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TH E NEW CAMBRIDGE HISTORY

O F INDI A

The Portuguese in India

TH E NE W CAMBRIDG E HISTOR Y

O F INDI A

General editor GORDO N JOHNSO N

Director, Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Selwyn College

Associate editors C . A . BAYL Y

Smuts Reader in Commonwealth Studies, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of St Catharine's College

and JOH N F . RICHARD S

Professor of History , Duke University

Althoug h th e origina l Cambridge History of India, publishe d betwee n 1922 and 1937, di d muc h t o formulat e a chronolog y for India n histor y and describ e th e administrativ e structure s of governmen t in India , it has inevitabl y bee n overtake n b y th e mass of ne w researc h publishe d over th e last fifty years . Designe d t o tak e full accoun t of recen t scholarshi p and changing conception s of Sout h Asia' s historica l development , The New Cambridge History of India will be publishe d as a series of short , self-containe d volumes , each dealing wit h a separat e them e and writte n b y a single person Withi n an overall four-part structure , thirt y complementary volumes in uniform format will be publishe d durin g th e nex t five years As before , each will conclud e wit h a substantia l bibliographica l essay designed t o lead non-specialist s furthe r int o th e literature .

Th e fou r part s planne d are as follows :

I The Mughals and their Contemporaries

I I Indian States and the Transition t o Colonialism.

Il l The Indian Empire and the Beginnings of Modern Society.

IV The Evolution of Contemporar y South Asia.

A list of individual titles in preparation will be found at the end of the volume.

TH E NE W CAMBRIDG E

HISTOR Y O F

INDI A

I • 1

The Portuguese in India

M . N . PEARSO N

SCHOO L OF HISTORY , UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

The right of the University of Cambridge to print and sell all manner of books was granted by Henry VIII in 1534. The University has printed and published continuously since 1584.

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSIT Y PRESS

CAMBRIDG E

NEW YORK PORT CHESTE R

MELBOURNE SYDNEY

Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY IOOII , USA 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia

© Cambridge University Press 1987

First published 1987 Reprinted 1990

British Library cataloguing in publication data

Pearson, M. N . The Portuguese in India. — (New Cambridge History of India)

1 Portuguese — India — History I Title 9 H DS498

Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data Pearson, M. N . (Michael Naylor, 1941The Portuguese in India (New Cambridge History of India) Bibliography. Includes index

1. Portuguese — India — History. 2. Goa, Daman and Diu (India) - History. I. Title. II . Series.

DS498.7.P36 1987 954'.004691 86—17100

Transferred to digital printing 2004

Frontispiece: Mughal album painting of a European, about 15 90 London, Victoria and Albert Museum

CONTENT S

General editor's preface

Preface

Rulers of Portugal 1385—1910

Viceroys and governors of Portuguese India 1505—1961

Glossary

Maps

Introductio n

1 Th e Portugues e arrival in Indi a

2 Th e system in operatio n

3 Evaluatio n of th e official system

4 Indo-Portugues e society

5 Catholics and Hindu s

6 Declin e and stagnatio n

7 Towar d reintegratio n

Bibliographical essay

Index

GENERA L EDITOR' S PREFAC E

The New Cambridge History of India covers th e period from th e beginnin g of th e sixteent h century . In some respects it mark s a radical change in th e style of Cambridg e Histories , bu t in other s th e editor s feel tha t they are workin g firmly withi n an established academic tradition .

Durin g th e summe r of 1896 , F . W . Maitlan d and Lord Acto n between the m evolved th e idea for a comprehensive moder n history . By th e end of th e year th e Syndics of th e Universit y Press had committe d themselves t o th e Cambridge Modern History, and Lord Acto n had been pu t in charge of it . I t was hoped tha t publicatio n would begi n in 1899 and be complete d by 1904 , bu t th e first volum e in fact came ou t in 1902 and th e last in 1910 , wit h additiona l volumes of tables and maps in 1911 and 1912

Th e History was a grea t success, and it was followed by a whole series of distinctiv e Cambridg e Historie s covering Englis h Literature , th e

Ancien t World , India , Britis h Foreign Policy, Economic History , Medieval History , th e Britis h Empire , Africa, Chin a and Latin America ; and even now othe r new series are bein g prepared . Indeed , th e various Historie s have given th e Press notabl e strengt h in th e publicatio n of general reference books in th e art s and social sciences.

