The advent of the Europeans
Introduction
Many of the foreign travelers, traders, missionaries and civil servants who came to India in the 18th and 19th centuries have left accounts of their experiences and their impressions of various parts of the country. To know the events of the modern period, we have abundant sources at the international, national, and regional levels.
To know about the kinds of sources of modern India
▶ To understand the Portuguese trade interests in India
▶ To understand the impact of Portuguese and Dutch presence in India
▶ To know the colonial settlements of Denmark
▶ To know the arrival and settlement of English and French East India Companies
Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, another Portuguese sailor reached the southernmost point of Africa and he continued his journey to Mozambique from where he sailed to India with the help of an Indian pilot. In A.D
(CE) 1498, he reached Calicut, where he was cordially received by King Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut. A second Portuguese navigator, Pedro Alvares Cabral, sailed towards India, following the route discovered by Vasco da Gama with 13 ships and a few hundred soldiers in 1500. On his arrival at Calicut, there arose conflicts between the Portuguese and king Zamorin. Vasco da Gama came to India for the second time in 1501 with 20 ships and
founded a trading center at Cannanore. One after another, they established factories at Calicut and Cochin. King Zamorin attacked the Portuguese in Cochin but was defeated. Cochin was the first capital of the Portuguese East India Company. The third voyage of Vasco da Gama was in 1524. He soon fell ill, and in December 1524 he died in Cochin.
Francisco de Almeida (1505-1509) In 1505, Francisco de Almeida was sent as the first Governor for the Portuguese possessions in India. Almeida had the aim of developing the naval power of the Portuguese in India. His policy was known as the “Blue Water Policy”. As the Portuguese tried to break the Arab's monopoly on the Indian Ocean trade, it negatively impacted on the trade interests of Egypt and Turkey. 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. In a naval battle fought near Chaul, the combined Muslim fleet won a victory over the Portuguese fleet under Almeida’s son who was killed in the battle. Almeida defeated the combined Muslim fleet in a naval battle near Diu, and by the year 1509, Portuguese claimed the naval supremacy in Asia.
Alfonso de Albuquerque (1509-1515) The real founder of the Portuguese power in India was Alfonso de Albuquerque. He captured Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur in November 1510. In 1515, he established the Portuguese authority over Ormuz in the Persian Gulf. He encouraged the marriages of the Portuguese with Indian women. He maintained friendly relations with Vijayanagar Empire.
Nino de Cunha (1529-1538) Governor Nino de Cunha moved capital from Cochin to Goa in 1530. In 1534, he acquired Bassein from Bahadur Shah of
Gujarat. In 1537, the Portuguese occupied Diu. Later, they wrested Daman from the local chiefs of Gujarat. In 1548, they occupied Salsette. Thus 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. The Portuguese brought the cultivation of tobacco to India. Due to the influence of Portuguese Catholic religion spread in certain regions on India’s western and eastern coasts. The printing press was set up by the Portuguese at Goa in 1556. A scientific work on the Indian medicinal plants by a European writer was printed at Goa in 1563. In the 17th century, the Portuguese power began to decline to the Dutch and by 1739 the Portuguese pockets became confined to Goa, Diu, and Daman.
The Dutch
The Dutch followed the Portuguese into India. In 1602, the United East India Company of Netherlands was formed and it received the sanction of their government to trade in East India. After their arrival in India, the Dutch founded their first factory in Masulipatnam, (Andhra Pradesh) in 1605. This company captured Amboyna from the Portuguese in 1605 and established its supremacy in the Spice Islands. They captured Nagapatnam near Madras from the Portuguese and made this place as their stronghold in South India. At first, Pulicat was their headquarters. Later, they shifted it to Nagapatnam in 1690. The most important Indian commodities traded by the Dutch were silk, cotton, indigo, rice and opium. They monopolized the trade in black pepper and other spices. The important factories in India were Pulicat, Surat, Chinsura, Kasim bazaar, Patna, Nagapatnam, Balasore and Cochin. The English East India Company remained engaged in rivalry with the
Portuguese and the Dutch throughout the 17th century. In 1623, the Dutch cruelly killed ten English traders and nine Javanese in Amboyna. This incident accelerated the rivalry between the two European companies. Their final collapse came with their defeat by the English in the Battle of Bedera in 1759. The Dutch lost their settlements one by one to the English and were completely wiped out by the year 1795. Dutch in Tamil Nadu The Portuguese who established control over Pulicat in 1502 was overthrown by the Dutch. In Pulicat, the Dutch built the fort Geldria in 1613. This fort was once the seat of Dutch power.
The Dutch established their settlement at Pulicat in 1610. Diamonds were exported from Pulicat to western countries. The other Dutch colonial forts and possessions were Nagapattinam, Punnakayal, Porto Novo, Cuddalore, and Devanampatinam; the British On 31st December 1600, Elizabeth, the Queen of England granted a charter to the governor and company of Merchants of London to trade with East Indies. The Company was headed by a Governor and a court of 24 directors. Captain Hawkins visited Jahangir’s court in 1608 to get certain concessions for the company. He secured permission to raise
