PLANT CULTURES: EXPLORING PLANTS AND PEOPLE
PLANT CULTURES: EXPLORING PLANTS AND PEOPLE
Empires - Portuguese settlement
Early European presence in India was dominated by the
Portuguese. Vasco da Gama landed in Calicut (on the Malabar
Coast) in 1498. He asked for and received trading concessions
from the local ruler, for trading rights in Calicut,
Cannanore and Cochin on the Malabar coast of Southwest India.
Vasco da Gama had sailed around Africa to reach India, and
though he had come essentially to trade, his ships also
brought priests and a few soldiers -- a pattern that was to
characterise the Portuguese approach to India and her other
colonies.
PHOTO:
Drawing of workers at an indigo manufacturing plant.
Traditional process of making dye in the 17th century.
Arab traders are thought to have persuaded the local ruler to
withdraw these privileges, at which point the trading posts
were attacked. They managed to defend themselves so
effectively that the Portuguese established effective control
of the spice trade in this area of South India.
Portuguese expansion
Portuguese concessions were then extended, in 1503, to the
construction of a factory (a trading post run by factors) and
later a fort at Cochin (present day Ernakulam). The
Portuguese governors of these concession areas were
determined to expand and consolidate Portugal's hold over the
west coast.
They moved energetically, taking Goa in 1510 (seized from the
Sultan of Bijapur, one of the most powerful kingdoms in the
South), Bassein (north of Bombay) in 1534, and Daman (a small
island off the Gujarat coast) in 1538. In the same year they
started constructing a factory at Hugli in Bengal (on the
east coast).
Indeed Goa first became the headquarters for Portugal's
Indian operations in 1530, and later for the entire overseas
empire in the East, and remained in Portuguese hands until
occupied by Indian troops in 1961.
Portuguese strategy
Portuguese possessions in India were part of a
larger plan for the whole of Southeast Asia, and
for disrupting India's trade with the Arabs on her
west coast.
Portugal was determined to dominate the spice trade
as a whole. India was only a supply point for some
items (pepper) but was a transhipment point for
other spices of value (cloves, cinnamon, etc). Thus
her strategy was to create a network of concessions
and trading privileges.
All other European trading companies, particularly of the
Dutch, Danes, French and the British essentially emulated the
Portuguese strategy.
Decline
Portugal's union with Spain in 1580, together with its
internal problems, and general focus on Brazil as its most
lucrative colony, left Portuguese possessions in India and
South East Asia vulnerable to attack. By 1650 Portuguese
influence was failing. Other European powers were building on
the remains of Portugal's possessions.
PHOTO
Drawing of coconut grove with many coconuts scattered on the
ground.
Coconuts in a coconut grove, 1682.
A Portuguese window on India
During the 150 years of Portuguese influence, India
was 'revealed' to Europeans largely through
Portuguese eyes. Indeed, the influence was so
profound that early Portuguese texts, such as
botanical reports, were regularly used by later
scholars when studying the subcontinent and its
people.
Most words that entered the Anglo-Indian lexicon are
Portuguese derivations of Indian words, which were often
later anglicised, as attested in Hobson-Jobson, the glossary
of Anglo Indian terms that was indispensable to every British
administrator in the 19th century.
SOURCE:
http://www.plantcultures.org/t
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Empires - Portuguese settlement
Early European presence in India was dominated by the
Portuguese. Vasco da Gama landed in Calicut (on the Malabar
Coast) in 1498. He asked for and received trading concessions
from the local ruler, for trading rights in Calicut,
Cannanore and Cochin on the Malabar coast of Southwest India.
Vasco da Gama had sailed around Africa to reach India, and
though he had come essentially to trade, his ships also
brought priests and a few soldiers -- a pattern that was to
characterise the Portuguese approach to India and her other
colonies.
PHOTO:
Drawing of workers at an indigo manufacturing plant.
Traditional process of making dye in the 17th century.
Arab traders are thought to have persuaded the local ruler to
withdraw these privileges, at which point the trading posts
were attacked. They managed to defend themselves so
effectively that the Portuguese established effective control
of the spice trade in this area of South India.
Portuguese expansion
Portuguese concessions were then extended, in 1503, to the
construction of a factory (a trading post run by factors) and
later a fort at Cochin (present day Ernakulam). The
Portuguese governors of these concession areas were
determined to expand and consolidate Portugal's hold over the
west coast.
They moved energetically, taking Goa in 1510 (seized from the
Sultan of Bijapur, one of the most powerful kingdoms in the
South), Bassein (north of Bombay) in 1534, and Daman (a small
island off the Gujarat coast) in 1538. In the same year they
started constructing a factory at Hugli in Bengal (on the
east coast).
Indeed Goa first became the headquarters for Portugal's
Indian operations in 1530, and later for the entire overseas
empire in the East, and remained in Portuguese hands until
occupied by Indian troops in 1961.
Portuguese strategy
Portuguese possessions in India were part of a
larger plan for the whole of Southeast Asia, and
for disrupting India's trade with the Arabs on her
west coast.
Portugal was determined to dominate the spice trade
as a whole. India was only a supply point for some
items (pepper) but was a transhipment point for
other spices of value (cloves, cinnamon, etc). Thus
her strategy was to create a network of concessions
and trading privileges.
All other European trading companies, particularly of the
Dutch, Danes, French and the British essentially emulated the
Portuguese strategy.
Decline
Portugal's union with Spain in 1580, together with its
internal problems, and general focus on Brazil as its most
lucrative colony, left Portuguese possessions in India and
South East Asia vulnerable to attack. By 1650 Portuguese
influence was failing. Other European powers were building on
the remains of Portugal's possessions.
PHOTO
Drawing of coconut grove with many coconuts scattered on the
ground.
Coconuts in a coconut grove, 1682.
A Portuguese window on India
During the 150 years of Portuguese influence, India
was 'revealed' to Europeans largely through
Portuguese eyes. Indeed, the influence was so
profound that early Portuguese texts, such as
botanical reports, were regularly used by later
scholars when studying the subcontinent and its
people.
Most words that entered the Anglo-Indian lexicon are
Portuguese derivations of Indian words, which were often
later anglicised, as attested in Hobson-Jobson, the glossary
of Anglo Indian terms that was indispensable to every British
administrator in the 19th century.
SOURCE:
http://www.plantcultures.org/t
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