Portuguese Colonial Military in India: Apparition of Control, 1750--1850

207 Pages·2022·3.66 MB·English

by  Teddy Y.H. Sim

Portuguese Colonial
Military in India
Apparition of Control,
1750–1850
Teddy Y.H. Sim
Portuguese Colonial Military in India
Teddy Y.H. Sim
Portuguese Colonial
Military in India
Apparition of Control, 1750–1850
Teddy Y.H. Sim
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore, Singapore
ISBN 978-981-19-6293-6 ISBN 978-981-19-6294-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6294-3
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022
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Dedicated to
our Fathers and Stewart
Acknowledgements
This book is a follow-up of some aspects of the research undertaken more
than ten years ago. In-between working on other projects which were
more germane to teaching, the continued exploration of the subject-
matter of this book permitted a broader historical appreciation of the
Portuguese overseas as well as India, a culturally rich and diverse society
that defies any one unitary understanding of it. The interest was sustained
over the years through visits to Portugal (and its archives), visits to India
and specifically to its western parts, presentations in seminars drawing
upon parts of the ideas written about in this book, supervision of a part-
time PhD candidate who was ready to spar over historical issues pertaining
to early modern India, as well as encouraging and generous friends who
spared the time to host or connect-up with me when I was in the different
places.
I am thankful to Mr Vishal Daryanomel, senior commissioning editor
of Palgrave Macmillan, for taking interest in the project. I am thankful
as well to Uma Vinesh, the project coordinator, Jayalakshmi Raju, the
project manager (and all the staff involved in the project), for their
patience and coordination of the work. I am also thankful to the reviewers
engaged by Palgrave Macmillan for the proposal and manuscript. Outside
the arrangements of Palgrave, I am thankful to Coach for reading the
introductory chapter of the book. I am also thankful to Ms Sunandini Lal
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
and Ms Lee Likheng, the copy editor and cartographer, who were respon-
sible for the respective tasks they have been contracted for in relation to
the project. My deepest appreciation is also dedicated to my wife, Jun,
for her unfailing support to this (and other) projects I undertook. Finally,
a brief word may be dispensed on the transliteration and orthography of
the Portuguese and Maratha names and terms used in the book, these
largely followed the forms they had been encountered in the sources
although some degree of standardization was undertaken pertaining to
their appearances in the book.
Singapore Teddy Y.H. Sim
December 2021
Contents
1 Literature Survey and Military Developments
in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries 1
Introduction 1
Brief Literature Review 2
Military Developments in the Early Modern and Globalizing
Period 7
Line-Up of Chapters 19
Conclusion 21
2 Developments of the Metropole and Empire
on the World Stage 23
Introduction 24
Developments Around the World in the Eighteenth
and Nineteenth Centuries 25
Colonial Military Enterprises in Brazil and East Africa 31
The Portuguese in the East from the Sixteenth Century
to the Early Eighteenth Century 40
Conclusion 43
3 Development of the Portuguese Colonial Military
in India 1780–1850 45
Introduction 46
Strategic Context of the Estado Da Índia 47
Trends in Military Establishment 58
ix
x CONTENTS
Reading the Profile of Soldiers 71
Conclusion 84
4 Non-war Violence in Portuguese India, 1780–1850 87
Introduction 88
Social System and Conditions of Employment 89
Uprisings in Goa 100
Other Facets of Non-war Violence in Society 108
Conclusion 114
5 The Portuguese in the Seas of Western India 115
Introduction 116
Situation in the Seas and Coastal Areas of Western India 117
Nature of Portuguese Navy and Coastal Defence System
in India 123
Trade, Rivalry and Potentiality of Violence on the Sea 129
Conclusion 138
6 Portuguese Defence and Activities in Goa During
the Indian Mutiny 141
Introduction 142
The Larger Context of Developments Outside Goa 142
Specific Developments in Goa During the Indian Mutiny
and Military Deployments 146
The Aftermath and Legacy 151
Conclusion 157
7 Epilogue 159
Introduction 160
Portuguese in India in the Transitional Period
from Eighteenth to Nineteenth Century 160
Comparison of Portuguese with Dutch Experience in India
in Context of British Developments 163
Conclusion 170
List of Portuguese Governors/Viceroys of India
(1758–1871) 173
Glossary 175
Bibliography 181
Index 197
Abbreviations
AHM Arquivo Histórico Militar
AHU Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino
BA Biblioteca de Ajuda
B.G.E.I. Boletim governo do Estado da India
BHdC Bosquejo historico das communidades das aldeas dos concelhos das
IIhas, Salsete e Badez
BN Biblioteca Nacional (Portugal)
CU Conselho Ultramarino
EIC East India Company (British)
HAG Histórico Arquivo de Goa
I.A.C.M. Biblioteca do Edificio do Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e
Municipais
KNLF Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger (Royal Netherlands East Indies
Army)
VOC Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company)
xi