THE PARADESI JEWISH CEMETERY-VIEWS FROM THE WEST

THE PARADESI JEWISH CEMETERY-VIEWS FROM THE SOUTH

VIEWS OF THE PARADESI JEWISH CEMETERY OF MATTANCHERRY FROM THE SOUTH & WEST DIRECTIONS

In the next few posts, I will upload photographs of the Paradesi Jewish Cemetery taken from the southern and the western boundaries, which I have not done yet. All the photographs from the southern side were taken on 2019 and the western boundary on 2023. Remember, the entrance to the cemetery is on the northern side and due to the tall boundary walls, it is difficult to obtain photographs of the graves, and you certainly need an elevated platform for the purpose. All the tombstones face the eastern direction, so when you are reading the inscriptions, you are actually facing the west, the direction towards Jerusalem. I have earlier uploaded photographs from the eastern side of the cemetery, from where the inscriptions are easily visible (see here). See also the links for more photographs under 'Mattancherry Paradesi Jewish Cemetery'.

A LONE GRAVE MONUMENT IN THE COURTYARD OF THE PARADESI SYNAGOGUE OF MATTANCHERRY

The white arrow marks the position of the grave marker in the courtyard. Photograph: January, 2023

 

Earlier, I wrote about the tombstones in the courtyard of Paradesi synagogue, and if you have noticed, they are all currently preserved in the Paradesi Jewish Cemetery mounted against its northern wall. Therefore, during my recent visit to the synagogue, I was quite surprised to find a Hebrew inscription in the courtyard. The stone slab is placed near the north-west corner of the compound wall behind the synagogue. As walking through the courtyard is restricted, you can only observe the stone from the other end. Nevertheless, with a zoom lens, I managed to get some fine close-up shots of the inscription. To my surprise, it turned out to be a gravestone! Now, why was this particular funerary monument left at the synagogue compound while the remaining all were transferred to the cemetery? More importantly, who is this tombstone attributed to?

 

Luckily, the inscription is fairly legible and well preserved. The Zalman Shazar Centre has an inventory of 46 tombstones from the Paradesi courtyard, and accordingly, this particular gravestone belongs to Rabbi Haim Chalil, Son of Rabbi Shem Tov. The date of death is given as 15 Tammuz, 5450 (corresponds to 22 June, 1690), which by the way is the oldest in the lot. However, if you observe the inscription carefully, the second name is Belili (בלילי) and not Chalil (כליל), and also there is a letter missing after the ‘nun’ in the year הת"נ (5000+400+50), so the year of his death should be somewhere in the late 17th or early 18th century.

Was there a Haim Belili from the Paradesi community in the late 17th century? The answer is yes and there were at least two of them! The names appear in ‘Notisias dos Judeos de Cochim’ [News of the Jews of Cochin], the famous report of Mosseh Pereyra de Paiva, a Sephardic Jew from Amsterdam, who visited Cochin in November, 1686. In the list of the 23 heads of Paradesi families reported by de Paiva, we find -

1) B. Hacham (Rabbi) Haim Belilia-his great grandfather from Saffet (Safed, Israel)
2) B. Haim Belilia, Hazan (Minister) and skilled scribe-his great grandfather from Alepo (Aleppo, Syria)

(De Paiva, 1687; Koder, 1968; Schorsch, 2000)

AN EURASIAN FUNERARY MONUMENT IN THE COURTYARD OF THE 'CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF LIFE', MATTANCHERRY

 

The yellow arrowhead marks the position of the funerary monument.

This is another church of Portuguese origin in Cochin area where a British (or Anglo-Indian?) funerary monument is still preserved. The church located in Mattancherry near the 'Jew Town' is called the Church of Our Lady of Life [Igreja da Nossa Senhora da Vida (Portuguese) or 'Jeevamatha Palli'  (Malayalam)]. Its fame is also associated with the 'Coonan Cross Oath' or the 'Oath of Bent Cross' taken on 3 January 1653 in Mattancherry by the St Thomas Christians, a pledge that they will no longer obey the Latin Archbishop or any other Jesuits, nor accept the Portuguese dominance. 

