening, and remember, your support keeps these stories accessible and free of ads.