The first wave occurred during the Goa Inquisition of 1560, to escape the trials of the Inquisition. These migrants were welcomed by the native Bednore rulers of Canara for their agricultural skills. The second major wave occurred during the Portuguese-Maratha wars in Goa during the late 17th and the early 18th century. According to Mangalorean historian Alan Machado Prabhu, the author of "Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians" (1999), the Mangalorean Catholics numbered about 58,000 by 1765, during the capture of Canara by Hyder Ali. The commencement of British rule in Canara, following the defeat of Tippu Sultan in 1799, was a matter of joy for the Canara Catholics because it meant liberation of their brethren from 15 years of captivity in Srirangapatnam. Tippu had razed down churches in Canara and confiscated the properties and wealth of Canara Catholics in a massive military operation on Ash Wednesday in 1774. A century later, Jerome Saldanha, a government servant during the British Raj at the Bombay Presidency, noted in an article in Mangalore Magazine, published by St. Aloysius College, which chronicled contemporary developments and views from the closing decades of the 19th century:  Following retirement from government service in Bombay, Jerome Saldanha returned to Mangalore and represented the District in the Madras Legislative Council. In his later years, he began to move with the rising tide of nationalism and became a sincere admirer of Mahatma Gandhi. When Gandhiji visited Mangalore in 1927, Jerome, as President of South Canara District Congress Committee, presided at the public meeting addressed by the Mahatma. According to Dr. Michael Lobo, who has chronicled the community through two authoritative books, "The Mangalore Catholic Community – A Professional History" / "Directory and Distinguished Mangalorean Catholics 1800–2000", a photograph of the two leaders taken on the occasion is in the possession of his family. However, Jerome was born in 1868, one year before the Mahatma, and died in 1947, just a few months before Independence. Though not an active freedom fighter, Jerome supported the freedom movement through articulation in writing, specially in Mangalore Magazine. For instance, during World War II, in 1942, the Japanese joined the Axis (Germany and Italy) and after capturing Singapore and Burma, were threatening to break through the eastern border of India.