Portuguese Rule in India

The Portuguese Entry: Trade Disguised as Evangelism

In the grand story of India’s encounter with European powers, the Portuguese were the first actors on the stage. While they came in search of spices and profits, they often cloaked their intentions in the language of religious mission — claiming to spread Christianity in the East. But make no mistake: the real aim was economic monopoly — especially over the lucrative spice trade with Europe.

To achieve this, they didn’t rely on diplomacy alone. The Portuguese often used:

• Brutal naval power
• Piracy
• Plunder, and
• Inhumane cruelties against rivals, especially Arab traders.

✅ Within just 15 years of arrival, they had:

• Weakened the Arab maritime dominance in the Indian Ocean.
• Established their strongholds at key coastal points like:
  • Cochin
  • Goa
  • Diu
  • Daman
• Gradually, they fortified these places and turned them from trade centres into military outposts, making them permanent bases of power.

Rise of European Competition

But by the late 16th century, the Portuguese monopoly came under pressure.

• The Dutch and English merchant companies entered Indian waters with better ships and more efficient business practices.
• Soon after, the French East India Company also arrived, marking the beginning of intense European rivalry in India.

This shift signified a transition from Portuguese dominance to multi-player competition, which would eventually see the British emerge victorious.

👤 Vasco da Gama: The First Link Between Europe and India

Let’s go back to the man who started it all — Vasco da Gama.

• In 1498, his fleet of three ships, guided by a local Gujarati pilot named Abdul Majid, reached the port city of Calicut (now Kozhikode) on the Malabar Coast.
• At that time, Arab merchants controlled most of the Indian Ocean trade.
• The local ruler, Zamorin of Calicut, was not pleased with the Arab monopoly, so he welcomed the Portuguese as a counterbalancing force.

✅ Da Gama stayed for three months, purchased goods like spices, and returned to Portugal with cargo that sold at 60 times the cost of his voyage.
This massive profit was enough to spark a wave of expeditions from Portugal, all eyeing the riches of the East.

⚔️ Arab Resistance and Portuguese Aggression

The Arab traders, naturally, were alarmed. Their business empire was under threat. What followed were years of tension and open conflict between:

• The Arabs, who had traded on the Malabar coast for centuries,
• And the Portuguese, who were aggressive, armed, and determined to replace them.

In 1502, Vasco da Gama returned to India — this time, not as an explorer, but as a military commander.

• He demanded that Zamorin ban Arab merchants, but the Zamorin refused.
• In response, da Gama launched attacks on ships in the Arabian Sea and declared a virtual naval war.

👉 This marked the beginning of Portugal’s violent enforcement of trade monopoly, something new in Indian waters.
Till the 15th century, no foreign merchant had ever demanded exclusive trading rights on Indian shores.

🧭 Pedro Álvares Cabral: Escalating the Conflict

In 1500, another Portuguese navigator, Pedro Álvares Cabral, came to Calicut.

• His mission was to trade in spices and set up a factory (trading post) — the first Portuguese factory in India.
• However, local tensions escalated. The factory was attacked by the locals, and many Portuguese were killed.
• Cabral responded with massive violence:
  • He seized Arab ships,
  • Killed hundreds of their crew,
  • Confiscated cargo, and
  • Burned their ships.

This wasn’t just a business — it was now military colonisation disguised as trade.

👑 Claiming the Indian Ocean: Title and Authority

By 1501, the Portuguese King, Manuel I, openly claimed ownership over vast maritime regions.

He took on a long and grandiose title:

“Lord of Navigation, Conquest, and Trade with Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India.”

This title wasn’t just symbolic — it asserted Portugal’s imperial claims over entire sea zones and foreign lands.

🧠 Did You Know?

• The sea route to India discovered by Vasco da Gama remained the primary maritime route for European-Indian trade until 1869.
• That year, the Suez Canal was opened in Egypt, connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, drastically shortening the travel time between Europe and India.
• But until then, da Gama’s Cape Route via Africa remained the lifeline of global trade.