Wha t has mad e th e Cambridg e Historie s so distinctiv e is tha t they have never been simpl y dictionarie s or encyclopedias. Th e Historie s have, in H . A. L. Fisher's words , always been 'writte n by an army of specialists concentratin g th e latest results of special study' . Yet as Acto n agreed wit h th e Syndics in 1896 , they have not been mere compilation s of existin g materia l bu t origina l works . Undoubtedl y many of th e Historie s are uneven in quality , some have become ou t of dat e very rapidly , bu t thei r virtu e has been tha t they have consistentl y done more tha n simpl y record an existin g stat e of knowledge : they have tende d t o focus interes t on research and they have provide d a massive stimulu s t o further work . Thi s has mad e thei r publicatio n doubl y worthwhil e and has distinguishe d the m intellectuall y from othe r sorts of reference book . Th e editor s of th e New Cambridge History of India have acknowledged thi s in thei r work .

GENERA L EDITOR' S PREFAC E

Th e origina l Cambridge History of India was publishe d between 1922 and 1937 . I t was planne d in six volumes , bu t of these , volum e 2 dealin g wit h th e perio d between th e first centur y A.D . and th e Musli m invasion of Indi a never appeared. Some of th e materia l is stil l of value , bu t in many respects i t is now ou t of date Th e last fifty years have seen a grea t deal of new research on India , and a strikin g feature of recent work has been t o cast doub t on th e validit y of th e quit e arbitrar y chronological and categorical way in whic h India n histor y has been conventionally divided .

Th e editor s decided tha t i t would no t be academically desirable t o prepar e a new History of India usin g th e traditiona l format. Th e selective natur e of research on India n histor y over th e pas t half-century would doom such a project from th e star t and th e whole of Indi a history could no t be covered in an even or comprehensive manner . They concluded tha t th e best scheme would be t o have a History divide d int o four overlappin g chronological volumes , each containin g abou t eigh t shor t books on individua l theme s or subjects . Althoug h in exten t th e work wil l therefore be equivalen t to a dozen massive tomes of th e traditiona l sort , in form th e New Cambridge History of India will appear as a shelf full of separate bu t complementar y parts . Accordingly , th e mai n divisions ar e betwee n I . The Mughals and their Contemporaries, II . Indian States and the Transition to Colonialism, III The Indian Empire and the Beginnings of Modern Society, an d IV The Evolution of Contemporary South Asia.

Jus t as th e books withi n these volumes are complementar y so too do they intersec t wit h each other , bot h thematicall y and chronologically As th e books appear they are intende d t o give a view of th e subject as i t now stand s and t o act as a stimulu s t o further research. W e do not expect th e New Cambridge History of India t o be th e last word on th e subject bu t an essential voice in th e continuin g discourse abou t it .

PREFAC E

Indo-Portugues e histor y is stil l so small a speciality tha t people ten d t o co-operate . For useful discussions, and/o r lettin g me read unpublishe d work , I wan t t o thank : Rudolp h Bauss; C. R . Boxer; Gervaise ClarenceSmith ; Ashi n Das Gupta ; Teotoni o R . de Souza; A . R. Disney; Ja n Heesterman ; Caroline Ifeka; Ja n Kieniewicz; Stella MascarenhasKeyes; R . S. Newman ; Geoffrey Parker ; Dietma r Rothermund ; Niel s Steensgaard; Sanjay Subrahmanyam ; Joh n Villiers ; Georg e Winius . I' m sure none of the m wil l agree wit h everythin g whic h follows. M . N . PEARSO N

