(c) public borrowing and deficit financing

(d) taxation, public borrowing and deficit financing

Ans: (a)
4. The National Development Council gets its administrative support from:
(a) Planning Commission
(b) Finance Commission
(c) Administrative Reforms Commission
(d) Sarkaria Commission
Ans: (a)
5. The Five Year Plans of India intend to develop the country industrially through: [NDA
1991]
(a) the public sector
(b) the private sector
(c) the public, private, joint and Cooperative sectors
(d) increasing collaboration with non-resident Indians
Ans: (c)
6. The Planning Commission is : [UP PCS 1994]
(a) a Ministry
(b) a Government department
(c) an Advisory body
(d) an Autonomous Corporation
Ans: (c)
7. Which of the following statements is correct? [AAO 1993]
(a) Planning Commission is a constitutional body
(b) The Prime Minister is the Chairman of the Planning Commission
(c) The Minister of Planning is always necessarily the Deputy Chairman of Planning
Commission
(d) The draft plan is prepared by the National Development Council
Ans: (b)
8. The principal reason why national economic planning is still being pursued inspite of
embracing a market economy since 1991 is that: [IAS 1994]
(a) the vast quantity of capital already deployed in the public sector needs to be nurtured
(b) the market economy is mainly confined to industry and commerce and central planning in
agriculture is necessary
(c) it is a constitutional requirement
(d) Five Year Plans can continue to provide a long-term perspective to the economy in
market friendly fashions
Ans: (d)
9. 'Take off stage' in an economy means: [CBI 1990]
(a) steady growth begins
(b) economy is stagnant
(c) economy is about to collapse
(d) all controls are removed
Ans: (a)
10. Planning in India derives its objectives from:
(a) Fundamental Rights
(b) Directive Principles of State policy
(c) Fundamental Duties
(d) Preamble
Ans: (b)
11. 70% of working population of India is engaged in:
(a) public sector
(b) primary sector
(c) secondary sector
(d) tertiary sector
Ans: (b)
12. Economic survey is published by :[IAS 1998]
(a) Ministry of Finance
(b) Planning Commission
(c) Govt. of India
(d) Indian Statistical Institute
Ans: (a)
13. Who is called the 'Father of Economics' ?
(a) Max Muller
(b) Karl Marx
(c) Adam Smith
(d) None of these
Ans: (c)
14. The concept of Five Year Plans in India was introduced by
(a) Lord Mountbatten
(b) Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) Indira Gandhi
(d) Lal Bahadur Shastri
Ans: (b)
 15. India has: [CDS 1992]
(a) Socialistic economy
(b) Gandhian economy
(c) Mixed economy
(d) Free economy
Ans: (c)
16. India opted for 'Mixed Economy' in :
(a) Framing of the Constitution
(b) Second Five Year Plan
(c) Industrial Policy of 1948
(d) None of the above
Ans: (c)
17. Mixed economy means an economy where [CDS 2009]
(a) both agriculture and industry are equally promoted by the state
(b) there is co-existence of public sector along with private sector
(c) there is importance of small scale industries along with heavy industries
(d) economy is controlled by military as well as civilian rulers
Ans: (b)
18. India's economic planning CANNOT be said to be : [NDA 2002]
(a) indicative
(b) imperative
(c) limited
(d) democratic
Ans: (b)
19. Which of the following could be said to have prevented the 'trickle down' effects in
Indian economy?
1. Increased dependence of agriculture on purchased inputs and privately managed
irrigation
2. More employment of labour by larger landholding farmers
3. Lowered participation of women in agricultural workforce due to new technology
4. The failure of the Green Revolution
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3
(d) 2 and 4
Ans: (c)
20. Which of the following are not correct assessments of the decades of India's Five-Year
Plans?
 1. There has been very low capital formation
2. Growth has favoured the better off
3. Production has increased substantially though often falling short of targets
4. The public sector has contributed nothing to economic growth
(a) 1 and 4
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 1, 2 and 3
(d) 3 and 4
Ans: (a)
21. Who is the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission?
(a) Prime Minister
(b) Finance Minister
