Portuguese India

The State of India (Portuguese: Estado da Índia [ɨʃˈtaðu ðɐ ˈĩdiɐ]), also known as the Portuguese State of India (Portuguese: Estado Português da Índia, EPI) or Portuguese India^[4] (Portuguese: Índia Portuguesa), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the Kingdom of Portugal. The capital of Portuguese India served as the governing centre of a string of military forts and maritime ports scattered along the coasts of the Indian Ocean.

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State of India Estado da Índia (Portuguese)
1505–1961
Flag (1910–1961) Coat of arms (1951–1961)
Anthem: Hymno Patriótico (1808–1826) "Patriotic Anthem" Hino da Carta (1826–1911) "Hymn of the Charter" A Portuguesa (1911–1961) "The Portuguese"
Status	State of Portugal (1505–1946) Overseas province of Portugal (1946–1961)
Capital	Cochin (1505–1530) Goa (1530–1843) Pangim (1843–1961)
Official language	Portuguese
Common languages	European Portuguese Indo-Portuguese creoles Konkani Kannada Gujarati Marathi Malayalam Tamil Bengali
Religion	Official: Roman Catholicism Major: Hinduism Islam Minor: Zoroastrianism[1][2] Judaism[3] Protestantism
Monarch and Head of State
• 1505–1521	Manuel I of Portugal
• 1958–1961	Américo Tomás
Governor
• 1505–1509	Francisco de Almeida (first)
• 1958–1961	Manuel António Vassalo e Silva (last)
Historical era	Imperialism
• Establishment	15 August 1505
• Indian Annexation	19 December 1961
Area
• Total	4,305 km2 (1,662 sq mi)
Currency	Portuguese Indian rupia (INPR) Portuguese Indian escudo (INPES)
Preceded by Succeeded by Bijapur Sultanate Gujarat Sultanate Ahmednagar Sultanate Malacca Sultanate Hormuz Sundem Maratha Empire Thanjavur Nayak kingdom Goa, Daman and Diu Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli Dutch Coromandel Dutch Malabar British India
Today part of	India Bangladesh Maldives

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The first viceroy Francisco de Almeida established his base of operations at Fort Manuel in the Malabar region, after the Kingdom of Cochin negotiated to become a protectorate of Portugal in 1505. With the Portuguese conquest of Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate in 1510, Goa became the major anchorage for the Armadas arriving in India. The capital of the viceroyalty was transferred from Cochin to Goa in 1530.^[5][6] From 1535, Mumbai (Bombay) was a harbour of Portuguese India, known as Bom Bahia, until it was handed over, through the dowry of Catherine de Braganza to Charles II of England in 1661. The expression "State of India" began regularly appearing in documents in the mid-16th century.^[7]

Until the 18th century, the viceroy in Goa had authority over all Portuguese possessions in and around the Indian Ocean, from Southern Africa to Southeast Asia. In 1752, Mozambique got its own separate government; from 1844 on, Portuguese Goa stopped administering Macao, Solor and Timor. Despite this, the viceroy at Goa only controlled limited portions of the Portuguese settlements in the east; some settlements remained informal private affairs, without a captain or câmara (municipal council). By the end of the 18th century, most of these unofficial colonies were abandoned by Portugal, due to heavy competition from European and Indian rivals.^[8]

In later years, Portugal's authority was confined to holdings in the Canara, Cambay and Konkan regions along the west coast of India. At the time of the dissolution of the British Raj in 1947, Portuguese India comprised three administrative divisions, sometimes referred to collectively as Goa: Goa which included Anjediva and Damaon, which included the exclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Dio districts. The Salazar regime of Portugal lost de facto control of Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 1954. Finally, the rest of the overseas territory was lost in December 1961 with the Indian Annexation of Goa under PM Nehru. Portugal only recognised Indian control after the Carnation Revolution and the fall of the Estado Novo regime in a treaty signed on 31 December 1974.^[9]

In 1520, the Portuguese extended their dominion over the town of Rachol, when Krishnadevaraya captured the Rachol Fort and delivered it to the Portuguese, in exchange for a mutual defence pact against the Deccan Sultanates.

