Summary:
The distinction for occupying territory in India the longest goes to neither the British nor the Mughals. It goes to the Portuguese who occupied Goa in 1510 and were only driven out by Indian Armed Forces in 1961 (under 'Operation Vijay'). Even though their national identity now is represented by a vainglorious star, their savagery, fanaticism and ruthlessness was second to none within Europe. The author provides a glowing tribute to their ingenuity and barbarity in this book, lauding them as the one of the first Europeans to lay the groundwork for imperialism (even though the author refers to it as an an earlier era of globalization). The writing style and the narrative is excellent (which is the case with his other books as well).
By the time British and Dutch East India companies had settled on India as the ticket to their prosperity, Portuguese religious warriors had laid waste to Malabar coast and destroyed the trading network that sustained Indian West coast and African East coast. Their disruption ruined the Mamluk dynasty in Egypt and made Venice and Genoa pale shadows of their former wealthy selves. Their religious fanaticism led them to kill, burn and maim scores of Muslims and Hindus, all in the name of capturing Jerusalem for Christendom. With Vasco Da Gama's successful sea voyage to India in 1497, came the realization that Europe's ignorance and Asia's riches could be transposed under their brutal leadership. Where Indian Ocean potentates offered trade and peace (as had happened across millenia), Portuguese offered cannon fire and religious fanaticism. By 1520, their destructive dance was exhausted but they had a series of permanent settlements in East African Coast and Malabar Coast to show for it. The author has primarily focused on a character driven portrait of the Portuguese expansion and is generous with his praise and stingy in criticism of their behavior. What matters to the author is the exploits, in his view far out of proportion to its size, of the small nation on the prow of Europe that blazed the trail of state sponsored religious terrorism on the Indian Ocean earlier than other European nations (eventually, all of them realized their superior guns and cannons made them masters of all they surveyed).
Analysis:
Chinese were the first to invent gunpowder and used it for fireworks. They were also the first to attempt to circumnavigate the world and explore new lands. Between 1400 - 1433, they sent 7 sea borne expeditions reflecting their stature as the Middle Kingdom. They were secure in their power and as such, used these expeditions to showcase their wealth and power, not as a means of subjugation. There is even an inscription in Galle in Sri Lanka in Arabic, Chinese and Tamil that attests to the peaceable nature of these expeditions. In 1415, Portuguese under King Joao I, were engaged in a mini-Crusades of their own, fighting with the North African Muslim Kingdom of Morocco. Their knowledge of geography, as with the rest of Europe was pretty limited. They thought Indian Ocean was an enclosed space, as postulated by Ptolemy. The Aviz dynasty of King Joao I, was half English from their mother's side and referred to themselves as Fidalgos ("Sons of Someone"). They lived by a code of reckless personal bravery and unshakeable religious fanaticism. Under the direction of Prince Henrique, one of King Joao I's sons, Portuguese explored the west coast of Africa in a southerly direction from their ports using boats built with Arab technical assistance. Wealthy cities of Europe were under siege from Arabs as they maintained a chokehold on the trade with India and used their proceeds to economically and militarily strangle Europe. Europeans believed that there was a Christian King beyond Islamic lands called Prestor John who they hoped to link up with, and surround the Muslims. King Joao II (grandnephew of King Joao I) ascended the throne and under him, Portuguese sea exploration took a giant leap forward. Christopher Columbus approached King Joao II to support his expedition to Indies. King Joao II thought Columbus exaggerated his abilities and passed on financially supporting his venture. Columbus went to Queen Isabella of Spain and got her support for his voyage.
King Joao II assigned Diego Cao to find a sea route to India (since the overland route to India was in the hands of Arabs) and link up with Prestor John. Diego Cao left in May or June 1485 down the African coast to present day Namibia and planted a monument to note his progress. When Diego Cao died on his return journey, King Joao II turned to Bartolomew Diaz in October 1486. At the same time, he also tasked Pero De Cavilha to find an overland route to India as well. After extensive preparations, Diaz sailed towards the African coast in August 1487. His attempts to hug the coast became progressively harder as his fleet made its way south along the African coast. In a moment of inspiration, the fleet decided to sail west (away from the coast) to take advantage of the strong winds and currents in the South Atlantic. They were able to successfully come around Cape of Good Hope ( they originally named it 'Stormy Cape' but King Joao II had it changed to Cape of Good Hope because he hoped discovery of it would lead to better things). With the success of Diaz's journey, Ptolemy's ideas on World geography lost adherents among the Portuguese. King Joao II and the Portuguese were put on the back foot when Christopher Columbus sailed back into Spain and announced he had found India even though he had actually landed in present day Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti and Dominican Republic. Portuguese disputed the legitimacy of Spain's claims on these lands and these 2 powers met at Tordesillas to negotiate their control of the world. They settled on Tordesillas line that ran from Arctic to Atlantic, with the western portions assigned to Spain and eastern portions assigned to Portugal. Because the world was round, this later caused complications when Portuguese kept pushing farther towards East that put them in violation of the agreements with Spain.
King Joao II died in 1495 and was succeeded by King Dom Manuel. Dom Manuel wanted to outflank Islam from the sea and also replace Venice as the luxury mart of the Western world. He assigned Vasco Da Gama to lead the expedition. Vasco Da Gama was a pirate who honed his navigational skills along Moroccan coast. Portuguese continued to develop their technology in artillery and ship building by learning from their forays along the Moroccan coast. Diaz was assigned the responsibility of designing the ships for Vasco Da Gama's fleet as he had the knowledge of what was needed to go around Africa. The fleet had 4 ships, Sao Gabriel (commanded by Vasco Da Gama), Sao Rafael, Berrio and a supply ship. The money for Vasco Da Gama's expedition came from the dowry Manuel received in his marriage to Princess Isabella of Spain. At the time of Vasco Da Gama's voyage, Indian Ocean was a thriving region of sea borne commerce. Goods from West coast of India (Gujarat and Malabar coasts) reached East Coast of Africa and through Red Sea to Islamic world. In return, Persian and Arab horses made their way to ports on the Malabar coast for supplying the antagonists of the fierce wars in the Indian interior (between Muslim Bijapur and Hindu Vijayanagar). The emphasis on commerce led to Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews trading with each other under the benign rule of Chieftains of Malabar Coast and getting rich.
