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The first Europeans to establish a straight sea route were the Portuguese. On May 20, 1498, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama landed in Calicut, a prominent harbour in Kerala. The local monarch, King Zamorin, welcomed him & conferred some rights on them. After a 3 months stay in India, Vasco da Gama travelled back to Europe with such valuable cargo that he marketed on the European market for Sixty times the value of his expedition.
In 1501 AD, Vasco da Gama moved to India again for the second time. At Cannanore, he established a trading business. Kozhikode, Cannanore, and Kochi became important Portuguese colonies in India as trade links were established. Arab businessmen were envious of Portuguese culture and prosperity, and hostility grew between both the Portuguese as well as the local ruler, Zamorin. The animosity escalated, culminating in an overflowing military confrontation among them. The Portuguese were victorious over King Zamorin. The Portuguese army’s advantage was confirmed with triumph over Zamorin.
The Main Causes of Portuguese Leadership Decline
Among the other reasons for the low of Portuguese power in the country is the fact that Portugal is too small a nation to bear the enormous burden of such a trading colonial power in a distant country, their reputation as infamously sea bandits instilled animosity inside the imaginations of native rulers, last but not least, Portuguese rigid religious policies made each other unpopular among India’s Muslims and Hindus. Aside from the presence of the Dutch and British in India, those Portuguese have become the enemy of the British. Paradoxically, the Portuguese, who were the first to arrive in India, were the last one to leave when the Indian government reclaimed Goa, Diu, & Daman from them in 1961 AD. They were the first ones to uncover a new way to reach India.
The following are the three factors that contributed to the decline of Portuguese authority in India:
Albuquerque’s successors, the second viceroys of Portuguese rule in India, were thought to be weak and inept. They were unable to increase Portuguese control over India.
The Portuguese’s religious policies were a crucial factor in their defeat in India. They turned the natives to Christianity by force. They desecrated Hindu shrines in India and inflamed anti-Muslim sentiment. In the south, the Portuguese had cordial connections with the Vijayanagara Empire.
The loss of the Vijayanagara empire within the War of Talikota had a significant impact on Portuguese influence in India. The Portuguese influence in India was diminished by the demise of the Vijayanagara Empire.
Contribution of Portugal to India
Tobacco growing was introduced to India by them. They converted India’s western and eastern shores to Catholicism. They are now using the Cartaze Method to define “How to build sea trade and dominance over the sea.” They became the first Westerners to disseminate Christianity throughout India and Asia. In 1556, they created the first printing machine in India, Goa.The earliest scientific publication, ‘The Indian Medicinal Plants,’ was written in Goa in 1563.
Renewing the Fight for Goa’s Independence
When India drew closer towards the freedom of British rule in the 1940s, the war for freedom started. However, Goa stayed under the Portuguese colonies in India till 1961, weakening India-Portugal ties as the former’s backing for Goa’s pro-government movement developed. India even put economic sanctions on Goa in 1955.
After the Portuguese attacked Indian fishing vessels, killing one fisherman, the Indian forces attacked the state in 1961. Lieutenant General Antonio Vassalo e Silva, military governor of Goa, issued the “instrument of capitulation” giving up Goan territory to India after 36 hours of army air, sea, and land strikes.
Conclusion
The slow downfall of Goa and the loss of Portuguese power in India followed the arrival of the Dutch into Indian waterways. Goa was blockaded with Dutch fleets in 1603 in 1639 but was never taken, and in 1635 it must have been decimated by an epidemic. The Jesuits steadily dominated trade in Portuguese India, and chroniclers inside the late 17th century recorded the growing poverty and degradation in places under Portuguese authority. Only the timely arrival of a Mughal troop in 1683 spared Goa from being captured by Maratha raids. The Marathas assaulted the entire area of Goa in 1739, and it was only the unforeseen introduction of a new governor with a fleet that prevented a military disaster. The Marathas assaulted the entire area of Goa in 1739, and it was only the unforeseen introduction of a new governor with a fleet that prevented a military disaster.