A brief history of the 'Church of Our Lady of Life', Mattancherry-the official version:
i) The first church in Mattancherry was established c. 800 AD in the name of Virgin Mary, but was also known as Thoma Palli (St Thomas Church) or Irumesa Palli (Twin Altar Church)

ii) The 'Chapel of Holy Cross' (the modern Coonan Cross Catholic Church) was established by the Portuguese in 1550

iii) The Portuguese built a new church (2nd) replacing the St Thomas church and dedicated it to 'Our Lady of Life' (Nossa Senhora da Vida) in 1557

iv) After the Dutch destroyed the church in 1663, a 3rd was built on the same site and was blessed on 10 August, 1769 by the Bishop of Cochin, Clemente José Colaço Leitão 

v) When the 3rd church was burnt down by the Travancore insurgents (during Vettikola Pada) in December 1808, a 4th one was built and consecrated in the current location on 22 June, 1911 by the Bishop of Cochin José Bento Martins Ribeiro, and a cemetery was established at the old site 

vi) The 4th church was renovated and consecrated on 30 November, 2017 by the Bishop of Cochin Joseph Kariyil, which is the present-day worshiping place known as Jeevamatha Palli (Church of Our Lady of Life).

EUROPEAN FUNERARY MONUMENTS IN THE ST. FRANCIS CSI CEMETERY, VELI, FORT KOCHI.

 

This is the current functional cemetery of St Francis CSI church in Fort Kochi. Remember, the same church maintains the Dutch Cemetery of Fort Kochi. This cemetery is located at a place called Veli, 2 km south of Fort Kochi. Like the Dutch Cemetery, this graveyard is also not open to visitors, and I understand it is only accessible during the funeral services. However, unlike the Dutch Cemetery, its boundary walls are shorter in height and the graves can be easily viewed from outside. You can still trace a few old tombs amidst several modern graves in the cemetery. The old tombs resemble the British monuments in the Dutch cemetery. According to the inventory given in Roberts and Chekkutty (Malabar II-Christian Monuments, 2017, pp. 136-145,), this is the 'old Protestant Cemetery'  which began in 1790, and it was called the "New Church Burial Ground" after 1855. The inventory has 103 graves, both Dutch and English, but the majority are from the British period. Out of the 103 graves listed, the oldest are for Jacob Wendelen Van der Sloot (d. 1739, age 60) and David Scale (d. 1788, age 68); 96 of them are dated from the 19th century; 4 from the early 20th century and one undated. The youngest grave monument is for Joseph Ethelbert Winckler (d, 15 September, 1913), the Port Officer who erected a memorial for the 'Great Fire of Cochin' (see my earlier post on the 'Pillars of the old Santa Cruz Cathedral'). 

However, some things do not add up in the inventory. For example, the first documented burial in the cemetery is reported to 1790, yet the inventory has burials dated from 1739 and 1788. The graveyard is called the 'Old Protestant Cemetery' without a location given, whereas the 'Old Dutch Cemetery' is wrongly placed in Veli (instead of Fort Kochi, see Roberts and Chekkutty, 2017, p. 145). In addition, the authors claim that the old protestant cemetery was restored through the Royal Dutch Embassy and the Archaeological Survey of India in 2012. Nonetheless, it is the 'Dutch Cemetery', where the Embassy carried out the restoration works, and the ASI is not involved in the protection of Veli cemetery. Also, there is some overlap between the names. For instance, in the inventory, the last burial of the cemetery is of Joseph Ethelbert Winckler (d. 1913), but this grave is in the Dutch Cemetery according to others (eg. T. W. Venn, 1947). Similarly, the list has the grave of Pieter Winckler (d. 1841), the grandfather of J. E. Winkler in Veli Cemetery, but his tomb is actually in the Dutch Cemetery (see my previous post).

FUNERARY MONUMENTS OF THE DUTCH CEMETERY IN FORT KOCHI

Photograph-October, 2022

In the previous series of posts, I wrote about the Portuguese funerary monuments in Cochin. We also saw Dutch and English funerary markers in St Francis church, but it is not the only site in Cochin where you find them. In the upcoming posts, I will briefly go through a few other places in Cochin area where the Dutch and the British graves are still preserved.

1) Dutch Cemetery of Fort Cochin
Like St Francis church, the Dutch Cemetery of Fort Cochin is a well known tourist spot. The 18th-century cemetery is only a walk-able distance (c. 300 m) from the St Francis church and has both Dutch and English graves. The tombs have no cross symbols, which is a rare phenomenon even in the protestant cemeteries of Kerala today. The graveyard is not open to the public, but the tombs are visible from the main entrance and the western boundary near the beach side. However, if you want to access the graves and properly  explore the epitaphs, you must enter the compound, and for that you need permission of the C.S.I. church authorities who manage the site now. The cemetery was established in 1724, but the oldest surviving tomb is dated from 1784 only. The site originally was the location of an orphanage and in old Dutch maps, the street was called Weeshuijsstraat (Orphanage Street). 