Following in Diaz's footsteps, Vasco Da Gama made a half loop towards west after leaving Portugal that put him in the currents of South Atlantic. He landed in a bay on the West Coast of Africa, 125 miles North West of Cape of Good Hope, that was populated by the pastoral Khoi Khoi people. The initial exchanges were friendly but soon misunderstandings developed that ended with Vasco Da Gama being hurt by a spear. Henceforth, he resolved to shoot first and ask questions later. Kingdoms on the East coast of Africa thought of Portuguese as another type of Muslims and eagerly exchanged gifts. However, they were sorely disappointed at the cheapness of the Portuguese gifts. When word got out along the coast about Portuguese, other Kingdoms became less excited about the exchange but Portuguese used their firepower to awe these kingdoms and steal drinking water for their ships. Their unfamiliarity with currents in Indian Ocean meant their progress was slow. They took out their frustration at some ports on the African coast by taking hostages and then, realizing they were Muslims, torturing them by pouring boiling oil on them. The hostages jumped overboard and died to escape further torture. In the Kingdom of Malindi on East African Coast, Portuguese mistook Hindus for a different type of Christians and treated them well. The Sultan of Malindi provided them with a Gujarati Muslim to guide them to India, partly to get them off his port. In May 1498, Portuguese sighted the Kozhikode. It had taken them 309 days to get to India.
At that time, Kozhikode was ruled by a Chieftain referred to as Samudri Raja or Lord of the Sea. He welcomed traders with open arms as their custom duties swelled his coffers. Kozhikode was the premier trading post on Malabar coast because of its reputation for good governance and fair dealing with merchants. Trading was in the hands of Arab merchants and Mappilas, born to Muslim sailors and low caste Hindus. Political power rested with the Hindus (this arrangement was noted by a Chinese travel writer during one of their maritime expeditions, Ma Huan - 'There was a king who made a sworn compact with Muslim people - You do not eat the Ox; I do not eat the pig, we will reciprocally respect the taboo. This has been honored to the present day' (Not sure what the cow protection mobs in present day India would make of this approach). Vasco Da Gama and the Portuguese's mistrust led him to leave most of his group behind on the ships, taking only a small number of men and some gifts with him to meet the Samudri Raja. In a sign of welcome, Samudri Raja provided a palanquin and a boat for Vasco Da Gama's entourage. Samudri Raja was unimpressed by the cheap items Vasco Da Gama and the Portuguese had brought as gifts. He allowed the Portuguese to sell their merchandise in Kozhikode where they found very little profit for their wares as the Malabar coast had higher quality goods.
Arab dhows loaded up on spices from Kozhikode and Ceylon and traversed the Red Sea where they were unloaded at Aden and other ports. They were then sent overland to Cairo and Alexandria where ships from Venice and Genoa were waiting to be loaded for delivery to Europe. The price of spices at Venice and Genoa were high because delays due to robberies when travelling from Red Sea to Cairo and exorbitant taxation by Mamluk sultans of Egypt.
Vasco Da Gama expected preferential treatment from a fellow "Christian" King that he thought Samudri Raja was while Samudri Raja treated him like another trader requesting him to pay the customs duties and sell his merchandise before leaving the port. Because of his suspicions about Samudri Raja being in the pocket of the Muslim traders, Vasco Da Gama upped the ante by taking some high caste Hindus as hostages when they came to visit the Portuguese ships. Samudri Raja agreed to let the Portuguese build a monument in Kozhikode but Vasco Da Gama broke the agreement and sailed away with his merchandise and his hostages. Samudri Raja sent boats after the Portuguese fleet but the superior artillery allowed Vasco Da Gama to easily beat back Samudri Raja's boats and make it to the East African coast. The hostages died because of their religious prohibition of not eating on the seas and the Portuguese threw them overboard and reached Lisbon in July 1499. Dom Manuel sent word to the Pope that Portugal had found a sea route to India while at the same time knocking Spain for landing in the wrong continent. Merchants in Venice and Genoa were worried at losing the spice trade when they received news that Portuguese had returned with spices from India. With success of Vasco Da Gama's expedition, Dom Manuel sent fleets of increasing size towards India, a total of 81 ships between 1500 - 1505. To drive home his advantage, Dom Manuel forbade any sharing of the information Vasco Da Gama's fleet had collected on its voyage.