🔱 Important Portuguese Governors in India

The Portuguese power in India was shaped not by a single person, but by a series of assertive and strategic governors, who laid the foundations of European colonial control in Asia. Here are the most prominent ones:

1. Francisco de Almeida (1505–1509)

He was the first Portuguese governor and viceroy in India, and his vision was naval-based dominance, famously called the “Blue Water Policy.”

🎯 Key Aims:

• To consolidate Portuguese hold in Indian waters.
• To disrupt Muslim maritime trade, particularly targeting:
  • Aden (strategic port in Yemen),
  • Ormuz (Persian Gulf),
  • Malacca (Southeast Asia).

⚔️ Battle of Diu (1509):

• A landmark naval battle where Almeida defeated the combined fleets of:
  • The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt,
  • The Zamorin of Calicut, and
  • The Sultan of Gujarat.

✅ Significance:

• It marked the exit of the Ottomans and Egyptians from the Indian Ocean trade.
• Resulted in Portuguese monopoly over Indian maritime trade for over a century.

🔍 Limitation:
Despite his naval victories, Almeida couldn’t expand territorial control in India. His Blue Water Policy remained more strategic than commercial.

2. Alfonso de Albuquerque (1509–1515)

Now comes the real builder of the Portuguese Empire in India.

✅ Key Contributions:

a) Capture of Goa (1510):

• Took Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur with assistance from the Vijayanagara Empire.
• Established Panaji as a Portuguese factory.

b) Social Integration & Reforms:

• Encouraged Portuguese men to marry Indian women to create a loyal mixed community.
• Banned sati in Goa — a significant early social reform.

c) Strategic Expansion:

• Captured and controlled key Asian maritime ports:
  • Hormuz (Persian Gulf) – 1515,
  • Malacca (Malaya) – 1511,
  • Goa – 1510.

✅ This gave Portugal control over the entire Asian maritime trade route — from the Persian Gulf to Indonesia.

🧾 Cartaze System – Instrument of Trade Control

A trade permit system introduced to control Indian Ocean commerce.

Features:

• Ships needed a pass (Cartaz) to sail in waters not controlled by the Portuguese.
• Ships without Cartaz were confiscated, and crews were punished.
• Specific goods like pepper, cinnamon, horses, lead, etc., were declared Portuguese monopolies.

Motive: Not just trade control — it was a tool of economic imperialism.

⛴️ Cafila System:

• A convoy system for local Indian merchants.
• Merchant ships sailed in groups (Cafila) under Portuguese naval protection.
• While it offered security, it also meant:
  • Revenue for Portuguese customs houses,
  • Surveillance and control over indigenous traders.

3. Nino da Cunha (1529–1538)

Key Contributions:

• Shifted the Portuguese capital from Cochin to Goa in 1530 — making it the permanent base of their Indian operations.

🤝 Relations with Bahadur Shah (Sultan of Gujarat)

• Bahadur Shah ruled Gujarat (1526–1535; 1536–1537).
• After facing a Mughal invasion under Humayun in 1532, he sought Portuguese military help.
• In return, he ceded key coastal regions:
  • Bassein (now Vasai),
  • Daman,
  • Diu, and
  • Bombay (yes, modern Mumbai!).

📜 Treaty of 1534 sealed this alliance.

⚰️ Assassination of Bahadur Shah:

• By 1536, Bahadur Shah regained power, but relations with Portuguese soured.
• In a tragic turn, the Portuguese killed him aboard a ship during a diplomatic negotiation.

🏞️ History of Bassein (Vasai)

Under the Portuguese (1534–1739):

• A Portuguese factory was set up in 1526.
• The Treaty of 1534 gave them full control over Bassein, Thana, Salsette, and Bombay.

Under the Marathas (1739–1802):

• In 1739, under Baji Rao I, Chimaji Appa defeated the Portuguese.
• Marathas captured Salsette and Bassein, ending 200 years of Portuguese rule.

