Trade of the Portuguese royal and private traders in India from the 16th to the 19th century

Thirdly, from the second half of the 16^th century, in contrast to the decline of the pepper trade of the Portuguese Crown in India, the silk and cinnamon trade flourished. With silk, if from 1505 to 1548, the import proportion of this item in 1518 was extremely small (0.11%), then this figure increased to 10.50% and 12.20% in the years 15871588 and 1600-1603 respectively. In fact, silk, which originated from India with an abundance of varieties such as beautiful muslin, burlap, and cloth raw, brought a significant source of revenue to the Portuguese Crown in Lisbon. If we took an average figure of about 2,000 cruzados/bale of silk, in 1587-1588, the Portuguese royal family collected 4 to 8 million cruzados/year (8 times more than pepper) [1, p. 47].

With cinnamon, the purchase and sale of this item were conducted by the Portuguese royal family in the early 16^th century. The best cinnamon was bought from Sri Lanka and transported to Portuguese trading posts in India before leaving for Europe. However, until 1548, the percentage of cinnamon in the total volume of goods that Portugal imported from India was often quite modest and also unstable (1505: 0.78%; 1518: 0.06%; 1523-1531: 3.30%; 1547-1548: 0.90%). By the end of the 16^th century, the trade of this item of the Portuguese Crown began to prosper. If in the years 1587-1588, cinnamon from India accounted for 6.30% of the total goods imported by the Portuguese royal family, by 1600-1603, this number increased to 8.70%. The position of cinnamon was further enhanced when the price of cloves and nutmeg from the island of Molucca (Indonesia) and Banda (Indonesia) was increasingly expensive. The cinnamon trade flourished because of the huge profits that it brought to the Portuguese Crown. The Portuguese royal family bought cinnamon for 15 cruzados/quintal, sold it for 75 cruzados/quintal, and sometimes up to 100 cruzados/quintal in the 1580s [9, p. 45-46]. This was the spice that brought the greatest profit to the Portuguese in the last decades of the 16^th century.

However, in the 17 ^th century, when the Dutch, British, and other European countries penetrated into Asia, the Portuguese were unable to maintain their monopoly on maritime trade in India. At that time, realizing the superiority of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) or the British East India Company (EIC), the Portuguese Crown planned to establish the Portuguese East India Company, with the hope of continuing to maintain its position in the maritime trade in Asia in general and India in particular. However, all the efforts of the Portuguese were not successful In 1605, the Conselho da India was established but due to conflicts between this organization and the previous old institutions, it was dissolved in 1614. In the same year, the idea of East India Company gradually became a reality under the auspices of D. G. Solis -- a New Christian merchant living in Madrid. However, because of the opposition of many forces in the Council, the company finally existed only on paper. In 1628, the Trading Company of India (or Companhia da India Oriental) was officially established and was headed by Camara de Administra^ao Geral, but in April 1633, it was dissolved. By the middle of the 17^th century, under the patronage of Prince Pedro, the company revived, but it still did not survive. Another attempt to establish the Portuguese Indian company was carried out between 1685-1693 following the ideas of Ericeira. However, internal divisions and Ericeira's death in 1690 caused the idea of making Portugal the European distributor of Mozambican silk unrealistic [10, p. 163-170].. In that context, the Portuguese Crown tried to hold on to the power and influence of the Portuguese empire in Asia in general and India in particular by maintaining and promoting trade between Goa and commercial firms of Estado da India. In fact, from the 1660s of the 17^th century, in Damao (Damao), Diu, Bassein, and Mogul Surat, the activities of cafilas (cafilas) Escorted convoy of merchant ships [7, p. 369]. were bustling again. Trade between Goa and some ports in southern India also achieved new success. In 1671, 1678, and 1701, through agreements with the Nayak Dynasty of the Ikkeri (rulers of the Kanara coast), the Portuguese commercial firm was officially established at Mangalore, which was an important center to supply rice to Goa. At the same time, the Portuguese Crown trade extended to the ports of Kerala, a part of Cochin, Calicut, Alleppey, and Tellicherry [7, p. 310]. Goa also played an active role in linking trade with the lands in the interior of India. The types of goods that Goa supplied to these areas were mainly food such as coconuts, mangoes, cashews, feni, and salt. In addition, Goa was also involved in the trade of ivory, slavery, and opium [7, p. 311].

