Portuguese India

Portuguese India, name once used for those parts of India which were under Portuguese rule from 1505 to December 1961. Portuguese India consisted of several isolated tracts: (1) the territory of Goa with the capital, a considerable area in the middle of the west coast of India; (2) Damão, or Daman, with the separated territories of Dadrá and Nagar Haveli, north of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and lying between the Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat; (3) Diu with Pani Kota Island on the southern coast of the Kathiawar Peninsula in Gujarat state.

The total area under Portuguese control was 1,619 square miles (4,193 sq km). Goa accounted for the bulk of Portuguese India in terms of both territory and population. For judicial purposes, the province of Goa also included Macau in China and Timor in the Malay Archipelago. Portuguese India formed a single administrative province under a governor-general and a single ecclesiastical province subject to the archbishop of Goa, who was also primate of the East.

The age of “Golden Goa”

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The voyages of Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama (1497–99, 1502–03, 1524) opened the sea route from western Europe to Asia by way of the Cape of Good Hope. For almost a century (1500–1600), the Portuguese held a monopoly on European exploration and trade in the Indian Ocean. Portuguese interests on the west coast of India were largely determined by sailing conditions, and in Goa they found a defensible island site with excellent harbour facilities on either side.

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Goa was Portugal’s first territorial possession in Asia, captured by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510, and it served as the main Portuguese base in the East for four and a half centuries. Albuquerque had intended Goa to be a colony and a naval base, as distinct from the fortified factories which had been established in certain Indian seaports. He encouraged his men to marry indigenous women and to settle in Goa as farmers, retail traders, or artisans. These men and their descendants soon became a privileged caste, and Goa acquired a large Eurasian population. Albuquerque and later colonial administrators left almost untouched the customs and constitutions of the 30 village communities on the island; only the rite of suttee was abolished. A register of these customs, Alfonso Mexia’s Foral dos usos e costumes (1526; “Charter of Usages and Customs”), is a historical document of much value.

As the capital of Portugal’s eastern empire, Goa was granted the same civic privileges as Lisbon. Its senate, or municipal chamber, maintained direct communications with the king and paid a special representative to attend to its interests at court. In 1563 the governor even proposed to make Goa the seat of a parliament, in which all parts of the Portuguese East were to be represented; this was vetoed by the king. In 1542 St. Francis Xavier noted the architectural splendour of the city, which reached the climax of its prosperity between 1575 and 1625. The splendour of Goa Dourada (“Golden Goa”) inspired the Portuguese proverb, “He who has seen Goa need not see Lisbon.” Merchandise from all parts of the Portuguese empire was displayed in Goa’s bazaar, and separate streets were set aside for the sale of different classes of goods: pearls and coral from Bahrain, Chinese porcelain and silk, Portuguese velvet and finished textiles, and medicines and spices from the Malay Archipelago. In the main street, slaves from Portugal’s African colonies were sold at auction. The houses of the rich were surrounded by gardens and palm groves; they were built of stone and painted red or white. Instead of glass, their balconied windows had thin polished oyster shells set in latticework.

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The social life of Goa reflected its status as the headquarters of the viceregal court, the army and navy, and the church, but ostentatious luxury had extended far beyond the upper classes before the end of the 16th century. Almost all manual labour was done by slaves, and common soldiers assumed high-sounding titles. It was customary for poor noblemen to hold in common a few silken cloaks, a silken umbrella, and a common manservant so that each could take his turn to promenade the streets, fashionably attired and with a proper escort. There were huge gambling saloons, licensed by the municipality, where determined players lodged for weeks together.

Elsewhere in India, the Portuguese had constructed a fort at Diu, an important port that commanded the commercial and pilgrimage routes between India and the Middle East. By the mid-1550s all Gujarati ships entering and leaving the Gulf of Khambhat were being required to pay Portuguese duties at Diu. In 1559 the Portuguese occupied Daman (Damão), a port that they had sacked and burned almost 30 years earlier. The late 16th century would mark the apex of Portugal’s power in western India and adjacent sea lanes.

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