In the previous Part, we saw that in 1498, Vasco da Gama had discovered the Cape
Route. After discovering the Cape Route in 1498, Vasco da Gama arrived in the
Malabar region of India. This region forms the western coastline, stretching
from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Roughly, this area is the state of Kerala today. At
the time Vasco da Gama arrived here, there were small kingdoms. These were
basically the 11 succession states of the ancient Chera Empire. Among these 11
major succession states, the kingdom where Vasco da Gama arrived was Calicut.
Calicut is in Kerala, and today we know it as Kozhikode. At that time, it was a
sovereign Hindu kingdom ruled by the Neduvarappu Swaroopam. They used to call
the head of the house Samudri, and from this word came Zamorin. Vasco da Gama
referred to the Neduvarappu Swaroopam as Zamorin instead of Samudri, which is
why the king of Calicut is generally known as the Zamorin in historical texts.
So, when Vasco da Gama reached Calicut, the Zamorin received him very warmly and
also gave him permission to trade in his area. However, there was one major
problem: the Cape Route passed through the Arabian Sea, where Arab traders held
a strong monopoly at the time. So, the presence of the Portuguese in this area
became a threat to the Arab traders, and obviously, Vasco da Gama also did not
like the Arab traders here. This made conflict between Vasco da Gama and the
Arab traders almost inevitable. But somehow, the Arab traders had an upper hand
here because they already had a monopoly, and the Zamorin also valued the Arab
traders quite a lot. On the other hand, Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese, and the
Portuguese were religious fanatics who considered Muslims their sworn enemies.
So, it meant that there was a clash of commercial interests between the
Portuguese and the Arab traders, as well as a clash of religious interests.
Despite this, no major conflict occurred, primarily because Vasco da Gama stayed
in Calicut for only three months. From a trade perspective, he bought many
things here, loaded them onto his ship, and returned to Portugal. Upon returning
to Portugal, he was astonished to find that the profit from selling the goods
was sixty times the total cost of his voyage. This was very big news, and it can
be said that it was the biggest news of that time. Seeing Vasco da Gama's
success, other Portuguese navigators also wanted to go to India, buy goods
there, bring them here, and sell them at a very high profit. But the Portuguese
ruler Manuel I, who ruled from 1495 to 1521, clearly stated that all Portuguese
trade missions were a state enterprise. This meant that all Portuguese trade
missions would only be conducted by the government; it was government work. The
government would decide who would go to India on the next naval mission. In
1500, it was decided that Pedro Álvares Cabral would sail to India with an even
larger fleet. A larger fleet meant more ships. So, when Pedro Álvares Cabral
reached India, he also arrived in the Zamorin's territory and, with the
Zamorin's permission, set up the first factory in Calicut. Factory basically
meant a warehouse where they could buy and store the goods they traded in. And
since we said that Pedro Álvares Cabral had come here with an even larger fleet
and had also established his factory here, this started to cause problems for
the Arab traders. They began to feel that the Portuguese were establishing
themselves here, and that's why clashes started to occur between the Portuguese
and the Arab traders. These violent clashes were happening from both sides. Arab
traders were attacking their factory, and the Portuguese were destroying Arab
traders' ships. A lot of bloodshed started here. The Zamorin could not tolerate
this at all, that the Portuguese were coming here and causing riots. He warned
the Portuguese that they should not create any kind of riots here, and if they
wanted to, they should trade peacefully. Seeing the Zamorin's attitude, Pedro
Álvares Cabral was quite surprised and began to feel that the Zamorin was very
partial towards the Arab traders. This incident turned the Portuguese against
the Zamorin as well. Cabral also took up arms against the Zamorin, but the Arab
traders and the Zamorin together defeated Cabral. With this, Pedro Álvares
Cabral's term in India ended, and in 1501, he returned to Portugal. The
following year, in 1501, Vasco da Gama arrived in India with an even larger
fleet, but this time he brought not only sailors but also many naval troops. And
before he reached Calicut, news of his arrival had already reached the Zamorin.