(c) Commerce Minister
(d) None of the above
Ans: (d)
22. The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission: [UP PCS 1994]
(a) is the Prime Minister
(b) is the Planning Minister
(c) holds the rank of a cabinet minister
(d) is an economist of repute
Ans: (c)
23. Who was the first Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission of India?
(a) Shri Jawaharlal Nehru
(b) Dr.Rajendra Prasad
(c) Shri V.T.Krishnamachari
(d) Shri C.Rajagopalachari
Ans: (c)
24. The Planning Commission of India:
I. was set up in 1950
II. is a constitutional body
III. is an advisory body
IV. is a government department
(a) I and II
(b) II and III
(c) I and III
(d) III only
Ans: (c)
25. Put in chronological order
1. Constitution of National Planning Committee -by the Indian National Congress under
Jawaharlal Nehru
2. Planned Economy for India by Visvesvaraya published
3. Bombay Plan
4. Setting up of the National Development Council
(a) 1, 2, 3, 4
(b) 3, 2, 4, 1
(c) 2, 3, 1, 4
(d) 2, 1, 3, 4
Ans: (d)
26. Microeconomics is concerned with:
1. behaviour of industrial decision-makers
2. the level of employment
3. changes in the general level of prices
4. determination of prices of goods and services
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 3 and 4
(d) 1 and 4
Ans: (d)
27. Indicative Planning being pursued in India since the 8th Plan aims at ensuring that:
1. Planning mechanism plays a facilitatory role
2. Planning mechanism brings about a balance between need and supply
3. Planning mechanism concerns itself with optima! utilisation of resources
4. Planning concerns itself with laying down broad directions in which the economy should
move
Choose the correct answer from:
(a) 1, 2 and 4
(b) 1 and 2
(c) 1, 2, 3 and 4
(d) 2, 3 and 4
Ans: (c)
28. Consider the following statements: [IAS 2004]
1. The highest deciding body for planning in India is the Planning Commission of India.
2. The Secretary of the Planning Commission of India is also the Secretary of National
Development Council
 3. The Constitution includes economic and social planning in the Concurrent List in the
Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3
(d) 3 only
Ans: (b)
29. The basic objectives of Indian planning are:
1. economic growth
2. self-reliance
3. employment generation
4. population growth
(a) 1, 2 and 4
(b) 1, 2 and 3
(c) 2 and 3
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Ans: (b)
30. An underdeveloped economy is generally characterised by :
1. Iow per capita income
2. Iow rate of capital formation
3. Iow dependency figure
4. working force largely in the tertiary sector
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 3 and 4
(d) 1 and 4
Ans: (a)
31. Self-reliance in the economic context implies that a country:
1. meets its demands for all goods and services from its domestic production
2. exports some of its goods but does not need to import anything
3. has sufficient foreign exchange reserves to buy all its needs
4. meets its demand for certain vital goods and services from its domestic production
(a) 1 and 3
 (b) 2 and 4
(c) 1, 2 and 3
(d) 3 and 4
Ans: (d)
32. Which of the following gives an accurate measurement of economic development
through Five Year Plans?
(a) Development of education and health services
(b) Development of railways and roadways
(c) Rise in national income and per capita income
(d) Development of industrial towns and industrial estates
Ans: (c)
33. In India, the Public Sector is most dominant in : [IAS 1993]
(a) transport
(b) steel production
(c) commercial banking
(d) organised term-lending financial institutions
Ans: (c)
34. The first attempt to initiate economic planning in India was made by:
(a) Balwantrai Mehta
(b) Vallabhbhai Patel
(c) M. Visvesvaraya
(d) Jawaharlal Nehru
Ans: (c)
35. The decentralisation system was recommended by :
(a) C.Rajagopalachari
(b) J.B. Kripalan
(c) Balwant Rai Mehta
(d) Ashok Mehta
Ans: (c)
36. Match the following. : [UP PCS 1994]
A. First Plan 1. Rapid industrialisation
B. Second Plan 2. Community Development Programme
C. Third Plan 3. Expansion of basic industries
D. Fourth Plan 4. Minimum Needs Programme
E. Fifth Plan 5. Achievement of self-reliance and growth with stability
 Advent of the Europeans in India ✫ 23

