Month: January 2016

The Portuguese in Asia

 

Following the much celebrated voyage of Vasco da Gama to Calicut in the 1490s, the Portuguese were among the first Europeans to venture into Asian waters. Generally, the Portuguese approach was to secure agreements with existing rulers to establish trading settlements. This was with the aim of ensuring their ease of access to the lucrative trade in Asian goods. When negotiations failed, the Portuguese were prepared to use force and had the firepower to capture several ports.

The Estado da India (State of India) is the term the Portuguese used to refer to their ‘forts and ports’ scattered throughout Asia.(Formally this referred to their ports/settlements but informally they sometimes also used this term to refer to dominion over the waters of Asia).

 Goa, Melaka, Macau are three of the best known examples of the Portuguese presence in the region. Goa was captured in 1510 and would become the ‘capital’ of the Estado da India. Many of these settlements remained reliant on provisions brought via the sea: they weren’t self sufficient. Here was a potential weakness for the Estadao da India.Early European ventures (in the Age of Discovery) were driven by the three Gs: GOD, GOLD and GLORY.  It is worthwhile remembering that the Order of Christ was a major sponsor of Portuguese voyages. Numerous churches and a Christian populace often centred in former Portuguese settlements are current day reminders of the legacies of the Portuguese presence in Asia.

 While the Portuguese predominance in Asia was soon challenged by the Dutch and later the British, Goa  remained a Portuguese territory until 1961.  

The following website, titled Colonial Voyages provides a wealth of information on the Portuguese presence in Asia and is worth a visit:

http://www.colonialvoyage.com/goa-capital-portuguese-india/

 

Travellers and the ‘Age of Commerce’

While the 15th century is generally associated with Southeast Asia’s ‘Age of Commerce’ travellers had long been moving throughout the lands and waters of Asia, and their accounts are extremely valuable for learning more about the ports and trading communities of Asia. 

We can  gain insights into early modern Asia’s maritime realm by examining accounts written at the time. Ibn Battuta, a well-known 14th Century Muslim traveller (pictured above)  provides many glimpses into not only the rigours of traveling in Asia (by land and by sea) but also observations of many key port cities and trading settlements. 

Berkley University’s virtual tour of Ibn Battuta’s voyages is particularly engaging and can be found at this address:

http://ibnbattuta.berkeley.edu

(Chapter 7 onwards traces from Delhi to the Maldives, Ceylon and into Southeast Asia)

Port Cities?

What comes to mind when we think about port cities? And the Asian port city? Ships, sailors and the sea?

We are largely a terrestrial people and very often we think about the land rather than the water. National histories for example, tend to view the water as a way of ‘demarcating territory’. Maritime historians in recent times however, have argued that we can see the oceans as connective forces for new and comparative studies.

Examining the port cities of Asia is a way to re-orient our attention not only to the littoral (coastal) communities but to the water. Port cities provide us with points of connectivity via networks; people, goods and ideas circulated between ports. This gives rise to the observation that port cities are by their very nature porous and also outward looking. They are a ‘marriage of land and sea’ as aptly captured in the book titled Brides of the Sea…