In 1526, John III of Portugal granted the city of Goa and its town hall the same legal status as Lisbon, in a foral in which the general laws and privileges of the city, its town hall, and the local Hindu community were detailed – especially important since at the time the native laws of Goa were still not written, instead being handled by councils of elders or religious judges and passed down orally.^[25]

There were Portuguese settlements in and around the Coromandel region. The Luz Church in the Mylapore neighbourhood of Madras (Chennai) was the first church that the Portuguese built in the area in 1516; the São Tomé or San Thome shrine was rebuilt by them in 1522. They also built the first structures at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount, Bandra, the Our Lady of Velankanni shrine and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Miracles, which are among the important Christian pilgrimage sites of South Asia.

Several colonies were also acquired from the Sultan of Guzerat in the north Konkan region: Daman was sacked in 1531 and ceded in 1539; Salsette, the seven islands of Bombay, Chaul and Bassein (Vasai) in 1534; and Diu, in 1535. These would jointly come to be known as the Northern Province of Portuguese India. It extended almost 100 km (62 mi) along the west coast from Daman to Chaul and in some places 30–50 km (19–31 mi) inland. The territory (province) of Portuguese Bombay had its city centre in and around the Bassein Fort; subject to the viceroy in the capital (metropole) of Velha Goa in south Konkan country, along with other colonies in the Indian subcontinent, such as Portuguese Ceylon and Portuguese Chittagong.^{[citation needed]}

The Ottoman Empire carried out the Siege of Diu in 1538, with a strong fleet under the command of the Ottoman governor of Egypt Sulaiman Pasha for four months, with the aid of a large army provided by the Sultan of Guzerat; however they were ultimately forced to retreat with considerable losses. The successful defence of Dio by captain António da Silveira against overwhelming odds was a battle of annihilation, is one of the most celebrated exploits in Portuguese history, and frequently compared to the Great Siege of Malta. On the occasion, the Portuguese captured the Tiro de Diu, a massive Guzerati bombard.

According to Portuguese records, there was a cholera epidemic in 1543, "It is said that deaths from the disposal of the disease were so numerous that the disposal of bodies was a formidable task"^[26]

On 16 May 1546, the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier requested the institution of the Goa Inquisition for the "Old Christians" and "New Christians" in a letter to John III of Portugal.^{[27][verification needed]} Non-Christians were officially oppressed, even before the Inquisition was set up.^[28][29] Francis Xavier was instrumental in a mass conversion of 30,000 Paravar fishermen at Cape Comorin. In this year, the Portuguese fortress of Diu was sieged a second time by a Gujarati army led by the lord of Surat Khoja Zufar.

In 1556, the printing press in Goa was the first installed in India at Saint Paul's College, Goa. Through publications made on the press, he opened a window on the knowledge and customs of Europe.^[30][31][32] The Jesuits brought this European-style, metal movable type technology to Macao in China in 1588 and to Japan in 1590.^[33]

By the start of the 17th century, the population of Goa and the surrounding areas was about 250,000.^[34] Holding this strategic land against repeated attacks by the Indian states required constant infusions of men and material. Portugal's important victories, such as the battle of Cochin in 1504, the defence of Diu in 1509, the conquest of Goa in 1510, the defences of Diu in 1538 and 1546, and the defence of Goa in 1571 were accomplished with limited manpower. In their largest deployments, the Portuguese could field perhaps 2,000 to 3,000 European and mestiço troops supported by a similar amount of local auxiliaries, while the larger Indian states could field tens of thousands each. Portuguese superiority in military technology (especially in ships and artillery), training (especially in the skill of their gunners), and tactics, combined with the disunity of the Indian states opposing them, allowed them to keep their position and consistently win their wars.^[35]

From the establishment of Portuguese India in 1505 until its disestablishment in 1961, an official with the title of governor or viceroy served as its highest authority, usually for a three-year term, initially with authority over all Crown territories east of the Cape of Good Hope. The latter title was attributed as a high honour while the monarchy lasted, however their duties were the same as governors.^[70] They were the highest military commanders as well as administrators, hence their authority fell on matters pertaining to the armed forces, diplomacy, trade, finance and personnel management.^[71] Before they left Portugal, they were handed a written set of orders and objectives, called regimento.^[71] The viceroys often attempted to influence the nomination of political allies to key positions. However, the final say fell on the metropolis. Many were accompanied by their personal retinues, and these often included their sons to serve in important military positions, such was the case of the captain-major of the seas of India Dom Lourenço de Almeida, son the viceroy Dom Francisco de Almeida. After Goa was conquered, governors and viceroys lived in the Palácio do Hidalcão, the native Indian palace built by the city's former sovereign, the Adil Khan.^[71]

