Over the following decades, Portuguese sailors continued to explore the coasts and islands of East Asia, establishingforts and factories as they went. By 1571, a string of naval outposts connectedLisbon toNagasaki along the coasts of Africa, theMiddle East, andSouth Asia. This commercial network and the colonial trade had a substantial positive impact on Portuguese economic growth (1500–1800) when it accounted for about a fifth of Portugal's per-capita income.
When KingPhilip II of Spain (Philip I of Portugal)seized the Portuguese crown and Portuguese territories such as Brazil in 1580, there began a 60-year union between Spain and Portugal known to subsequenthistoriography as theIberian Union, although the realms continued to have separate administrations. As the King of Spain was also King of Portugal, Portuguese colonies became the subject of attacks by three rival European powers hostile to Spain: theDutch Republic,England, andFrance. With its smaller population, Portugal found itself unable to effectively defend its overstretched network of trading posts, and the empire began a long and gradual decline. Eventually, Brazil became the most valuable colony of the second era of empire (1663–1825), until, as part of the wave ofindependence movements that swept the Americas during the early 19th century, itdeclared its independence in 1822.
The origin of theKingdom of Portugal lay in thereconquista, the gradual reconquest of theIberian Peninsula from theMoors.[5] After establishing itself as a separate kingdom in 1139, Portugal completed its reconquest of Moorish territory by reachingAlgarve in 1249, but its independence continued to be threatened by neighbouringCastile until the signing of theTreaty of Ayllón in 1411.[6]
Free from threats to its existence and unchallenged by the wars fought by other European states, Portuguese attention turned overseas and towards a military expedition to the Muslim lands of North Africa.[7] There were several probable motives for their first attack, on theMarinid Sultanate (in present-day Morocco). It offered the opportunity to continue the Christiancrusade against Islam; to the military class, it promised glory on the battlefield and the spoils of war;[8] and finally, it was also a chance to expand Portuguese trade and to address Portugal's economic decline.[7]
In 1415 an attack was made onCeuta, a strategically located North African Muslim enclave along the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the terminal ports of the trans-Saharan gold and slave trades. Theconquest was a military success, and marked one of the first steps in Portuguese expansion beyond the Iberian Peninsula,[9] but it proved costly to defend against the Muslim forces that soon besieged it. The Portuguese were unable to use it as a base for further expansion into the hinterland,[10] and the trans-Saharan caravans merely shifted their routes to bypass Ceuta and/or used alternative Muslim ports.[11]
Although Ceuta proved to be a disappointment for the Portuguese, the decision was taken to hold it while exploring along the Atlantic African coast.[11] A key supporter of this policy wasInfanteDomHenry the Navigator, who had been involved in thecapture of Ceuta, and who took the lead role in promoting and financing Portuguese maritime exploration until his death in 1460.[12] At the time, Europeans did not know what lay beyondCape Bojador on the African coast. Henry wished to know how far the Muslim territories in Africa extended, and whether it was possible to reach Asia by sea, both to reach the source of the lucrativespice trade and perhaps to join forces with the fabled Christian kingdom ofPrester John that was rumoured to exist somewhere in the "Indies".[8][13] Under his sponsorship, soon the Atlantic islands ofMadeira (1419) andAzores (1427) were reached and started to be settled, producing wheat for export to Portugal.[14]
Soon its ships were bringing into the European market highly valued gold, ivory, pepper, cotton, sugar, and slaves. The slave trade, for example, was conducted by a few dozen merchants in Lisbon. In the process of expanding the trade routes, Portuguese navigators mapped unknown parts of Africa, and began exploring the Indian Ocean. In 1487, an overland expedition byPêro da Covilhã made its way to India, exploring trade opportunities with the Indians and Arabs, and winding up finally in Ethiopia. His detailed report was eagerly read in Lisbon, which became the best-informed centre for global geography and trade routes.[15]
Fears of what lay beyondCape Bojador, and whether it was possible to return once it was passed, were assuaged in 1434 when it was rounded by one of Infante Henry's captains,Gil Eanes. Once this psychological barrier had been crossed, it became easier to probe further along the coast.[16] In 1443,Infante Dom Pedro, Henry's brother and by then regent of the Kingdom, granted him the monopoly of navigation, war and trade in the lands south of Cape Bojador. Later this monopoly would be enforced by thepapal bullsDum Diversas (1452) andRomanus Pontifex (1455), granting Portugal the trade monopoly for the newly discovered lands.[17] A major advance that accelerated this project was the introduction of thecaravel in the mid-15th century, a ship that could be sailed closer to the wind than any other in operation in Europe at the time.[18] Using this new maritime technology, Portuguese navigators reached ever more southerlylatitudes, advancing at an average rate of one degree a year.[19]Senegal andCape Verde Peninsula were reached in 1445.[20]
16th century map showing Portuguese claims to Guinea and the castleSão Jorge da Mina
The firstfeitoria trade post overseas was established in 1445 on the island ofArguin, off the coast of Mauritania, to attract Muslim traders and monopolise the business in the routes travelled in North Africa. In 1446,Álvaro Fernandes pushed on almost as far as present-daySierra Leone, and theGulf of Guinea was reached in the 1460s.[21] TheCape Verde Islands were discovered in 1456 and settled in 1462.