Actually, the thing is, Vasco da Gama had come with complete planning. He had
destroyed all the ships he saw in the Arabian Sea. In fact, he had also wreaked
havoc on a ship going for Hajj. Hearing this news, the Zamorin's heart sank. He
couldn't believe that this was the same Vasco da Gama whom he had given such a
warm welcome. But now, what was left for him to do? Somewhere in his mind, there
was fear. He welcomed Vasco da Gama again, and Vasco da Gama also knew that the
Zamorin was scared at this time. Vasco da Gama told the Zamorin to expel all the
Muslims from his area, but this was not possible for the Zamorin. He flatly
refused. Vasco da Gama became even more angry, and a tension began between Vasco
da Gama and the Zamorin. Vasco da Gama, staying in Calicut, forcefully started
building factories in the surrounding areas. He built factories in Cannanore,
Cochin, and Calicut. And not only did he build factories, but he also fortified
them all around. And in this way, these three Portuguese settlements were
established in India. After this, in 1503, when King Manuel I of Portugal
learned that Portuguese settlements had been established in Cannanore, Calicut,
and Cochin in India, he realized that a resident administrator needed to be
appointed for these Portuguese settlements in India. The government's approach
was to send a naval mission to India every year, but now it was decided that a
resident administrator would be appointed in India for a period of three years.
And for this task, Francisco de Almeida was chosen. He was given the
responsibility of consolidating the Portuguese position in India and also
eliminating Muslim trade there. For this task, Francisco de Almeida was given
the position of Viceroy of India. So, basically, the position of resident
administrator was also called the position of Viceroy of India. Thus, Francisco
de Almeida became the first Portuguese Viceroy of India. His headquarters was in
Cochin, and he stayed in India from 1505 to 1509. After him, the next Portuguese
Viceroy of India was Afonso de Albuquerque. Albuquerque was in India from 1509
to 1515. After him, the next important Portuguese Viceroy of India was Nuno da
Cunha. Nuno da Cunha was in India from 1529 to 1538. In today's video, we will
cover all three of these Portuguese Viceroys of India in detail. Let's start
with Francisco de Almeida. Francisco de Almeida came to India with a very big
vision. His vision was to make the Portuguese the master of the entire Indian
Ocean and to implement the Cartaz system in this entire region, a system known
as the Blue Water Policy. If this policy were implemented, it would mean that
any ship sailing in the Indian Ocean for trade would have to take a license from
the Portuguese before doing so. That is, before trading in the Indian Ocean,
they would have to get permission and a license from the Portuguese. And
obviously, if you want to implement such a policy here and are thinking of
becoming the master of this entire region, then the existing players here would
have a problem. Apart from the Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut, also had a problem
with this because the trade was happening in his area. Besides, if you look
carefully at the map, you can see that Egypt was also trading with the Arabian
Sea and India through the Red Sea. So, the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt also had a
problem with these intentions of the Portuguese. Now think about who else could
have a problem? Gujarat could also have a problem, and at that time, there was a
very powerful ruler in Gujarat named Mahmud Begada. You might recall that we
discussed him in detail in the medieval history course. So, now these four
players were bound to clash with the Portuguese. And the interesting thing is
that the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt and Mahmud Begada of Gujarat were both prepared
to face the Portuguese together. Besides, the Portuguese also had to face the
Arab traders and the Zamorin. The Portuguese very easily defeated the Arab
traders and the Zamorin. Now, the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt and Mahmud Begada of
Gujarat remained. Both of them together attacked the Portuguese. This battle
took place near Diu in 1507. In this battle, the Portuguese were defeated, and
Almeida's son, who was a naval cadet, was also killed. But the very next year,
in 1508, Almeida took revenge. He defeated the combined army of Egypt and
Gujarat together. This was a very big victory for the Portuguese, but with this,
Almeida's term in India ended, and he set sail for Portugal. He was succeeded by
Albuquerque, who became the next Portuguese Viceroy of India in 1509.
Albuquerque wanted the Portuguese to dominate the entire Oriental commerce. That
is, he wanted Portuguese dominance over all the trade happening in the entire
East and Far East, i.e., India, China, Malacca, Indonesia. If you try to
understand this deeply, it's just another way of saying that the Portuguese
should have dominance over all the trade happening in the entire Indian Ocean.
So, if we understand this, then you can also understand that this is exactly the
same policy that Almeida also had. Almeida also wanted the same thing. So, what
is the difference? Is it just a difference in words? No, this is not just a
difference in words. We get a lot of details from Albuquerque's writings that
tell us that his policy was different from Almeida's policy. He wrote in his
writings that if we build our dominion solely on the strength of the navy, it
will not last long because in such a case, neither the native rulers nor the
local people will support us. So, he believed in establishing territorial
control. He wanted to capture certain strategic locations and fortify them.
These are basically not just factory forts; here, we are talking about taking
control of an entire region and fortifying it. And in this campaign, his first
choice was Goa. To implement this policy, Goa was a very strategically important
location for him, and that was because Goa was a natural harbor and fort.