In addition to developing commercial relations between Goa and trading posts within the Estado da India, in the 19^th century, the Portuguese Crown also attempted to save its power in India through the promotion of commercial relations between Goa and colonies in British India, especially Bombay that was ceded by the Portuguese to the British in the 17^th century [7, p. 312]. However, in reality, the commercial relationship between Goa and Bombay did not bring the results as expected by the Portuguese royal family [11, p. 38]. Meanwhile, taking advantage of the economic and financial weakness of the Estado da India in the late 18^th century, the British sought to gradually control the maritime trade activity in Goa and Portuguese ports in India. The year 1799 marked the first official British intervention in Portuguese India when Marquis Wellesley, governor of Calcutta, sent his first legion to Goa [11, p. 39-40]. The British also granted themselves the right to defend and control Goa, Damao, Diu, and other Portuguese territories in India and this ceased after 1815 [7, p. 330]. Then, with the signing of a series of diplomatic documents such as the Anglo-

Portuguese Treaty (1878) The signing and implementation of the treaty of 1878 was a misstep by the Portuguese because it provided the legal basis for British entry into the salt industry of the Portuguese Indian territory. Besides, for the opium trade, under article 14 of the 1878 treaty, the two governments banned the cultivation and trade of opium. The export of raw opium, compounds, or opium-based products by land or sea was prohibited. In 1891-1892, the British government allowed tax-free imports of opium from Malwa to Mahikanta, Rewa Kanta, Cambay, and Baroda in return for banning the cultivation of opium in these territories. However, the Portuguese did not receive any compensation from the British authorities [12, p. 38]. and the Anglo-Portuguese Convention (1880) The Anglo-Portuguese Convention was signed in 1880, which defined the establishment of a com-mon monetary and measurement system. Accordingly, the territories of Portuguese India and British India will use a unified monetary system. However, due to outdated technology, the Portuguese were forced to stop producing money. From there, money used in Portuguese India would be minted in British India and converted to the equivalent in Bombay and Calcutta. And with that, the British also imposed their monetary system on the Portuguese Indian territory [12, p. 39]., the British continued to implement a strategy to dominate economic activity in the Portuguese Indian territories. At the end of the 19^th century, the British Indian government cooperated with the government of Estado da India to build the port of Mormugao and the railway connecting this port with the British territory of India Although Estado's aim was to take advantage of this port to promote maritime commerce because it was the only port in India where a sailboat from the seas could enter and dock in only one hour. But in reality, by about 1891, Mormugao had turned into a transit port serving mainly Bombay. The railway also facilitated communication links with British India, especially when the sea route was closed during the monsoon [12, p. 46].. Moreover, they tried to govern Goa through the imposition of the Bombay Abkari This act prohibited the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcohol or alcoholic liquids, as well as ships intended for this purpose. Under the treaty of 1878, the Portuguese were also required to accept the law and pay an excise tax on spirits (whether fermented or unfermented) [12, p. 47]. or heavy taxation on many of Goa's potential exports (mainly alcohol). These activities enabled the British to tightly control the economy of Portuguese India and caused real concerns for the future of the Estado da India.

Constantly expanding influence: Portuguese private trade in India in the 16^th-19^th centuries

Besides the royal trade, Portuguese merchants also quickly joined the trade route through the Cape of Good Hope to varying degrees. During the 16^th and first half of the 17^th centuries, Portuguese merchants in India were divided into two main categories: licensed merchants and unlicensed merchants.

Most of the Portuguese licensed merchants in India were the bureaucrats of the Estado da India. According to regulations in the Regimento of 1515, only officers and sailors could carry spices, and duty-free silk on ships returning to Lisbon and the quantity and value of the goods depended on their rank in the government [13, p. 23-24]. However, from the 1560s, due to financial difficulties, the Portuguese Crown decided to expand the right to transport and buy goods on the trade route through the Cape of Good Hope to the Portuguese in settlements that were administered by Estado da India. For this force, the state provided them with a concession, which allowed them to trade between two designated ports in India or China. Not only that, but these owners also held the right to control or manage the fleet on behalf of the Portuguese Crown (including Portuguese and people of other nationalities). Initially, this concession was used as a reward for nobles or loyal troops. But then, it was extended to all ordinary members of Estado and the religious dignitaries. By 1580, the system became a major part of the Portuguese trade network. Among the concession voyages in the Bay of Bengal were two ships from Sao Tome and four from Nagapattinam (Martaban, Mergui, Ujang Salang (Phuket) and Kedah) [8, p. 58].

Unlike the violent and political penetration of the Portuguese Crown, licensed Portuguese traders operated in a more flexible manner. One of the most bustling areas of Portuguese merchants in India was Gujarat, especially Cambay (Khambhat). They mainly purchased goods from Gujarat and sent them to Goa via cafilas (cafilas), where they were distributed throughout Asia or transported to Lisbon. In addition, Portuguese traders also extended their trade to Malabar and Coromandel, partly because the management of Es - tado da India in this region was quite loose compared to the Arabian Sea and the coast of western India. At the end of the 16^th century, although facing conflict regularly with the management of Estado da India, the activities of Portuguese traders covered the entire Bay of Bengal in a peaceful and flexible manner [4, p. 84].

