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South Asia · Mughals and successors

Portuguese colonies

Colonial state of the Portuguese Empire comprising forts… · 1505–1961

Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in May 1498; after Cabral's bloody second voyage and the early armadas, King Manuel I appointed Francisco de Almeida first Viceroy of India on 25 March 1505, founding the State of India. Almeida based himself at Cochin and built forts at Anjediva, Cannanore, Cochin and Quilon; his victory at Diu (1509) broke the Mamluk-Gujarati fleet and secured Portuguese naval supremacy.

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Type
Colonial state of the Portuguese Empire comprising forts and ports around the Indian Ocean
Existed
1505–1961
Shown on the map
1564–1910
Peak area
regional holdings (including Ceylon and Chittagong stations) at peak have been reckoned around 103,000 km², though core Indian territory shrank to just 4,305 km² by 1961.
Region
South Asia

Origins and founding

Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in May 1498; after Cabral's bloody second voyage and the early armadas, King Manuel I appointed Francisco de Almeida first Viceroy of India on 25 March 1505, founding the State of India. Almeida based himself at Cochin and built forts at Anjediva, Cannanore, Cochin and Quilon; his victory at Diu (1509) broke the Mamluk-Gujarati fleet and secured Portuguese naval supremacy.

Capitals and territory

The capital moved from Cochin (1505–1530) to Old Goa (1530–1843) and then Panjim. Afonso de Albuquerque, second governor, seized Goa from Bijapur in 1510 and added Malacca (1511) and Ormus (1515); the Northern Province (Bassein, Bombay, Daman, Diu, Chaul) was acquired from Gujarat in the 1530s.

Major rulers and key events

Key events include the Ottoman sieges of Diu (1538, 1546), the establishment of the Goa Inquisition (1560), the cession of Bombay to England in Catherine of Braganza's dowry (1661), the Maratha invasions (1683–84, and the loss of the Northern Province in 1739), the Novas Conquistas expansion of 1763–88, and India's annexation of Goa, Daman and Diu in December 1961.

Government, economy and culture

Governors/viceroys served three-year terms under the Padroado; Goa, the "Rome of the East," was an archbishopric from 1557. The economy ran on Crown spice monopolies (pepper especially), the cartaz safe-pass system, high customs dues at Goa, Diu and Bassein, and the inter-Asian carreira trade, much of it in the hands of casado Eurasian merchants. India's first printing press was installed in Goa in 1556.

Decline and end

Dutch, English and Maratha pressure reduced the Estado through the 17th–18th centuries; Dadra and Nagar Haveli fell in 1954 and the rest was annexed by India on 19 December 1961, ending 450 years of rule (recognized by Portugal only in 1974).

Legacy and significance

Portuguese India created enduring Indo-Portuguese communities, Goa's distinct civil code and Catholic culture, and the first sustained European colonial presence in Asia.

Common questions

What were the Portuguese colonies?
Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in May 1498; after Cabral's bloody second voyage and the early armadas, King Manuel I appointed Francisco de Almeida first Viceroy of India on 25 March 1505, founding the State of India. Almeida based himself at Cochin and built forts at Anjediva, Cannanore, Cochin and Quilon; his victory at Diu (1509) broke the Mamluk-Gujarati fleet and secured Portuguese naval supremacy.
When did the Portuguese colonies exist?
The Portuguese colonies existed 1505–1961. On this map they are drawn 1564–1910.
How large were the Portuguese colonies?
At their greatest extent drawn on this map, the Portuguese colonies covered about 103,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives them across the years they are drawn, not necessarily their greatest extent in history.
Where were the Portuguese colonies?
The capital moved from Cochin (1505–1530) to Old Goa (1530–1843) and then Panjim. Afonso de Albuquerque, second governor, seized Goa from Bijapur in 1510 and added Malacca (1511) and Ormus (1515); the Northern Province (Bassein, Bombay, Daman, Diu, Chaul) was acquired from Gujarat in the 1530s.
Who ruled the Portuguese colonies?
Key events include the Ottoman sieges of Diu (1538, 1546), the establishment of the Goa Inquisition (1560), the cession of Bombay to England in Catherine of Braganza's dowry (1661), the Maratha invasions (1683–84, and the loss of the Northern Province in 1739), the Novas Conquistas expansion of 1763–88, and India's annexation of Goa, Daman and Diu in December 1961.
How did the Portuguese colonies end?
Dutch, English and Maratha pressure reduced the Estado through the 17th–18th centuries; Dadra and Nagar Haveli fell in 1954 and the rest was annexed by India on 19 December 1961, ending 450 years of rule (recognized by Portugal only in 1974).
How were the Portuguese colonies governed?
Governors/viceroys served three-year terms under the Padroado; Goa, the "Rome of the East," was an archbishopric from 1557.
Why do the Portuguese colonies still matter?
Portuguese India created enduring Indo-Portuguese communities, Goa's distinct civil code and Catholic culture, and the first sustained European colonial presence in Asia.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated .

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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