Thomas Stephens (Jesuit)

Thomas Stephens (c. 1549, Bushton, Wiltshire, England - 1619, Salcete, Goa, India) was a Jesuit priest missionary in Portuguese India, writer and linguist.

Early years and studies

The son of a merchant, Stephens studied in Oxford before becoming a Catholic. He went to Rome where he entered the Society of Jesus in 1575. He did some philosophical studies at the Collegio Romano before departing for Lisbon, en route for Goa which he reached on the 24 October 1579, probably the first Englishman to set foot on Indian soil. This is, however, disputed by G. Schurhammer and others. After a few months of theological studies he was ordained priest in 1580. He learned to read and write in Konkani and Marathi.

In Goa

He was superior of Salcete (1590-1596) and in such capacity had to handle the aftermath of the death of the so-called martyrs of Cuncolim (1583). Except for a year in Vasai (Bassein), Portuguese holding north of Bombay (Mumbai), he spent all his pastoral years in Salcete, being parish priest in Margao, Benaulim, Marmugao, and several other places. He died in 1619.

It is very likely that Roberto de Nobili, SJ, met Thomas Stephens upon landing in Goa, and before proceeding to the Madurai Mission. Falcao has shown that there are terms common to both these pioneers of inculturation, e.g. jnana-snana (bath of knowledge or enlightenment), a term which Stephens used for baptism, and which de Nobili seems to have borrowed; the term is still current in Tamil Christian usage.

Variations in the name

The many variations of Thomas Stephens’ name must be noted. Cunha Rivara notes that the Bibliotheca Lusitana “clearly but erroneously calls him Esteves.” J.L. Saldanha observes: “Among his clerical brethren he was known as Padre Estevam, and the laity seem to have improved upon the appellation and turned it into Padre Busten, Buston, and the grand and high-sounding de Bubston.” Saldanha also notes that Monier-Williams renders the name ‘Thomas Stevens,’ while also pointing out that Dodd’s Church History speaks of Stephen de Buston or Bubston. Mariano Saldanha instead gives the name as ‘Tomás Estêvão.’ The Catholic Encyclopedia (see External Links below) itself seems to have two voices on the same person: Thomas Stephens and Thomas Stephen Buston.

These variations, together with variations in the titles of the Khristapurana, add to the difficulty of tracing print editions and manuscript copies of the latter.

Achievements

In English

Before the end of the century he was already known in England thanks to a letter written to his father, and published in the 2nd volume of Richard Hakluyt's Principal Navigations (in 1599) in which he gives a description of Portuguese India and its languages.

In Konkani

Stephens is remembered above all for his contribution to the Konkani language. His Arte da lingoa Canarim, written in Portuguese, was the first printed grammar of what is now called the Konkani language. It was published in 1640, as enlarged by Diogo Ribeiro, SJ and four other Jesuits, and became the first ever printed Indian Language grammar. The published work bore the title Arte da lingoa Canarim composta pelo Padre Thomaz Estevão da Companhia de IESUS & acrecentada pello Padre Diogo Ribeiro da mesma Cõpanhia e nouemente reuista & emendada por outros quarto Padres da mesma Companhia. 1640. A second edition was produced by J.H. da Cunha Rivara, and published under the title: Grammatica da Lingua Concani composta pelo Padre Thomaz Estevão e accrescentada por outros Padres da Companhia de Jesus. Segunda Impressão, correcta e annotada, a que precede como introducção A Memoria sobre a Distribução Geographica das Principaes Linguas da India por Sir Erskine Perry, e o Ensaio historico da lingua Concani pelo Editor. Ed. J.H. da Cunha Rivara. Nova Goa: Imprensa Nacional. 1857. The language, called Canarim or Bramana-Canarim in Stephens' time, was, by the time of Cunha Rivara, known as Konkani.

Stephens also prepared a catechism in the same language, as per the instruction of the council of Trent. The Doutrina Christam em Lingoa Bramana Canarim (translation: Christian Doctrine in the Canarese Brahman Language) incorporates also a collection of Christian prayers in Konkani.

In Marathi

The Christian Purana or the Khristapurana

More than technical language books what earned him the title of Father of Christian Literature in India is his Krista Purana, an epic poem on the life of Jesus Christ written in a mix of Marathi and Konkani. Adopting the literary form of the Hindu puranas it retells the entire story of mankind, from the creation days to the time of Jesus in lyrical verse form. The Christian Puranas - 11,000 stanzas of 4 verses - were very popular in the churches of the area where they were sung on special occasions up to the 1930s. Although no copy of the original edition is extant it is believed to have been written or published in 1616.

Title page of Dovtrina Christam by Fr. Thomas Stephens, first published work in Konkani

The Khristapurana of Thomas Stephens was printed thrice in Goa, in 1616, 1649, and 1654, but no copies have been found. The fourth printing was that of Joseph L. Saldanha in Mangalore (1907); this was a collation of at least 5 manuscripts, one of them in Devanagari script, together with a substantial life sketch and introduction. The fifth edition was by Prof. Shantaram Bandelu of Ahmednagar; this was the first printed edition in the Devanagari script, but was a transliteration of the Saldanha text.

In 1923, however, Justin E. Abbott discovered two Devanagari manuscripts (parts 1 and 2) of the Khristapurana in the Marsden Collection of the School of Oriental Studies, London. Bandelu acknowledges this discovery in his introduction, but argues, against Abbot, that the Roman script was the original. He was not able, however, to make proper use of the manuscripts in his text. This job fell to Caridade Drago, SJ; but here also it would seem that Drago merely followed the Bandelu text, contenting himself with providing an extensive appendix in which he compares the variations between the Roman and the Devanagari script texts.

Recently (2009) Nelson Falcao has published the seventh edition of the Khristapurana, providing for the first time the Marsden version in Devanagari script, together with a prose translation into contemporary Marathi. An English translation with transliteration of the Marsden version into Roman script is in progress.

Paixao de Cristo

Recently, S.M. Tadkodkar has attributed two of the three Passion poems found in the Goa Central Library MS of the Khristapurana to Thomas Stephens.

Recognition

The Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr (Thomas Stephens Konkani Centre), run by the Society of Jesus, is an institute dedicated to the study and propagation of the Konkani Language; it was founded in 1989 and located in Goa. It was named after Father Thomas Stephens in gratitude to his contribution to the Konkani Language.

It possesses two manuscripts of the Khristapurana, one of which seems to have belonged to a certain M.G. Saldanha, and may have been one of the copies used by J.L. Saldanha while preparing his monumental 1907 edition (he speaks of a Marian Saldanha, whom he describes an as enthusiast of Purannic literature). Whether this M.G. Saldanha is the same as the well-known Goan professor and scholar Mariano Saldanha, is yet to be established.

External links

•  "Thomas Stephens". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. ;  "Thomas Stephen Buston". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
• Thomas Stephens, SJ (1549-1619), an updated bibliography