A few interesting facts about the Dutch Cemetery of Cochin:
The date of establishment-1724
The area of the cemetery-1500 sq.m (c. 37 cents)
The total number of existing funerary monuments-104
The number of funerary monuments with a visible Dutch script-13
The oldest surviving Dutch tomb-Johan Daimichen (d. 30 August, 1784)
The youngest Dutch tomb-Catharina Sara Smit (d. 15 November, 1820)
The largest Dutch tomb-Aletta Augustina Thiel (d. 20 November, 1784)
The best preserved Dutch epitaph-Johannes van Blankenberg (d. 2 April, 1794)
The oldest surviving English tomb-Charles Rolland (d. 1807)
The youngest English tomb-Joseph Ethelbert Winckler (d. 15 September, 1913)
The tallest funerary monument-English (unknown identity)
(Courtesy for the burial dates: sharedcemeteries.net and Roberts & Chekkutty, 2017).

There is a popular misconception that the Dutch Cemetery of Cochin is the oldest European cemetery in India (see here, here and here). Ironically, there are several cemeteries in India established by the Dutch in the 17th century (eg. Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh etc), so the 18th-century Dutch Cemetery of Cochin  is actually one of the youngest! Sir Charles Allen Lawson in 1861 (British and Native Cochin, p.26) writes: "Near to the Church (St Francis) is the old Dutch Cemetery, a small, square plot enclosed with high walls. The tombs flat,dome and pyramid shaped are occasionally diversified by broken pillars, urns and sarcophagi, all more of less blackened by exposure; the grass rank and wild here and there lost sight of among bushes of a beautiful orange-flowered weed that infests this part of India". Nothing much has changed in the cemetery even after several decades, but the paved path is a recent addition.

REVISITING THE JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN ANGLES OF SAUDI -SOUTH OF FORT KOCHI

Freemason Hall of Cochin or Lodge Cochin

I get queries often regarding the lost Jewish settlements of Kerala. Saudi in Cochin is one of the most frequently asked sites, after I wrote a few years ago about the 'Lost Synagogue of Saude or Saudi (1514-1556)' . Most requests are about the name of the place, such as if it can be linked to Saudi Arabia. However, many would be surprised to learn that the name “Saudi” used here has in all probability a Portuguese Christian than an Arab Muslim connection. Saudi is derived from the Portuguese word, "Saúde" which means health. The Portuguese had a 16th century church named "Nossa Senhora de Saude" (Our Lady of Health) here and hence the name of the region. The modern Roman Catholic church in Saudi is also named after "Our Lady of Health". The original Portuguese church does not exist and it is believed to be destroyed by the sea. As per traditional accounts, the Portuguese church was located around 3.5 miles west of the present-day church. The first church in the current location was established in 1804 only. According to certain local traditions, the St Thomas Christians had a 9th-century church in Saudi before the Portuguese arrived, the humble structure made of wood and stone was also carried away by the sea, and if so, the one founded in 1804 was the third church. This church underwent several renovations over the course of time, such as in 1966, side wings were added to the sanctuary and the main altar was refurbished. The current modern church in Saudi is consecrated in December, 2006. 

Early Records on Saudi

Are there any historical records for the existence of a church or place called Saudi in Cochin during the Portuguese or the Dutch periods? One of the earliest references I have come across is from the accounts of Urbain Souchu de Rennefort, an agent of French East India Company, in his “Histoires des Indes Orientales”, published in 1688, the site appears as “Nostra Seignora de la Sauda”, a mazure (hovel?) near the sea coast. In the Memoir of Governor Adriaan Moens written in the year 1781 (“The Dutch in Malabar”), he lists 20 Latin churches and chapels subjected to the VOC (the Dutch East India Company), the church of “Senhora de Saude” and its chapel was one among them. Francis Day (1863) reproduces Moens' list in "The Land of the Permauls", but he quotes the church as “Senhora de Sande”. In 1781, when Moens handed over charge to his successor Van Angelbeck, he enumerated 69 gardens and pieces of land as the property of the Dutch, one among them was at Senhora de Saude, containing 1,222 fruit-bearing coconut and other trees, 29 Parras of cultivated land (c. 7 acres).