Under the British (Post-1802):

• The British seized Bassein twice (1774 & 1780), but returned it both times.
• Finally, under the Treaty of Bassein (1802) signed by Baji Rao II, it became British territory.
• In 1818, Bassein was absorbed into the Bombay Presidency.

⚔️ Siege of Hooghly (1632) – Mughal Rebuttal of Portuguese Influence

By the early 17th century, the Portuguese had become a menace in Bengal — indulging in:

• Piracy
• Smuggling
• Kidnapping
• Slave trade

🔥 Shah Jahan’s Response:

• In 1632, the Mughal emperor ordered his Bengal governor, Qasim Khan, to act.
• The Mughal army attacked and besieged the Portuguese fort at Hooghly.
• The Portuguese fled, and their influence in Bengal was effectively ended.

🇵🇹 Portuguese Trade and Early Settlement in India

— A Tale of Sea Power, Strategy, and Struggles

To understand how the Portuguese became the first Europeans to establish a trading empire in India, we must first understand the term “factory” in historical context. In modern English, a factory is a place where goods are manufactured. But in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in the colonial context, a factory simply meant a warehouse or a trading post, where merchants stored, bought, and sold goods. It was called so because it was managed by a ‘factor’, or a commercial agent.

⚓ Establishment of Trade Factories

After Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in 1498, the Portuguese gradually established several factories along India’s coastline and in other parts of Asia to facilitate trade.

❖ Their first factory was set up in 1500 at Calicut (present-day Kozhikode, Kerala) in the Malabar region.

However, this didn’t last long. The Zamorin of Calicut (the local ruler) refused to allow the Portuguese to fortify their settlement. As a result, the Portuguese abandoned their efforts in Calicut by 1525.

❖ But they didn’t give up. In the following years, they strategically built a network of trade posts across India:

• Malabar Coast:
  ➤ Cochin
  ➤ Cannanore
  ➤ Quilon
• Konkan Coast (Western Maharashtra):
  ➤ In 1516, a factory was established at Chaul after Burhan Nizam Shah I of Ahmednagar granted permission.
• North-West India (Gujarat Coast):
  ➤ Cambay, Diu, Bassein, Surat, Daman, and Bhavnagar
• Eastern Coast (Coromandel):
  ➤ Masulipatnam, Pulicat, Nagapattinam, and San Thome
• Bengal Region:
  ➤ 1528: First factory at Chittagong, after permission from Mahmud Shah, the Sultan of Bengal
  ➤ Later, factories at Satgaon, Hugli, and Bandel
  ➤ In 1579, with Mughal emperor Akbar’s permission, the Portuguese founded the town of Hugli

📌 Some of the important Portuguese factories were:

• Calicut (1500)
• Cochin (1501)
• Panaji (1510)
• Chittagong (1528)

🌍 What Did They Trade?

Portuguese trade operated on two levels:

• Indo-European trade: Exporting Indian goods to Europe
• Intra-Asian trade: Facilitating trade between India and Southeast Asia

🔹 Key commodities:

• Spices (especially pepper), ginger, cinnamon, cardamom
• Indigo, textiles, ivory, turmeric

➤ From Asia to Europe:

Spices were the most prized exports to Europe — they were literally worth their weight in gold!

➤ Within Asia (Intra-Asian trade):

India exported textiles to Southeast Asia

🪙 But there was a problem.

The Portuguese did not have many goods of their own to exchange in Asia. To solve this, they brought:

• Precious metals, like gold from West Africa
• Silver coins, called rials, minted from American silver

This allowed them to procure pepper and other goods from Asia.

🥭 The Story Behind Alphonso Mango

Here’s a curious cultural connection. The famous Alphonso mango, considered one of the finest mango varieties in the world, is actually named after a Portuguese man named Afonso.

There are two theories:

• It could refer to Afonso de Albuquerque, the famous Portuguese governor-general
• Or possibly to a Portuguese priest Nicolau Afonso

Later, in 1937, during the coronation of King George VI, colonial India even sent baskets of Alphonso mangoes from Bombay’s Crawford Market to London — a symbolic act of showcasing India’s finest fruits to the British Crown.