Besides, by staying here, the Portuguese could command the entire Malabar trade.
And also, since this area was connected to the Deccan region, and the trade of
the Deccan rulers used to happen through the Gujarat seaports, and this region
was quite close to the Gujarat seaports, this was also a very big reason why the
Portuguese felt that Goa should be brought under their control. But at that
time, Goa was under the control of Adil Shah, the ruler of Bijapur. Now, this
Bijapur was basically a part of the Bahmani Kingdom, and when the Bahmani
Kingdom disintegrated, it formed a total of five kingdoms. Bijapur was one of
them. We have already covered the Bahmani Kingdom, the Vijayanagara Empire, and
their disintegration in detail in our medieval history course. That's why we
will only focus here on the fact that Goa was under the control of Adil Shah of
Bijapur, and the Portuguese understood the strategic importance of Goa. That's
why they tried to capture Goa. They very easily captured Goa in 1510, and after
that, the Portuguese made Goa their naval base. And that's why we can say that
after Alexander's invasion, this was the first time a European power occupied
any territory of India. Goa became Portuguese territory in 1510, and after that,
many changes were made here. Albuquerque built two very large harbours here, one
in Panaji and the other in Mormugao. And since Goa was now under Portuguese
administration, they were making many other changes here as well. They also
abolished the practice of Sati here. Along with this, they encouraged the
Portuguese who came with them to marry the locals here. The logic behind this
was to increase the Portuguese population in this area. They wanted it to appear
as if this entire area was a Portuguese settlement. And that's why they also
made Portuguese the official language here. That is, all government work here
was to be done in the Portuguese language. And that's why they also opened many
schools here so that the locals could learn this language. Besides this, they
also built buildings, roads, and many irrigation works in Goa. They also
introduced several new crops here, such as tobacco, cashew nut, and a new
variety of coconut. So, let's understand through the map how Albuquerque
actually implemented his policy. See, we saw that first he took Goa under his
control. After that, he built his next fort in Colombo, which is in Sri Lanka.
Then he reached Aceh, i.e., Sumatra, which is in Indonesia, and along with that,
he also took control of the port of Malacca. This means that he also took
control of the entry point of the Indochina trade route, and along with that,
the exit point of the Indochina trade route as well. That is, now whatever trade
happens between India and China will be under his control. Besides this, he took
control of the island of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. This means
that he now had command over the entry of the Persian Gulf. That is, whatever
trade happens in the Persian Gulf will be under his control. Besides this, he
also took control of the island of Socotra. This is the place where the traffic
coming from the Red Sea meets the Arabian Sea. So, if you have control over the
island of Socotra, it means that you also have control over all the trade
happening in the Red Sea and the entire surrounding region. Along with this, he
had also taken control of many regions on the east coast of Africa. And in this
way, we can say that he had established his dominance over the entire Indian
Ocean. This means that he had kicked the Arabs out of the Indian trade, and as
we saw that he had control over Hormuz, Goa, and Malacca, it means that the
Portuguese had control over the entire Indian Ocean. And in this entire Indian
Ocean, they had implemented a permit system. That is, if any ship wanted to sail
in the Indian Ocean, they had to take a permit from the Portuguese before doing
so. So, you can see that during the time when Albuquerque was the Portuguese
Viceroy of India, there were many such developments due to which the power of
the Portuguese in the East increased very rapidly. And that's why Albuquerque is
called the real founder of Portuguese power in the East. So, these were the
details of Albuquerque, who was the Portuguese Viceroy of India from 1509 to
1515. After him, the next important Portuguese Viceroy of India was Nuno da
Cunha, who was the Portuguese Viceroy of India here from 1529 to 1538. The first
thing he did was to shift the Indian headquarters of the Portuguese government
from Cochin to Goa. He did this in 1530. And since by this time the Portuguese
had a considerable influence over the western coast of India, he decided that
now we should also bring our influence to the east coast of India. And for this,
he started building Portuguese settlements on the east coast of India as well,
the headquarters of which was made in Hooghly, which is in Bengal. Look, the
Portuguese had now been in India for almost 30-35 years. They had completely
dominated the Indian Ocean. Due to the Portuguese dominance over the Indian
Ocean, the trade of Gujarat was being very badly affected. In such a situation,
Gujarat saw only one hope. They felt that if they could somehow get help from
the Ottoman rulers. So, they sent embassies to the Ottoman rulers and asked for
help. The Ottoman ruler also sent a very strong navy to help them, and along
with that, sent two very capable Turkish officers. One of these two Turkish
officers was Rumi Khan, whom Bahadur Shah had made the governor of Diu. This
same Rumi Khan later became very famous as a master gunner. And in 1531, when
Nuno da Cunha attacked Diu, it was this Rumi Khan who repulsed the Portuguese
attack. So, we can understand that Bahadur Shah, with the help of the Ottoman
Turks, managed to keep the Portuguese at least at arm's length. But after this,
the situation seemed to change again. The Mughal Empire had been established in
the north of India. The Mughal ruler Humayun was preparing to attack Gujarat. In
such a situation, the ruler of Gujarat, Bahadur Shah, thought that if he had to
fight the Mughals, he would have to take the help of the Portuguese. And that's
why he started negotiations with the Portuguese, and thus, the Treaty of Bassein
was signed between the two. This was basically a defensive-offensive alliance.