Another resource to look for is the old maps of Cochin, especially from the 17th and 18th centuries. In these maps, we find churches marked in the south coastal belt of Fort Cochin. The following is the region of Cochin I extracted from a large Map of Malabar extending from Cranganore (Kodungallur) to Coylang (Kollam). The Dutch Map (NL-HaNA_4.VEL_229) dated 1687 is facsimiled in Grand Atlas of the East India Company volume I pp.  31 and 126-128.  Here you can see four churches arranged in the following order from North to South: 1-St Joan (St John), 2-Nossa Senhora da Saude (Our Lady of Health), 3-St Louis and 4-St Iago (St James). The map is therefore a strong evidence for the existence of the Portuguese Saudi church in the 17th century. In some other maps, fewer churches (2-3) are depicted (NL-HaNA_4.VEL_882.2; NL-HaNA_4.VEL_884), or the 4th church is dedicated to St George instead of St James (NL-HaNA_4.VEL_883), but in all of them the church of Saude appears.

A Map of Cochin in 1687. Extracted from the Dutch Map, NL-HaNA_4.VEL_229

Antiquities of Saudi Church

Today, none of these early Portuguese churches exist, the structures built in present locations are of relatively recent origin. We know for certain that a church existed in Saudi at least in the 17th century, but there is little left in the modern Saudi church from the Portuguese era. In the previous post, we saw two tombstones in Portuguese script, but they are from the early 19th century. The Silver Jubilee Souvenir of Alleppey Diocese (1977) mentions of a Portuguese inscription in front of the altar, but no such tablet exists today. The beautiful 6 ft tall statue of the Virgin holding Infant Jesus is perhaps the only relic from the Portuguese era preserved in the church, however, according to Bernard (History of Fort Cochin, 1995) it was discovered accidentally from the Santa Cruz Maidan (Playground) in Fort Kochi by the British in 1901. 

Newsletter Article: "St. Francis Church of Cochin and its Funerary Monuments".

I thought of sharing a small article I wrote about the funerary monuments of the St Francis Church of Fort Cochin. It has appeared in the recent issue of the Newsletter (see here) from Dodenakkers.nl foundation, a major knowledge centre for Dutch funerary heritage, both in the Netherlands and abroad. The foundation also maintains SharedCemeteries.net a bilingual portal about funerary heritage in former Dutch colonies.

PORTUGUESE TOMBSTONES IN THE GRAVEYARD OF 'THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF HEALTH,' SAUDE (SOUTH OF FORT KOCHI)

The Church of Our Lady of Health, Saude

 

So far, I have analyzed 48 Portuguese tombstones in Cochin and neighbouring areas, and they are distributed as follows:

32-St Francis Church, Fort Kochi  

(There are a total of 54 tombstones inside the church. See here, here, here and here for the complete list of all these tombstones)
04-Santa Cruz Cathedral, Fort Kochi (see the links here)
09-of Cochin in Thrissur District Heritage Museum (see the link here)
02-of Kodungallur in Thrissur District Heritage Museum (see the link here)
01-Fort Kochi Beach (see the link here)

Let me wind up this series with 2 more tombstones and with that 50 Portuguese funerary monuments from Cochin area are covered. These two tombstones are preserved in the cemetery of the 'Church of Our Lady of Health' in Saudi, a place south of Fort Kochi. In fact, the name "Saude" for the place is derived from a former 16th-century Portuguese church, "Nossa Senhora de Saude" (Our Lady of Health) which was located in its soil. The Portuguese church was later destroyed by the sea, and a new one at the current location was first established in 1804. The present modern church is however consecrated on December, 2006. If you remember my earlier post, I have discussed about a Jewish settlement and a lost synagogue in Saude.

The tombstones are placed on either sides of the entrance gate of the Saude church cemetery, facing the south direction. The tombstone on the western side is intact and has a 10-lined Portuguese inscription, but it lacks any heraldic designs. The tall eastern tombstone is slender in width, the inscriptions are divided into two sections with a "Coat of Arms" in between. The upper left corner of the tombstone is broken, with a few letters missing from the first two lines, otherwise the overall epitaph is complete. The upper portion of the epitaph consists of  5 lines, whereas the lower section, that is below the "Coat of Arms" has 6 lines, and at the bottom end of the tombstone is a floral design.

