Portuguese India, Portuguese Estado da ndia, was the name given to the parts of India that were ruled by the Portuguese from 1505 to December 1961. The first Europeans to discover a direct maritime route to India were the Portuguese. On May 20, 1498, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama arrived in Calicut, an important seaport in South-West India. The local ruler, King Zamorin, welcomed him and conferred some rights on him. The Portuguese's control of the coastal areas and naval dominance aided them greatly. This article will explain to you about the Portuguese which will be helpful in Modern Indian History preparation for the UPSC Civil service exam.

The advent of Portuguese in India

• The spirit of the Renaissance, with its appeal to discovery, captivated Europe in the fifteenth century.
• During this time, Europe achieved significant progress in shipbuilding and navigation.
• As a result, there was a strong desire throughout Europe for daring naval trips to the East's uncharted territories.
• The Portuguese State of India, sometimes known as Portuguese India, was a Portuguese colonial state in the Indian Subcontinent.
• The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in India and the last to go.
• Vasco De Gama was the first Portuguese to set foot in India in 1498. However, Portuguese control in India is considered to have lasted from 1505 until 1961.
• Although Portuguese colonialism outlasted its English counterpart, it had little effect outside of its territories.

Discovery of a Sea Route to India

• Historians have noted that discovering an ocean route to India had become an obsession for Prince Henry of Portugal, known as the 'Navigator,' as well as a method to sidestep the Muslim dominance of the eastern Mediterranean and all the roads connecting India and Europe.
• The kings of Portugal and Spain split the non-Christian world between them in 1497, under the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), by an imaginary line in the Atlantic, about 1,300 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands.
• Portugal could claim and occupy anything to the east of the line, while Spain could claim everything to the west, according to the pact.
• As a result, the scene was set for Portuguese intrusions into the Indian Ocean seas.
• Bartholomew Dias, a Portuguese navigator, crossed the Cape of Good Hope in Africa in 1487 and travelled along the eastern coast, believing that the long-sought maritime path to India had been discovered.
• However, an expedition of Portuguese ships set off for India barely 10 years later (in 1497) and reached India in little less than 11 months, in May 1498.

Timeline of Portuguese power in India

Rise of Portuguese in India

• The northern section of India was considerably split among several petty powers, except Gujarat, which was governed by the mighty Mahmud Begarha (or Begada) from 1458 to 1511.
• The Bahmani Kingdom in the Deccan was dissolving into smaller kingdoms. None of the powers possessed a fleet worth mentioning, and they had no plans to improve their maritime capabilities.
• The Chinese emperor's imperial proclamation limited the nautical reach of Chinese ships in the Far East.
• The Arab merchants and shipowners who had previously controlled the Indian Ocean commerce had nothing on the Portuguese in terms of organisation and cohesiveness. The Portuguese also had guns mounted on their ships.
• Within fifty years after Vasco da Gama's arrival, many of India's coastal areas had fallen under Portuguese control.
• Around Goa, the Portuguese had occupied sixty miles of shoreline.
• They controlled a short strip of land on the west coast from Mumbai to Daman and Diu, as well as the approaches to Gujarat, with four key ports and hundreds of cities and villages.
• They controlled a series of maritime strongholds and commercial ports in the south, including Mangalore, Cannanore, Cochin, and Calicut.
• And, while their power in Malabar was not strong, it was sufficient to exert influence or control over the local kings who controlled the spice-growing region.
• On the east coast, the Portuguese constructed military installations and towns at San Thome (near Chennai) and Nagapattinam (in Tamil Nadu).
• Hooghly in West Bengal had evolved into a rich settlement by the end of the 16th century.

Portuguese Administration in India

• The head of administration was the viceroy who served for three years,with his secretary,in later times,council became important.
• Next important was the Vedor da Fazenda, who was in charge of revenue,cargoes, and dispatch of fleets.
• The fortresses were under captains whose power was increased by the difficulties of communication and were too often used for personal ends.

Religious Policies

• Portuguese were notorious for their intolerance towards other faiths like Hinduism and Islam,Hindus and Muslims were persecuted in Goa to establish dominance of Christianity.
• Akbar sent a letter to the rulers in Goa in 1579, asking for the dispatch of two erudite priests.
• The Church leaders in Goa joyfully accepted the invitation, seeing it as an opportunity to convert the emperor, as well as his court and people, to Christianity.
• Rodolfo Aquaviva and Antonio Monserrate, two Jesuit priests, were chosen for the task. They were greeted with honour when they arrived in Fatehpur Sikri on February 28, 1580.
• In 1583, Aquaviva and Monserrate put to rest the Portuguese expectations of Akbar's conversion to Christianity.
• Akbar's second mission, dispatched in 1590, similarly ended in 1592 on a similar note.
• The third mission, which was once again welcomed by Akbar, arrived at Lahore (where the court was at the time) in 1595 and stayed as a type of permanent institution, expanding its impact on secular politics.
• When Prince Salim took the throne as Jahangir, he placated the Muslims by ignoring the Jesuit priests.
• His short separation from the Jesuits faded with time, and in 1606, he reestablished his ties with them.
• They were permitted to keep the exquisite and large church in Lahore, as well as the collegium, or priests' quarters.
• In 1608, several baptisms were performed in Agra, with priests behaving with as much public freedom as they did in Portugal.
• The Jesuit missionaries grew hopeful of pulling Jahangir into the Christian fold because of his behaviour.
• These expectations, however, were dashed. Furthermore, the Portuguese viceroys' haughty behaviour caused a schism with the Mughal emperor.