The most important administrative structure of the State was put in place in the 16th century; it included the high court (relação), the superintendency of finances (vedoria da fazenda) run by a Crown appointed vedor, financial accounts office (casa dos contos) and the military registry and supply office (casa da matrícula).^[71]

The extremely scattered nature of Portuguese holdings however, meant that the State was highly decentralized, with great power being held by individual fortress captains, their captain-generals or town halls, far away from Goa.^[72] Like the governors and viceroys, fortress captains served for three years, however their terms could be renovated.^[72] Sancho de Vasconcelos, captain-major of Ambon served for 19 years.^[72] In the most important captaincies, financial authority rested with the vedor (superintendent), while judicial authority was vested in an ouvidor ("ombundsman").

The Church played an important role in the State. The Pope had granted the Kings of Portugal exclusive ecclesiastical rights to religious patronage (Padroado) in their overseas possessions. After 1513 Portuguese eastern holdings were part of the bishopric of Funchal seated in Madeira island. After 1557 Goa became the seat of an archbishop with subordinate bishops in Cochin and Malacca.^[73] Further sees were later opened in Macau in 1576 and in Funai in 1588. Religious Orders of the Augustinians, Franciscans, Dominicans and Jesuits established mission headquarters in Goa, giving the Catholic Church a very visible presence and influence in the capital of the State of India, for which it earned the nickname of "Rome of the East", a fact commented by many foreign travellers.^[73]

In the most important settlements featured a câmara ("town hall"), with charters similar to equivalent cities in Portugal, and they played an important role in administration, as they were the only institution through which settlers could voice their opinions and make themselves heard.^[74] They were responsible for local governance, could collect some municipal taxes and acted as a court of first instance.^[74] They sometimes provided loans to Viceroys, though cooperation was often difficult.^[74] Portuguese merchants often established by their own initiative a câmara in their non-Crown settlements, the most important case of which was the Leal Senado in Macau.

Aside from the Portuguese themselves, the State often also ruled over non-Portuguese, non-Christian peoples, and in these cases often the traditional native structures were left in place. When Afonso de Albuquerque captured Goa, the Hindu inhabitants were left in possession of their lands; the pre-Portuguese system of land-ownership and administration of village communes codified and the rights of Brahmin or Khsatria ganvkars (shareholders) recognized, and tax collection was left to the Hindu Timoja and after him the long-standing Krishna Rao.^[74] In Hormuz, Albuquerque left its native Muslim king as chief administrator under a protectorate.^[74] As the Counter-Reformation gained momentum in Europe, Brahmins were excluded from the Portuguese administration during the tenure of Dom Constantino de Bragança, which resulted in a wave of conversions.^[75]

Trade had been one of the primary motivations behind the Portuguese expansion overseas, and one of the main objectives behind the foundation of the State of India was to take over the Europe-Asia trade, up to that point conducted mainly through the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, redirecting it around Africa via the Cape Route. Trade was processed either by the Crown through royal agents (feitores) working from royal trade posts (feitorias) and maintained by the royal finances, or by independent merchants, either Portuguese or otherwise.

One of the main tasks of royal factors was to acquire spices to be shipped back to Europe. In 1503, the Portuguese unloaded at Lisbon 30,000 quintals of spices, more than what the Venetians introduced in the European market

through Alexandria in Egypt.[76] The overwhelming bulk of commodities imported to Europe by the Portuguese consisted of black pepper, which after 1520 was declared an official Crown monopoly.[77] The Portuguese acquired most of their pepper in Kerala or Kanara in India. For most of the century, the Portuguese secured an overwhelming share of the pepper imports into Europe, supplying 75 per cent or more of Europes pepper.[78] The Crown declared a monopoly on their commodities, such as cloves, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, ginger, silk, pearls and the export of gold and silver bullion from Portugal to Asia.