The Cemetery of the Church of Our Lady of Health in Saude & the Location of the Tombstones

 

A 16TH CENTURY (1581?) PORTUGUESE TOMBSTONE NEAR THE FORT KOCHI BEACH

1-Marble Plaque Commemorating the Visit of Portuguese President to Cochin (1992); 2-Portuguese Tombstone (1581)

(For my separate blog on the European funerary monuments of Kerala see the link here). This unusual tombstone came to my notice quite accidentally while I was walking through the streets of Fort Kochi and bumped into a marble plaque with Portuguese writings. The plaque located outside the tall boundary wall of Bastion Bungalow was installed to commemorate the visit of the President of Portuguese, Dr. Mario Soares to Fort Kochi on 29th January, 1992.

PORTUGUESE TOMBSTONES FROM CRANGANORE (KODUNGALLUR) DISPLAYED IN THE MURAL ART MUSEUM, THRISSUR (THRISSUR DISTRICT HERITAGE MUSEUM)

 Two Portuguese tombstones from Kodungallur are on display in the Thrissur Mural Art Museum, one is for a Portuguese priest who married an Indian woman (Tombstone 1), the other supposedly belongs to an Indian priest (Tombstone 2). For the location of these tombstones in the museum, see also the photograph entitled "An Overview of Portuguese tombstones...Thrissur" in the previous post (10 and 11). Similar to the previous post, the paired photographs uploaded below are from September (Left) and December (Right), 2022.

TOMBSTONE 1-Fr. Felippe Perestrelo and his wife Dona Beatris Natover

The most famous funeral monument in the museum is the vertically mounted 16th-century tombstone displayed in the courtyard. This is mainly because the gravestone belongs to a priest from the family of Christopher Columbus' wife. It was Rafael Moreira, a Portuguese historian who deciphered the tombstone in 2012 and noticed this close family connection. Roberts and Chekkutty (Malabar II-Christian Monuments, 2017) believes that due to the vertical posture of the structure, it was funerary monument or a side column to an altar in the Church. The tombstone has a beautiful "Coat of Arms" and a 12-lined inscription. At the upper end of the tombstone is the Latin phrase "Pater Noster" for "the Our Father". The inscription in the main body is fairly legible except for the last line and a few letters at the end of the 11th line. As per the narrative of Roberts and Chekkutty (2017), the tombstone was retrieved from Paranki Mala (Portuguese Mount) at Karuppadanna (a place near Pullut, Kodungallur) and was brought to Thrissur in 1975. There are no burial dates in the tombstone. Prof. Rafael Moreira however dates the epitaph to 1530-40, going by the coat of arms, the style of writing and the abbreviations used. 

PORTUGUESE TOMBSTONES FROM COCHIN DISPLAYED IN THE MURAL ART MUSEUM, THRISSUR (THRISSUR DISTRICT HERITAGE MUSEUM)

In the previous post, I discussed about 4 Portuguese tombstones in the Santa Cruz Cathedral of Fort Cochin. They are not the only tombstones unearthed from seabed in the late 1920s at the time of dredging the backwaters of inner Cochin harbour. According to archaeological reports from the early to mid-1930s, at least 13 tombstones were recovered, out of which 4 are in the Santa Cruz Cathedral today. The remaining were shifted to a museum at Thrissur somewhere around the early 1930s. It should be noted that the museum also has two additional Portuguese tombstones from Kodungallur area, so a total of 11 grave markers are conserved in this site today. Unfortunately, most tombstones lack a date. In fact, there is only one tombstone that has a proper date assigned to the deceased. The grave monuments are arranged in the museum courtyard exposed under open-air conditions. All except one gravestone are placed horizontally on the ground. The only vertically mounted monument in the collection is from Kodungallur, which has gained wide publicity after Rafael Moreira-a historian at the New University of Lisbon deciphered the script in 2012 and proposed a connection to Christopher Columbus.

Thrissur District Heritage Museum (former Kollemkode Palace)The yellow arrowhead marks the position of the tombstones