RULERS OF PORTUGAL 1385-191 0

HOUSE OF AVIZ

Joa o I , 1385-143 3

Duarte , 1433- 8

Affonso V , 1438-8 1

Joa o II , 1481-9 5

Manuel I , 1495—1521

Joa o III , 1521-5 7

Sebastian, 1557—78

Henry , 1578—80

HOUSE OF SPANISH HABSBURGS

Phili p II (I of Portugal) , 1580-9 8

Phili p II I (II of Portugal) , 1598-162 1

Phili p IV (III of Portugal) , 1621-4 0

HOUS

E O F BRAGANCJA

Joa o IV , 1640—56

Affonso VI , 1656-6 7

Pedr o II , 1667—1706

Joa o V , 1706—50

Jose , 1750-7 7

Maria I , 1777—92

Joa o VI , 1792—1826

Pedr o IV , 1826-3 4

Miguel , 1828—34

Maria II , 1834—53

Pedro V , 1853-6 1

Luis I , 1861—89

Carlos I , 1889—1908

Manuel II , 1908-1 0

VICEROY S AN D GOVERNOR S OF PORTUGUES E INDI A 1505-196 1

All viceroys were also governors. Thus the serial number refers to governorships; those governors who were further honoured by being called viceroys have an asterisk. Gaps in the sequence, as between numbers 53 and 54, are because in these years there was a Council of Government. With a few exceptions, I have not includedtitles.

