Establishment of the Portugal Dominion

The first person to find the sea route to India is the Portuguese. On May 20th 1498, a European Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama arrived in India at Calicut. This remains an important seaport for southwest India. During that time, the Calicut was ruled by King Zamorin and he received the Vasco da Gama. Here, Vasco da Gama spent three months and explored all the major places in the nation. After that many people from Portugal came to India and occupied the majority of the country. This entire article is about the establishment of the Portugal dominion in India.

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How Portuguese Came To India? 

Portuguese were the first to discover the sea route to India and also the first European people to land in India. A Portuguese sailor  Vasco da Gama found the important sea route to south-west India in Calicut. He landed in Calicut on 20th May 1498 AD. At that time Calicut was under the control of King Zamorin, who received Vasco da Gama and facilitated him to make the trip. He stayed in India and visited all the major places in India and returned to his country with the rich cargo. Then, Vasco da Gama sold all the cargo in the European market for a high price, which is approximately 60 times greater than the cost of his voyage. At that time he came to know about the excellent wealth in India and spread the news among all Portuguese. 

Again on 13th September 1500,  Pedro Alvarez Cabral a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer followed the way of Vasco da Gama from Portugal to India around Africa and landed in Calicut. He started the first European factory in India. 

Later, in 1501 AD Vasco da Gama came to India for the second time. Meanwhile, he setted up a trading factory at Cannanore. He also established the trade links among Calicut, Cannanore and cochin and emerged as the significant Portuguese centres in India. Arab traders became jealous of the Portuguese and anger between Arab traders and Portuguese traders began.  Meanwhile, the conflicts arose between the Portuguese and local king Zamorin. Pedro Alvarez Cabral, a Portugal military commander gathered his force and stood against the local king Zamorin. In the war, the Portuguese defeated the local king Zamorin and took over the victory and the Portuguese started to establish power in India.

Rise of Portuguese Power in India

Francisco de Almeida was appointed as the first Portuguese governor of India. He came into power in 1505 AD. He made many policies to bring control of all the trades that were being occurred in the Indian Ocean. Francisco de Almeida also named the policy the Blue Water Policy. In 1509 AD, Alfonso de Albuquerque took over the charge of Francisco de Almeida as governor of India. He made war with the Sultan of Bijapur and captured Goa in 110 AD.  So, Alfonso de Albuquerque was considered the founder of Portuguese power in India. Subsequently, the Portuguese founded Goa as the headquarters of the Portuguese settlements in India.  The coastal area captured by the Portuguese helped them a lot and created superior naval power to improve their economic status. At the end of the 16th century, the rise of Portuguese power in India covered almost all the Indian coastal areas.

Portuguese Power Decline in India 

The span of Portuguese power in India is very short. Mainly because the Portuguese faced huge challenges to make trade communities in Europe. Various other rival trading blocs and struggles became a reason for the decline in the power of the Portuguese in India. Meanwhile, the Portuguese are pushed to the situation to give way to the more powerful and enterprising competitors gradually rendering them an atrophied entity.

Reason for Decline in Power of Portuguese in India

As Portugal was a small country, they faced a huge burden to maintain trading colonies in a place, which is far away from their nation. Some of the Portuguese created and established rigid religious policies, which made them unpopular among the Muslims and Hindus in India. Followed by Portuguese, Dutch and British entered India and started to conquer India. So, Portuguese became the enemy for dutch, French and British people. So, finally in 1961 AD the Portuguese government completely withdrew their force from India and later, they recaptured Goa, Diu and Daman for them. 

Portuguese in India from 1947 - 1961

Even after the British left the country, the Portuguese ruled some parts of India. On 24th July 1954, an organisation  "The United Front of Goans” carried over the control of the enclave of Dadra. Azad Gomantak Dal took the remaining territory of  Nagar Haveli on 02nd August 1954. The International Court of Justice at The Hague also gave a decision about the access to Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which was a great obstacle for the Portuguese government. 

In 1954, People from Goa, Diu and Daman started protesting against the Portuguese government in the form of the Satyagrahis, which means peaceful protesters. The government of Portugal also tried to suppress many internal revolts around the territories, by using force and murdering or jailing the leaders. In the end, India terminated its friendly relationship with the Portuguese government and also closed its Consulate-General in Panjim. Then, India started to demand the closure of the Salazar regime located in New Delhi. India also imposed an economic restriction against the territories of the Portuguese government. Also, the Indian government started following a diplomatic "wait and watch" approach from 1955 to 1961. At that time, India made numerous representations regarding the Portuguese Salazar dictatorship and also attempted to highlight the decolonisation issue in front of the international community.

The Salazar dictatorship also established air transport facilities through Aéreos da Índia Portuguesa from Goa, Diu and Daman. People from these regions started utilizing it to transport goods from the Indian enclaves. 

In December 1961, the Military of India started a war against the Portuguese government, which was located in Goa and Damaon. This increased the further stress for the Portuguese government. The Portuguese forces had only two options to respond to the Indian government, that is either they have to fight or surrender the territories to India.  The army of the Portuguese was not as large as India. The strength of the Portuguese army is only about 3300, but India has more than 30000 people with a fully extended air and naval force. So, the Portuguese government decided to give up the Indian territory and the Governor of Portuguese signed the Instrument of Surrender to the Indian government on 19th December 1961. By this, the establishment of the Portugal dominion in India for 450 years came to an end.  

Contribution of Portuguese to India  

• They transported the tobaccos from India and sold them in the European market. 

• Portuguese in India spread catholicism on the western and eastern coasts. 

• In 1556 AD, they established the first printing press in India at Goa. 

• In 1563 AD, the Portuguese established ‘The Indian Medicinal Plants’  , the first scientific work in Goa. 

• Portuguese was the first person to establish maritime trade and took supremacy overseas by the Cartaze System. During their period, people who are crossing Portugal territories must get a permit from the Portugal government. Otherwise, they will capture them and imprison them. 

• Portuguese were the first European people, who took responsibility for spreading Christianity in India and Asia.  

• Portuguese in India encouraged agriculture and experimented with scientific and innovative reforms. They also supported increasing production of coconut and coir manufacturing and trades in India. 

• They also introduced new varieties of fruits and vegetables like papaya, Pine Apple, Cashew, Watermelon, Indian Beans and Guava from the European nation. 

• Also, the Portuguese are mainly concentrated on introducing European style architecture in India. For that, they constructed European style churches and residential buildings. 

• In 1503, the Portuguese constructed the fort Manuel at Kochin. This was the first European port in India. 

• By blending Portuguese culture and Kerala culture, the art form Chavittunadakam was developed.  Likewise, Kadakali also developed, which is now the traditional dance of Kerala. 

This article provided clear information about the rise of Portuguese power in India, What attracted them to sustain in India and create the market in India. what pushed them to leave the country.