Vasco Da Gama's voyage was followed by Pedro Alvares Cabral who made a bigger loop around the west coast of Africa and discovered Brazil in the process. He also carried more valuable gifts for the Samudri Raja and brought back Malayalees to teach them Portuguese and use them as middlemen in place of Muslims. Because Portuguese still thought of Hindus as a Christian sect, they sent Franciscan Friars on subsequent ships to instruct them on the tenets of the one true Christian faith and make them see the error of their ways. Dom Manuel had instructed Cabral to treat Samudri Raja with due respect but lay waste to Muslims and Arabs outside Samudri Raja's domain. The older Samudri Raja had died and was succeeded by his nephew. In his audience with the new Samudri Raja, Cabral demanded restitution for the goods Vasco Da Gama had left back (even though it was Vasco Da Gama who broke the agreement and left Kozhikode), preferential tax tariffs, lower prices for spices, a secure trading post and exemption from the common rule a deceased merchant's goods become the property of the local ruler. Cabral also demanded the expulsion of all Muslims and informed the Samudri Raja that Portuguese would wage holy war on Muslims because of their sacred duty. The superior artillery of Portuguese ensured that everyone on the Malabar coast would be afraid of them. The fear and tension between Portuguese and the locals culminated in Muslims killing 50 Portuguese sailors when they were loading their ships in preparation for their departure. Rest of the Portuguese sailors, around 20 of them, made it to the ships anchored some distance from the port. Cabral expected Samudri Raja to punish the perpetrators but the Samudri Raja hesitated, given that he was caught between the Portuguese and the Muslim merchants. Cabral proceeded to take matters into his own hands and captured 10 Arab dhows that were plying on the sea and killed around 500 - 600 men on those boats in full view of everyone in Kozhikode. He then proceeded to bombard Kozhikode with artillery barrage from his ships that flattened buildings and caused significant loss of life. Cabral then proceeded to the port of Kochi whose Raja was not on good terms with Samudri Raja and who granted the Portuguese a permanent trading post. Cabral also received support from Kannur and Kollam ports and allowed to load spices from there. The Raja of Kochi would serve the traitorous role that Mir Jafar and Raja of Pudukottai played with distinction in Indian History, when faced with a well armed foreign power. Cabral repaid the Raja of Kochi's support by kidnapping hostages and spiriting them away on his fleet. Just as in the case of Vasco Da Gama's fleet, these hostages died because they refused to break the religious taboo of not eating on the seas and were thrown overboard. Cabral returned to Lisbon in 1501. Portuguese realized that Indians were not "Christians" and that no one could match Portuguese firepower on the Indian Ocean. Henceforth, they decided to approach their future voyages as gunboat diplomacies.
Dom Manuel appointed Vasco Da Gama as the Admiral of India and sent him on his second voyage in February 1502. The King's instructions were to obtain reparations for the loss of Portuguese life under Cabral, expel Muslims and develop permanent alliances with Kochi and Kannur forts. The King also tasked Vasco Da Gama's uncle, Vicente Sodre with bottling up the traffic on Red Sea and starving Mamluk dynasty's revenue stream from the trade there. On his second voyage, Vasco Da Gama used his firepower to devastating effect, subduing every port the Portuguese laid anchor in. He reached the Malabar coast and berthed his ships in Mount Deli which gave him an excellent vantage point to monitor Arab dhows travelling the Indian Ocean. He surrounded an Arab ship, Miri that had 240 Muslim men, women and children on board. Following the long standing rules of Indian Ocean trade, the Muslim traders on Miri offered to pay for their release. Vasco Da Gama rejected their generous offers and asked the traders to hand over all the valuables from the ship. After they had handed it over, he ordered his sailors to burn the ship with everyone on board. Once they realized their precarious situation, the passengers in Miri fought back but that only made Vasco Da Gama more resolute in sending the infidel Muslims to their fiery graves. Mistrusting every exchange, he insulted Samudri Raja when the he tried to placate him. The Samudri Raja's attempt to manage the Portuguese spectacularly backfired when Raja of Kochi showed Samudri Raja's letter to Vasco Da Gama about forming an united front, earning undying enmity of Portuguese. To show his resolve, Vasco Da Gama sailed his fleet in full regalia as close to the shore as possible and hung Muslims and Hindu fishermen he had captured on the seas (who had ventured into the sea under the mistaken presumption that the Portuguese and Kozhikode had made an agreement) from his boats. When people in Kozhikode gathered to watch the public hanging in shock, he fired his cannons at the beach, killing scores of onlookers. As a token of insult, he mutilated the dead fishermen and put them on a boat towards the beach with a message in Malayalam demanding complete and total surrender of Kozhikode. Samudri Raja took his time and mounted a sneak attack at night on Vasco Da Gama's fleet when it was berthed at Kochi port but the Portuguese were saved in the nick of time by Vicente Sodre's fleet that had returned from Red Sea.
The blood curdling exploits of Vasco Da Gama spread fear across the coast and spelt the transformation of the free trade zone around Indian Ocean into a proprietary one under Portuguese. It allowed Portuguese to institute a toll system regulating shipping along Malabar coast. Portuguese issued safe conduct passes, in return for payment of significant import and export duties, called Cartazes that ensured protection. In spite of persistent complaints from Muslim traders, the Mamluk sultans did not act to change the ground reality. That changed with Vasco Da Gama's torture of a Muslim merchant (Mariyama Marakkar) whom the Raja of Kannur accused of not paying taxes. Vasco Da Gama insulted the merchant and tied him to the mast of a ship and proceeded to stuff his mouth full of shit and bacon. Upon his release, the merchant became a driving force for Mamluk dynasty's forceful response.
After Vasco Da Gama returned to Lisbon, Samudri Raja took advantage of the weakness of Raja of Kochi and mounted a concerted attack to overrun the port before monsoon season began. Raja of Kochi was saved in the nick of time by the Portuguese spice fleet returning after the monsoon. This Portuguese fleet was led by the Albuquerques, Francisco De Albuquerque and Afonso De Albuquerque. Francisco died on the return voyage to Lisbon while Afonso made it to safety. After failure of another attack on Kochi, Samudri Raja retired to religious life and was succeeded by his nephew. By 1505, Kozhikode ceased to be the center of spice trade along Malabar coast as a result of which Muslims started going back to Egypt. Portuguese took this opportunity to burn 2000 of them alive on the sea. With complete control of Indian Ocean spice trade, Portugal reaped a profit of 1 million cruzados per year. It also made Venice and Genoa, Lisbon's main competitors in trade, that much poorer. Venetians responded by trying to steal trade secrets from the Portuguese and encouraged Mamluk sultans to retaliate but to no effect.