In this post, I will discuss about the 9 Portuguese tombstones from Cochin that are preserved in the Mural Art Museum, Kollemkode Palace, Thrissur. The 2 Kodungallur tombstones will be covered in the next post. Not all the gravestones are in good condition, some are broken to pieces or heavily overgrown with moss and covered with mud, so that the inscriptions are barely legible. The museum staff are of the opinion that no historical records or studies on the inscriptions have survived, so their identity remain anonymous. This is, however, not the case, as at least two archaeological reports from early to mid-1930s have details of the aforementioned inscriptions. The first report is for the year 1930-31, which has reproduced, in full, the 12 Portuguese epitaphs from Cochin along with their English translations (remember 4 out of them are in Santa Cruz Cathedral). The other report is for 1935-36, which has only a rough translation of 8 Cochin inscriptions, but it graciously provides fine sketches of all the tombstones with their Portuguese inscriptions. More recently, Roberts and Chekkutty (Malabar II Christian Memorials, 2017) have come up with 6 names, of which only 4 are from Cochin, one is from Kodungallur, and the last one whose current location is unknown. Among the lists, Roberts and Chekkutty (2017) is the least detailed and accurate inventory for the Cochin tombstones, but it has the Kodungallur tombstone of Columbus-fame addressed in much detail. In the blog, I will be depending more on the Archaeological Report (1930-31), as the translations given in this document by Fr. Godhinho are more faithful to the original Portuguese inscriptions.

PORTUGUESE TOMBSTONES IN THE COURTYARD OF SANTA CRUZ CATHEDRAL, FORT KOCHI

In the Santa Cruz Cathedral, surrounding the pillar at the courtyard, is a chained area which not many pay attention to. At first sight it seems empty and barren, but on a closer look you can easily find three tombstones with Portuguese inscriptions! I don't think anyone has critically studied them. These gravestones were dredged up about 15 yards from the old Port Office gate and presumed to have been dumped there with other debris from the old cathedral, but eventually brought to the new cathedral courtyard and set against a wall, where it remained for decades (Venn, 1950, p. 36). In 1989, Joe Fernandez at his expense took these tombstones and arranged around the pillar and guarded it with chains all around (Bernard, 1995, p. 95). It was around 1925-26, British harbour engineer, Sir Robert Bristow recovered Portuguese gravestones from the seabed while dredging the backwaters of the inner Cochin harbour. Early records suggest at least 13 tombstones were recovered, 9 were brought to Thrissur Museum in the 1930s, and 4 apparently remained in Cochin. It was only after reading the epitaphs, I realized that they were the tombstones left at Cochin. Today, three tombstones can be easily identified, as the inscriptions are sharp and clean. Out of them, two are intact, but the third is a broken specimen with incomplete inscription. 

THE PILLARS OF THE OLD SANTA CRUZ CATHEDRAL, FORT KOCHI

1-Santa Cruz Cathedral, 2-Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima, 3-Pillar of Old Santa Cruz Cathedral

In the south-west corner of the modern Santa Cruz Cathedral of Fort Cochin (consecrated on 19 November, 1905) is the blue-domed 'Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima' (erected by Fr. G. A. Godinho on 30 December, 1949), and behind this chapel of Virgin Mary is a pillar with a cross atop, and an inscription at its base that says "Erected by J. E. Winckler Port Officer". This column is claimed to be a remnant from the old Santa Cruz Cathedral built by the Portuguese in the 16th Century. Interestingly, there is another pillar on the beach side opposite to the Bastion Bungalow which  also has the name Winckler, and the inscription reads: "Erected 17 October 1890 by J E Winckler Port Officer". The pillar commemorates "the Great Fire of Cochin" caused by 'Chandrabhanu', a 500 ton vessel on 4th January, 1889. 

WHERE WAS THE TOMBSTONE OF SIMEON DE MIRANDA (d. 1524) DISCOVERED?

In the previous post, I discussed about  how I  came across perhaps the oldest extant European grave marker in India inside the St Francis Church of Fort Kochi. Every day hundreds of tourists flock to see the grave monument of the famous European explorer, Vasco da Gama, who died on a Christmas Eve in the year 1524 and was initially buried in this church. However, I doubt anyone is aware of a tombstone lying at a remote corner in the same church, which is 4 months older than that of Gama's grave slab. It was quite a surprise find to me because the whereabouts of this grave marker was long thought to be untraceable (Bauke van der Pol, 2014, p. 183). What is more important is that the headstone was not originally part of St Francis church, but was discovered elsewhere and brought to the church afterwards. We learn the site of its discovery from Julian James Cotton (1905, p. 272). In his words, "the oldest European tombstone in South India, brought to light while digging the foundations of the new Port Office". He also reports of finding two more tombstones from the compound of the new Port Office at Parade Road. In the inventory given by Roberts and Chekkutty (2017, p. 162), the discovery occurred at the Post Office compound in the Parade Road. Now, where is this 'Port Office' in Fort Cochin today? It took me some time to figure out the actual site, since a Port Office at Parade Road is unknown and tombstones retrieved from Post Office compound are also unheard of. Nonetheless, Fort Cochin’s Head Post Office, just behind the historic St Francis Church, was the location of an early 16th century Portuguese Monastery named after San Antonio or St Antony (Bernard, 1955, p. 12). 

