‘THE HISTORY OF HUMAN SOCIETY General Baier: JH. Pram Prehistoric Societies Grahame Clark nd Smart Pit ‘Phe Durch Seborne Erpize 16c0-t850. C, R. Bow Tae Spanish Seaborne Empize JH. ary Pioneer America Joe ln ‘The Grecke $809) Andros ‘Thetomgmse Sane li sah CR Ber pe Romans" Dal Daly Input Cine Raywed Des “The Fest Gent Gvations Jape Haber “The Jews Cui Roth Siman Sohne The Bish Seaboane Empire J Ph ‘The French Sesborne Empire Frederik Qxine “The Mesieal Mediterascan World ArthrHibert Thain and the West Ani Sel China and the West Jame Cen Span Mri Jes ‘Aiea J.D. Faye THE PORTUGUESE SEABORNE EMPIRE 1415-1825 Cc. R. BOXER Hutchinson of London38 Vicistudes of Empire spice monopoly, and the belief that Christian allies could be found in some of the lands bordering on the Indian Ocean, enabled King Manel to overcome the hesititions of several of his counsellors, and to launch bis litle kingdom on its spectacular cateer of ailtant enterprise in Monsoon Asia CHAPTER I Shipping and spices in Asian seas 1f00- 1600 se A pistinguisien Tadien historian, the late K. M. Pasikkar, Sherved in his populas book Asie and Wectere Deminane (1949) Gat the pioneer voyage of the Portuguese to India inaugurated ‘vint he termed the Vasco da Gama epoch of Asan history, rg-1943. This period may be defined as an age of maritine power, of authority based on the control of the seas by the Enropean nations alone; at any rte down to the emergence of America and Japan as major naval powers at the end of the nineteenth century. In the history of these 4oo years nothing is more remarkable thaa the way ia Which the Portaguese managed to secute and retain for virtually the whole of the sisteenth ‘century 2 dominant positon inthe maritime tade of the Jadin ‘Gcean and an importaat share of the seabomne trade to the east of the stats of Melua. “Admittedly the Portuguese reached India ata singulaly forex- tic time for themselves, as may be seen by taking the briefest pesible survey of the Asian Scene atthe tam of the Sfeenth and Sinteenth centuries. This is best done by dealing with the coun- ttcs concesned from west to ett, roughly in the order in which the Portuguese came into contact with them. The East African lito is here included in the tezm Asi, since thea and for long sftereards che Swahili coast from Somaliland to Sofa was closely connected with Arabia and India, politically, cultueally snd economically, The Portuguese used the expression Estado da Inds (State of Ind) to describe theis conguerts and discoveries4 Vicistudes of Enpire in the maritime zegions between the Cape of Good Hope and the Persian Gulf on the one side of Asia, and Japan and Timor on the other, Confusingly enough, the Portuguese also used the sword ‘Inds’ to denote sometimes the Indian subveontinent and sometimes the narrow strip of land between the Western Ghats and the sea "The most important of the chain of Swahili city-states strung along the Fast Afvican coast in 15c0 were Kilwa, Mombacs, Malindi and Pate. They had artiged a high degree of cull Aowering and commercial prosperity, although their degeee of Ilamisation varied from the thinnest venee® to the austerely devout, Thele culture was predominantly Ara, chough Persian (Ghiras) origin was claimed by many, and Swahili society asa ‘whole wis deeply Afccanised through generstions oF marriage tind concubiaage with Bantu women from the interior. Gold, ivory, and slaves were the principal products which chese wah setlementsseoared from the Bants, or Kafies (unbelievers) a= they ailed them. These were exchanged for beads, textiles and other commodities brought by Arb ind Gujarati traders from the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and India. Distegarding the Coptic Christin kingdom of Abyssinia in its highland fistness, we come next to the Mameluke empire, com- prising Bgypt, Sia and the Hej, which was thea stil out. ‘wardly prosperous. Its commercial prosperity was largely due to the tole which the Mameluke rulers levied on the overland spice trade routes to Eutope, respeedively ftom the Persian Gulf via Aleppo and Alexasdeeta, and from the Red Sea via Suez, Cairo, ‘and Alexandria, Most of Arabia was a barren waste inubed by roving Bedouis, an finged from the southern boundary of the [igjz tothe head of the Pessin Gulf by a numberof states and tribes, of which some on the nozth coast owed a shadowy alle lance tn the Shah of Ormuz. This potentate claimed to rule over the Petsin and the Arabian coats opposite the litle island atthe fenttance to the Gulf on which his capital city stood; but in eect, his authority was limited to tis barre islet and tothe neighbour ing one of Kishm (Queixome). Ormu2 city was one ofthe richest entrepots in the world, although the island on which it was sitwated produced nothing save sale and sulphur. But nearly all the trade berween Tedia and Persia was channelied throug it sipping and spies in Asian seas 1500-1609 a apart fom its large shave of the commerce in Indonesian spices tod Arabian horses. Ts ins, the gold era (sera) and the fiver lari, were current in all the Indian, Persian and Arabian feaports and as far east as Malace, In Persia proper, the foonder Of the Sul (Safavid) dynasty, Shah Ismail I, was expanding his (dominions in all dictions, and was on the verge of coming into tollsion with the Ottoman Turks oa his western borders. The ‘sh, when it cue in 1514, was exacesbated by the Fact thatthe “Grand Sophy” was an ardent Shia, whereas the “Great Turk yas fanatical adherent of the Sunni form of Islam. Tria, then a5 now, was deeply divided between Windus and Muslims. The so-called Moguls or Mughals (in reality, Centeal ‘Asian Turks) ad aot yet crossed the Hinds Kush to invade the plkins of Hindustan; but much of qorthesa India had been con fqvered by previous Muhammadgn invaders, whose descendants fled powerful principalities in Gujarat, Delhi and Benge Nevertheles, northern India, though ‘politically ruled by ‘Muslims, save for the powerful Rajput confederscy, contained & fsumerous Hindu popolation which passively resisted all the Jisempts of its conquerors to iepose thei creed. The same was tue, 0 some extent of the Devesn, where five Mubammadan saltnates wacred with each other and with thie southecly neigh ‘ou, the grest Hindu empire of Vijayanagae. This empire, known to the Portuguese as Bisraga, was the largest and most power Indian state a the time of Vasco da Gama’sacrval. But ie had a0 direct acess to the sea on the west coast, whereas one of the Deceani kingdoms, Bijapur, had a flowishing port at Gos, The (Canart and Malabar coastal regions t0 the south ofthis place were largely secluded from the interior by the Western Ghats. ‘They were divided among a number of independent petty Hinds sas, of whom the Semorin (Ser-aja) of Calicut wis the most lmporant If southern India was politically Hindu, in contrast to the Muslim centre and north, there were many peiceful com ‘munities of Arab and other Mubammadan traders seatered throughout the Hindu sates, where they were greatly respected tnd wielded considerable igiuence. Ie may beadded that Ceylon, ‘mainly peopled by Buddhist Sinhalese, included the Hindu Tamil [kingdom of Jafin in the north of the idand. A Muslim power fad never invaded Ceylon, bur there were a sumber of Mubaan-