Dom Manuel sent Francisco De Alameida as the Viceroy for India and tasked him with development of permanent trading posts along East African and Malabar coasts. Portuguese view of India also changed - from being an end in itself (as they had originally started with), it now became the platform to project power across Indian Ocean and bring down Mamluk dynasty and capture Jerusalem for Christendom. With his survival at stake, the Mamluk Sultan arranged a large fleet. However, its purpose was first and foremost, protecting the forts on the way to Jerusalem. Taking back control of Indian Ocean trade was a distant second. On the Malabar coast, Alameida succeeded in constructing forts in Anjediva Islands, Honavar and Kochi.
While Alameida was consolidating Portuguese power in India, Dom Manuel sent Afonso De Albuquerque to India in February 1506 as the replacement for Alameida but did not inform Alameida about his successor. Outbreak of plague in Portugal had forced Albuquerque to staff his fleet with hardened criminals from jails. King Dom Manuel ordered Albuquerque to expand Portuguese presence in India and also defeat Mamluk Sultan by sailing up the Red Sea. On his way to India, Albuquerque attacked Muslim trading posts, looted mosques and burned them. He also captured Ormuz, a port on Red Sea that gave Portuguese control of the horse trade to India from Arabs. Because of unremitting hostility between the inland kingdoms of Bijapur (Muslim) and Vijaynagar (Hindu), both kings needed horses for their wars and this made the horse trade quite lucrative. During his time in Ormuz, Albuquerque's captains objected to him spending time and money on a fort and deserted his fleet and converted to Islam and joined the Chief Vizier of Ormuz, Hwaga Ata. In rage, Albuquerque bombarded Ormuz and flattened residential buildings. With his focus on Ormuz, Albuquerque missed the Mamluk Sultan's fleet and it berthed at Diu, hoping to relieve Kozhikode while attacking Kannur and Kochi forts. For their ultimate success, they needed the support of Governor of Diu, Malik Ayaz who hedged his bets. Because of his dithering, Portuguese were able to inflict heavy damage on Mamluk Sultan's fleet. However, Alameida's son Laurenco recklessly frittered away the Portuguese advantage resulting in victory for the Mamluk Sultan's fleet. In the meantime, Alameida, attacked the fort of Dabul on the Gujarat coast and laid waste to its population. Portuguese outdid themselves in savagery, killing children by dashing them against walls. Alameida then trained his guns on the Mamluk Sultan's fleet. With Malik Ayaz playing both sides, Mamluk Sultan's fleet was defeated. For his service to the Portuguese crown, Alameida's reward was being replaced by Afonso De Albuquerque. Though he initially resisted it, Dom Manuel was able to convince Alameida to turn over his command to Albuquerque. On his return journey, Alameida was killed by KhoiKhoi people in West African coast over a dispute about stolen cattle.
Afonso De Albuquerque attacked Kozhikode again and ransacked the town. Even though there was some resistance, Portuguese triumphed and looted the whole city lock, stock and barrel (even carrying away gilded doors on their ships). He then sailed towards Goa and set up a fort there. Goa at that time was under the control of Bijapur. With assistance from a pirate, Timoji and taking advantage of the absence of Adil Shah from Goa (who had just ascended to power), Albuquerque was able to capture Goa. Albuquerque made Goa into Portugal's first overseas possession complete with a new currency (Cruzado) and setting up new policies. That included banning Sati and encouraging Portuguese to marry low caste Hindu women. Adil Shah pacified his kingdom in due course and turned his attention to Goa. Albuquerque put up a strong fight from an unwinnable position but had to admit defeat and resolved to recapture Goa. When war between Vijaynagar and Bijapur flared up again, Adil Shah was called back to attend to it and Albuquerque used his absence to recapture Goa. As was the practice of Portuguese, he put Muslim men, women and children to sword, with some assistance from the local Hindu population. Albuquerque also succeeded in capturing Malacca in South East Asia in 1511. After repeated attempts, Portuguese were able to finally subdue Kozhikode by poisoning the Samudri Raja (who was against them) and installing his brother (who was a Portuguese puppet) in his stead. Albuquerque now turned his attention to Red Sea and tried to capture the port of Aden but failed. During his efforts, he realized that Mamluk dynasty was crumbling and a determined push from Portuguese would lay the path to Mecca and Medina wide open before them. But before he could proceed, the monsoon season kicked up in Indian Ocean and Albuquerque had to retreat to India. He died in Goa on December 15, 1515 after suffering from dysentery. Dom Manuel died in Portugal in 1521. With both their deaths, Portuguese state sponsored terrorism slowed down. After the death of Albuquerque, they were also defeated in Morocco. Mamluk dynasty crumbled and was overthrown by Ottomans in 1517.
The savagery and single minded dedication of Portuguese to Crusading brings to mind the campaigns of ISIS in the present day. While ISIS started as a terror group and acquired a state of their own, Portuguese used their state to inflict religious terror on the Indian Ocean trade and everyone involved in it. The author celebrates Portuguese as the vanguard of imperialism (even though he paints it as an endeavor to spread global trade and commerce). The advantage that a systematic approach to slaughter through guns and cannons overwhelmed any resistance the local chieftains along African and Indian coasts could muster. While some Western authors have posited geography, enlightenment as some factors that led to the supremacy of West for last 500 years, a major reason has to do with state sponsored religious terrorism. Without Aviz dynasty's unstinted backing of their explorers' murderous forays across Indian Ocean, Malabar coast would still be a shining example of an enlightened approach to trade and commerce that acknowledged the divisive nature of religion but harnessed it towards shared prosperity. Without active support from Hindus, Portuguese would have had difficulty subduing the Malabar Coast. As has been true throughout Indian history, the religious hatred between Hindus and Muslims provided a ready made strategy for any foreign power intent
on capturing a slice of India. Portuguese were the first Europeans to realize it and their success spurred other European powers to follow suit. On the other hand, the narrow view of their survival shown by chieftains on Malabar coast ensured their demise.
