PORTUGUESE EMPIRE

The rise of the Portuguese Empire is one of the most remarkable stories of the medieval period. The
small state of Portugal had first emerged as an independent kingdom in the early 12 th century as a result
of a victorious crusade against the Moors. During the 15 th and 16th century Portugal was ruled by a
succession of princes of the House of Avis, who extremely ambitious and wanted to expand their
influence outside Europe rather than engage themselves with European conflicts.

The roots of the Portuguese expansion can be traced back to Henry ‘The Navigator’. Prince Henry was
an ambitious ruler who was keen to propagate Christianity in new parts of the world in order to check
the rise of Islam. Thus, the most obvious object of the Portuguese military and commercial expansion
was North-West Africa, where there was a large and prosperous Muslim community. Thus, the earliest
Portuguese discoveries were a by-product of their crusade against Islam, which began with the attack on
Ceuta in 1415 and led them gradually down the coast.

Besides the religious zeal, economic factors also played a major role in the Portuguese colonial
expansion. The Portuguese wanted a larger share in the profitable trade with the east and as they could
not break the monopoly of the Venetians and Genoese in the Mediterranean, they were encouraged to
look for alternative trade routes to the east. Salt and fishing were another reason for Portugal venturing
far out in the Atlantic, and the North-west coast of Africa. Rumours of imaginary, legendary wealth and
treasure also fanned people’s imagination and spirit of adventure.

Ceuta’s capture had initiated the story of Portuguese territorial expansion. Prince Henry was appointed
the governor of Algraves where he established a court where navigators, cartographers etc put their
sea-faring and geographical knowledge at his disposal. Although, he never travelled beyond Ceuta and
Tangiers himself he was always willing to sponsor a number of expeditions to investigate the west coast
of Africa. By 1437, the Portuguese established settlements in the islands off the African coast. They first
settled in Madeira in 1420, failed to capture the Canaries between 1425 and 1427 and finally settled in
Azores after 1430. The voyage round Cape Bojador in 1434 was the first landmark on the African coast.

The African expeditions were proved to be highly profitable when between 1441 and 1446; the
Portuguese ships brought back captured slaves and gold dust thereby confirming the economic
possibilities of the region. Realizing the economic potential of this region Prince Henry ordered the
construction of a Portuguese factory and fortress on Arguim Island.

Following the death of Henry there was a lull in the Portuguese expeditions. However, a treaty with
Castile , the Treaty of Alcavos, was signed in 1479 by which Spain recognized the Portuguese claims to
monopolise the African West Coast and to govern all the Atlantic Islands except the Canaries. The
accession of John II opened a new phase in the expansion of Portugal in which finding a route to India
seems to have become the central feature of the Portuguese overseas policy. John II was determined to
preserve and to extend the Portuguese monopoly over the African trade; he decreed that all foreign
ships interloping on the guinea coast should be sunk or seized. In 1482, another fortress and factory was
established at Elmina on the Bight of Benin and five years later Barthlomew Diaz accidently rounded the
Cape of Good Hope and reached the Mossel Bay on the Indian Ocean. Thus, the path for trade with India
was opened which was fully exploited by Vasco Da Gama in 1498 when he was able to finally land on the
coast of Calicut. This marked the beginning of the Portuguese empire in India. Albuquerque started his
plan of consolidating Portuguese control in India by capturing Goa, which could serve as the naval base
as well as a trading center. Later he succeeded in capturing the Islands of Socotra and Ormuz and in
1511 Malacca. They entered the Chinese port of Canton two years later, thus initiating the lucrative
trade with China which was soon to be based on the Portuguese settlement at Macao, and so opening
the way to the later commerce with Japan. Finally, the Portuguese were able to bring the Spice Islands,
the Moluccas under their control.

In the meanwhile in 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed between Spain and Portugal which
divided the non-Christian world between the two nation states. An imaginary line was drawn in the
Atlantic which was 1300 miles west of Cape Verde Islands. According to this treaty Portugal could
occupy territories to the east of this line and Spain to the west of this line. Later Portugal was able to lay
seize on the whole of Brazil as well.

