Prelims · 2 Modern India · 2.1 Advent of the Europeans
2.1.1 Portuguese in India: Vasco da Gama to Albuquerque
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach India by sea (1498) and built a trading empire of forts and sea control on the west coast, with Goa as its capital.
- APPSC Group 2 · Prelims
- Standard level
- 6 min read
- Free
Core facts
- Vasco da Gama reached Kappad near Calicut in May 1498, via the Cape of Good Hope. The ruler of Calicut, the Zamorin, received him.
- Pedro Alvares Cabral came in 1500. The first Portuguese fort (Fort Manuel) was built at Cochin in 1503.
- Francisco de Almeida (1505–09) was the first Viceroy. His policy is called the Blue Water Policy: control the sea, not the land.
- Alfonso de Albuquerque (1509–15) captured Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510.
- Nino da Cunha moved the capital from Cochin to Goa in 1530.
- The Portuguese enforced the cartaz: a sea-pass that ships in the Indian Ocean had to carry.
- Goa, Daman and Diu stayed Portuguese until 1961, when India took them by military action.
- Crops they brought: tobacco, maize, potato, chilli, pineapple, cashew. The first printing press in India was set up at Goa in 1556.
Explained
Why Portugal came
- Spices (pepper above all) reached Europe through Arab and Venetian middlemen at high prices.
- Portugal wanted a direct sea route and also saw a religious aim against Muslim traders.
- The Zamorin's rivals and the Arab merchants of Calicut resented Portuguese demands, so the Portuguese moved to Cochin and Cannanore.
Key governors
| Name | Years | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Francisco de Almeida | 1505–09 | Blue Water Policy; victory at Diu (1509) |
| Alfonso de Albuquerque | 1509–15 | Goa (1510), Malacca (1511), Ormuz (1515) |
| Nino da Cunha | 1529–38 | Capital to Goa (1530); Bassein and Diu |
- Battle of Diu (1509). Almeida defeated a combined fleet of Egypt's Mamluks, Gujarat and Calicut. After it, Portugal ruled the Indian Ocean for about a century.
- Albuquerque built Goa into a base. He encouraged Portuguese soldiers to marry Indian women and settle, and he took the city by force from Yusuf Adil Shah's Bijapur.
- Cartaz system. Indian and Arab ships paid for a pass. Ships without it could be seized. This was a tax on trade at sea.
- Settlements. Goa, Daman, Diu, Bassein, Salsette, Bombay (until 1661), San Thome near Madras, and Hugli in Bengal (from about 1579).
- Bombay. Portugal gave it to Charles II of England as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza (1661). The Crown passed it to the Company in 1668.
- Bassein. Bahadur Shah of Gujarat ceded Bassein by treaty in 1534.
Decline
- Their religious policy (the Inquisition at Goa from 1560) alienated Indians.
- Brazil drew attention and settlers away.
- Dutch and English sea power, plus a small home population, broke the monopoly.
- Shah Jahan drove them out of Hugli in 1632.
Common traps
- ✗ "Vasco da Gama landed at Goa." ✓ He landed near Calicut (Kappad) in 1498.
- ✗ "Almeida captured Goa." ✓ Albuquerque took Goa in 1510. Almeida's mark was the Blue Water Policy and Diu (1509).
- ✗ "Goa became the capital in 1510." ✓ It became the capital in 1530 under Nino da Cunha. Before that it was Cochin.
- ✗ "The Portuguese gave Bombay to the Company in 1661." ✓ In 1661 it passed to Charles II; the Company got it in 1668.
- ✗ "The cartaz was a land tax." ✓ It was a naval pass for ships at sea.
Quick revision
- 1498: Vasco da Gama at Calicut (Kappad); Zamorin.
- 1503: first Portuguese fort at Cochin.
- Almeida (1505–09): Blue Water Policy; Diu 1509.
- Albuquerque: Goa 1510 from Bijapur; Malacca 1511.
- 1530: capital moved to Goa.
- Cartaz: sea pass.
- 1556: first printing press at Goa.
- 1632: Shah Jahan expels them from Hugli.
- 1961: Goa, Daman, Diu join India.
Go deeper: Deeper, Mains writing (beyond what APPSC Group 2 usually asks)
Deeper Advanced
- Nature of the empire. It was a sea empire (Estado da India) of fortified ports, not a land power. Revenue came from customs, cartazes and the spice trade. It rarely meddled in the interior, except at Goa.
- Albuquerque's Goa. Goa was taken from a Muslim ruler who held it with Hindu support. Albuquerque abolished sati in the territory. His marriage policy created a Luso-Indian community.
- Vijayanagara. The kingdom bought Portuguese horses. The travellers Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz wrote about Vijayanagara under Krishnadevaraya and Achyuta Raya.
- Cultural effects. Printing, Jesuit missions, new crops and new words in Indian languages (for example almirah, pao for bread) came through the Portuguese. Gothic and Baroque churches rose in Goa.
- Why the monopoly failed. It depended on a naval edge. Once the Dutch and English fielded better-funded joint-stock companies, the Portuguese lost ground in Ceylon, Malacca and the Malabar coast.
Mains writing Mains writing
- Frame: the Portuguese showed that sea power could carry a trade empire, a lesson the later European companies used.
- Analysis:
- Strengths: naval superiority, gunned ships, a ring of forts.
- Weaknesses: small numbers, religious intolerance, a state-run monopoly with corruption.
- Impact: limited on the Indian interior, large on the coast and in the Indian Ocean economy.
- Way to answer "why did others succeed?": the Dutch and English companies were private joint-stock firms with more capital and flexible tactics.
- Example: the cartaz turned the Arabian Sea into a licensed sea, which Indian shipping resented.
Practise this topic. Questions on Advent of Europeans & British expansion, with answers explained.
All Advent of the Europeans notes · APPSC Group 2 syllabus · APPSC G2 Prelims Mock 1 with answers · Start free
Medha AI writes its own notes and checks them against the sources listed. Medha AI is an independent preparation service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to APPSC, TSPSC, MPSC, UPSC or any other commission or government body.