Even in the 18th century, a Scottish traveller named Alexander Hamilton described Alphonso mangoes as “the wholesomest and best-tasting fruit in the world.”

🌊 The Marakkars: Lords of the Arabian Sea

Trade during this period wasn’t just about profit — it was also about power and naval control. Here enters the story of the Marakkars, a wealthy and influential trading community on the Malabar coast.

🛡️ Initially:

• The Portuguese and Marakkars worked together in trade.

⚔️ But in the 1520s:

• The Portuguese tried to monopolise trade, pushing out competitors.
• The Marakkars resisted and were labeled as pirates by the Portuguese.
• Eventually, the Marakkars aligned with the Zamorin of Calicut against the Portuguese.

⚓ Kunjali Marakkar was the title given to the Admiral of the Zamorin’s naval fleet.

There were four Kunjali Marakkars between 1520 and 1600, who successfully defended the Malabar coast from Portuguese advances. This was India’s first organised naval resistance.

➡️ However, in a twist of betrayal, the last Kunjali Marakkar was captured and executed by the Portuguese with the help of the Zamorin himself in the late 16th century.

🏴 Why Were the Portuguese So Successful?

Despite their brutal methods, the Portuguese managed to dominate Eastern trade for nearly 100 years. Several factors contributed to their success:

✅ Key Reasons:

1. Naval Supremacy
   ➤ Their warships were more advanced than anything seen in Asia.
2. Use of Force with Trade
   ➤ They destroyed Arab ships and challenged Arab dominance in the Indian Ocean.
3. Avoided Mughal Interference
   ➤ Their early settlements were in South India, outside Mughal control.
4. Weak Mughal Navy
   ➤ The Mughals focused on land warfare and neglected naval power.
5. Internal Rivalries Among Indian Rulers
   ➤ For instance, the Portuguese built a fort in Cochin by exploiting the rivalry between the Raja of Cochin and the Zamorin of Calicut.
6. Disciplined Administration
   ➤ Their soldiers and officers were strictly disciplined, allowing for effective control over distant settlements.

See, The story of the Portuguese in India is not just one of ships and spices. It’s a story of strategy, ruthlessness, diplomacy, and cultural exchanges. From setting up the first European factories to resisting native naval forces like the Marakkars, the Portuguese laid the groundwork for future European powers like the Dutch, British, and French.

Their legacy — whether it’s in the form of coastal forts, Indo-Portuguese art, or even Alphonso mangoes — continues to shape India’s historical and cultural landscape even today. Now, let’s move ahead to their decline:

🇵🇹 Decline of Portuguese Rule in India

— The Fall of the First European Power in the East

The story of the Portuguese in India began with great success — they were the first Europeans to establish a colonial and commercial presence in India. But like all empires that rise too fast without structural depth, their downfall was equally rapid and decisive.

Let’s understand the causes, timeline, rivalries, and consequences of their decline.

⬇️ The Beginning of the End (16th Century Onwards)

By the second half of the 16th century, a powerful shift began in European geopolitics:

Rise of New Rivals:

• England, Holland (Netherlands), and France started challenging the dominance of Spain and Portugal in global trade.
• The turning point came in 1580, when Portugal was annexed by Spain, making it a Spanish dependency.

1588: The Fall of Spanish Naval Supremacy

• The English defeated the Spanish Armada, one of the most powerful naval fleets in the world.
• This shattered Spanish control of the seas, giving English and Dutch merchants the confidence to explore the East through the Cape of Good Hope route — the same sea route used by Vasco da Gama in 1498.

Thus began the age of competition in India.

⚔️ Rivalry Among the European Powers

When the Portuguese first arrived, they had complete monopoly over the Eastern trade. But by the 17th century, things began to change:

🏴 Dutch and English traders arrived, followed by the French.

They all wanted to buy the same high-demand goods:

• Spices (pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves)
• Textiles, cotton, silk

But when everyone wants the same thing, what happens?

➡️ Prices rise, profits fall.