As the Portuguese Empire was scattered all over the world they chose two models. The Portuguese
Eastern Empire consisted of small trading settlements and naval bases, containing little territory and few
permanent settlers, whose function was to organize a lucrative trade in local products or manufacturers.
It was a commercial and not a settlement empire. On the other hand, in Brazil the first ‘plantation’
colony, a small European minority settled permanently and tried to reproduce their metropolitan
civilization as Spain did in ‘mixed’ colonies. Since Brazil lacked a docile indigenous labour force, the
Portuguese had to import slaves from Africa.

The Portuguese plan in the East was not one of mere commercial competition. The object of the
Portuguese colonization was not the possession of the Indies but the trade of the Indies. The Portuguese
system was based on forts and garrison which could save them from native opposition. As a result of
their scanty population they did not have enough men for defense so their forts were strategically
located. They never intended to engage in production or manufacture but only wanted to ensure that
the King of Portugal was the only merchant trading between India and Europe.

Albuquerque established the monopoly of the spice trade in the hands of the Portuguese crown through
his navicert system. By this system only those ships carrying certificates from the captain of the
Portuguese port was free from molestation. His depredation against Arab spice shipments raised the
prices which the Venetians had to pay at Alexandria. The Portuguese at Ceuta could also close the Straits
of Gibraltar to Venetian ships if they chose. Thus, spices and other valuable cargoes meant for Europe by
sea were soon confined to Portuguese ships and carried via cape brought great profit to the Portuguese.

Three features were characteristic of the Portuguese Eastern Empire. The empire was a highly
autocratic one where the crown never delegated control of the bases to the private companies. The
Crown directly controlled all its possessions and the viceroy and the council, which were appointed by
the king had authority over all the eastern bases and they heard appeals in criminal and civil cases. Goa
possessed full Portuguese colonial administration but subordinate territories had a simpler government
consisting of a captain, aided by a few civilians, military officials and a royal judge. A number of councils
were set up which owed allegiance to the crown and looked after colonial matters : Council of State,
which appointed the viceroys and governors and interfered at will; Council of Indies was responsible for
most colonial business; Council of Finance organized the annual fleets and royal monopolies and Privy
council advised the king on judicial appointments.

The other two features of the Portuguese empire were religious intolerance and lack of racial bias. As
religion had been one of the major factors for the Portuguese to look for new territories they had found
in India a large population as having potential for conversion. Force was used to convert Asians and only
Christian converts and Christians could serve under the crown. Inter marriage and concubinage were
common as few Portuguese women went to the east. The half-caste offspring played an important role
in government and defense and constituted a solid basis for the Portuguese power.

The Portuguese empire evolved a theory of an empire based on mixed society. It didn’t matter whether
the native elements were Arab, Blacks, Hindu or Indonesian as Portugal herself could not produce
enough people to sustain a large empire. The mixed society not only provided garrisons and
administrators but traders as well who could carry cargo to the coasts ready for sale and shipment.

The Portuguese benefitted tremendously from this trade in the east. Once the Portuguese had built a
fort at Cochin in 1503 and defeated the combined fleets of the Egyptians and Gujaratis at Diu there
dominance over the western Indian waters was complete. As they gained control over other areas in
India and the Indian subcontinent they claimed monopoly over certain products and certain routes so
that the trade in all spices was reserved totally for the Portuguese crown. Trade from goa to Malacca,
from Diu to East Africa, from Western India to Macao and Japan and from India to Europe were
completely under the control of the Portuguese. These routes were either sailed in crown ships or the
ships had to carry a pass sanctioned by the crown. The Portuguese also claimed the right to control, tax
and direct all trade taking place in the Indian Ocean. In order to protect the Portuguese monopoly over
the Eastern trade patrols were sent into the ocean to ensure that foreign ships did not encroach upon
their dominance. Even Portuguese merchants were kept out of this trade till 1640. Moreover, the
canalization of all trade through Goa further strengthened this monopoly.

From the 16th century onwards inter-Asian trade became more important for the Portuguese crown than
the trade via the Cape of Good Hope to Europe. There was further change in the Portuguese trading
policy around the mid-16th century, when the crown began to contract out its rights and disengaged
itself from commerce. It turned to political matters and deriving revenue from taxing and directing the
trade in the east.

In Molucca, the Portuguese were completely dependent on the Sultan. They had signed a treaty with
him which gave the monopoly over trade in cloves and the right to occupy and fortify a limited area.
Apart from this, the sultan was not willing to give up any amount of his sovereignty or tolerate the
missionary work of the Portuguese.

