Book contents
- The Worlds of the Indian Ocean
- The Worlds of the Indian Ocean
- The Worlds of the Indian Ocean
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Maps and Charts (in Color Plates)
- Illustrations (in Color Plates)
- Figures
- Tables
- Abbreviations
- Part I The Indian Ocean between Tang China and the Muslim Empire (Seventh–Tenth Century)
- Part II Globalization during the Song and Mongol Periods (Tenth–Fourteenth Century), and the Downturn of the Fourteenth Century
- Part III From the Globalization of the Afro-Eurasian Area to the Dawn of European Expansion (Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries)
- Introduction
- Chapter 14 Ming China: From Expansion to Withdrawal into Threatened Territory
- Chapter 15 India: The Flowering of the Sultanates and the Expansion of Vijayanāgara
- Chapter 16 Southeast Asia: Era of the Merchant Sultanates
- Chapter 17 Western Asia: Revival of the Persian Gulf
- Chapter 18 Egypt and Yemen: Advances in State Trade and the End of the Kārimī
- Chapter 19 East Africa and the Comoros
- Chapter 20 Madagascar (Fifteenth–Sixteenth Century): The Rise of Trading Ports and Development of the Highlands
- Chapter 21 The Portuguese in the Indian Ocean
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index of Geographical Names
- Name Index
- Subject Index
Chapter 21 - The Portuguese in the Indian Ocean
from Part III - From the Globalization of the Afro-Eurasian Area to the Dawn of European Expansion (Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 October 2019
- The Worlds of the Indian Ocean
- The Worlds of the Indian Ocean
- The Worlds of the Indian Ocean
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Maps and Charts (in Color Plates)
- Illustrations (in Color Plates)
- Figures
- Tables
- Abbreviations
- Part I The Indian Ocean between Tang China and the Muslim Empire (Seventh–Tenth Century)
- Part II Globalization during the Song and Mongol Periods (Tenth–Fourteenth Century), and the Downturn of the Fourteenth Century
- Part III From the Globalization of the Afro-Eurasian Area to the Dawn of European Expansion (Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries)
- Introduction
- Chapter 14 Ming China: From Expansion to Withdrawal into Threatened Territory
- Chapter 15 India: The Flowering of the Sultanates and the Expansion of Vijayanāgara
- Chapter 16 Southeast Asia: Era of the Merchant Sultanates
- Chapter 17 Western Asia: Revival of the Persian Gulf
- Chapter 18 Egypt and Yemen: Advances in State Trade and the End of the Kārimī
- Chapter 19 East Africa and the Comoros
- Chapter 20 Madagascar (Fifteenth–Sixteenth Century): The Rise of Trading Ports and Development of the Highlands
- Chapter 21 The Portuguese in the Indian Ocean
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index of Geographical Names
- Name Index
- Subject Index
Summary
Seeking to divert the trade in spices, cloth, and gold to their advantage – to the detriment of western Asia, Egypt, and Venice – the Portuguese rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1498, and the fleet, led by Vasco da Gama, using knowledge gained from Bartolomeu Dias’s expedition in 1487–1488 and maybe also Pero de Covilham’s journey in 1494, burst into the Indian Ocean. In May 1498, Vasco da Gama cast anchor in Calicut, led by a Gujarati pilot encountered at Malindi (this pilot was not Ibn Mājid, contrary to what what has often been written). One of the first men the Portuguese met in Calicut was a Tunisian merchant who cried out “May the devil take you! What brought you here ?” (Brotton 2002: 168). The ruler of Calicut and his entourage were far from impressed by the products brought by the Portuguese, who nevertheless left with some spices. Indeed, as J. Goldstone points out (2008: 8), “the Europeans had little of their own to trade for the costly spices, silks, and other Asian goods that they desired.”
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- Information
- The Worlds of the Indian OceanA Global History, pp. 602 - 616Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019