Portuguese East Indies

The Rise of the Portuguese East Indies

Vasco da Gama spearheaded the domination of the Portuguese East Indies. He landed at Calicut in southwestern India in 1498, immediately negotiating trades with the locals. Gama returned Portugal a hero and would later lead multiple Portuguese armadas into the seas of the Portuguese East Indies. Gama and Portuguese naval commander Pedro Cabral set lasting precedents for Portuguese imperialism in the early 16th century by bombarding Calicut whenever trade negotiations began to fall out of Portugal's favor.

Seven years later, in 1505, the Portuguese King Manuel I ordered nobleman Dom Francisco de Almeida to establish four forts on the coast of Southwestern India; in exchange, Almeida would become the first governor and ruler of the Portuguese State of India. Maintaining his office did not come without its challenges. In 1509 the Portuguese Maritime Empire faced off against a naval coalition of the Mamluk Sultanate, Gujarat, and Calicut during the infamous Battle of Diu.

Portuguese victory at the Battle of Diu opened up nearly a century of uncontested, monopolistic Portuguese control over the East Indies. It would be a century of imperial domination defined by trading posts (also known as feitorias), vast armadas, and a powerful joint stock company stemming from the Portuguese East Indies' command base in Goa.

The Portuguese established forts in Malacca, Sumatra, and Siam through diplomacy and naval might in the early 16th century. Portugal did not aim to conquer inland territories or establish permanent colonies on foreign shores. Instead, the small European country extended its strength over the Portuguese East Indies spice trade, siphoning its profits back to mainland Portugal.

Portuguese East India Company

To be clear, the Portuguese East India Company was not the aforementioned powerful 16th-century joint stock company; that had been Casa da India, a state commercial organization established by Portuguese King Manuel I to oversee Portugal's monopoly of the spice trade within the East Indies.

Fig. 3- European art depicting the East Indies (India and Southeast Asia).

The company had been a smashing success for a time, but new players were coming to the table by the 17th century. The British and Dutch East India Companies were on the rise in the Indian Ocean and East Indies. At the same time, Portugal's involvement in the Iberian Union (1580-1640) dragged the nation into many unwanted and costly wars alongside Spain. The Portuguese East India Company did not bask in the glorious profits of the monopolistic spice trade. Instead, the fledgling company's failure represented the diminishing strength of the Portuguese Maritime Empire (especially in the Portuguese East Indies).

East India Company Timeline

The timeline below offers a brief progression of events related to the history of the Portuguese East India Company within the Portuguese East Indies:

• February 1509: The Portuguese emerge victorious at the Battle of Diu.
• 1543: Portuguese Goa is wracked by a cholera outbreak.
• 1622: the Merchant Duarte Gomes Solis issues a proposal requesting the creation of a Portuguese East India Company to revitalize competitive trade through a joint-stock company in the Indian Ocean and East Indies.
• August 1628: Portuguese King Phillip III issues a charter for the creation of the Portuguese East India Company.
• April 1633: The Portuguese East India Company is liquidated, ending its five years of existence.
• 1669-1685: The Portuguese monarchy attempts to establish new Portuguese East India Companies, but they also fail.

East India Company Slavery

Slavery endured from the Portuguese East Indies beginning in the 16th century until 1876 when the institution was explicitly prohibited. During that nearly 400 years, all manners of slaves were transported within and without the East Indies; Japanese slave girls were traded among Portuguese masters, while African laborers were imported to support colonial construction efforts. In general, the breadth of the Portuguese East India Company's involvement in Indian Ocean slavery is not as prevalent, or at least not as well documented as the persistence of slavery within colonialism as seen in the English and Dutch maritime histories.

Portuguese Contribution to India

Portugal shook up Indian history long before the mighty English Maritime Empire landed on India's shores. Diplomatically, the Portuguese presence in Goa acted as an indomitable presence in regional political affairs. When it came to the devastating Mughal-Maratha Wars that wracked India's Deccan Plateau, Mughal ruler Aurangzeb made allies of the Portuguese due to their strong finances, trading opportunities, and naval support. No coalitions were rising against the Portuguese as during the Battle of Diu; now, powerful Indian rulers were relying on the strength of the Portuguese East Indies.

Fig. 4- Portuguese official followed by an entourage of Indians.

The Portuguese control of the spice trade saw many goods flood into India, including copper, quicksilver, velvet, and saffron. At the same time, scarlets from Florence, cloths from Holland, and European clothes and metals also made their way into the Indian economy and society. The printing press in India was installed in 1556 at Saint Paul's College in Goa. Portuguese texts introduced European thoughts, ideologies, religion, and histories into the Indian imagination.

While significant developments were occurring in the Portuguese East Indies, the disarray caused by Portugal's arrival in India and Southeast Asia primed the East Indies for later European domination through the Dutch and the British.