The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 1500-1700 : A Political and Economic History

359 Pages·2012·2.411 MB·English

by  Subrahmanyam, Sanjay

“This masterful history of Europe’s first great early modern maritime empire goes well S
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beyond the limits of traditional nationalistic and Eurocentric interpretations. Integrating
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European and Asian sources, Subrahmanyam’s new edition is a synthetic, interpretative, r
and at times speculative book that sets the Portuguese Indian Ocean empire in the a
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context of Asian and world history. There is no book in English that provides a better m
introduction to this topic.” a
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Stuart B. Schwartz, Yale University y
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“Sanjay Subrahmanyam’s classic study of the Portuguese empire in Asia in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries has stood the test of time. Rich in penetrating insights and
firmly anchored in both an intimate knowledge of the Portuguese sources and a profound
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understanding of the Asian contexts, it describes and explains, with masterful clarity, a
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subject that was for long obscured by ignorance, prejudice, and misunderstandings. Now,
this second edition – with a new preface, thoroughly updated bibliography, and minor e
additions and corrections to the text – will certainly be most warmly welcomed.”
P
A. R. Disney, La Trobe University
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“Sanjay Subrahmanyam gives us a masterly overview of the early modern Portuguese r
empire in Asia. Written by one the leading historians of our time, this is an illuminating t
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study on the complex interactions between Portugal and Asia in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. Subrahmanyam truly redefines the field with this work, which g Sanjay Subrahmanyam
explains why the present book was able to overcome the natural ‘aging effects’ of a u
The Portuguese Empire in Asia
piece originally written two decades ago.” e
Jorge Flores, European University Institute, Florence s
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1500-1700

Upon its initial publication in 1993, The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 1500–1700: A Political E
and Economic History was widely praised for its pioneering insights into the foundations m
Second Edition
of the Portuguese empire within the context of the history of early modern Asia. Sanjay
Subrahmanyam’s award-winning study is now updated to reflect the most recent developments p
in historiography, while maintaining its focus on consideration of the forces in Europe, Asia, i
and East Africa that enabled the creation of the Portuguese empire. Other revisions include a r
new preface by the author that examines the reception of the original edition and considers e
ongoing scholarly debates on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Portuguese imperialism.
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The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 1500–1700 represents an important contribution to our n
understanding of the global forces that helped to shape the most resilient of modern Europe’s

colonial empires. A
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Sanjay Subrahmanyam is Professor and Chair of Indian History at UCLA, and has earlier i
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taught in Delhi, Paris, and Oxford. His publications include The Career and Legend of Vasco da

Gama (1997) and Three Ways to be Alien (2011).
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Cover image: Sultan Bahadur and Rumi Khan surrounded by Portuguese boats, miniature painting from Akbarnama,
India, 1603–4. © The British Library Board, Or. 12988, f.66.
Cover design: www.simonlevyassociates.co.uk
Second
Edition
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The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 1500–1700
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The Portuguese Empire in
Asia, 1500–1700
A Political and Economic History
Second Edition
Sanjay Subrahmanyam
A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication
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Thissecondeditionfirstpublished2012
©2012JohnWiley&SonsLtd
Editionhistory:LongmanGroupUKLimited(1e,1993)
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Subrahmanyam,Sanjay.
ThePortugueseempireinAsia,1500-1700:apoliticalandeconomichistory/Sanjay
Subrahmanyam.–2nded.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-470-67291-4(cloth)
1.Portuguese–Asia–History.2.Portugal–Colonies–Asia–History.3.Asia–History–16th
century.4.Asia–History–17thcentury.5.Portugal–History–16thcentury.
6.Portugal–History–17thcentury.I.Title.
DS33.7.S832012
(cid:2)
950.3091712469–dc23
2011043509
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
Setin10/13ptPhotinabyAptaraInc.,NewDelhi,India
1 2012
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ForMariaAugustaandArlindo,
myfavoritearrenegados
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Contents
Abbreviations x
Maps xi
Tables xii
Acknowledgments xiv
PrefacetotheSecondEdition xv
PrefacetotheFirstEdition xvii
Introduction:TheMythicalFacesofPortugueseAsia 1
1 EarlyModernAsia:GeopoliticsandEconomicChange 11
Fifteenth-andSixteenth-centuryStates 13
TheCirculationofElites 22
TowardsaTaxonomy 27
Long-termTrends 30
2 PortugueseStateandSociety,1200–1500 33
CrownandNobility 33
InSearchofaBourgeoisie 40
MercantilismandMessianism 48
SummingUp 55
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viii CONTENTS
3 TwoPatternsandTheirLogic:CreatinganEmpire,1498–1540 59
TheEarlyExpeditions 60
FromAlmeidatoAlbuquerque:DefiningtheFirstPattern 67
TheSecondPattern:EastofCapeComorin 74
TheLogicatWork:PortugueseAsia,1525–40 78
Towardsthe“Crisis” 83
Notes 85
4 TheMid-Sixteenth-century“Crisis” 87
TheDilemmasofJoaninePolicy 88
Sa´s,Sousas,andCastros:PortugueseAsianOfficialdom
intheCrisis 96
TheMid-centuryDebate 104
TheFarEasternSolution 107
TheEstadoin1570 113
Notes 114
5 BetweenLand-boundandSea-borne:Reorientations,1570–1610 115
TradeandConquest:TheSpanishView 116
Spain,Portugal,andtheAtlanticTurning 120
GirdlingtheGlobe 124
The“Land”Question 130
TheMaritimeChallenge 141
ConcessionsandCaptains-Major 145
TheBeginningsofDecline? 150
6 EmpireinRetreat,1610–1665 153
PoliticalReconsolidationinAsia,1570–1610 154
SyriamandHurmuz:TheBeginningsofRetreat 160
ReformandItsConsequences 167
TheDecadeofDisasters:PortugueseAsiainthe1630s 172
Restoration,Truce,andFailure,1640–52 181
TheRetreatCompleted,1652–65 186
Asians,Europeans,andtheRetreat 188
Notes 189
7 NichesandNetworks:StayingOn,1665–1700 191
TheCapeRouteandtheBahiaTrade 192
TheVicissitudesoftheEstado:TheViewfromGoa 198
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CONTENTS ix
Mozambique,Munhumutapa,andPrazoCreation 206
ThePortugueseoftheBayofBengal 211
SurvivalintheFarEast:MacauandTimor 217
ThePortuguese,Dutch,andEnglish:AComparison 222
8 PortugueseAsianSocietyI:TheOfficialRealm 227
TheProblemofNumbers 228
TheWorldoftheCasado 236
Networks,Fortunes,andPatronage 243
“Portuguese”and“Foreigner” 250
RiseoftheSolteiro 253
TheImpactonPortugal 257
9 PortugueseAsianSocietyII:TheFrontierandBeyond 261
RenegadesandRebels 262
Mercenaries,Firearms,andFifthColumnists 269
ConvertsandClientCommunities 274
ALuso–AsianDiaspora? 279
10 Conclusion:BetweenBanditryandCapitalism 285
Glossary 295
ANoteonQuantitativeData 303
Bibliography 307
Maps 323
Index 333