The Portuguese Crown instituted a number of official carreiras, literally meaning "runs", connecting Goa to major Portuguese and non-Portuguese harbours around the Indian and Pacific oceans once a year. Initially conducted through Crown vessels, after 1560, the Crown began leasing them to private contractors, and by the late 16th century they were the norm.^[80] By 1580, the value of inter-Asian trade rights leases reached as high as two million cruzados - twice the value the Portuguese Crown earned from the Goa-Lisbon trade.^[80]

Portugal regulated and rerouted the Indian Ocean trade by imposing a system of safe-passes called cartaz.^[81] It was imposed most effectively on the west coast of India.^[81] The Portuguese Crown also collected high customs dues, most importantly at Goa, Hormuz, Malacca, Bassein and Diu, and in the 1580s it accounted for over 85% of the viceroys revenue.^[81]

Independent Portuguese merchants got involved in the inter-Asian trade, and the backbone of informal Portuguese presence and trade in Asia was formed of Eurasian merchants, descending from Portuguese soldiers or merchants married to local wives.^[82] Their main hub of activities was the capital of Goa, where the largest community of casados ("married men") was located at, about 2,000 families.^[83] The core element of their trade was Gujarati cotton textiles, but they also dealt in Kerala pepper, cinnammon from Sri Lanka, Kanara rice, diamonds from southern India and larins from Persia.^[83] By 1520 they had penetrated almost every commercially relevant region in Asia aside from Japan (which was reached in the 1540s). Macau was founded by independent Portuguese traders. The Crown regulated their trade into a number of convoys for safety against pirates, the most important of which were those which transported textiles from Gujarat to Goa and rice from Kanara to Goa.^[83] The second most important settlement of Portuguese merchants in India was Cochin, where 500 casados with their families resided.^[84] Diu had a casado population of about 200.^[85]

Portuguese India Company was established in 1628, however with the Crown being its only major shareholder, it was liquidated five years later.^[86] By that point, Portugal's share of pepper trade had fallen behind those of the Dutch VOC and the English EIC.^[86]

Portuguese trade was greatly reduced by the war with the Dutch VOC, with whom a peace treaty was signed in 1663. Inter-Indian Portuguese convoys continued, mainly with Gujarat, Porto Novo and Madras.^[87] Indian cottons became the bedrock of exports from Portuguese India, while tobacco grown in Portuguese Brazil became the most important commodity exported across Asia via Portuguese India till the 19th century.^[88] New Portuguese East India Companies established in 1669 and 1685 failed, largely due to disagreements between the Crown and the merchants over the nature of the enterprise and lack of confidence from investors.^[83] By the 18th century, tobacco, bullion, firearms, consumer goods such as Madeira wine and books represented the most important items traded in Portuguese India, while exports back to Europe included silks, spices, porcelain, precious stones, Indian cottons and high quality lacquered furniture, a good proportion being unloaded at Bahia in Brazil.^[83] Indian cottons were especially valuable in Mozambique, where an important community of Indians from Diu or Daman came to reside. Nevertheless, Goa effectively became a commercial satellite of British Bombay. Many Indo-Portuguese merchants became deeply involved and prominent in French Pondicherry, Danish Tranquebar and especially British Madras, Calcutta and Bombay, Portuguese Jews being linked to the diamond trade in Madras.^[89]

The State was largely urban, since its reason of being was to provide well-protected havens from which trade and communication could be conducted, controlled and dominated, hence only Goa, Daman, Bassein, Chaul and Colombo had any meaningful hinterland and rural populations.^[7] After the massacre of the Portuguese in their feitoria in Calicut in 1500, practically every possession of the State was fortified, sometimes massively, and for this reason it resembled as much a network of maritime communications as an enormous perimeter of fortresses.^[90]

Portuguese India harboured a society that was officially Christian and European but influenced by the non-European setting into which it was inserted. At the top of the social pyramid were the European-born viceroys, officers, and clergymen, followed by the Portuguese casados and their Eurasian descendants, who could be wealthy merchants or hold important positions in the local câmara, and finally the native society. At their peak in 1600, the total number of Portuguese casados across the State probably numbered about 5,500.^[91] Many casados followed a lifestyle that seemed to foreign visitors as remarkably relaxed and luxurious by European standards, some living in fine houses furnished in the Indian fashion with many servants, abundant and varied food that included a wide variety of fruits and poultry, consumed off Ming porcelain. Goan casados often dressed in shirts and white trousers while their wives usually wore saris.^[91]