resistance to Islam even as it had taken on itself the spirit

of exploration that had characterised the Genoese.
Historians have observed that the idea of finding an
ocean route to India had become an obsession for Prince
Henry of Portugal, who was nicknamed the ‘Navigator’; also,
he was keen to find a way to circumvent the Muslim
domination of the eastern Mediterranean and all the routes
that connected India to Europe. Pope Nicholas V gave Prince
Henry a bull in 1454, conferring on him the right to navigate
the “sea to the distant shores of the Orient”, more specifically
“as far as India” in an attempt to fight Islamic influence and
spread the Christian faith. However, Prince Henry died before
his dream became a reality.
In 1497, under the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), the
rulers of Portugal and Spain divided the non-Christian world
between them by an imaginary line in the Atlantic, some
1,300 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. Under the treaty,
Portugal could claim and occupy everything to the east of
the line while Spain could claim everything to the west. The
situation was thus prepared for the Portuguese incursions into
the waters around India.
It was in 1487 that the Portuguese navigator,
Bartholomew Dias, rounded the Cape of Good Hope in Africa
and sailed up the eastern coast; he was well convinced that
the long sought after sea route to India had been found. But
it was only ten years later that an expedition of Portuguese
ships set out for India (in 1497) and arrived in India in slightly
less than eleven months’ time, in May 1498.
From Trading to Ruling
Vasco Da Gama
The arrival of three ships under Vasco Da Gama, led by a
Gujarati pilot named Abdul Majid, at Calicut in May 1498
profoundly affected the course of Indian history. The Hindu
ruler of Calicut, the Zamorin (Samuthiri), however, had no
apprehensions as to the European’s intentions. As the prosperity
of his kingdom was due to Calicut’s position as an entrepot,
 24 ✫ A Brief History of Modern India

he accorded a friendly reception to Vasco Da Gama. The Arab

traders, who had a good business on the Malabar coast were
apprehensive and were not keen on the Portuguese getting
a hold there.
For centuries, the trading system in the Indian Ocean
had had numerous participants—Indians, Arabs, Africans from
the east coast, Chinese, Javanese, among others—but these
participants had acted according to some tacit rules of
conduct and none had sought overwhelming dominance
though all were in it for profit. The Portuguese changed that:
they wanted to monopolise the hugely profitable eastern trade
by excluding competitors, especially the Arabs.
Vasco da Gama stayed in India for three months. When
he returned to Portugal, he carried back with him a rich cargo
and sold the merchandise in the European market at a huge
profit. The importance of direct access to the pepper trade
was made clear by the fact that elsewhere the Europeans, who
had to buy through Muslim middlemen, would have had to
spend ten times as much for the same amount of pepper.
Not surprisingly, other profit-seeking merchants of European
nations were tempted to come to India and trade directly.
A voyage was undertaken by Pedro Alvarez Cabral to
trade for spices; he negotiated and established a factory at
Calicut, where he arrived in September 1500. There was an
incident of conflict when the Portuguese factory at Calicut
was attacked by the locals, resulting in the death of several
Portuguese. In retaliation, Cabral seized a number of Arab
merchant ships anchored in the harbour, and killed hundreds
of their crew besides confiscating their cargo and burning
the ships. Calicut was bombarded by Cabral. Later, Cabral
succeeded in making advantageous treaties with the local
rulers of Cochin and Cannanore.
Vasco da Gama once again came to India in 1501. The
Zamorin declined to exclude the Arab merchants in favour
of the Portuguese when Vasco Da Gama combined commercial
greed with ferocious hostility and wreaked vengeance on Arab
shipping wherever he could. His rupture with the Zamorin
 Advent of the Europeans in India ✫ 25