In this treaty, it was decided that Diu, which had so far been a part of
Gujarat, would now be a part of Portuguese territory. And as is evident from the
name of this treaty, it was the Treaty of Bassein. Bahadur Shah also gave the
island of Bassein to the Portuguese in this treaty. Bassein is basically the
Vasai area. If you ever go to Mumbai, you will see Vasai in the outskirts of
Mumbai. And after surrendering all these things to the Portuguese, Bahadur Shah
was getting what he wanted. He needed the Portuguese support against the
Mughals, and the Portuguese were agreeable to this. The Portuguese immediately
started building their fort in Diu. Now, we need to understand the tussle
between Bahadur Shah and Humayun in a little more detail, and we have already
discussed this in the medieval history course. We will see an excerpt of it here
so that you can understand this tussle. Humayun trusted Sher Khan and lifted the
siege of Chunar Fort. Historians say that Humayun had to take this decision very
hastily because the political dynamics in the west of India were changing very
rapidly. The fact is that Bahadur Shah, who was a very big threat to the Mughal
Empire, had attacked Mewar. And just think, if Bahadur Shah had conquered Mewar,
his proximity to Delhi and Agra would have increased considerably. So, Bahadur
Shah was besieging Mewar, and at that time, the ruler of Mewar was Rana
Vikramaditya, who was quite young at that time and not capable of fighting
Bahadur Shah. In such a situation, it is said that Rani Karnavati, who was the
mother of Rana Vikramaditya and the widow of Rana Sanga, sent a Rakhi to Humayun
and asked for his help. But how true this is cannot be said with complete
certainty because the writers and historians of that time have not written
anywhere that Rani Karnavati asked Humayun for help and sent him any kind of
Rakhi. But this is absolutely true that at the time Bahadur Shah was besieging
Mewar, Humayun had come from Agra to Gwalior with his army. And Bahadur Shah
must have been afraid that the Mughals would intervene here, so he immediately
signed a treaty with Mewar and lifted the siege. So far, we have seen that since
becoming the emperor, Humayun was continuously busy in war activities. And
Humayun's personality was such that he believed a lot in the saying, "Work hard
and party even harder." So, for the next one and a half years, Humayun took a
proper break and relaxed and indulged himself in pleasure and debauchery. During
this time, he built a new city in Delhi called Din Panah. You can also say that
since the threat of Bahadur Shah was looming over Agra, Din Panah was built as a
second capital. But at the time when Humayun was away from the affairs and
tensions of the Mughal Empire, indulging in his pleasures, his enemies were
utilizing this time to further strengthen themselves. Sher Khan had become even
more powerful than before, and Bahadur Shah had also captured many regions of
eastern Rajasthan, including Ajmer. In fact, Bahadur Shah was seeking out the
enemies of the Mughal Empire and giving them his support. He helped Sher Khan
and also provided arms and soldiers to Tat Khan, who was Ibrahim Lodi's cousin.
And now Tat Khan was ready to attack Agra with an army of 4,000. As soon as
Humayun got this news, he woke up from his sleep and attacked Tat Khan. He
defeated Tat Khan very easily, and Tat Khan was killed in this battle. After
this, Humayun decided that he would eliminate this threat named Bahadur Shah
from its roots. And for this, Humayun first invaded Malwa, which was Bahadur
Shah's territory. After this, it was Gujarat's turn. Humayun also captured
Gujarat. In such a situation, Bahadur Shah first fled to Cambay and then to Diu,
that is, he fled to the refuge of the Portuguese. And Humayun gave the
responsibility of governing this newly acquired territory to his brother Askari,
who was not very experienced. After this, Humayun turned towards Sher Khan
because the kind of activities Sher Khan was doing could pose a threat to the
Mughal Empire in the future. Actually, Sher Khan had brought all the Afghan
chieftains in Bihar under his control and had prepared a very large army.
