Question

Write a short note on:

Cartaz

Answer 1

1. Cartaz is the Portuguese naval licence in the Indian Ocean.
2. The Cartaz usually carried details like the name of the vessel (ship), the name of the captain of the ship, the port of departure and arrival, the list of weaponry on the ship loaded for the purpose of self-defence, etc.
3. It became required for the Indian rulers to obtain a Cartaz from them to travel on the Indian Ocean once they subsequently established their solid authority over it.
4. If the local rulers ventured to sail the seas without a Portuguese licence, they either took the ships by force or sunk them.
5. The Portuguese had grown so powerful that even the Sultanates and Mughals in the south had to get a license from them.