Expansion ofsugarcane in Madeira started in 1455, using advisers fromSicily and (largely)Genoese capital to produce the "sweet salt" that was rare in Europe. Already cultivated inAlgarve, the accessibility of Madeira attracted Genoese and Flemish traders keen to bypass Venetian monopolies. Slaves were used, and the proportion of imported slaves in Madeira reached 10% of the total population by the 16th century.[22] By 1480Antwerp had some seventy ships engaged in the Madeira sugar trade, with the refining and distribution concentrated in Antwerp. By the 1490s Madeira had overtaken Cyprus as a producer of sugar.[23] The success of sugar merchants such asBartolomeo Marchionni would propel the investment in future travels.[24]
In 1469, after prince Henry's death and as a result of meagre returns of the African explorations, KingAfonso V granted the monopoly of trade in part of theGulf of Guinea to merchantFernão Gomes.[25] Gomes, who had to explore 100 miles (160 km) of the coast each year for five years, discovered the islands of the Gulf of Guinea, includingSão Tomé and Príncipe, and found a thrivingalluvial gold trade among the natives and visiting Arab and Berber traders at the port then namedMina (the mine), where he established a trading post.[26] Trade between Elmina and Portugal grew throughout a decade. During theWar of the Castilian Succession, a largeCastilian fleet attempted to wrest control of this lucrative trade, but were decisively defeated in the 1478Battle of Guinea, which firmly established an exclusive Portuguese control. In 1481, the recently crownedJoão II decided to buildSão Jorge da Mina in order to ensure the protection of this trade, which was held again as a royal monopoly. The equator was crossed by navigators sponsored by Fernão Gomes in 1473 and theCongo River byDiogo Cão in 1482. It was during this expedition that the Portuguese first encountered theKingdom of Kongo, with which it soon developed a rapport.[27] During his 1485–86 expedition, Cão continued toCape Cross, in present-dayNamibia, near theTropic of Capricorn.[28]
In 1488,Bartolomeu Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa and reachedGreat Fish River on the coast of Africa,[29] proving false the view that had existed sincePtolemy that the Indian Ocean wasland-locked. SimultaneouslyPêro da Covilhã, travelling secretly overland, had reachedEthiopia, suggesting that a sea route to the Indies would soon be forthcoming.[30]
As the Portuguese explored the coastlines of Africa, they left behind a series ofpadrões, stone crosses engraved with the Portuguese coat of arms marking their claims,[31] and built forts and trading posts. From these bases, they engaged profitably in the slave and gold trades. Portugal enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the African seaborne slave trade for over a century, importing around 800 slaves annually. Most were brought to the Portuguese capital Lisbon, where it is estimated black Africans came to constitute 10 percent of the population.[32]
Christopher Columbus's 1492 discovery for Spain of theNew World, which he believed to be Asia, led to disputes between the Spanish and the Portuguese.[33] These were eventually settled by theTreaty of Tordesillas in 1494, which divided the world outside of Europe in an exclusiveduopoly between the Portuguese and the Spanish along a north–south meridian 370leagues, or 970 miles (1,560 km), west of the Cape Verde islands.[34] However, as it was not possible at the time to correctly measurelongitude, the exact boundary was disputed by the two countries until 1777.[35]
The completion of these negotiations with Spain is one of several reasons proposed by historians for why it took nine years for the Portuguese to follow up on Dias's voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, though it has also been speculated that other voyages were in fact taking place in secret during this time.[36][37] Whether or not this was the case, the long-standing Portuguese goal of finding a sea route to Asia was finally achieved in aground-breaking voyage commanded byVasco da Gama.[38]