1* Francisc o d e Almeida , 1505- 9

2 Afonso d e Albuquerque , 1509—15

3 Lopo Soares d e Albergaria , 1515-1 8

4 Diog o Lopes d e Sequeira , 1518-2 2

5 Duart e d e Meneses , 1522—4

6 * Vasco d a Gama , 152 4

7 Henriqu e d e Meneses , 1524—6

8 Lop o Vaz d e Sampaio , 1526- 9

9 Nun o d a Cunha , 1529-3 8

10 * Garci a d e Noronha , 1538-4 0

11 Esteva o d a Gama , 1540—2

12 Marti m Afonso d e Sousa, 1542- 5

13 * Joa o d e Castro , 1545- 8

14 Garci a d e Sa, 1548- 9

15 Jorg e Cabral , 1549-5 0

16 * Afonso d e Noronha , 1550- 4

17 * Pedr o Mascarenhas , 1554- 5

18 Francisc o Barreto , 1555- 8

19 * Constantin o d e Bragan^a , 1558—61

20 * Francisc o Coutinho , 1561—4

2 1 Joa o d e Mendon^a , 156 4

22 * Anta o d e Noronha , 1564- 8

23 * Lui s d e Ataide , 1568-7 1

24 * Antoni o d e Noronha , 1571- 3

2 5 Antoni o Moni z Barreto , 1573- 6

2 6 Diog o d e Meneses , 1576—8

27 * Luis d e Ataide , 1578-8 1

VICEROY S AND GOVERNOR S 1505-196 1

28 Fernao Teles de Meneses, 1581

29 * Francisco Mascarenhas, 1581—4

30 * Duart e de Meneses, 1584—8

31 Manuel de Sousa Coutinho , 1588—91

32 # Matias de Albuquerque , 1591—7

33 * Francisco da Gama , 1597—1600

34 * Aires de Saldanha, 1600—5

35 * Marti m Afonso de Castro, 1605- 7

36 Frei Aleixo de Meneses, 1607- 9

37 Andre Furtado de Mendonga, 1609

38 * Rui Lourenc:o de Tavora, 1609-1 2

39 * Jeronim o de Azevedo, 1612—17

40 * Joao Coutinho , 1617-1 9

4 1 Fernao de Albuquerque , 1619-2 2

42 * Francisco da Gama , 1622- 8

4 3 Frei Luis de Brito e Meneses, 1628—9

44 * Miguel de Noronha , Conde de Linhares, 1629—35

45 * Pero da Silva, 1635- 9

4 6 Antoni o Teles de Meneses, 1639—40

47 # Joao da Silva Telo e Meneses, 1640- 5

48 * Filipe Mascarenhas, 1645-5 1

49 * Vasco Mascarenhas, Conde de Obidos , 1652—3

50 * Rodrigo Lobo da Silveira, 1655—6

51 Manuel Mascarenhas Homem , 1656

52 * Antoni o de Melo e Castro, 1662—6

53 * Joao Nune s da Cunha , 1666—8

54 * Luis de Mendonc^a Furtado e Albuquerque , 1671—7

55 * Pedro de Almeida Portugal , 1677- 8

56 * Francisco de Tavora, 1681- 6

57 Rodrigo da Costa, 1686-9 0

58 Miguel de Almeida, 1690- 1

59 * Pedro Antoni o de Noronh a de Albuquerque , 1692- 8

60 * Antoni o Luis Gongalves da Camara Coutinho , 1698-170 1

6i # Caetano de Melo e Castro, 1702—7

62 * Rodrigo da Costa, 1701-1 2

63 * Vasco Fernandes Cesar de Meneses, 1712—17

64 Sebastiao de Andrade Pessanha, 1717

65 * Luis Carlos Inacio Xavier de Meneses, 1717—20

66* Francisco Jose de Sampaio e Castro, 1720- 3 xiv

VICEROY S AN D GOVERNOR S 1505-196 1

67 Cristovao de Melo , 1723

68 * Joa o de Saldanha da Gama , 1725—32

69 * Pedr o Mascarenhas, 1732—41

70 * Luis Carlos Inacio Xavier de Meneses, 1741- 2

71 * Pedr o Migue l de Almeid a Portugal , 1744—50

72 * Francisco d e Assis d e Tavora, 1750—4

73 * Luis Mascarenhas, 1754- 6

74 * Manuel de Saldanha e Albuquerque , 1758—65

7 5 Joa o Jos e d e Melo , 1768-7 4

7 6 Filip e de Valadares Sotomaior, 1774

77 Jos e Pedro da Camara, 1774- 9

7 8 Frederico de Guilherm e de Sousa Holstein , 1779-8 6

7 9 Francisco da Cunh a e Meneses, 1786—94

8 0 Francisco Antoni o da Veiga Cabral da Camara Pimentel , 1794-180 7

8 1 * Bernardo Jos e Maria da Silveira e Lorena, 1807—16

82 * Diog o de Sousa, 1816-2 1

8 3 Manuel da Camara, 1822- 5

84 * Manue l Francisco de Portuga l e Castro , 1826—35 (Prefect) Bernardo Peres da Silva, 1835

85 Simao Infante de la Cerda de Sousa Tavares, 1837- 8

8 6 Jos e Antoni o Vieira da Fonseca, 183 9

87 Manuel Jos e Mendes , 1839-4 0

8 8 Jos e Joaqui m Lopes de Lima, 1840- 2

8 9 Francisco Xavier da Silva Pereira , 1842- 3

9 0 Joaqui m Mourao Garces Palha , 1843—4

9 1 Jos e Ferreira Pestana , 1844-5 1

92 Jos e Joaqui m Januari o Lapa, 1851—5

9 3 Antoni o Cesar de Vasconcelos Correia, 1855—64

9 4 Jos e Ferreira Pestana , 1864—70

95 Januari o Correia de Almeida , 1870- 1

9 6 Joaqui m Jos e de Macedo e Couto , 1871- 5

97 Joa o Tavares de Almeida , 1875- 7

9 8 Antoni o Sergio d e Sousa, 1877- 8

9 9 Caetano Alexandre de Almeid a e Albuquerque , 1878—82

100 Carlos Eugeni o Correia da Silva, 1882—5

101 Francisco Joaqui m Ferreira d o Amaral , 188 6

102 August o Cesar Cardoso de Carvalho, 1886- 9

103 Vasco Guedes de Carvalho e Meneses, 1889-9 1

VICEROYS AND GOVERNOR

S 1505-196 1

104 Francisco Maria da Cunha, 1891

105 Francisco Teixeira da Silva, 1892—3

106 Rafael Jacome Lopes de Andrade, 1893—4

107 Elesbao Jose de Bettencourt Lapa, 1894- 5

108 Rafael Jacome Lopes de Andrade, 1895- 6

109* Infante Dom Afonso Henriques , 1896

n o Joaquim Jose Machado, 1897-1900 in Eduardo Augusto Rodrigues Galhardo, 1900—5