View
The landing of Vasco da Gama at Calicut in 1498 ... is generally
regarded as the beginning of a new era in world history, especially
in the relationship between Asia and Europe. Although Asia and
Europe had been in commercial relations with each other since
antiquity, the opening of the direct sea-relations between the two
was not only the fulfilment of an old dream (according to the
Greek historian, Herodotus, the Phoenicians had rounded Africa
in the 6th century BC) it presaged big increase of trade between
the two. This, however, was only one of the objectives of the
Portuguese. For the Portuguese, the opening of a new sea-route
to India would give a big blow to the Muslims, the Arabs and
Turks, who were the traditional enemies of Christianity, and were
posing a new threat to Europe by virtue of the growing military
and naval power of the Turks. A direct sea-link with India would
displace the virtual monopoly of the Arabs and Turks over the
trade in eastern goods, especially spices. They also vaguely
hoped by their exploration of Africa they would be able to link
up with the kingdom of the legendary Prior John, and be in a
position to attack the Muslims from two sides. Thus, the
commercial and religious objectives supported and justified each
other.
—Satish Chandra

thus became total and complete. Vasco da Gama set up a

trading factory at Cannanore. Gradually, Calicut, Cannanore
and Cochin became the important trade centres of the
Portuguese.
Gradually, under the pretext of protecting the factories
and their trading activities, the Portuguese got permission to
fortify these centres.
Francisco De Almeida
In 1505, the King of Portugal appointed a governor in India
for a three-year term and equipped the incumbent with
sufficient force to protect the Portuguese interests. Francisco
De Almeida, the newly appointed governor, was asked to
consolidate the position of the Portuguese in India and to
destroy Muslim trade by seizing Aden, Ormuz and Malacca.
He was also advised to build fortresses at Anjadiva, Cochin,
Cannanore and Kilwa. What Almeida, however, encountered
 26 ✫ A Brief History of Modern India

View
As long as you may be powerful at sea you will hold India as
yours; and if you do not possess this power, little will avail you
a fortress on shore.
—Francisco De Almeida

along with the opposition of the Zamorin, was a threat from

the Mameluke Sultan of Egypt. Encouraged by the merchants
of Venice whose lucrative commerce was now at risk due
to the Portuguese interference, the Egyptians raised a fleet
in the Red Sea to stop the advance of the Portuguese. In 1507,
the Portuguese squadron was defeated in a naval battle off
Diu by the combined Egyptian and Gujarat navies, and
Almeida’s son was killed. Next year, Almeida avenged his
defeat by totally crushing the two navies. Almeida’s vision
was to make the Portuguese the master of the Indian Ocean.
His policy was known as the Blue Water Policy (cartaze
system).
Alfonso de Albuquerque
Albuquerque, who succeeded Almeida as the Portuguese
governor in India, was the real founder of the Portuguese
power in the East, a task he completed before his death. He
secured for Portugal the strategic control of the Indian Ocean
by establishing bases overlooking all the entrances to the sea.
There were Portuguese strongholds in East Africa, off the
Red Sea, at Ormuz; in Malabar; and at Malacca. The Portuguese,
under Albuquerque bolstered their stranglehold by introducing
a permit system for other ships and exercising control over
the major ship-building centres in the region. The non-
availability of timber in the Gulf and Red Sea regions for
ship-building also helped the Portuguese in their objectives.
Albuquerque acquired Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510
with ease; the principal port of the Sultan of Bijapur became
“the first bit of Indian territory to be under the Europeans
since the time of Alexander the Great”. An interesting feature
of his rule was the abolition of sati.
 Advent of the Europeans in India ✫ 27

View
Bitter persecution of Muslims was one serious drawback of
Albuquerque’s policy. This could have been due to his resolve
to further the interests of his countrymen by complete extinction
of Muslim commercial interests in the East. During his rule,
Albuquerque did his best to strengthen the fortifications of Goa
and enhance its commercial importance. In order to secure a
permanent Portuguese population in India he encouraged his men
to take Indian wives. The Gazetteer of India, Vol. II

