Joaquim Magalhães de Castro
The Christians remained in Rangamati for about a hundred years. The condition of soldiers forced them to remain stationed in that region ready to participate in the Mughal military campaigns in neighboring Assam. This is how they created roots in the region. However, with the weakening of the Mughal influence, early in the 18th century, their service was dispensed with and it is possible that they then departed to other places, preferring instead to head east. The detailed record on the way of life and traditions of the peoples of Northern India by the Capuchin friar Marco Della Tomba, written between 1758 and 1769, shows that Portuguese priests living in Rangamati had, at the time of his visit to that village (made at the expense of Propaganda Fide), definitely returned to Dhaka.
After leaving Goa in 1759 to escape persecution by the Marquis of Pombal of the Jesuits present throughout Portuguese territory, Father Joseph Tiefenthaler, following his journeys through North India, would also visit this Christian colony. Tiefenthaler refers to Rangamati as a “once-populated city, but still with a church.” The French merchant Jean-Baptiste Chevalier, who between April 1755 and May 1757 made three visits to Assam, passing through Rangamati, draws attention to the strategic location of the city and its commercial importance, emphasizing the role of the “faujdar,” who held administrative and defense functions. In his memoir Chevalier tells us about the “old reputation” of Rangamati, his fortress, and the Portuguese cannon and soldiers that effectively protected it. However, he does not give us details, because by then, most likely, the site would already be in sharp decline. It is likely until all 7000 “firingis” had already left Rangamati. However, small pockets of resistance would remain in the region, as the account of John McCosh’s Assam Topography tells us. Written in 1837, it recounts the period in which McCosh participated as a surgeon in the military campaign of the British in the lands of the kol people, between 1832-1833. McCosh describes to us at length the small community of native Christians of Portuguese descent present in Goalpara. There were about 50 or 60 individuals and despite the absence of priests they had remained faithful to Catholicism. McCosh found that, in dress and day-to-day customs, they were indistinguishable from the natives. They had cattle grazing or were “chuprasses,” that is, servants. In spite of this humble condition, the other inhabitants were very much afraid of them, but in truth they were left to themselves … Due to the scarcity of people, marriages did not always happen within the community and those carried out abroad were invariably excluded social and, as a consequence, a decrease in their respective members.
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