Portuguese History in India

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In 1498 Vaso-da-Gama discovered the sea route to India. This was a great event of history. For, it opened the gate to India’s contact with Europe in the modern age.
We have already seen that Alfonso d’ Albuquerque was sent to India by the king of Portugal. Albuquerque captured Goa in 1510 and this was a signal for Portuguese domination in the eastern trade.

In the course of time, Diu, Surat, Goa, Daman, Bombay, Calicut, Cochin, Masulipatnam and Colombo came under their sway. There were several famous Portuguese missionaries like Francis Xavier and Stevens.
In the seventeenth century with the coming of the Dutch and the English to India the position gained by the Portuguese was lost.

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The Portuguese were first among the European nations to embark on adventures in the East. The Portuguese were fortunate in their time of arrival. The Sultanates were disintegrating and no Indian state possessed any navy or thought of developing naval powers. The only opposition that stood on the way of advancement of the Portuguese trade in India came from the Arab merchants. The Portuguese defeated a combined navy of Turkey and Egypt and established Portuguese command over the sea for nearly a century.

The Portuguese came to India with three purposes:
1.To export various spices from the Asian countries to Europe.
2.They wanted to curb the power of the Muslim traders who practically controlled the water route to the West.
3.They tried to occupy some strategic places from where they could carry on their trade and dominate the seas.