The Portuguese men who had come on the voyages and

stayed back in India were, from Albuquerque’s day, encouraged
to take local wives. In Goa and the Province of the North
they established themselves as village landlords, often building
new roads and irrigation works, introducing new crops like
tobacco and cashew nut, or better plantation varieties of
coconut besides planting large groves of coconut to meet
the need for coir rigging and cordage. In the cities, such as
Goa and Cochin, they settled as artisans and master-craftsmen,
besides being traders. Most of such Portuguese came to look
upon their new settlements, rather than Portugal, as home.
Nino da Cunha
Nino da Cunha assumed office of the governor of Portuguese
interests in India in November 1529 and almost one year later
shifted the headquarters of the Portuguese government in
India from Cochin to Goa. Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, during
his conflict with the Mughal emperor Humayun, secured help
from the Portuguese by ceding to them in 1534 the island
of Bassein with its dependencies and revenues. He also
promised them a base in Diu. However, Bahadur Shah’s
relations with the Portuguese became sour when Humayun
withdrew from Gujarat in 1536. Since the inhabitants of the
town started fighting with the Portuguese, Bahadur Shah
wanted to raise a wall of partition. Opposing this, the
Portuguese started negotiations, in the course of which the
ruler of Gujarat was invited to a Portuguese ship and killed
in 1537. Da Cunha also attempted to increase Portuguese
influence in Bengal by settling many Portuguese nationals
there with Hooghly as their headquarters.
 28 ✫ A Brief History of Modern India

Favourable Conditions for Portuguese

In India, excepting Gujarat, which was ruled by the powerful
Mahmud Begarha (1458-1511), the northern part was much
divided among many small powers. In the Deccan, the
Bahmani Kingdom was breaking up into smaller kingdoms.
None of the powers had a navy worth its name, nor did they
think of developing their naval strength. In the Far East, the
imperial decree of the Chinese emperor limited the navigational
reach of the Chinese ships. As regards the Arab merchants
and ship-owners who until then dominated the Indian Ocean
trade, they had nothing to match the organisation and unity
of the Portuguese. Moreover, the Portuguese had cannons
placed on their ships.
Portuguese State
The general tendency is to underestimate the Portuguese hold
in India. However, the Estado Português da India (State of
the Portuguese India) was in fact a larger element in Indian
history than it is given credit for. Many of the coastal parts
of India had come under Portuguese power within fifty years
of Vasco da Gama’s arrival. The Portuguese had occupied
some sixty miles of coast around Goa. On the west coast
from Mumbai to Daman and Diu to the approaches to Gujarat,
they controlled a narrow tract with four important ports and
hundreds of towns and villages. In the south, they had under
them a chain of seaport fortresses and trading-posts like
Mangalore, Cannanore, Cochin, and Calicut. And though their
power in Malabar was not consolidated, it was enough to
ensure influence or control over the local rulers who held
the spice growing land. The Portuguese established further
military posts and settlements on the east coast at San Thome
(in Chennai) and Nagapatnam (in Andhra). Towards the end
of the sixteenth century, a wealthy settlement had grown at
Hooghly in West Bengal.
Envoys and ambassadors were exchanged between Goa
and many of the major kingdoms in India of the time. Treaties
were signed between Goa and the Deccan sultans in 1570
which were regularly renewed as long as their kingdoms
 Advent of the Europeans in India ✫ 29

lasted. The Portuguese always had a role to play in the

successive battles for the balance of power between
Vijayanagara and the Deccan sultans, between the Deccanis
and the Mughals, and between the Mughals and the Marathas.
Interestingly, the Portuguese, the first Europeans to
come to India, were also the last to leave this land. It was
1961 before the Government of India recaptured Goa, Daman
and Diu from them.
Portuguese Administration in India
The head of the administration was the viceroy who served
for three years, with his secretary and, in later years, a
council. Next in importance came the Vedor da Fazenda,
responsible for revenues and the cargoes and dispatch of
fleets. The fortresses, from Africa to China, were under
captains, assisted by ‘factors’, whose power was increased
by the difficulties of communication and was too often used
for personal ends.
Religious Policy of the Portuguese
The Moors were the bitter enemies of the Portuguese in
North Africa. So were the Arabs. Arriving in the East, the
Portuguese brought with them the same zeal to promote
Christianity and the wish to persecute all Muslims. Intolerant
towards the Muslims, the Portuguese were initially quite
tolerant towards the Hindus. However, over time, after the
introduction of the Inquisition in Goa, there was a change
and Hindus were also persecuted.
But, in spite of this intolerant behaviour, the Jesuits
made a good impression at the court of Akbar, mainly due
to the Mughal emperor’s interest in questions of theology.
In September 1579, Akbar forwarded a letter to the
authorities at Goa requesting them to send two learned
priests. The Church authorities in Goa eagerly accepted the
invitation, seeing in it a chance to convert the emperor to
Christianity, and with him his court and the people. Jesuit
fathers, Rodolfo Aquaviva and Antonio Monserrate were
selected for the purpose. When they reached Fatehpur Sikri
on February 28, 1580, they were received with honour.
 30 ✫ A Brief History of Modern India