Other Books of Reference:
The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama - Sanjay Subrahmanyam
A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco Da Gama 1497 - 1499 - E.G.Ravenstein
The distinction for occupying territory in India the longest goes to neither the British nor the Mughals. It goes to the Portuguese who occupied Goa in 1510 and were only driven out by Indian Armed Forces in 1961 (under 'Operation Vijay'). Even though their national identity now is represented by a vainglorious star, their savagery, fanaticism and ruthlessness was second to none within Europe. The author provides a glowing tribute to their ingenuity and barbarity in this book, lauding them as the one of the first Europeans to lay the groundwork for imperialism (even though the author refers to it as an an earlier era of globalization). The writing style and the narrative is excellent (which is the case with his other books as well).
By the time British and Dutch East India companies had settled on India as the ticket to their prosperity, Portuguese religious warriors had laid waste to Malabar coast and destroyed the trading network that sustained Indian West coast and African East coast. Their disruption ruined the Mamluk dynasty in Egypt and made Venice and Genoa pale shadows of their former wealthy selves. Their religious fanaticism led them to kill, burn and maim scores of Muslims and Hindus, all in the name of capturing Jerusalem for Christendom. With Vasco Da Gama's successful sea voyage to India in 1497, came the realization that Europe's ignorance and Asia's riches could be transposed under their brutal leadership. Where Indian Ocean potentates offered trade and peace (as had happened across millenia), Portuguese offered cannon fire and religious fanaticism. By 1520, their destructive dance was exhausted but they had a series of permanent settlements in East African Coast and Malabar Coast to show for it. The author has primarily focused on a character driven portrait of the Portuguese expansion and is generous with his praise and stingy in criticism of their behavior. What matters to the author is the exploits, in his view far out of proportion to its size, of the small nation on the prow of Europe that blazed the trail of state sponsored religious terrorism on the Indian Ocean earlier than other European nations (eventually, all of them realized their superior guns and cannons made them masters of all they surveyed).
Analysis:
Chinese were the first to invent gunpowder and used it for fireworks. They were also the first to attempt to circumnavigate the world and explore new lands. Between 1400 - 1433, they sent 7 sea borne expeditions reflecting their stature as the Middle Kingdom. They were secure in their power and as such, used these expeditions to showcase their wealth and power, not as a means of subjugation. There is even an inscription in Galle in Sri Lanka in Arabic, Chinese and Tamil that attests to the peaceable nature of these expeditions. In 1415, Portuguese under King Joao I, were engaged in a mini-Crusades of their own, fighting with the North African Muslim Kingdom of Morocco. Their knowledge of geography, as with the rest of Europe was pretty limited. They thought Indian Ocean was an enclosed space, as postulated by Ptolemy. The Aviz dynasty of King Joao I, was half English from their mother's side and referred to themselves as Fidalgos ("Sons of Someone"). They lived by a code of reckless personal bravery and unshakeable religious fanaticism. Under the direction of Prince Henrique, one of King Joao I's sons, Portuguese explored the west coast of Africa in a southerly direction from their ports using boats built with Arab technical assistance. Wealthy cities of Europe were under siege from Arabs as they maintained a chokehold on the trade with India and used their proceeds to economically and militarily strangle Europe. Europeans believed that there was a Christian King beyond Islamic lands called Prestor John who they hoped to link up with, and surround the Muslims. King Joao II (grandnephew of King Joao I) ascended the throne and under him, Portuguese sea exploration took a giant leap forward. Christopher Columbus approached King Joao II to support his expedition to Indies. King Joao II thought Columbus exaggerated his abilities and passed on financially supporting his venture. Columbus went to Queen Isabella of Spain and got her support for his voyage.
King Joao II assigned Diego Cao to find a sea route to India (since the overland route to India was in the hands of Arabs) and link up with Prestor John. Diego Cao left in May or June 1485 down the African coast to present day Namibia and planted a monument to note his progress. When Diego Cao died on his return journey, King Joao II turned to Bartolomew Diaz in October 1486. At the same time, he also tasked Pero De Cavilha to find an overland route to India as well. After extensive preparations, Diaz sailed towards the African coast in August 1487. His attempts to hug the coast became progressively harder as his fleet made its way south along the African coast. In a moment of inspiration, the fleet decided to sail west (away from the coast) to take advantage of the strong winds and currents in the South Atlantic. They were able to successfully come around Cape of Good Hope ( they originally named it 'Stormy Cape' but King Joao II had it changed to Cape of Good Hope because he hoped discovery of it would lead to better things). With the success of Diaz's journey, Ptolemy's ideas on World geography lost adherents among the Portuguese. King Joao II and the Portuguese were put on the back foot when Christopher Columbus sailed back into Spain and announced he had found India even though he had actually landed in present day Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti and Dominican Republic. Portuguese disputed the legitimacy of Spain's claims on these lands and these 2 powers met at Tordesillas to negotiate their control of the world. They settled on Tordesillas line that ran from Arctic to Atlantic, with the western portions assigned to Spain and eastern portions assigned to Portugal. Because the world was round, this later caused complications when Portuguese kept pushing farther towards East that put them in violation of the agreements with Spain.
King Joao II died in 1495 and was succeeded by King Dom Manuel. Dom Manuel wanted to outflank Islam from the sea and also replace Venice as the luxury mart of the Western world. He assigned Vasco Da Gama to lead the expedition. Vasco Da Gama was a pirate who honed his navigational skills along Moroccan coast. Portuguese continued to develop their technology in artillery and ship building by learning from their forays along the Moroccan coast. Diaz was assigned the responsibility of designing the ships for Vasco Da Gama's fleet as he had the knowledge of what was needed to go around Africa. The fleet had 4 ships, Sao Gabriel (commanded by Vasco Da Gama), Sao Rafael, Berrio and a supply ship. The money for Vasco Da Gama's expedition came from the dowry Manuel received in his marriage to Princess Isabella of Spain. At the time of Vasco Da Gama's voyage, Indian Ocean was a thriving region of sea borne commerce. Goods from West coast of India (Gujarat and Malabar coasts) reached East Coast of Africa and through Red Sea to Islamic world. In return, Persian and Arab horses made their way to ports on the Malabar coast for supplying the antagonists of the fierce wars in the Indian interior (between Muslim Bijapur and Hindu Vijayanagar). The emphasis on commerce led to Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews trading with each other under the benign rule of Chieftains of Malabar Coast and getting rich.