Significance of the Portuguese

• Most historians agree that the arrival of the Portuguese not only signalled the beginning of the European age, but also the growth of maritime power.
• The Cholas, for example, had been a maritime force, but this was the first time a foreign power had arrived in India by water.
• The Portuguese ships were armed with cannons, and this was the first step toward securing a monopoly over commerce by threatening or using force.
• The Portuguese used body armour, matchlock soldiers, and weapons landed from ships in the Malabar in the 16th century, demonstrating military innovation.
• On the other hand, a significant military contribution made by the Portuguese onshore was the system of drilling infantry groups, modelled after the Spanish model, which was implemented in the 1630s as a response to Dutch pressure.
• The Portuguese were masters of advanced maritime tactics.
• Their multi-decked ships were strongly built, as they were meant to fight out Atlantic gales rather than run before the regular monsoons, allowing them to carry heavy armament.
• Goa became a centre of complex filigree work, fretted foliage work, and metalwork incorporating diamonds as the silversmith and goldsmith arts thrived.
• Church Architecture: Numerous Churches were built under Portuguese rule.They are famous for their woodwork,sculptures,painted ceilings.They popularised the use of lime mortar and laterite stone in construction activities.
• They introduced several new crops in India including potatoes, tomatoes and chillies.

Vasco Da Gama

• The landing of three ships under Vasco Da Gama to Calicut in May 1498, headed by a Gujarati pilot called Abdul Majid, had a significant impact on Indian history.
• Vasco da Gama spent three months in India.
• When he returned to Portugal, he brought a valuable cargo with him and profitably sold the goods on the European market.
• In 1501 Vasco da Gama returned to India.
• When Vasco Da Gama mixed economic avarice with violent hatred and inflicted revenge on Arab commerce everywhere he could, the Zamorin refused to exclude Arab merchants in favour of the Portuguese.
• At Cannanore, Vasco da Gama established a trading factory.
• Calicut, Cannanore, and Cochin gradually became key Portuguese commerce centres.

Francisco De Almeida

• In 1505, King Ferdinand I of Portugal appointed a three-year governor in India and provided him with adequate troops to preserve Portuguese interests.
• The newly appointed governor, Francisco De Almeida, was tasked with consolidating the Portuguese position in India and destroying Muslim trade by conquering Aden, Ormuz, and Malacca.
• The Portuguese squadron was beaten by the combined Egyptian and Gujarat navies in a naval action off the coast of Diu in 1507, and Almeida's son was killed here.
• The next year, Almeida avenged his defeat by annihilating both navies.
• Almeida's dream was to make Portuguese the master of the Indian Ocean.his policy was known as Blue Water Policy (Cartaz system).
• Blue water policy: Almeida opposed establishing a territorial empire in India, preferring maintaining supremacy at sea and limiting their activities to purely commercial transactions. This is known as the Blue Water Policy.This maritime dominance allowed the Portuguese to establish trade monopoly especially in the lucrative spice trade.

Alfonso de Albuquerque

• Albuquerque, who took over as Portuguese governor of India when Almeida died, was the true creator of Portuguese authority in the East, a mission he finished before his death.
• By creating strongholds commanding all of the sea's exits, he ensured Portugal's strategic control over the Indian Ocean.
• Under Albuquerque's leadership, the Portuguese tightened their grip by instituting a permission system for other ships and exerting control over the region's key shipbuilding centres.
• The eradication of sati was a noteworthy element of his reign.

Nino da Cunha

• In November 1529, Nino da Cunha was appointed governor of Portuguese interests in India, and almost a year later, the Portuguese administration in India moved its headquarters from Cochin to Goa.
• During his struggle with Mughal emperor Humayun, Bahadur Shah of Gujarat enlisted the support of the Portuguese by transferring the island of Bassein, along with its dependents and income, to them in 1534.
• He offered them a base in Diu as well.
• Da Cunha also aimed to enhance Portuguese influence in Bengal by placing a large number of Portuguese nationals in the city of Hooghly.