Aquaviva and Monserrate went back in 1583, belying the

hopes the Portuguese entertained of Akbar’s conversion to
the Christian faith. The second mission called by Akbar in
1590 also ended on a similar note in 1592. The third mission,
again invited by Akbar, arrived in 1595 at Lahore (where the
court was then residing) and continued as a sort of permanent
institution, thereby extending its influence on secular politics.
Fathers Jerome Xavier and Emanuel Pinheiro were the
leaders of the mission, and their letters from the court
became very widely known for the information they provided
on the later part of Akbar’s reign.
Prince Salim, on ascending the throne as Jahangir,
assuaged the Muslims by neglecting the Jesuit fathers.
Gradually, however, his temporary estrangement from the
Jesuits ended, and in 1606 he renewed his favours to
them. The elegant and spacious church at Lahore was allowed
to be retained by them along with the collegium or the
priests’ residence. In 1608, twenty baptisms were carried out
in Agra, the priests publicly acting with as much liberty as
in Portugal.
Jahangir’s conduct was such that the Jesuit priests
became hopeful of bringing him within the Christian fold.
However, these hopes were belied. Moreover, arrogant
actions on the part of the Portuguese viceroys created a rift
with the Mughal emperor.
Portuguese Lose Favour with
the Mughals
In 1608, Captain William Hawkins with his ship Hector
reached Surat. He brought with him a letter from James I,
King of England, to the Mughal court of Jahangir requesting
permission to do business in India. Father Pinheiro and the
Portuguese authorities did their best to prevent Hawkins from
reaching the Mughal court, but did not succeed. Jahangir
accepted the gifts Hawkins brought for him and gave Hawkins
a very favourable reception in 1609. As Hawkins knew the
Turki language well, he conversed with the emperor in that
language without the aid of an interpreter. Pleased with
 Advent of the Europeans in India ✫ 31

Hawkins, Jahangir appointed him as a mansabdar of 400 at

a salary of Rs 30,000 (apparently, he never received it).
Hawkins was also married to the daughter of an Armenian
Christian named Mubarak Shah (Mubarikesha).
The grant of trading facilities to the English offended
the Portuguese. However, after negotiations, a truce was
established between the Portuguese and the Mughal emperor.
The Portuguese stopped the English ships from entering the
port of Surat. A baffled Hawkins left the Mughal court in
1611, unable to counter the Portuguese intrigues or check
the vacillating Mughal policies. However, in November 1612,
the English ship Dragon under Captain Best along with a
little ship, the Osiander, successfully fought a Portuguese
fleet. Jahangir, who had no navy worth its name, learnt of
the English success and was greatly impressed.
The Portuguese acts of piracy also resulted in conflict
with the imperial Mughal government. In 1613, the Portuguese
offended Jahangir by capturing Mughal ships, imprisoning
many Muslims, and plundering the cargoes. An enraged
Jahangir ordered Muqarrab Khan, who was then in charge of
Surat, to obtain compensation. However, it was during the
reign of Shah Jahan, that the advantages which the Portuguese
enjoyed in the Mughal court were lost forever. Also lost were
the hopes of converting the royal family and Mughal India
to Christianity, a hope that the Portuguese held because of
the welcome accorded to them and their religion by Akbar
and Jahangir.
Capture of Hooghly
On the basis of an imperial farman circa 1579, the Portuguese
had settled down on a river bank which was a short distance
from Satgaon in Bengal to carry on their trading activities.
Over the years, they strengthened their position by constructing
big buildings which led to the migration of the trade from
Satgaon to the new port known as Hooghly. They monopolised
the manufacture of salt, built a custom house of their own
and started enforcing strictly the levy of duty on tobacco,
which had become an important article of trade since its
introduction at the beginning of the 17th century.
 32 ✫ A Brief History of Modern India