Besides this, immediately after Humayun lifted the siege of Chunar Fort, Sher
Khan had defeated the king of Bengal and had also recovered a very large amount
of war indemnity from him. So now you might be thinking that Sher Khan's son,
Qutub Khan, would still be in Humayun's custody, so how Sher Khan could be
planning all this against Humayun? Well, the fact is that Qutub Khan had already
escaped from Humayun's clutches, and that's why Sher Khan no longer had any fear
of Humayun. But Humayun had now decided that just as he had removed Bahadur Shah
from here, in the same way, he would remove Sher Khan from his path as well. In
1537, when Humayun was advancing towards Sher Khan to eliminate him, he received
news that his brother Askari, who was not very experienced, had lost Gujarat and
Malwa. This was a very big distraction, but Humayun could not deviate from his
goal now. He received news that Sher Khan was still present in the fort of
Chunar, and that's why Humayun again laid siege to Chunar Fort. So you saw the
kind of tussle that was going on between the Mughals and Bahadur Shah, and how
in this tussle, the Portuguese helped Bahadur Shah. But now, by 1537, the
situation is that the Mughals have been driven out of Gujarat, and since the
crisis over the ruler of Gujarat had passed, he now felt that the Treaty of
Bassein he had signed with the Portuguese was wrong, it should not have been
done, Diu should not have been given to the Portuguese. So, what did Bahadur
Shah, the ruler of Gujarat, do? He again spoke to the Portuguese Viceroy of
India, Nuno da Cunha. He said, "Hey, this Treaty of Bassein doesn't sit well
with me. Can we renegotiate this treaty?" Nuno da Cunha said, "Hey, what are you
talking about? These are minor things. Both brothers will meet and renegotiate,
no problem at all." So, in this way, in 1537 itself, a Portuguese ship was sent
to Bahadur Shah. He boarded it. Bahadur Shah started feeling that perhaps there
was a conspiracy in which he might be killed. There was a scuffle, and in the
meantime, Bahadur Shah was picked up and thrown into the sea, and in this way,
Bahadur Shah died. These were the details of the Portuguese settlements in
India. Conclusion: In this part, we explored how the Portuguese established
their foothold in India after Vasco da Gama's arrival. The initial welcome by
the Zamorin soon turned into hostility due to conflicts with Arab traders and
growing Portuguese aggression. Through figures like Pedro Álvares Cabral,
Francisco de Almeida, and Afonso de Albuquerque, Portugal moved from trade to
territorial control. The implementation of the Cartaz system and establishment
of fortified settlements marked the beginning of European imperial ambition in
the East. Goa's capture in 1510 was a turning point that signified the
transition from maritime dominance to political and administrative control.
These developments laid the foundation for a century of Portuguese supremacy in
the Indian Ocean and marked a major phase in colonial history. Footnotes &
Clarifications: 1. Cartaz System – A naval trade license system introduced by
the Portuguese, requiring all ships in the Indian Ocean to carry a permit issued
by them. It aimed to control trade and generate revenue. 2. Blue Water Policy –
A maritime strategy proposed by Francisco de Almeida that emphasized naval
supremacy to control trade, rather than establishing territorial colonies. 3.
Zamorin of Calicut – The hereditary title of the Hindu rulers of Calicut. The
term "Zamorin" is derived from the Malayalam word "Samuthiri." 4. Factory – In
this context, a "factory" refers not to an industrial unit, but to a fortified
trading post or warehouse used by European merchants to store goods. 5. Treaty
of Bassein (1534) – A defensive alliance between Bahadur Shah of Gujarat and the
Portuguese, under which the Portuguese gained control of Bassein (Vasai) and Diu
in exchange for military support. 6. Bahadur Shah's Death – Though details vary,
it is widely accepted that Bahadur Shah of Gujarat died in 1537 after being
thrown into the sea by the Portuguese during a diplomatic meeting. 7.
Albuquerque’s Policy – Unlike Almeida, Albuquerque believed in territorial
expansion and intermixing with local populations. His reforms in Goa included
promotion of intermarriage, abolition of Sati, and introduction of new crops and
infrastructure.