112 Arnaldo Nogueira Novais Guedes Rebelo, 1905- 7

113 Jose Maria de Sousa Hort a e Costa, 1907-1 0

114 Francisco Manuel Couceiro da Costa, 1910—17

115 Jose de Freitas Ribeiro, 1917-1 9

116 Augusto de Paiva Bobela da Mota, 1919

117 Jaim e Alberto de Castro Morais, 1919—25

118 Mariano Martins , 1925- 6

119 Acursio Mendes da Rocha Dinis , 1926

120 Pedro Francisco Massano de Amorim , 1926- 9

121 Alfredo Pedro de Almeida, 1929

122 Joao Carlos Craveiro Lopes, 1929-3 6

123 Francisco Higin o Craveiro Lopes, 1936- 8

124 Jose Ricardo Pereira Cabral, 1938-4 5

125 Jose Silvestre Ferreira Bossa, 1945- 8

126 Fernando Quintanilh a e Mendonga Dias, 1948-5 2

127 Paulo Benard Guedes, 1952- 8

128 Manuel Antonio Vassalo e Silva, 1958-6 1

GLOSSAR Y

This glossary is intended solely for the convenience of readers of this book. It makes no claim to being authoritative; nor does it cover all possible meanings of all the words; nor is it a work of linguistic reference.

aforamento alvard

araq bhakti cafila

Camara carreira da India cartaz

Casa da India casado

castico chettyar

choli

Christdo-Novo colecta

Conselho da Fazenda cruzado descendente

dhoti

Estado da India fidalgo foro

gaunkar hajj

Indiatico

jama masjid

juiz

keling

quit-ren t

royal order or decree

spiri t distille d from palm s

Hind u devotionalis m convoy municipa l council

Lisbon—Goa roun d tri p passport ; licence

Indi a House , in Lisbon marrie d man ; householder Portugues e bor n in Indi a membe r of Coromande l Hind u merchan t communit y Hind u blouse

Ne w Christian ; a convert from Judais m tax on food

financial council coin wort h 40 0 reis, abou t 4 Englis h shilling s mixed blood ; mestizo

Hind u mal e nether-garmen t th e Portugues e stat e in Indi a a noble or gentleman ; 'son of somebody' land revenue land controlle r

Musli m pilgrimag e t o Mecca Portugues e born in Indi a congregationa l mosqu e judg e

Tamil-speakin g Hind u

mestizo ndo

padroado pan pandit paroe quintal reinol rendas roteiro ryotwari

satyagraha

Senado da Cdmara soldado sudra taluka tanador-mor vania

vedor da fazenda zamorin

GLOSSARY

Eurasian; a person of Indo-Portugues e ancestry large shi p patronag e bete l leaf

Hind u teacher light , oared boat

abou t i hundredweigh t (5 1 kgms ) Portugues e bor n in Portuga l tax-farming contract s rutter ; navigationa l guid e Hind u system unde r whic h th e stat e takes a proportio n of th e actual productio n of every cultivatin g family

'trut h force'; Gandhia n pacifist resistance municipa l council soldier; an unmarrie d ma n botto m grou p in th e Hind u caste hierarchy distric t

overseer

membe r of Gujara t Hind u or Jai n merchan t communit y chief financial official

titl e of th e ruler of Calicu t

Malindi Mombasa

GUJARAT

Diu">Dama n BENGAL Hughli Mocha Aden

Bay of Bengal SaoThome Arabian Sea (\CEYLON Colombo\J SR I LANKA ) Macassar DUTCH EAST INDIES (INDONESIA) imor

Map i . Th e Portugues e and Asia

PHILIPPINES
INDIAN

'Lahor e M U G H A L • Delhi •Agr a

E M P I R E

Ahmadabad Cambay

L Hughlil

G O LCO N D A

VI J AYANAGA R

Honavary^

BhatkalW * VIJAYAZ NAGAR

Mangalore

Cannanore

Cochin

Quilon

SaoThome

Cape Comonn I \ C E Y L O N Colombow I \ J

Ma p 2 Th e Portugues e and Indi a

500 km - i 30 0 miles

I L H A S

Ma p 3 . Goa

BENGA
BARDE S

INTRODUCTION

Portuga l is th e oldest territoria l stat e in Europe ; Indi a is one of th e world' s newer nations . Ye t ironically histor y is muc h mor e important , and controversial , for Portugues e tha n for Indians . I t is tru e tha t historical writin g played a role in th e India n nationa l movement , for some of th e writin g of th e first half of th e twentiet h centur y was designe d t o foster patriotis m and pride . Today however Indian s are commendabl y relaxed abou t thei r history , as can be seen in vigorous controversies over historica l matter s in whic h i t seems tha t all possible point s of view can be , and are , presented . These debate s are intellectual ; th e validit y of th e India n natio n is no t dependen t on th e outcome . Thi s has usually no t been th e case in Portugal ; too often thei r histor y has had presen t politica l meanings . Rober t Southey visite d Portuga l in 1796 , and 1800—1, enjoyed himself, and spen t years workin g on a huge , and never completed , histor y of Portugal I t was goin g t o be a wonderful book:

I believe no history has ever yet been composed that presents such a continuous interest of one kind or another as this would do, if I should live to complete it . The chivalrous portion is of the very highest beauty; much of what succeeds has a deep tragic interest; and then comes the gradual destruction of a noble national character, brought on by the cancer of Romish superstition. (Quoted in Rose Maccaulay, They Went to Portugal, London, 1946, p . 164)

I n Portuga l histor y is indeed of interest , no t only t o historian s bu t also t o th e general populatio n and especially t o th e governin g elite . A famous savant wrot e in 189 8 tha t 'Perhap s one could say tha t th e memory of and prid e in those past time s of real althoug h transitor y greatness is stil l today one of th e mai n bond s of our nationalism , one of th e thing s whic h fortified, and stil l fortifies, us in those hard time s whic h we later passed through ' (Conde de Ficalho , Viagens de Pedro da Covilham, Lisbon, 1898 , pp . vi-vii) . Al l thi s was exacerbated durin g th e Salazar-Caetan o period . Histor y joined religio n as an opiate . I t was blatantl y used for presen t politica l purposes Portuga l trie d t o retai n her colonies, disingenuousl y renamed overseas provinces . A n importan t bolste r was th e claim tha t all were equal in Portugal , bot h metropolita n

THE PORTUGUESE IN INDIA

and overseas Th e criterio n was no t race bu t degree of'civilization' I n a dictatorshi p where contro l over informatio n was give n a hig h priority , historian s were enliste d t o prove thi s claim for th e past I n a countr y lik e Portugal , small , insignificant, thank s t o D r Salazar th e poorest in Europe , histor y was used t o foster prid e and unity

Since 1974 it has been possible for Portugues e t o writ e wha t they like abou t thei r past and some have availed themselves of thi s opportunity . Ye t amon g all classes and politica l tendencies , Portugal' s pas t is stil l seen as 'important' , and usually stil l as one in whic h th e countr y can tak e pride .

Th e aim of my book is , naturally , t o assess th e influence or impac t of th e Portugues e on India . Thi s is an ambitiou s and difficult task ; i n particular , sweeping generalization s mus t be avoided. Rathe r we need , as they say, t o 'disaggregat e th e data' . Whe n thi s is done , we find Portugues e influence varying very widely , rangin g from massive t o minuscul e according t o thre e criteria : time , place and category (for example , social, religious , economic , political) . A t a particula r time , in a specified place , we may find a substantia l Portugues e impac t on a particula r category of India n life; change one or more of these criteri a (say a different tim e or place) and th e influence may well decrease t o a considerable extent .

Th e conclusion , if I may anticipat e th e centra l finding of thi s book , is tha t i n many areas th e Portugues e impac t was minor ; in a few i t was substantial . Overall ther e was muc h mor e co-operatio n and interactio n tha n dominance . Let thi s not be misunderstood . Thi s conclusion was reached on th e basis of th e evidence before me , and also, I believe, reflects an emergin g consensus amon g specialists in th e field. For those like myself who thin k in th e mos t general way tha t i t is 'wrong ' for one grou p of peopl e t o impose thei r values, thei r politica l control , on others , th e them e of thi s book wil l correctly be seen as one which is positive towards th e Portugues e imperia l effort True , thei r leaders hoped t o produc e major change in India ; mos t of th e tim e they failed, and this , even if inadvertently , mad e thei r empir e muc h less deleteriou s tha n th e later mor e complet e achievement of th e British . Needless t o say, my conclusions are in no way influenced by anti-Portugues e or anti-Catholi c feeling (whatever these tw o term s may mean) . Several Englis h author s in th e late nineteent h centur y wrot e books which criticized th e Portugues e on invalid grounds , ground s whic h showed thei r own ethnocentris m (as indeed di d Rober t Southey).