Following in Diaz's footsteps, Vasco Da Gama made a half loop towards west after leaving Portugal that put him in the currents of South Atlantic. He landed in a bay on the West Coast of Africa, 125 miles North West of Cape of Good Hope, that was populated by the pastoral Khoi Khoi people. The initial exchanges were friendly but soon misunderstandings developed that ended with Vasco Da Gama being hurt by a spear. Henceforth, he resolved to shoot first and ask questions later. Kingdoms on the East coast of Africa thought of Portuguese as another type of Muslims and eagerly exchanged gifts. However, they were sorely disappointed at the cheapness of the Portuguese gifts. When word got out along the coast about Portuguese, other Kingdoms became less excited about the exchange but Portuguese used their firepower to awe these kingdoms and steal drinking water for their ships. Their unfamiliarity with currents in Indian Ocean meant their progress was slow. They took out their frustration at some ports on the African coast by taking hostages and then, realizing they were Muslims, torturing them by pouring boiling oil on them. The hostages jumped overboard and died to escape further torture. In the Kingdom of Malindi on East African Coast, Portuguese mistook Hindus for a different type of Christians and treated them well. The Sultan of Malindi provided them with a Gujarati Muslim to guide them to India, partly to get them off his port. In May 1498, Portuguese sighted the Kozhikode. It had taken them 309 days to get to India.
At that time, Kozhikode was ruled by a Chieftain referred to as Samudri Raja or Lord of the Sea. He welcomed traders with open arms as their custom duties swelled his coffers. Kozhikode was the premier trading post on Malabar coast because of its reputation for good governance and fair dealing with merchants. Trading was in the hands of Arab merchants and Mappilas, born to Muslim sailors and low caste Hindus. Political power rested with the Hindus (this arrangement was noted by a Chinese travel writer during one of their maritime expeditions, Ma Huan - 'There was a king who made a sworn compact with Muslim people - You do not eat the Ox; I do not eat the pig, we will reciprocally respect the taboo. This has been honored to the present day' (Not sure what the cow protection mobs in present day India would make of this approach). Vasco Da Gama and the Portuguese's mistrust led him to leave most of his group behind on the ships, taking only a small number of men and some gifts with him to meet the Samudri Raja. In a sign of welcome, Samudri Raja provided a palanquin and a boat for Vasco Da Gama's entourage. Samudri Raja was unimpressed by the cheap items Vasco Da Gama and the Portuguese had brought as gifts. He allowed the Portuguese to sell their merchandise in Kozhikode where they found very little profit for their wares as the Malabar coast had higher quality goods.
Arab dhows loaded up on spices from Kozhikode and Ceylon and traversed the Red Sea where they were unloaded at Aden and other ports. They were then sent overland to Cairo and Alexandria where ships from Venice and Genoa were waiting to be loaded for delivery to Europe. The price of spices at Venice and Genoa were high because delays due to robberies when travelling from Red Sea to Cairo and exorbitant taxation by Mamluk sultans of Egypt.
Vasco Da Gama expected preferential treatment from a fellow "Christian" King that he thought Samudri Raja was while Samudri Raja treated him like another trader requesting him to pay the customs duties and sell his merchandise before leaving the port. Because of his suspicions about Samudri Raja being in the pocket of the Muslim traders, Vasco Da Gama upped the ante by taking some high caste Hindus as hostages when they came to visit the Portuguese ships. Samudri Raja agreed to let the Portuguese build a monument in Kozhikode but Vasco Da Gama broke the agreement and sailed away with his merchandise and his hostages. Samudri Raja sent boats after the Portuguese fleet but the superior artillery allowed Vasco Da Gama to easily beat back Samudri Raja's boats and make it to the East African coast. The hostages died because of their religious prohibition of not eating on the seas and the Portuguese threw them overboard and reached Lisbon in July 1499. Dom Manuel sent word to the Pope that Portugal had found a sea route to India while at the same time knocking Spain for landing in the wrong continent. Merchants in Venice and Genoa were worried at losing the spice trade when they received news that Portuguese had returned with spices from India. With success of Vasco Da Gama's expedition, Dom Manuel sent fleets of increasing size towards India, a total of 81 ships between 1500 - 1505. To drive home his advantage, Dom Manuel forbade any sharing of the information Vasco Da Gama's fleet had collected on its voyage.