This gave rise to fierce commercial competition, which gradually became militarised:

• European companies began attacking rival ships, blockading ports, and fortifying their factories.
• Trade became an armed enterprise.

This was not just trade. It was economic warfare.

⚔️ Portuguese vs English: A Key Rivalry

📍Early 1600s:

The British East India Company began establishing itself in India, which the Portuguese opposed, trying to stop them.

• In 1612, the Portuguese lost Surat to the British.
• In 1615, Thomas Roe, an ambassador of King James I, secured an Imperial Farman from Mughal Emperor Jahangir, granting the British the right to trade freely and set up factories.
• This angered the Portuguese, who engaged in a naval battle in 1620.
• ➤ By 1630, the British had defeated the Portuguese in the western waters.

🎁 1662: The Gift of Bombay

The political decline became more visible when Portugal gifted Bombay to King Charles II of England as dowry for marrying the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza.

This transfer of territory became a symbol of Portugal’s decline and Britain’s rise.

⚔️ Portuguese vs Dutch

The Dutch East India Company (VOC), known for its naval strength and commercial discipline, also challenged the Portuguese.

📍1663:

The Dutch captured all Portuguese forts on the Malabar coast.
➡️ Result: Portuguese were expelled from almost all of South India, except:

• Goa
• Diu
• Daman

🏁 The End of Portuguese Rule

Gradually, the Portuguese Empire in India collapsed, replaced by more efficient and militarily stronger powers:

Empire	Region of Dominance
Dutch	Indonesia
British	India, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), and Malaya

Even after the collapse, Portugal retained limited territories, known as Estado da Índia:

• Goa, Diu, Daman
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli

🛑 1961: Operation Vijay

The Indian government militarily reclaimed these territories in 1961, ending Portuguese colonial rule in India.

✅ So, the Portuguese were both the first to arrive and the last to leave.

⚔️ Who Benefited from the Collapse?

• British and Dutch — gained control over trade and territories
• Marathas — took advantage of weakening Portuguese power

📍1739:

Marathas captured Salsette and Bassein from the Portuguese — further shrinking their footprint in India.

❓Why Could Portugal Not Maintain Its Trade Monopoly?

Reason	Explanation
1. Religious Intolerance	The Portuguese aggressively pushed forcible conversions, which was resented in pluralistic Indian society.
2. Dishonest Trade Practices	Exploitative pricing and deceit hurt their image among local traders.
3. Weak Merchant Lobby	In Portugal, landed aristocrats had more power than merchants — policies didn’t favour long-term trade interests.
4. Lag in Naval Innovation	Portugal started strong but failed to keep up with Dutch and British shipping advancements.
5. Low Population Base	With less than a million people, they didn’t have the manpower to maintain a global empire.
6. Autocratic and Decadent Monarchy	Governance was inefficient and corrupt, leading to administrative decay.
7. Fiscal Crisis	By the late 16th century, the Portuguese faced financial deterioration due to military overspending and poor revenue management.

➡️ In short, aggression without adaptability became their undoing.

🧭 Historical Significance of Portuguese Rule in India

Despite their decline, the Portuguese left a lasting impact on Indian history and global commerce.

✅ Key Contributions:

1. Exclusive Trade Rights
   ➤ First time a foreign power demanded exclusive trading rights from Indian rulers.
2. Commercial Treaties
   ➤ First commercial treaties were signed between Indian rulers and foreign trading companies.
3. Market-Driven Agriculture
   ➤ Indian agriculture began to orient itself toward international markets due to European demand.
4. Military Contributions
   ➤ Introduced European-style infantry drilling, later adopted by the French, British, Marathas, and Sikhs.

So, basically, the Portuguese were pioneers, but not planners.
Their aggression won them territories, but their lack of reform and adaptability led to their fall.

They ruled with might, but were overtaken by those who combined military power with commercial strategy — the Dutch and the British.

Yet, they opened the gates to a new age in Indian history:
The era of European competition for colonial dominance, which would shape India’s destiny for the next three centuries.