History of India: The Goan Inquisition

The Goan Inquisition began in 1560, lasted until 1812. . . .

But before anyone could be burned, the necessary confession often took torture to extract. The Inquisition had a forty-one point manual for this. There was flogging, whipping, scalding, pressing. Fingernails were pulled out, eyelids sliced off. Fingers and toes were removed one by one. The ears, the nose, the lipss were all cut off. Legs and arms were amputated joint by joint until nothing was left but the torso, and the living head. Then the slow dismemberment began. Jews who had fled the Inquisition in Spain discovered that the Inquisition had come to India and found them. — Tony D’Souza, “The Konkans,” Harcourt (February 1, 2008), p292