
In the 15th century Goa along a trade route was a sleepy palm shaded place,
missionaries from the Society Of Jesus were sent for the proselytization race.
Rice was offered to those who would accept a new faith and way of life,
but these "Rice Christians" still kept their old beliefs despite possible strife.
A threat to the Catholic Church and all it stood strangling growth like a boa,
in 1545 St. Francis Xavier asked that the inquisition be brought to Goa.
Anti-Hindu laws were enacted to discourage worship of another kind,
Hindus were forced to listen to preaching in an effort to change their mind.
The inquisition promised to protect the converted to take up the new belief,
Some surrendered their faith while still others escaped and found relief.
It took 450 years until the inquisition was abolished and the records were lost,
16,000 people were tried and 57 sentenced to death paying the ultimate cost.
The fate of many in Goa at the hands at the inquisition is not known,
their stories remain untold under the palm trees that have grown.
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