Vasco Da Gama's voyage was followed by Pedro Alvares Cabral who made a bigger loop around the west coast of Africa and discovered Brazil in the process. He also carried more valuable gifts for the Samudri Raja and brought back Malayalees to teach them Portuguese and use them as middlemen in place of Muslims. Because Portuguese still thought of Hindus as a Christian sect, they sent Franciscan Friars on subsequent ships to instruct them on the tenets of the one true Christian faith and make them see the error of their ways. Dom Manuel had instructed Cabral to treat Samudri Raja with due respect but lay waste to Muslims and Arabs outside Samudri Raja's domain. The older Samudri Raja had died and was succeeded by his nephew. In his audience with the new Samudri Raja, Cabral demanded restitution for the goods Vasco Da Gama had left back (even though it was Vasco Da Gama who broke the agreement and left Kozhikode), preferential tax tariffs, lower prices for spices, a secure trading post and exemption from the common rule a deceased merchant's goods become the property of the local ruler. Cabral also demanded the expulsion of all Muslims and informed the Samudri Raja that Portuguese would wage holy war on Muslims because of their sacred duty. The superior artillery of Portuguese ensured that everyone on the Malabar coast would be afraid of them. The fear and tension between Portuguese and the locals culminated in Muslims killing 50 Portuguese sailors when they were loading their ships in preparation for their departure. Rest of the Portuguese sailors, around 20 of them, made it to the ships anchored some distance from the port. Cabral expected Samudri Raja to punish the perpetrators but the Samudri Raja hesitated, given that he was caught between the Portuguese and the Muslim merchants. Cabral proceeded to take matters into his own hands and captured 10 Arab dhows that were plying on the sea and killed around 500 - 600 men on those boats in full view of everyone in Kozhikode. He then proceeded to bombard Kozhikode with artillery barrage from his ships that flattened buildings and caused significant loss of life. Cabral then proceeded to the port of Kochi whose Raja was not on good terms with Samudri Raja and who granted the Portuguese a permanent trading post. Cabral also received support from Kannur and Kollam ports and allowed to load spices from there. The Raja of Kochi would serve the traitorous role that Mir Jafar and Raja of Pudukottai played with distinction in Indian History, when faced with a well armed foreign power. Cabral repaid the Raja of Kochi's support by kidnapping hostages and spiriting them away on his fleet. Just as in the case of Vasco Da Gama's fleet, these hostages died because they refused to break the religious taboo of not eating on the seas and were thrown overboard. Cabral returned to Lisbon in 1501. Portuguese realized that Indians were not "Christians" and that no one could match Portuguese firepower on the Indian Ocean. Henceforth, they decided to approach their future voyages as gunboat diplomacies.
Dom Manuel appointed Vasco Da Gama as the Admiral of India and sent him on his second voyage in February 1502. The King's instructions were to obtain reparations for the loss of Portuguese life under Cabral, expel Muslims and develop permanent alliances with Kochi and Kannur forts. The King also tasked Vasco Da Gama's uncle, Vicente Sodre with bottling up the traffic on Red Sea and starving Mamluk dynasty's revenue stream from the trade there. On his second voyage, Vasco Da Gama used his firepower to devastating effect, subduing every port the Portuguese laid anchor in. He reached the Malabar coast and berthed his ships in Mount Deli which gave him an excellent vantage point to monitor Arab dhows travelling the Indian Ocean. He surrounded an Arab ship, Miri that had 240 Muslim men, women and children on board. Following the long standing rules of Indian Ocean trade, the Muslim traders on Miri offered to pay for their release. Vasco Da Gama rejected their generous offers and asked the traders to hand over all the valuables from the ship. After they had handed it over, he ordered his sailors to burn the ship with everyone on board. Once they realized their precarious situation, the passengers in Miri fought back but that only made Vasco Da Gama more resolute in sending the infidel Muslims to their fiery graves. Mistrusting every exchange, he insulted Samudri Raja when the he tried to placate him. The Samudri Raja's attempt to manage the Portuguese spectacularly backfired when Raja of Kochi showed Samudri Raja's letter to Vasco Da Gama about forming an united front, earning undying enmity of Portuguese. To show his resolve, Vasco Da Gama sailed his fleet in full regalia as close to the shore as possible and hung Muslims and Hindu fishermen he had captured on the seas (who had ventured into the sea under the mistaken presumption that the Portuguese and Kozhikode had made an agreement) from his boats. When people in Kozhikode gathered to watch the public hanging in shock, he fired his cannons at the beach, killing scores of onlookers. As a token of insult, he mutilated the dead fishermen and put them on a boat towards the beach with a message in Malayalam demanding complete and total surrender of Kozhikode. Samudri Raja took his time and mounted a sneak attack at night on Vasco Da Gama's fleet when it was berthed at Kochi port but the Portuguese were saved in the nick of time by Vicente Sodre's fleet that had returned from Red Sea.
The blood curdling exploits of Vasco Da Gama spread fear across the coast and spelt the transformation of the free trade zone around Indian Ocean into a proprietary one under Portuguese. It allowed Portuguese to institute a toll system regulating shipping along Malabar coast. Portuguese issued safe conduct passes, in return for payment of significant import and export duties, called Cartazes that ensured protection. In spite of persistent complaints from Muslim traders, the Mamluk sultans did not act to change the ground reality. That changed with Vasco Da Gama's torture of a Muslim merchant (Mariyama Marakkar) whom the Raja of Kannur accused of not paying taxes. Vasco Da Gama insulted the merchant and tied him to the mast of a ship and proceeded to stuff his mouth full of shit and bacon. Upon his release, the merchant became a driving force for Mamluk dynasty's forceful response.
After Vasco Da Gama returned to Lisbon, Samudri Raja took advantage of the weakness of Raja of Kochi and mounted a concerted attack to overrun the port before monsoon season began. Raja of Kochi was saved in the nick of time by the Portuguese spice fleet returning after the monsoon. This Portuguese fleet was led by the Albuquerques, Francisco De Albuquerque and Afonso De Albuquerque. Francisco died on the return voyage to Lisbon while Afonso made it to safety. After failure of another attack on Kochi, Samudri Raja retired to religious life and was succeeded by his nephew. By 1505, Kozhikode ceased to be the center of spice trade along Malabar coast as a result of which Muslims started going back to Egypt. Portuguese took this opportunity to burn 2000 of them alive on the sea. With complete control of Indian Ocean spice trade, Portugal reaped a profit of 1 million cruzados per year. It also made Venice and Genoa, Lisbon's main competitors in trade, that much poorer. Venetians responded by trying to steal trade secrets from the Portuguese and encouraged Mamluk sultans to retaliate but to no effect.