With the network of licensed merchants, the activity of unlicensed merchants (chat - ins) People operated outside the jurisdiction, and the patronage of the Estado was derisively called chat-ins [8, p. 55]. was quite active. The chatin composition was quite diverse, but they were divided into two basic divisions: deserters from the Portuguese garrisons and New Christian merchants [8, p. 55-60].

The main area of operation of the Portuguese chatins was Satgaon and Chittagong in the Bay of Bengal and Pulicat on the Coromandel coast. In each port, they lived in settlements with their own leaders. According to the statistic of Om Prakash in «European commercial enterprise in pre-colonial India» there were 200 to 300 Portuguese chatins at Pulicat (1519), about 40 Portuguese households at Nagapattinam and Sao Thome (early 1530s), and 2.000 people at the Bay of Bengal [8, p. 55-60]. Meanwhile, the scope of activities of the New Christian merchants was much larger. Under the Habsburgs dynasty (1580-1640), the New Christian merchants in Goa and Manila controlled about 44% of the capital of the Portuguese empire in Asian commerce and at least 30% of capital in Manila's commerce, and 75% of investment in the Cape of Good Hope route [1, p. 81-82]. Because of the strong economic power of the New Christian merchants, Estado da India took various measures to control this trading force. The first measure was to increase taxes. In Malacca, while Hindu and Muslim traders paid no more than 6% tax, these Portuguese traders paid more than 10% [8, p. 79]. The second measure was to use the army to force chatins to accept Estado da India's patronage through the cartaz system. The third measure completely excluded the New Christian merchants from the government of Estado da India. In early 1501, King Manuel (1469-1521) forbade them from holding any positions related to the legal system or even the Jewish theologians in Asia. Finally, the Portuguese Crown issued an order to expel these New Christian merchants from India and force them to return to Portugal, even those who lived in India for a long time. However, the tough measures of the Portuguese government still did not bring results in practice. «According to Boyajian, private cargoes accounted for an almost unbelievable 90 percent of the total value imported over the period 1580-1640 from Asia» [8, p. 37].

From the second half of the 17^th to the 19^th centuries, while the Portuguese Crown commerce declined, in contrast, Portuguese private commerce continued to develop. On the Coromandel coast, after Nagapattinam was conquered by the Dutch in 1658, the Portuguese merchant community moved to the northern port of Porto Novo. At the end of the 17^th century, Porto Novo became the main Portuguese center on the Coromandel coast. The number of ships that departed and were owned by a group of Portuguese merchants here was 7 of 19 ships in 1681; 6 of 10 ships in 1683-1684 and 1684-1685, and 7 of 14 ships in 1685-1686. The most powerful shipowner among the Portuguese was Manuel Teixeira Pinto. And the most important ports for Portuguese voyages from Porto Novo were Acheh, Pegu, Malacca, Goa, and Manila [8, p. 62].

Portuguese merchants established a network of ports to trade on both the East and West coasts of India. During the 18^th century, the trading center of the Portuguese merchants was Macao. But due to facing a series of problems in markets near the South China Sea, they were forced to return to the Indian Ocean. Records from the Dutch showed frequent arrivals of Portuguese ships at Bengal, Madras, and Nagapattinam on the Coromandel coast; at Cochin, Tellicherry, and Anjengo on the Malabar coast; and at Surat Between 1719 and 1754, there were two and six Portuguese ships that arrived in Cochin every year (with the exception of 1733). Of which 1 to 4 were from Macao. From the early 1740s, the port of Tellicherry (Malabar) received about six ships a year and peaked in 1749 -- 8 ships (most of which came from Macao). The main commo dity which was shipped to Malab ar was Chinese sugar. This pro duct was used in exchange for pepper and sandalwood [8, p. 63].. However, due to strong competition from the Dutch traders, Portuguese traders had to move to Sao Tome de Mylapore. This port became one of the important trading ports of Portuguese merchants until 1749, when it became a colonial port of the British Empire.

Portuguese traders linked with the network of European powers in India, such as Pondicherry (France), Tranquebar (Denmark), and especially Madras In the case of Madras, the period from 1719 to 1754, the number of ships landing was about 1 to 5 ships (except for 1734, 1741, 1747 to 1749, and 1754)., Calcutta, and Bombay of the British [7, p. 312]. This was considered the most outstanding success of the Portuguese merchants in the 18^th-19^th century. Furthermore, the Portuguese traders, as intermediaries with the Spaniards in Manila, helped the East India Company (EIC) access the source of silver in America. While cooperating with Britain, Portuguese traders were also careful to maintain relations with Estado da India. Eventually, in both Madras and Calcutta, these merchants were gradually appointed to several positions in the British commercial network. From competitors to each other, in the second half of the 18^th century, Portuguese merchants became indispensable in the British commercial network in Bombay and on the West coast of India. A few merchants in Goa moved to Bombay to facilitate business.

