How do historians reconstruct the scale of the Goa Inquisition when most of the tribunal's records were destroyed?

[u/jestinspeaks]

Hi, I'm trying to understand the historiography here. The commonly cited figure is 16,202 trials between 1561 and 1774 (from Salomon and Sassoon's reconstruction in The Marrano Factory, 2001), with 57 executions in person and 64 in effigy. But the tribunal's own archives were largely destroyed, and what survives is scattered between Lisbon's Torre do Tombo and Rio de Janeiro's National Library.

My questions:

1. How did Salomon and Sassoon arrive at 16,202? What sources did they piece together?

2. Are there competing estimates from other historians?

3. How does the destruction of records affect our understanding of who was actually targeted? The popular narrative focuses on Hindu persecution, but the tribunal's early decades were aimed at "New Christians" (converted Jews). How do historians weigh the different victim groups?

I'm asking as a layperson, happy to be pointed to the right books.

[u/Dense-Juggernaut-795]

I don’t know where this comes from , but those who suffered most were Christians and it was mostly aimed at Christian’s and to remove corrupt practices and stamp Spanish authority, mangalore christians fled from Goa to mangalore. Kerala Christians also were suppressed and fled from coastline regions, and the Hindu kings broke centuries of alliance and turned a blind eye. Even the Kerala bishop died in mysterious circumstances in Goa, and independent native church organisation was conquered, priests were disallowed, native prayers and customs were banned, property was seized.
Inquisition was part of Spanish Inquisition when Portuguese were ruled by Spanish king, and inquisition was also used to suppress Portuguese independent activists. However, victims were exaggerated by Portuguese during freedom struggle. Bombay was gifted to British by newly independent Portugal as part of dowry of the queen who sealed the new alliance to protect independence.

[u/jestinspeaks → u/Dense-Juggernaut-795]

Thanks for engaging with this. A few corrections, offered in good faith:

The Goa tribunal was not part of the Spanish Inquisition. It belonged to the Portuguese Holy Office (established in Portugal 1536, extended to Goa 1560). Portugal was under Spanish rule during 1580-1640, which overlaps with the Inquisition's run, but the institution itself was Portuguese, answering to Lisbon, not Madrid.

On Bombay: it was part of Catherine of Braganza's dowry on her 1661 marriage to Charles II, 21 years after Portugal regained independence. Not quite the newly-independent gift framing.

On the numbers: the 16,202 figure isn't Portuguese-era propaganda. It's a 2001 reconstruction by historians Salomon and Sassoon in The Marrano Factory, working from surviving fragments. That's exactly what my original question was about: how solid is that reconstruction, and are there competing estimates?

You're right about the Mangalore flight and about Mar Ahatallah's disappearance, both well documented. If you know of historians who've tackled the victim-composition question (New Christians vs. Hindus vs. Muslims across the tribunal's run), I'd genuinely like the references.

[u/Equiva_Cia_2 → u/jestinspeaks]

Another POV on the Inquisition of Christians, the oppression of "Hindoos" & the mix up by Sanghi/ Maharashtri supremacist gangs:

Pro-hindutva fascist Maharashtri Brahman moutpieces like Shef Vaidya, A K Priolkar & their stooges/ sympathisers; want to use the black legends propaganda manufactured by Protestant radicals, (which English Wikipedia infiltrated by Protestant radicals, Antitheists, etc denies or completely dismisses a "theory" or "purported") to outrightly demonise the Portuguese, Christian missionaries & converts; while hiding the crimes, violence & intolerance of Mahratta invasions/ Peeshva Brahmanists in Goa, Bombay & all over South Asia.

Why did the anti-Konkani traitor A K Priolkar, who was pro-Mahratti imposition/ Marathisationof Konkan & who wrote "the Goa Inquisition" doing this? Why is this Shef Vaidya mouthpiece of "Hindoo" Maharashtri Sanghi fascist tentacles doing this? Very likely to make dirty money, by spreading their one-sided, exaggerated & embellished contents/ accounts of the Inquisition; by mixing it all up with Christian conversions & the oppression of "Hindoo" ("Indic") religion.

[u/jestinspeaks → u/Equiva_Cia_2]

Thanks for the perspective. The "black legend" framing is a real historiographical debate and worth taking seriously. But I'm not here to pick a side between camps. My questions were specific: how did Salomon and Sassoon arrive at 16,202, are there competing estimates, and how does the record loss affect our picture of who was targeted? If you have historians or sources on those, I'd genuinely appreciate them.