Question

How did the Portuguese establish their trading centers in India?

Answer 1

1. In A.D. 1498, Vasco da Gama reached Calicut, where he was cordially received by King Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut. A second Portuguese navigator, Pedro Alvares Cabral, sailed towards India in 1500.
2. Vasco da Gama came to India for the second time in 1501 with 20 ships and founded a trading centre at Cannanore.
3. One after another, they established factories at Calicut and Cochin.
4. King Zamorin attacked the Portuguese in Cochin but was defeated.
5. Cochin was the first capital of the Portuguese East India Company.
6. In 1505, Francisco de Almeida was sent as the first Governor for the Portuguese possessions in India.
7. Almeida had the aim of developing the naval power of the Portuguese in India. His policy was known as the “Blue Water Policy”.Sultans of Bijapur and Gujarat were also apprehensive of the expansion of Portuguese control of ports which led to an alliance between Egypt, Turkey, and Gujarat against Portuguese invaders.
8. In a naval battle fought near Chaul, the combined Muslim fleet won a victory over the Portuguese fleet under Almeida’s son.
9. Almeida defeated the combined Muslim fleet in a naval battle near Diu, and by the year 1509, Portuguese claimed the naval supremacy in Asia.
10. the real founder of the Portuguese power in India was Alfonso de Albuquerque who captured Goa and established the Portuguese authority over Ormuz in the Persian Gulf.
11. Governor Nino de Cunha moved the capital from Cochin to Goa in 1530. In 1534, he acquired Bassein from Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, in 1537.
12. During the 16th century, the Portuguese succeeded in capturing Goa, Daman, Diu, Salsette, Bassein, Chaul, and Bombay on the western coast, Hooghly on the Bengal coast, and San Thome on the Madras coast and enjoyed good trade benefits.