Dom Manuel sent Francisco De Alameida as the Viceroy for India and tasked him with development of permanent trading posts along East African and Malabar coasts. Portuguese view of India also changed - from being an end in itself (as they had originally started with), it now became the platform to project power across Indian Ocean and bring down Mamluk dynasty and capture Jerusalem for Christendom. With his survival at stake, the Mamluk Sultan arranged a large fleet. However, its purpose was first and foremost, protecting the forts on the way to Jerusalem. Taking back control of Indian Ocean trade was a distant second. On the Malabar coast, Alameida succeeded in constructing forts in Anjediva Islands, Honavar and Kochi.
While Alameida was consolidating Portuguese power in India, Dom Manuel sent Afonso De Albuquerque to India in February 1506 as the replacement for Alameida but did not inform Alameida about his successor. Outbreak of plague in Portugal had forced Albuquerque to staff his fleet with hardened criminals from jails. King Dom Manuel ordered Albuquerque to expand Portuguese presence in India and also defeat Mamluk Sultan by sailing up the Red Sea. On his way to India, Albuquerque attacked Muslim trading posts, looted mosques and burned them. He also captured Ormuz, a port on Red Sea that gave Portuguese control of the horse trade to India from Arabs. Because of unremitting hostility between the inland kingdoms of Bijapur (Muslim) and Vijaynagar (Hindu), both kings needed horses for their wars and this made the horse trade quite lucrative. During his time in Ormuz, Albuquerque's captains objected to him spending time and money on a fort and deserted his fleet and converted to Islam and joined the Chief Vizier of Ormuz, Hwaga Ata. In rage, Albuquerque bombarded Ormuz and flattened residential buildings. With his focus on Ormuz, Albuquerque missed the Mamluk Sultan's fleet and it berthed at Diu, hoping to relieve Kozhikode while attacking Kannur and Kochi forts. For their ultimate success, they needed the support of Governor of Diu, Malik Ayaz who hedged his bets. Because of his dithering, Portuguese were able to inflict heavy damage on Mamluk Sultan's fleet. However, Alameida's son Laurenco recklessly frittered away the Portuguese advantage resulting in victory for the Mamluk Sultan's fleet. In the meantime, Alameida, attacked the fort of Dabul on the Gujarat coast and laid waste to its population. Portuguese outdid themselves in savagery, killing children by dashing them against walls. Alameida then trained his guns on the Mamluk Sultan's fleet. With Malik Ayaz playing both sides, Mamluk Sultan's fleet was defeated. For his service to the Portuguese crown, Alameida's reward was being replaced by Afonso De Albuquerque. Though he initially resisted it, Dom Manuel was able to convince Alameida to turn over his command to Albuquerque. On his return journey, Alameida was killed by KhoiKhoi people in West African coast over a dispute about stolen cattle.
Afonso De Albuquerque attacked Kozhikode again and ransacked the town. Even though there was some resistance, Portuguese triumphed and looted the whole city lock, stock and barrel (even carrying away gilded doors on their ships). He then sailed towards Goa and set up a fort there. Goa at that time was under the control of Bijapur. With assistance from a pirate, Timoji and taking advantage of the absence of Adil Shah from Goa (who had just ascended to power), Albuquerque was able to capture Goa. Albuquerque made Goa into Portugal's first overseas possession complete with a new currency (Cruzado) and setting up new policies. That included banning Sati and encouraging Portuguese to marry low caste Hindu women. Adil Shah pacified his kingdom in due course and turned his attention to Goa. Albuquerque put up a strong fight from an unwinnable position but had to admit defeat and resolved to recapture Goa. When war between Vijaynagar and Bijapur flared up again, Adil Shah was called back to attend to it and Albuquerque used his absence to recapture Goa. As was the practice of Portuguese, he put Muslim men, women and children to sword, with some assistance from the local Hindu population. Albuquerque also succeeded in capturing Malacca in South East Asia in 1511. After repeated attempts, Portuguese were able to finally subdue Kozhikode by poisoning the Samudri Raja (who was against them) and installing his brother (who was a Portuguese puppet) in his stead. Albuquerque now turned his attention to Red Sea and tried to capture the port of Aden but failed. During his efforts, he realized that Mamluk dynasty was crumbling and a determined push from Portuguese would lay the path to Mecca and Medina wide open before them. But before he could proceed, the monsoon season kicked up in Indian Ocean and Albuquerque had to retreat to India. He died in Goa on December 15, 1515 after suffering from dysentery. Dom Manuel died in Portugal in 1521. With both their deaths, Portuguese state sponsored terrorism slowed down. After the death of Albuquerque, they were also defeated in Morocco. Mamluk dynasty crumbled and was overthrown by Ottomans in 1517.
The savagery and single minded dedication of Portuguese to Crusading brings to mind the campaigns of ISIS in the present day. While ISIS started as a terror group and acquired a state of their own, Portuguese used their state to inflict religious terror on the Indian Ocean trade and everyone involved in it. The author celebrates Portuguese as the vanguard of imperialism (even though he paints it as an endeavor to spread global trade and commerce). The advantage that a systematic approach to slaughter through guns and cannons overwhelmed any resistance the local chieftains along African and Indian coasts could muster. While some Western authors have posited geography, enlightenment as some factors that led to the supremacy of West for last 500 years, a major reason has to do with state sponsored religious terrorism. Without Aviz dynasty's unstinted backing of their explorers' murderous forays across Indian Ocean, Malabar coast would still be a shining example of an enlightened approach to trade and commerce that acknowledged the divisive nature of religion but harnessed it towards shared prosperity. Without active support from Hindus, Portuguese would have had difficulty subduing the Malabar Coast. As has been true throughout Indian history, the religious hatred between Hindus and Muslims provided a ready made strategy for any foreign power intent
on capturing a slice of India. Portuguese were the first Europeans to realize it and their success spurred other European powers to follow suit. On the other hand, the narrow view of their survival shown by chieftains on Malabar coast ensured their demise.
Other Books of Reference:
The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama - Sanjay Subrahmanyam
A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco Da Gama 1497 - 1499 - E.G.Ravenstein
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