Concise Indian History: Portuguese in India

EUROPE IN 15TH CENTURY

Islamic & Arabic countries, especially Egypt & Persia, controlled the land & sea routes between India & Europe due to geographical advantage(as shown in Figure).
Europeans, led by Portugal & Spain, wanted to find a new sea route to India as then they needed to pay revenue to these nations to be able to use the Red Sea trade route.
In 1494, under the Treaty of Tordesillas, rulers of Spain & Portugal divided the non-Christian world amongst themselves by an imaginary line in the Atlantic. As per the treaty, Portugal could claim anything to the east of the line and Spain to the west of the line.
Expeditions of Portuguese ships heading towards India began and Vasco Da Gama along with his 3 ships, led by a Gujarati pilot named Abdul Majid arrived at Calicut (present day Kozhikode) on 20th May 1498.

Sea Route used by Vasco Da Gama

Vasco Da Gama returned from India after 3 months with a rich Cargo and sold the Indian merchandise (especially spices) to European market to make huge profits.
The importance of pepper trade & spices was evident to Europeans who had to purchase Indian commodities through Muslim middlemen and had to spend almost ten times the amount.
Tempted by the profit, Pedro Alvarez Cabral,who also discovered Brazil while on his way to India in 1500, came to India to trade for spices. He negotiated and established a factory at Calicut.
He attacked Arab merchant's ships and seized their cargoes as a retaliation when his factory was attacked by locals. He also bombarded Calicut.
Later on he made advantageous treaties with the local ruler of Cochin (present day Kochi) & Cannanore (present day Kannur).
Due to the immense success of his previous trip, Vasco Da Gama once again visited India in 1501. His rupture with Zamorin (ruler of Calicut) was complete when Zamorin declined to exclude the Arab Merchants for trade in favour of Portugal.
Calicut, Cochin & Cannanore gradually became important trade centres and in pretext of protecting these factories, they got permission to fortify these centres.

In 1505, Francisco De Almeida was appointed as first governor of India. He was asked to consolidate the position of the Portuguese in India and to destroy Muslim domination in trade.
He was opposed by Zamorin along with Sultan of Egypt.
In 1507, a Portuguese squadron was defeated in a naval battle off Diu by combined Gujarat and Egyptian navies.In this battle Almeida's son was killed.He avenged his son the next year by crushing the two navies.
His "Blue Water Policy" was to be powerful at the sea rather than building fortress on Indian soil.
He was succeeded by Afonso de Albuquerque under which Portugal gained strategic control of the Indian Ocean by establishing the bases overlooking all the entrances of the sea.
Goa was captured from Sultan of Bijapur in 1510. Establishments were settled there as Portuguese arriving from Portugal were encouraged to settle down in Goa and take local wives.
In 1530, Headquarters of Portuguese government shifted from Cochin to Goa by Nino da Cunha(Governor from 1528 to 1538). He also attempted to increase Portuguese influence in Bengal by settling many Portuguese nationals at Hoogly as one of their headquarters.

The Portuguese promoted Christianity.They even targeted the Mughal emperor Akbar(1542-1605) & Jahangir to convert them into Christianity from Muslim. But they failed in their attempt because of their aggressive and arrogant behaviour.
They prosecuted Muslims since the time they arrived in India but were tolerant towards the Hindus.Later on they also started prosecuting the Hindus.

In 1608, Captain William Hawkins along with his ships reached Surat and brought a letter from James I, king of England, to the Mughal court of Jahangir(1569-1627), requesting permission to do business in India, which Jahangir readily accepted.
Disappointed by Jahangir's decision, the Portuguese negotiated and made truce with the Mughals. However, the Portuguese stopped the English ships arriving from England to enter Surat. This made Captain William to leave the Mughal court in anger.
In November 1612, an English ship named "Dragon" under Captain Best successfully fought a Portuguese fleet and impressed Jahangir( who had no navy worth it's name).
In 1613, Portuguese offended Jahangir by capturing Mughal ships, imprisoning Muslims and plundering their cargoes. As a result, Jahangir ordered to obtain compensation.
The Portuguese also monopolised manufacture of salt & started strict levy of duty on Tobacco in Hoogly.
They even purchased Hindu & Muslim children from slave trade.
On 24th June 1632, Shah Jahan (1592-1666) ordered the Bengal governor Qasim Khan to take action and seize Hoogly.

Emergence of powerful dynasties in Egypt, Persia & North India( and the Marathas) reduced their advantages in India.
Their religious policies gave rise to political fear and made Hindus & Muslims resentful towards themselves.
The Mughals and other small rulers became resentful towards Portuguese because of their unfair trade practices.
Colonising activities of the Portuguese were diverted to the west with the discovery of Brazil.
The sea route to India from Europe couldn't remain a secret.
The Dutch(who controlled spice trade later) and the English had greater resources and more compulsion to expand.
The Portuguese left Goa( and India) in 1961 when it was merged with Indian Union. So, if you or your parents or grandparents were born before 1961, you can have a Portuguese passport which gives you the right of residence & movement in any European Union states.

The Portuguese initiated European era in India and provided knowledge about India to the Dutch and the English.
They practiced military innovations in context of cannons on ships, use of body armour and matchlock(type of firearm).
They taught Indians and other European nations the art of building advanced ships. They used to make heavily constructed multi decked ships so as to sail long through Atlantic gales.
They also brought Christianity along with their music and art for the first time in India.

apk.apkMay 18, 2019 at 10:06 AM
Awesome, informative blog. Kudos for the efforts that went into it. Next in line is Dutch ?
PotnoodleMay 21, 2019 at 4:26 PM
Another reason for the decline of Portuguese India was the absorption of Portugal into Spain in 1580. It took the Portuguese nearly 60 years to finally evict the Spanish, and in the interim, the British and especially the Dutch attached Portuguese colonies in Asia, Africa and Brasil. After regaining their independence in 1640, Portugal was able to expel the Dutch from Brazil and Africa, but most of their Asian empire was gone for good.