The squadron ofVasco da Gama left Portugal in 1497, rounded the Cape and continued along the coast of East Africa, where a local pilot was brought on board who guided them across the Indian Ocean, reachingCalicut (Kozhikode), the capital of the kingdom ruled byZamorins, in south-western India in May 1498.[39] The second voyage to India was dispatched in 1500 underPedro Álvares Cabral. While following the same south-westerly route as Gama across the Atlantic Ocean, Cabral made landfall on the Brazilian coast. This was probably an accidental discovery, but it has been speculated that the Portuguese secretly knew of Brazil's existence and that it lay on their side of the Tordesillas line.[40] Cabral recommended to the Portuguese King that the land be settled, and two follow up voyages were sent in 1501 and 1503. The land was found to be abundant inpau-brasil, or brazilwood, from which it later inherited its name, but the failure to find gold or silver meant that for the time being Portuguese efforts were concentrated on India.[41] In 1502, to enforce its trade monopoly over a wide area of theIndian Ocean, the Portuguese Empire created thecartaz licensing system, granting merchant ships protection against pirates and rival states.[42]
Profiting from the rivalry between theruler of Kochi and theZamorin ofCalicut, the Portuguese were well-received and seen as allies, as they obtained a permit to build thefortImmanuel (Fort Kochi) and a trading post that was the first European settlement in India. They established a trading hub atTangasseri,Quilon (Coulão,Kollam) city in (1503) in 1502, which became the centre of trade in pepper,[43] and after founding manufactories atCochin (Cochim, Kochi) andCannanore (Canonor, Kannur), built a factory atQuilon in 1503. In 1505 KingManuel I of Portugal appointedFrancisco de Almeida firstViceroy of Portuguese India, establishing the Portuguese government in the east. That year the Portuguese also conqueredKannur, where they foundedSt. Angelo Fort, andLourenço de Almeida arrived inCeylon (modern Sri Lanka), where he discovered the source ofcinnamon.[44] AlthoughCankili I ofJaffna initially resisted contact with them, theJaffna kingdom came to the attention of Portuguese officials soon after for their resistance to missionary activities as well as logistical reasons due to its proximity withTrincomalee harbour among other reasons.[45] In the same year, Manuel I ordered Almeida to fortify the Portuguese fortresses in Kerala and within eastern Africa, as well as probe into the prospects of building forts in Sri Lanka and Malacca in response to growing hostilities with Muslims within those regions and threats from the Mamluk sultan.[46]
A Portuguese fleet under the command ofTristão da Cunha andAfonso de Albuquerque conqueredSocotra at the entrance of theRed Sea in 1506 andMuscat in 1507. Having failed to conquerOrmuz, they instead followed a strategy intended to close off commerce to and from the Indian Ocean.[47]Madagascar was partly explored by Cunha, andMauritius was discovered by Cunha whilst possibly being accompanied by Albuquerque.[48] After the capture of Socotra, Cunha and Albuquerque operated separately. While Cunha travelled India and Portugal for trading purposes, Albuquerque went to India to take over as governor after Almeida's three-year term ended. Almeida refused to turn over power and soon placed Albuquerque under house arrest, where he remained until 1509.[49]
Although requested by Manuel I to further explore interests in Malacca and Sri Lanka, Almeida instead focused on western India, in particular theSultanate of Gujarat due to his suspicions of traders from the region possessing more power. TheMamlûk Sultanate sultanAl-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri along with the Gujarati sultanate attacked Portuguese forces in the harbor ofChaul, resulting in the death ofAlmeida's son. In retaliation, the Portuguese fought and destroyed the Mamluks and Gujarati fleets in the seaBattle of Diu in 1509.[50]