At the end of the 18^th century, although Portuguese merchants had to face fierce competition from British merchants in India, they continued to be a prominent factor in the Indian Ocean trade. Statistics showed that, in 1824, of the 3.384 merchants in Portuguese India, 1.618 were coastal merchants, and 1.766 were inland merchants [11, p. 50]. The distribution of these merchants in the last Portuguese concessions in India was also uneven. The coastal merchants were concentrated in the old territories of Goa, Diu, and Daman, while the inland merchants inhabited the new lands of Goa and removed regions within the Indian territory like Balaghat. And in the middle of the 19^th century, Daman replaced Goa's position as the commercial center of Estado da India with a concentration of 329 of 417 Portuguese merchants. From Daman, while opium was transported to the Far East, slaves, precious metals, and ivory were imported from East Africa. Therefore, Daman really became an important trading port for Portuguese traders [11, p. 51].

The commercial network of Portuguese traders in India not only expanded in space but also developed in-depth, especially with the penetration of capitalist business elements. Therefore, at the beginning of the 19^th century, the appearance of Agency House [11, p. 53] created a remarkable change and demonstrated the adaptability of Portuguese traders in the global economic context.

Besides using Agency Houses, some Portuguese traders in India also did business by consignment method or traders financially dependent on loans. The first shroff (sarrafs “Shroff is the English version of the Hindi term sarraf or money changer. The Oxford Dictionaty defined a Shrof as a `native expert employed to detect based coins'” [14, p. 67].) operating mainly on the west coast of India, especially Surat, had extensive control over the money market as checkers of coins [11, p. 65]. This was the basis leading to the birth of the banking and credit system. Portuguese traders in Estado da India with huge capital sought to invest in money markets in Goa, Daman, and Diu. Then, they gradually turned into bankers or financial capitalists. Mahamai was a typical example when this banker provided loans and credits to Asian and European merchants and even to the government. Loan interest rates usually range from 9 to 10% [11, p. 68].

To facilitate payment, a form of payment by bills of exchange or hundis “Hundis are indigenous negotiable instruments of short-term credit, a kind of bills exchange” [14, p. 67]. appeared (especially popular on the west coast of India). In Surat, Portuguese merchants received the service of sarrafs. Sarrafs used hundi to move money from one place to another. The approval of the hundi was completely based on the trust, creditworthiness, and standing of the local financiers. Hundi was also allowed to transfer or sell.

The insurance system was also well organized by Portuguese traders in India. In fact, this was the essential field for merchants when transporting items such as opium, gold, silver, ivory, and slaves because of its high risk. Cargo insurance rates depended on the risk of each route and the nature of the goods to be transported, but it could range from 2 to 35%. Exporters often paid 2.5% insurance for transporting opium to China from Bombay during the 1830s [11, p. 67]. Not only bankers, but some Portuguese traders became brokers or used brokerage services or became shipyard owners. They also engaged in other special activities [11, p. 65-69]. Thus, after the mid-19^th century, the community of Portuguese traders in Estado da India was not limited to a single economic activity or the trade of individual commodities. They expanded beyond the borders of the former Portuguese empire to join a global trading network.

From the 16^th to the 19^th centuries, the economic relationship between Portugal and India consisted of two trends: the official trade of the Portuguese Crown and the informal trade of the Portuguese merchants. Each trend had different manifestations during its existence. In fact, from the beginning of the 16^th to the beginning of the 17^th century, with the establishment of Estado da India - the first Portuguese colonial state in Asia, the Portuguese royal family continuously expanded its maritime commercial power in India. This was a flourishing period in the commercial activities of the Portuguese Crown, especially the trade of spices. However, from the second half of the 17 ^th century, the fierce competition of some emerging maritime trading powers such as the Netherlands, Great Britain, and France, caused the influence of the Portuguese Crown in the maritime trade in India to diminish. In that context, the Portuguese Crown sought to maintain its power by promoting Goa's commercial relations with trading posts within the Estado da India as well as with the British colonies in India. The above discussed measures did not bring the results as expected of the Portuguese Crown, and the British government in India step by step intervened and controlled economic activities in the Portuguese Indian territory, which made the commercial activities of the Portuguese Crown increasingly dominated and dependent on the British at the end of the 19^th century.

Unlike the commercial activities of the Portuguese Crown in India, from prosperity to decline and dependence, the general trend of the trade of Portuguese private traders in the 16^th and 19^th centuries continued to expand power later on. In fact, licensed or unlicensed merchants with a flexible manner gradually established and expanded their influence and connected with many other European powers in India to create a maritime trade network that developed enormously in the 18^th and 19 ^th centuries. They were the force that laid the foundation for the penetration of capitalist business elements into Portuguese Indian areas, which contributed to bringing Portuguese commercial activities in India enter the world economy at that time.

References

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