The Portuguese not only made money as traders but

also started a cruel slave trade by purchasing or seizing Hindu
and Muslim children, whom they brought up as Christians.
In the course of their nefarious activities, they seized two
slave girls of Mumtaz Mahal. On June 24, 1632, the Mughal
siege of Hooghly began, ending in its capture three months
later. Shah Jahan ordered the Bengal governor Qasim Khan
to take action against the Portuguese. The siege of Hooghly
finally led to the Portuguese fleeing. The Mughals suffered
a loss of 1,000 men, but also took 400 prisoners to Agra.
The prisoners were offered the option to convert to Islam
or become slaves. The persecution of Christians continued
for some time after which it died down gradually.
Decline of the Portuguese
By the 18th century, the Portuguese in India lost their
commercial influence, though some of them still carried on
trade in their individual capacity and many took to piracy and
robbery. In fact, Hooghly was used by some Portuguese as
a base for piracy in the Bay of Bengal. The decline of the
Portuguese was brought about by several factors. The local
advantages gained by the Portuguese in India were reduced
with the emergence of powerful dynasties in Egypt, Persia
and North India and the rise of the turbulent Marathas as their
immediate neighbours. (The Marathas captured Salsette and
Bassein in 1739 from the Portuguese.)
The religious policies of the Portuguese, such as the
activities of the Jesuits, gave rise to political fears. Their
antagonism for the Muslims apart, the Portuguese policy of
conversion to Christianity made Hindus also resentful.
Their dishonest trade practices also evoked a strong
reaction. The Portuguese earned notoriety as sea pirates.
Their arrogance and violence brought them the animosity of
the rulers of small states and the imperial Mughals as well.
The discovery of Brazil diverted colonising activities
of Portugal to the West.
The union of the two kingdoms of Spain and Portugal
in 1580-81, dragging the smaller kingdom into Spain’s wars
 Advent of the Europeans in India ✫ 33

View
The Portuguese entered India with the sword in one hand and
the crucifix in the other; finding much gold, they laid aside the
crucifix to fill their pockets, and not being able to hold them
up with one hand, they were grown so heavy, they dropped the
sword, too; being found in this posture by those who came after,
they were easily overcome.
—Alfonso de Souza, the Portuguese
Governor in India (1542-45)

with England and Holland, badly affected Portuguese monopoly

of trade in India.
The earlier monopoly of knowledge of the sea route
to India held by the Portuguese could not remain a secret
forever; soon enough the Dutch and the English, who were
learning the skills of ocean navigation, also learnt of it. As
new trading communities from Europe arrived in India, there
began a fierce rivalry among them. In this struggle, the
Portuguese had to give way to the more powerful and
enterprising competitors. The Dutch and the English had
greater resources and more compulsions to expand overseas,
and they overcame the Portuguese resistance. One by one,

Portuguese Rise and Fall

1498: Arrival of Vasco-da-Gama at Calicut and his grand
reception by the local king, Zamorin.
1503: Establishment of the first Portuguese fort at Cochin.
1505: Establishment of the second Portuguese fort at Cannanore.
1509: Defeat of the combined fleet of Gujarat, Egypt and Zamorin
by the Portuguese governor Francisco Almeida.
1510: Alfonso Albuquerque, the Portuguese governor, captures
Goa from Bijapur.
1530: Declaration of Goa as the Portuguese capital.
1535: Subjugation of Diu.
1559: The Portuguese capture Daman.
1596: Ouster of the Portuguese by the Dutch from South-east
Asia.
1612: Loss of Surat to the English.
1663: The Dutch win all Portuguese forts on the Malabar coast
to oust the Portuguese.