Conspiracy Of The Pintos, also known as Conspiracy Of Goa or Pinto Revolt was the little known rebellion against Portuguese rule in Goa, India in 1787. The plotters wished to depose the Portuguese, and the leaders of the plot were three prominent priests of Goa belonging to the "Pinto Family", hence the name.

This plot against the Portuguese was also inspired by the French Revolution. The root of the dissent was that missionaries from Portugal (the Dominicans, Franciscans and Jesuits) were dominating the churches and Government services in Goa towards the end of the 18th century.

The local Christians (who were primarily converted) were being ignored for any prestigious or responsible positions. But it seems it was these Goan priests being bypassed in favour of the South Indian St. Thomas clerics (particularly Bishop Cariattil) for the appointment to the vacant sees of Cranganore and Mylapore that was last straw on the camel's back.

P. Kamat mentions that the protests of the various priests she studied for their non-submission to the Portuguese authority in Goa were by and large manifestations of their immediate personal grievances arising out of racial discrimination and administrative abuses.

The dissent was also fomented by the bad treatment of Goans by the Portuguese, especially after the loss of Portuguese territories of Daman and Bassein to the Marathas in 1739. This treatment had led to the refusal of Goans to join Portuguese military expeditions in East Africa, leading to the Portuguese Viceroy in Goa to issue an ordinance in 1760 banning the use of the expressions negro or cachorro (dog) to refer to the natives.

Principal characters

• Fr. José Custodiou de Faria, also known as Abbé Faria , was a Indo-Portuguese monk who was one of the pioneers of the scientific study of hypnotism. He is dramatized as the character of the 'mad' monk imprisoned at the Château d 'If in the famous novel, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
• Fr. Caetano Vitorino de Faria - the mastermind
• Fr. Caetano Francisco do Couto
• Fr. José Antonio Gonsalves of Divar
• Judge José da Rocha Dantas e Mendonça, Judge of the Goa High Court and of the inquest into the incident

José Antonio and Caetano visited Rome and Portugal to plead for their being appointed as Bishops, but were refused. As a result of this refusal, they hatched the plan for a conspiracy with Abbé Faria. They also managed to obtain the sympathy of similarly disaffected Christians in the Army and local clergy. However, the plot was discovered by the government. They brutally suppressed the revolt by punishing 47 persons, including 17 priests and seven army officers.

The area around the present day GPO (General Post Office) in Panjim is called San Thome. The present GPO building used to be the old tobacco house, and the building to its right was the Government Mint. The area right in front of these buildings was the old Panjim pillory and used to be the site of public executions. It was here that fifteen conspirators of the failed revolt were executed.

References

• Rivara, Joaquim Heliodoro Da Cunha. Goa and the Revolt of 1787, New Delhi:Concept Publ. Company, 292 pgs., 1996. (Author was the Portuguese Chief Secretary of the Goa Government from 1855 to 1877)

• Borges, C. J. Goa and the Revolt of 1787, 1996, 290 pgs. $22 ISBN 8170226465

• Kamat, P. Some Protesting Priests of Goa, in T.R. de SOUZA (ed.), Essays in Goan History, New Delhi, Concept Publication Co., 1989 : 103-117.

1787 | Rebellions in Asia | Goa | History of Portugal