The Portuguese Empire in the east fell much faster than their empire in the east for a number of
reasons. Firstly, being a coastal empire having only limited resources they were always vulnerable to
any other European power which chose to concentrate on achieving naval supremacy in the east. During
the 17th century the Netherlands rapidly overtook Portugal as a ship building nation and developed a
strategy for conquering Portuguese colonies and taking over the spice trade. Making Batavia the focal
point for the extension of their dominion and commerce in the orient, the Dutch appropriated the entire
East Indian archipelago, with the exception of New Guinea, Portuguese Timor and Spanish Philipines and
also drove the Portuguese out of India and Ceylon leaving only Goa intact.

The crusading nature of the Portuguese greatly hampered their commercial and diplomatic endeavors in
the east as well. In a region where Islam and Hindu were dominant religions, the religious fervor of the
Portuguese brought upon a lot of hostility. Both in Java and Moluccas the Portuguese had to deal with
Islamic rulers who were very apprehensive of the missionary zeal of the Europeans. In fact, internal war
took place between the two at Moluccas leading to the overthrow of the Portuguese settlements on the
Islands while in case of Java the Sultan uprooted the trading interests of the Portuguese.

Moreover, the Portuguese made no attempt to appease the local rulers in areas where they were firmly
rooted. Goa was the principal port town of the Portuguese East Empire as it linked most of the trade
routes between the east and the west. However, The Portuguese were unable to gain monopoly over
most of the other town or ports in India due to their inability to analyse the changing political situation
in India at this time. The victory of the Muslim rulers over the Vijaynagara Empire and the rise of the
Mughals went against Portuguese interests as both these powers wanted to extend their influence over
areas where Portuguese had established their bases. Moreover they had arrived in India at a time when
the struggle between the Hindus and Muslims was undecided. It is surprising that they didn’t attempt to
win over the Hindu community in order to secure themselves in the region. Moreover, they showed
ignorance and contempt towards the prevailing hindu customs such as sati and the caste system which
did not go down well with the Hindu community in India. They also constructed churches, destroyed
temples and encouraged people of the lower caste to convert to Christianity.

By 1700 the Portuguese had been reduced to being primarily an Atlantic Power. In the Atlantic the
Portuguese possessed the Madeiras, Azores and Brazil, which became closely linked to the slave trade of
West Africa. The Portuguese, playing to their strengths, confined their activities to the tropical coastal
belt because of economic and geographical reasons. Sugar was the basis of the economy and the center
of the society. It was grown in plantations near the rivers since the mills grinding cane and preparing
sugar were operated by water-power. Brazilian wood, hides, tobacco and cotton were bulky goods
which could be transported more easily from settlements if they were near the mouths of rivers and
natural harbours along the coast. There was no possibility of such easy transport in the interior of the
Island as none of the rivers between the Amazon on the north and the Rio de la Plata on the south were
navigable for any great distance being blocked by boulders, cataracts or rapids. Moreover, Brazil was
inhabited by wandering tribes and unlike the Spanish American Empire it did not have roads and tracks
to facilitate communication. As a result most of the communication between the Islands had to be done
via water.

Moreover, unlike the Spanish the Portuguese were not adept at mining and thus saw no point in
exploiting the resources or mines existing in the interior parts of the continent. In fact, the people who
were engaged in mining during the 17 th century in Brazil were either Spaniards or Germans working for
the Portuguese Crown. Thus, the Portuguese were completely satisfied with the exploitation of the
agricultural resources of Brazil.

The Portuguese society in Brazil was predominantly a rural one. Once the Indians had been enslaved or
driven in to the plantation life the plantation owners seldom visited the towns. The principal Brazilian
settlements Rio de Janeiro, Olinda and Bahia were like mere villages in comparison to the Spanish
settlements in Peru and Mexico. Similarly, even the trade guilds in Brazil were never able to achieve the
same status as the guilds in Spanish settlements. This lack of urban prosperity can be attributed to the
fact that the Portuguese used slave labour on a much more extensive scale as compared to the Spanish.
Sugar was the principal crop grown in Brazil and it was the largest supplier to Europe. Thus naturally the
Portuguese derived huge amounts of benefits from this trade. As sugar was grown primarily on large
plantations with slave labour the slave trade or import of slaves from Africa was given a lot of
importance. Thus, by 1580, some 60 sugar mills had been established worked by more than 14,000
negro slaves. Moreover, compared to the Spanish settlements the Portuguese experienced much
greater resistance from the indigenous people making it imperative for them to import the necessary
labour from abroad. The Portuguese had also established their bases in Africa such as Angola, Cape
Verde islands etc which provided the Portuguese settlements in Brazil with a constant supply of slaves.
Moreover, the Africans had also established their own system of slave trade; wherein the tribal chief
exchanged slaves on the African coast for finished European products.