Alongside fortresses, ecclesiastical buildings dominated the skyline of most Portuguese settlements, particularly in Goa, giving the city a distinctly European and Catholic flavour and a high profile to the Church.^[91] About 600 clergymen were concentrated in Goa out of perhaps 1800 east of the Cape of Good Hope in 1630.^[91] Nevertheless, the European and Christian Eurasian community in any Portuguese settlement of the State always constituted a minority, perhaps no more than 7% in the case of Goa, the rest being Hindus, Indian Christians, other Asians and Africans, free or slaves.^[90]

For these reasons, the State was culturally hybrid, distant as it was from Europe, with the façades and interiors of churches blending Portuguese and Asian iconographic traditions, while the domestic culture was likewise a compromise between East and West, with furniture, dress and food often more Asian than Portuguese.^[92]

Early postal history of the colony is obscure, but regular mail is known to have been exchanged with Lisbon from 1825 onwards. Portugal had a postal convention with Great Britain, so much mail was probably routed through Bombay and carried on British packets. Portuguese postmarks are known from 1854 when a post office was opened in Goa.

The last regular issue for Portuguese India was on 25 June 1960, for the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator. Stamps of India were first used on 29 December 1961, although the old stamps were accepted until 5 January 1962. Portugal continued to issue stamps for the lost colony but none were offered for sale in the colony's post offices, so they are not considered valid stamps.

Dual franking was tolerated from 22 December 1961 until 4 January 1962. Colonial (Portuguese) postmarks were tolerated until May 1962.

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  Indo-Portuguese illustration of a Portuguese nobleman and Christian Indian women, from the Códice Casanatense.
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  16th century Indo-Portuguese illustration of the main deities of Hinduism at the Códice Casanatense.
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  16th century Indo-Portuguese illustration of a Hindu marriage at the Códice Casanatense.
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  16th century Indo-Portuguese illustration of Saint Thomas Christians at the Códice Casanatense.
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  16th century Indo-Portuguese illustration of Kanarese peasants at the Códice Casanatense.
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  18th century Indo-Portuguese cabinet
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  Indo-Portuguese cabinet
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  Indo-Portuguese writing cabinet
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  Indo-Portuguese furniture
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  Indo-Portuguese pistol
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  17th century Indo-Portuguese Christian ivory.

Currency

More information ½ Tanga (1903) ...

½ Tanga (1903)
Obverse: Lettering "CARLOS I REI DE PORTUGAL MCMIII", portrait of King Carlos I.	Reverse: Lettering "INDIA PORTUGUEZA ½ TANGA", coat of arms of Portuguese India.
800,000 coins minted, bronze. Engraver Valancio Alves.

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More information 1 Escudo (1959) ...

1 Escudo (1959)
Obverse: Lettering "ESTADO·DA·INDIA", face value with Coat of arms of Portuguese India in the center.	Reverse: Lettering "REPÚBLICA · PORTUGUESA", year and Coat of arms of Portugal in the center.
6,000,000 coins minted. This coin was from State of India.

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• 
  20 Portuguese bazarucos from 1799, reverse.
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  20 Portuguese bazarucos from 1799, obverse.
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  1866 1/8 tanga.
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  1 Portuguese India rupia, 1882.
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  1947 escudo coin.
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  1959 100 escudos.
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  60 Portuguese India centavos, 1959.
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  1938 5 rupias banknote reverse.
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  1938 5 rupias banknote obverse.

• Battle of Jambi
• Portuguese Empire
• Códice Casanatense
• Japan Voyage
• Estado Novo (Portugal)
• Indo-Portuguese creoles
• List of governors of Portuguese India
• Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (archives in Lisbon documenting Portuguese Empire, including India)
• Portuguese Indian rupia
• Portuguese Indian escudo
• Goa liberation movement
• Civil code of Goa and Damaon
• Cuncolim Revolt
• Portuguese Bombay and Bassein
• Portuguese Ceylon
• Portuguese Oman
• Colonial India
• Mughal–Portuguese conflicts
• Portuguese Negapatam