It turns out, the new Port Office referred here was built by the British in late 19th century close to the site where stood a flagstaff tower. The tower was not any ordinary building, but the steeple of Santa Cruz Cathedral built by the Portuguese in early 16th century. This imposing structure was a characteristic feature of old Cochin’s skyline. Almost three centuries ago, in 1739, Captain Alexander Hamilton (vol. 1, p. 239) wrote: “Their Flag-staff is placed on the Steeple of the old Cathedral, on a Mast of 75-Foot-high, and a Staff a-top of it about 60 Foot, which is the highest I ever saw; and the Flag may be seen above 7 Leagues off”. I don't think many are aware that the current impressive Santa Cruz Cathedral at Fort Cochin is only a monument from 1905, and is located about 400 m south of the original Portuguese monument. Traditionally, Portuguese established the Santa Cruz Church on 3rd May,1505, and it was raised to a cathedral in 1558. The Dutch after conquering Cochin in 1663, transformed the cathedral to a storage place with a flagpole. The only other church they spared was the St Francis church which was converted into a Protestant place of worship. It should be noted that there were more than a dozen Portuguese churches inside Fort Cochin before the Dutch, but all have vanished without any trace today! The Dutch rule ended with the conquest of Malabar by the British in 1795.

TRACING THE OLDEST EUROPEAN TOMBSTONE IN SOUTH INDIA -SIMEA (SIMEON) DE MIRANDA (8 AUGUST, 1524), St. Francis Church, Fort Kochi. Perhaps the oldest extant European grave marker in India.

In the previous post, we discussed about the 46 tombstones (47 epitaphs) mentioned by Julian James Cotton (JJC, 1905) inside the St Francis Church. Interestingly, he also records 12 Portuguese tombstones outside the church (pp. 272-273). They include 3 tombstones on the compound of the Port Office, Parade Road; 8 tombstones scattered in the streets, used as doorsteps to houses or as platforms to wells; and one tombstone in front of the Cochin Library which is illegible. The oldest of the 12 is Simeon de Miranda, who died on August 8, 1524 and according to JJC, this is also the oldest European tombstone in South India. Interestingly, when Vasco da Gama was buried inside the St Francis Church in December, 1524 (then dedicated to St Antony), Simeon Miranda who died 4 months earlier in the same year was interred somewhere in Fort Cochin, but outside the St. Francis church. Perhaps Vasco da Gama due to his legendary status was the first to be buried in the church. Remember, the oldest tombstone reported inside the church after Vasco da Gama is that of Diogo Dias and is dated to 1546 only. JJC notes that Miranda’s tombstone was brought to light while digging the foundations of the new Port office. In the introduction to his monumental work on the tomb inscriptions in Madras (1905), JJC states (p. vi): “The Cochin slab, dated 1524, recently disinterred near the new Port office, is apparently the oldest memento mori of this nation in the peninsula”. Out of the 8 tombstones scattered in the streets of Cochin, JJC identifies 6 from the 16th century, the oldest in the name of Antonio Mendes is dated to 11th December 1532, the year according to him could also be read 1522. Today, Miranda's tombstone is also conserved inside the St Francis Church along with the actual 46 tombstones. I don't think many are even aware that this rare tombstone has survived and is well preserved in Fort Kochi. Also, we do not know when exactly this 1524 tombstone was transferred to the church, but it is highly plausible that the shifting was done somewhere in the early 20th century.

The Portuguese inscription on the epitaph of Simeon de Miranda reads (JJC, p. 272): “En esta sepultu ra iaz Simea De Miranda ffo do Fyco de Mirada e de Dona Cezilia d’Azambuja q faleceo a 8 d’ Agosto de ISZ4”, which is translated as: “In this tomb lies Simeon de Miranda, son of Francisco de Miranda and Cecilia d’ Azambuja who died on the August 8th, 1524.’’ The inscription on the tombstone is distributed in 9 lines and on closer observation you can see that the year “1524” is the last word, but inscribed in 2 lines, the numbers “152” in end of line 8 and the number “4”, though faintly visible now, is the only character engraved in line 9. Thanks to JJC for deciphering this rare epitaph and like he had commented, the inscription written in a crabbed character is the most difficult to read. Thus the arrangement of the inscription in the tombstone is as follows:

THE 32 PORTUGUESE & 20 DUTCH TOMBSTONES IN ST. FRANCIS CHURCH, FORT KOCHI.