The increase in sugar production was the result of the capitalistic manner in which the work was
organized on the plantations. Slavers, technology and capital were imported from Portugal or Europe for
this purpose. The planter was the only one who had any links with the market. The production was
oriented for a huge European market and a strong trans-atlantic economy was developed as a result of
these slave worked plantations.

On the other hand, the commercial development in the slave based Atlantic economy helped in the
capitalist industrialization of Europe as it opened up new markets for their manufactured goods,
generated additional funds and were providing a key raw material-cotton to the European industries.

The Portuguese colonial government and constitutional theory reflected the political character of
Portugal itself. Portugal made no distinction between her colonies and the metropolis. The structure of
the government in Brazil and other Atlantic colonies showed both lack of desire of the metropolis to
retain full control.

In the 1530s King John III of Portugal divided the Brazilian coast into 12 captaincies which were granted
to prominent settlers known as Donatarios. They were required to settle and defend the land at their
own cost receiving in return extensive administrative, fiscal and judicial powers over the colonists whom
they induced to emigrate to their respective captaincies. Most of these grants were however taken by
the ordinary gentry and they were unable to increase the yield to a large extent. Thus many of these
captaincies collapsed. The Crown realized that in order to prevent the further collapse of their interests
in Brazil, it was necessary to establish a central authority. Thus, a transition took place from an
imprecisely defined feudal structure to a new level of bureaucracy. The home government controlled
the colony through the medium of several councils and tribunals which had their headquarters at
Lisbon. From 1604 to 1614 the chief of these was the India Council. Despite its name The Portuguese
India Council handled the African and Brazilian affairs as well. However, the creation of this council did
not go down well with the tribunals which had usually enjoyed a share of the conquests. Post 1614 the
two principal tribunals- The Board of Conscience and (military) Orders and the Revenue Council resumed
their work. The former advised the crown on all ecclesiastical religious matters in Portugal and
overseas. It made recommendations regarding the disposal of church livings and benefices, including the
selection and appointments of bishops. It was also concerned with the collection and administration of
tithes on behalf of the crown, provided justification for the negro slavery, looked after the religious
holdings of the military orders and so forth. In brief it acted as the keeper of of the king’s conscience on
affairs of the state.

The Revenue Council dealt primarily with financial concerns. It was also responsible for the outfitting of
the East India Fleets and exercised a general supervision over the trade with the Asian, African and
Brazilian settlements. It was normally composed of three noblemen who were councilors of state, three
civil lawyers and four clerks.

Brazil was a single viceroyalty subdivided into provinces under a captain general and a captain. Lesser
colonies in Africa and the Atlantic had only captains. The viceroys generally had very little say in the
affairs of the colony; the captain generals usually ignored the viceroy and communicated directly with
Lisbon. There was no system of checking the corruption which was rampant in the lower tiers of the
administration. Moreover, the governors or captains could be reprimanded only by judges appointed by
the Lisbon government. There were no representative bodies and the legal posts were restricted to
peninsular Portuguese.

Brazil and other Portuguese colonial Islands were hot beds fro immigrants. A number of convicts were
banished to these islands…(add from Boxer!)…

However, just like in the east the Portuguese Empire in the Atlantic and Brazil was weak. The prices of
sugar were falling by the 17th century thereby causing a huge dent in the profits of the Portuguese.
Moreover, the ships which used to facilitate this rich trade were being attacked and taken over by the
French and the Dutch. Finally the rise of the Dutch, French and British contributed tremendously
towards the decline of the Portuguese as they didn’t have the resources to deal with these new naval
powers. Moreover, the Portuguese Empire from the beginning looked a highly ambitious one. It never
seemed practical for such a small nation, having minimum resources and a small population to control
such a vast empire scattered all over the world.