The Portuguese: Beginning of European Commerce | History for UPSC CSE PDF Download

The Portuguese

• From very early times, India carried on an extensive trade with Europe. It was rudely interrupted by the rise of the Saracens and afterwards by the Ottaman empire. 
• To Portugal belongs the credit of finding new routes to India. 
• In 1497 Vasco-da-Gama sailed from Lisbon, doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and sailing north-east enchored off Calicut in 1498 A.D. 
  Vasco da Gamma
• The Cape of Good Hope had been discovered ten years earlier (1487 A.D.) by Bartholomew Diaz. 
• The Raja of Calicut, known as the Zamorin, welcomed Vasco-da-Gama and received him graciously. From Calicut he sailed for Cochin and established a factory there.
• In order to consolidate the position of the Portuguese in India and to destroy Muslim trade by seizing Aden, Ormuz and Malacca, the king of Portugal (1505 A.D.) decided to appoint a governor in India for a three years term with a sufficient force to protect the Portuguese settlements there.
• Francisco de Amedia was appointed to this post with special instructions to erect fortresses at Kilwa, Anjadiva, Kannanur and Cochin. 
• He won several victories and made the Portuguese power supreme in the Indian Ocean. 
• He was totally against the idea of establishing a Portuguese empire in the East. This policy is known as the “Blue Water Policy”.
• Almedia was succeeded by Alfonso de Albuquerque (1509 A.D.). Albuquerque is regarded as the real founder of Portuguese power in India. 
  Alfonso-de- Albuquerque
• He wanted to make Goa the headquarter of the Portuguese in India. 
• In November 1510 A.D. he captured Goa, a rich port which then belonged to the sultan of Bijapur. 
• Bitter persecution of Muslims was one serious drawback of Albuquerque’s policy. 
• During his rule Albuquerque did his best to strengthen the fortifications of Goa and enhance its commercial importance.
• The next important Portuguese viceroyality in India was Nino da Cunha who reached India in November 1529 A.D. 
• Early in the following year he shifted the headquarters of his government from Cochin to Goa. 
• When Humayun came into conflict with Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, the latter enlisted Portuguese support by ceding to them the island of Bassein. 
• During Cunha’s viceroyalty attempts were also made to extend Portuguese influence in Bengal by settling many Portuguese there with Hooghly as their headquarters. 
• Gracia de Noronha succeeded Nino de Cunha as the Portuguese governor in India (1538 A.D.). 
• Gradually the Portuguese established other important settlements in India: Daman, Salsette, Chaul near Bombay, St. Thome near Madras and Hooghly in Bengal. They also extended their authority over the greater part of Ceylon. 
• The arrival in India of the famous Jesuit saint Francis Xavier in the company of the Portuguese governor Martin Alfonso de Sousa in 1542 A.D. was an event of great significance, since it marked the beginning of ‘ecclesiastical supremacy’ in Portuguese India.

The Dutch

• Cornelis de Hustman was the first Dutchman who, after doubling the Cape of Good Hope, reached Sumatra and Bantam in 1596 A.D. 

• This gave the Dutch much encouragement for further enterprise, and within a few years new companies for the Indian trade were formed. 
• These were amalgamated by the State-General with the grant of a charter, dated 20th March, 1602 A.D., into the United East India Company of Netherland. 
• The company was also empowered to carry on war, to conclude treaties, to take possession of territory and to erect fortresses. 
• The Dutch captured Amboyna from the Portuguese in 1605 A.D., and displaced them from the Spice Islands in 1619 A.D. 
• Commerce drew the Dutch to India also, where they established factories on the Coromondal Coast in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Bihar.
• Their principal factories  were at Pulicat (1610 A.D.), Surat (1616 A.D.), Bimlipatam (1641 A.D.), Chinsura (1653 A.D.), Baranagore, Kasimbazar, Patna, Nagapatam and Cochin.
• The Dutch gained monopoly of the spice trade in the East throughout the 17th century. They carried from India to the islands of the Far East various articles such as indigo manufactured in the Yamuna valley, textile and silk from Bengal, Gujarat and Coromondal, Saltpetre from Bihar and opium and rice from the Ganga valley. 
• While the Dutch were drawn more and more to the Malay Archipelago, the English concentrated their attention on India. Defeat in the battle near Hooghly dealt a crushing blow to Dutch ambitions in India.