St Francis Church, Fort Kochi

The inset reads "Rennovatum Anno 1779", referring to the date on which the Dutch restored the church.

Dutch Tombstones mounted on the  the church wall

In the upcoming posts, I will discuss about the Portuguese and Dutch funerary monuments inside the St Francis Church of Fort Kochi, and about an enigmatic and remarkable tombstone that has remained unnoticed for long. The church said to be built by the Portuguese as a wooden structure (Catholic) dedicated to St Bartholomew in 1503; refurbished by the Franciscans to a more permanent stone building in 1516 and dedicated to St. Antony; converted by the Dutch in 1663 to a Protestant church and renovated in 1779; transformed into an Anglican Church by the British in 1804, renovated in 1886-87, and renamed as St Francis Church; and taken control by the Protestant 'Church of South India' (CSI), the current owners in 1947. It was declared a protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India in 1923. The church is one of the biggest attraction in Fort Kochi for its connection to the legendary Portuguese explorer, Vasco Da Gama, and it is considered the oldest existing European church in India. Gama on his third journey to India, passed away at Cochin on the Christmas Eve of 1524, barely three months after his arrival, and was buried inside the church. The plaque on his grave site reads: "Here lay buried Vasco da Gama who died on the Christmas Eve of the year 1524 A. D. at Cochin until his remains were removed to Portugal fourteen years later". Gama’s remains were transferred from Cochin to Vidigueira in Portugal in 1538 by one of his sons, Dom Pedro da Silva Gama; and a few centuries later to St Jeronimos Monastery, Lisbon on 8th June, 1880, where it remains today. Anyone who has been to the church might have noticed several tombstones mounted on the walls of the building.

REVISITING THE JEW TOWN OF MATTANCHERRY (16 SEPTEMBER, 2022)

Synagogue Lane, Mattancherry

Its almost 3 years since I visited the Jew Town of Mattancherry, but I don't think there has been much change. The tiled pathway of the 'Synagogue Lane' is new to me and the site of the previous Thekkumbhagom Synagogue has a different building coming up. A temporary roof constructed over the Kadavumbhagom Synagogue is a major addition. However, the biggest surprise to me is that the strict no photography policy inside the Paradesi Synagogue has been relaxed considerably. Today, photography is permitted inside the Synagogue and the only restriction is with the use of the flash. I was told that this decision was taken by the Government during the Onam Season (August, 2022). Let us hope this will remain the same for long stretches of time. I grabbed this opportunity to click several photographs inside the synagogue and in the inner courtyard. A few other Jewish sites were also visited on this short trip. Since I have given the details of these sites elsewhere in the blog, only the photographs are appended.

Tombstones Discovered from the Kadavumbhagom Synagogue of Mattancherry in August, 2021

Two tombstones were discovered from the compound of Kadavumhagom Synagogue of Mattancherry in August 2021 (for a report, see here). The epitaphs were found broken in the middle making the dating of the tombstones difficult, but the names can be easily read. The first tombstone discovered belong to 'Eliyah bar Tifereth' and the other is in the name of 34 year old 'Eliyah ben Gershon' of the Meschuharar community. Though the dating of the tombstones are challenging and disputable, Tifereth's burial is dated to Friday, 26 Kislev 5359 (השנט)/Thursday, 24 December 1598 (Ophira Gamliel), and Gershon's to Wednesday, 9 Sh'vat 5592/Wednesday, 11 January 1832 (Thoufeeq Zachariah). In the case of Tifereth's tombstone, if the year of his death (the last word in the epitaph) is read as השנג instead of השנט [the last letter in line 7 appears less likely to be a tet (ט). Compare with tet of line 6], the date becomes Friday, 26 Kislev 5353 (השנג)/Tuesday, 01 December 1592. Currently, these tombstones are preserved in the Bastion Bungalow of Fort Kochi. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the friendly staff of Bastion Bungalow for not only allowing me to access the tombstones, but also giving the permission to photograph them by taking outside the storage facility. 

Kadavumbhagom Synagogue of Mattancherry (September, 2022)

Tomb 1: Eliyah bar Tifereth (d. 1598?)

The yellow arrows mark the positions of the last letter of the epitaph (line 7) and the letter tet in line 6.

Tomb 2: Eliyah ben Gershon Meschuharar (1832)