Decline of the Portuguese

• The governors who succeeded Afonso de Albuquerque were weak and inept, and the Portuguese Empire in India finally fell apart.
• In religious affairs, the Portuguese were intolerant and fanatical. They used coercion to convert the indigenous people to Christianity.
• In this regard, their attitude was vehemently opposed by the people of India, where religious tolerance was the norm.
• The Portuguese administration was more concerned with amassing a fortune for itself, which further alienated the Indian people.
• They were also involved in heinous crimes and defiance of the law. They didn't even hesitate to engage in piracy and plunder. All of these actions culminated in an anti-Portuguese sentiment.
• During the 15th century and the first part of the 16th century, the Portuguese and Spanish had left the English and the Dutch well behind.
• However, throughout the latter part of the 16th century, emerging economic and naval powers England and Holland, and subsequently France launched a determined battle against the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly of international commerce.
• The latter were defeated in this battle. Their authority in India was also diminished as a result of this.
• The Mughal Empire’s and the Marathas' developing influence also made it difficult for the Portuguese to maintain their commercial monopoly in India for long. For example, in c. 1631 CE, they struggled with the Mughal authorities in Bengal and were forced out of their town at Hughli.
• Brazil was found by the Portuguese in Latin America, and they began to pay considerably more attention to it than to their Indian domains.
• When Portugal was annexed by Spain in 1580 CE, Spanish interests took precedence over Portuguese ones, which were later ignored.
• Piracy by the Portuguese brought them into a confrontation with the imperial Mughal authorities.
• The Portuguese outraged Jahangir in 1613 when they captured Mughal ships, imprisoned numerous Muslims, and pillaged the goods.
• The Portuguese's former monopoly on knowledge of the maritime route to India could not last long; the Dutch and English, who were gaining the abilities of ocean navigation, soon learned of it as well.
• As new European commercial groups emerged in India, a strong rivalry arose among them.
• The Portuguese had to give way to the more powerful and innovative rivals in this battle.
• The Dutch and the English had more resources and were more compelled to grow overseas, thus they were able to overcome the Portuguese opposition.

Conclusion

In the numerous wars for the balance of power between Vijayanagara and the Deccan sultans, between Deccan and Mughals, and between Mughals and the Marathas, the Portuguese always played a part. The Portuguese, who were the first Europeans to arrive in India, were also the last to leave. It took until 1961 for the Indian government to reclaim Goa, Daman, and Diu.

GS Mains Questions and Model Answers

Q1: Discuss the role of the Portuguese in the history of European colonization of India and their contributions to Indian society.

Answer: The Portuguese were the first European power to establish a colonial foothold in India, with Vasco da Gama's arrival in 1498 marking the beginning of European colonization. The Portuguese established Goa as their capital and dominated Indian Ocean trade for over a century. They introduced new crops, architectural styles, and were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in India. Their fortifications along the western coast also marked their military strength. However, the Portuguese influence waned with the rise of the Dutch, French, and British in India.

Q2: Analyze the economic impact of Portuguese trade in India and its influence on Indian maritime trade routes.

Answer: The Portuguese monopolized the spice trade, creating an extensive network that linked India with Europe, Africa, and the Far East. Their control over key trade routes in the Indian Ocean disrupted the existing trade networks of Indian merchants and other Asian traders. They introduced a cartaz system, requiring traders to pay for safe passage, thereby generating revenue. This control over trade weakened India’s maritime strength, but it also connected India more directly with global markets, influencing the global trade system.

Q3: Evaluate the cultural and religious impact of Portuguese colonization on Indian society, especially in Goa.

Answer: Portuguese colonization had a profound impact on the culture and religion of Goa. Christianity spread through missionary activities, leading to conversions. Portuguese architecture, cuisine, and festivals were integrated into the local culture, leaving a lasting impact. Goa became a center for Catholicism, with numerous churches, many of which are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Portuguese influence also introduced a new legal system, education, and new crops like cashews and pineapples, which shaped Goan society.

Previous Year Questions on The Portuguese( 1505 - 1961)

1. UPSC CSE Prelims 2018:

Question: The first European power to establish a permanent settlement in India was:

A. Dutch

B. French

C. Portuguese

D. British

Answer: C

Explanation: The Portuguese were the first Europeans to establish a permanent settlement in India, with their capital at Goa, which they captured in 1510.

2. UPSC CSE Mains 2017 (GS Paper 1):

Question: Analyze the impact of Portuguese rule on Indian society and economy.

Answer: The Portuguese had a significant impact on Indian society and economy, especially in Goa. They introduced new architectural styles, foods, and crops like potatoes and tobacco. The spread of Christianity through missionaries led to the conversion of a large number of people in Goa. Economically, the Portuguese dominated Indian Ocean trade, monopolizing the spice trade and creating a robust maritime network. However, their decline began in the 17th century with the arrival of other European powers like the Dutch and British.

3. UPSC CSE Prelims 2017:

Question: Which event marked the end of Portuguese rule in India?

A. Treaty of Versailles

B. India's Independence Act

C. Operation Vijay

D. Transfer of Power in 1947

Answer: C

Explanation: Operation Vijay in 1961 marked the end of Portuguese rule in India when the Indian government reclaimed Goa, Daman, and Diu from Portuguese control.