INTRODUCTION

Ther e is a vast difference between racist attack s on th e Portuguese , and a dispassionate investigatio n of thei r imperia l career in India Thi s book attempt s th e latter

C. R . Boxer said tha t his classic Portuguese Seaborne Empire (London, 1969) was 'th e produc t of over forty years' reading , research, reflection and publicatio n on and around it s subject matter ' (p . 392) . I can only claim an interes t goin g back twent y years. As I have trie d t o sum u p wha t I have learn t in thi s time , I have become acutely aware of th e hug e gaps in our knowledge . Thi s is th e case for th e whole perio d from th e end of Spanish rul e over Portuga l in 1640 t o th e end of Portugal' s India n empir e in 1961 . Vast material s are available; so far they have hardly been sifted. I n a book whic h attempt s t o reflect th e existin g stat e of scholarship , thi s wil l explain th e brevity , and no doub t superficiality, of my coverage of thi s later period . Ye t even for th e comparatively well-researched sixteent h centur y ther e are stil l hug e gaps . Consider only Vasco da Gama . W e know almos t nothin g of his early career. O n his fateful voyage i n 1497—8, why di d he (correctly) tak e an outwar d rout e whic h involved a hug e loop far west int o th e Atlantic ? Wh y was he so ill-informed abou t India n condition s tha t he knew nothin g of th e statu s and power of th e opulen t zamorin of Calicut , and persistentl y mistoo k Hinduis m for some sort of devian t Christianity ? All thi s book can do is t o attemp t a synthesis of existin g knowledge . Obviousl y I have draw n heavily on th e work of others , and on my own past efforts. Th e gaps and errors in th e book reflect in par t th e presen t feeble stat e of th e field, in par t my own ignorance .

Tw o guidin g principle s underli e thi s book I t is par t of a series abou t India n history , and by a person whose speciality is India n history ; I hope Indi a is always t o th e fore i n wha t I have written Indeed , I have consciously trie d t o assess th e Portugues e and thei r activitie s from an India n angle , rathe r tha n from a European one Thu s in th e centra l and crucial matte r of evaluatin g th e Portugues e impac t on India , I have t o some exten t discounte d large claims mad e the n and now by Portugues e and othe r European authors , and been more influenced by th e very silence of India n records on th e whole presence of th e Portuguese . Ye t I also found i t necessary t o includ e fairly detaile d discussions of wha t may seem t o be purel y Portugues e matters . I di d thi s because I strongl y feel tha t th e Portugues e in Indi a canno t be seen in isolation: thei r actions , policies and prejudices were a resul t of a world view derived from thei r own European milieu . I had t o mak e some attemp t t o describe this . If

THE PORTUGUESE IN INDIA

ther e is too muc h Portuga l and no t enoug h Indi a - and I earnestly hope thi s is no t th e case — the n I mus t fall back on blamin g th e sources Portugues e sources are relatively full, and accessible; India n sources for th e topi c and perio d are neither . Ther e are obvious problem s i n usin g mostl y sources from one side; I hope I have been able t o transcen d th e limitation s of Portugues e records for one intereste d in India n history . My second guidin g principl e was t o be as comparativ e and analytical as possible . Her e also I hope my book makes some contribution , for muc h existin g writin g on th e Portugues e in India , and on th e histor y of early European activitie s in Indi a in general , is antiquaria n in th e extreme . Years of painstakin g work in th e archives produces only an elaboratio n on a politica l narrative , or mor e detail s abou t th e life of some grea t man . I have trie d t o discuss such broad historica l theme s (related , of course, t o th e histor y of th e Portugues e i n India ) as th e natur e of western 'impacts' ; th e peddlin g trad e of Asia; European contac t wit h Asia in wha t Ja n Kieniewicz has called th e 'pre-colonial ' period , tha t is th e perio d (which he extend s throug h mos t of th e eighteent h century ) of European expansion, bu t no t dominatio n ('Contact and Transformation , th e European pre-colonial expansion in th e India n Ocean world-syste m in th e 16th—17th centuries' , Itinerario, VIII , 2 , 1984 , pp . 45-58) ; and even wha t J . H . Plum b called society 'before th e human-conditio n was radically changed by th e growt h of industry ' ('Th e Undersid e of History' , Guardian Weekly, Jul y 1982 , p . 18). Even whe n such theme s are no t overtly stated , they have been in my mind .

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