Along with Almeida's initial attempts, Manuel I and his council in Lisbon had tried to distribute power in the Indian Ocean, creating three areas of jurisdiction: Albuquerque was sent to the Red Sea,Diogo Lopes de Sequeira to South-east Asia, seeking an agreement with the Sultan of Malacca, and Jorge de Aguiar followed by Duarte de Lemos were sent to the area between the Cape of Good Hope and Gujarat.[51] However, such posts were centralised by Afonso de Albuquerque after his succession and remained so in subsequent ruling.[52]
Second viceroy of IndiaAfonso de Albuquerque, credited with laying the foundations of Portuguese power in Asia
By the end of 1509, Albuquerque became viceroy of theEast Indies with the capital atVelha Goa, after theCape route was discovered by Vasco da Gama. In contrast to Almeida, Albuquerque was more concerned with strengthening the navy,[53] as well as being more compliant with the interests of the kingdom.[54] His first objective was to conquer Goa, due to its strategic location as a defensive fort positioned between Kerala and Gujarat, as well as its prominence forArabian horse imports.[50]
The initial capture of Goa from theBijapur sultanate in 1510 was soon countered by the Bijapuris, but with the help of HinduprivateerTimoji, on 25 November of the same year it was recaptured.[55][56] In Goa, Albuquerque began the first Portuguesemint in India in 1510.[57] He encouraged Portuguese settlers to marry local women, built a church in honor ofSt. Catherine (as it was recaptured on her feast day), and attempted to build rapport with the Hindus by protecting their temples and reducing their tax requirements.[56] The Portuguese maintained friendly relations with the south Indian Emperors of theVijayanagara Empire.[58]
In April 1511, Albuquerque sailed toMalacca on theMalay Peninsula,[59] the largest spice market of the period.[60] Though the trade was largely dominated by the Gujarati, other groups such as the Turks, Persians, Armenians, Tamils andAbyssinians traded there.[60] Albuquerque targeted Malacca to impede the Muslim and Venetian influence in the spice trade and increase that of Lisbon.[61] By July 1511, Albuquerque had captured Malacca and sentAntónio de Abreu andFrancisco Serrão (along with Ferdinand Magellan) to explore the Indonesian archipelago.[62]
Iberian 'mare clausum' in the Age of Discovery. Albuquerque's strategy to encircle the Indian Ocean is shown.
The Malacca peninsula became the strategic base for Portuguese trade expansion with China and Southeast Asia. A strong gate, called theA Famosa, was erected to defend the city and remains.[63] Learning of Siamese ambitions over Malacca, Albuquerque immediately sentDuarte Fernandes on a diplomatic mission to theKingdom of Siam (modern Thailand), where he was the first European to arrive, establishing amicable relations and trade between both kingdoms.[64][65]
The Portuguese empire pushed further south and proceeded to discover Timor in 1512.Jorge de Meneses discoveredNew Guinea in 1526, naming it the "Island of the Papua".[66] In 1517,João da Silveira commanded a fleet toChittagong,[67] and by 1528, the Portuguese had established asettlement in Chittagong.[68] The Portuguese eventually based their centre of operations along theHugli River, where they encountered Muslims, Hindus, and Portuguese deserters known asChatins.[69]
Jorge Álvares was the first European to reach China by sea, while the Romans were the first overland via Asia Minor.[70][71][72][73] He was also the first European to discover Hong Kong.[74][75] In 1514, Afonso de Albuquerque, the viceroy of the Estado da India, dispatchedRafael Perestrello to sail to China in order to pioneer European trade relations with the nation.[76][77]
In their first attempts at obtaining trading posts by force, the Portuguese were defeated by the Ming Chinese at theBattle of Tunmen inTamão orTuen Mun. In 1521, the Portuguese lost two ships at theBattle of Sincouwaan inLantau Island. The Portuguese also lost two ships atShuangyu in 1548 where several Portuguese were captured and near theDongshan Peninsula. In 1549 two Portuguese junks andGaleote Pereira were captured. During these battles the Ming Chinese captured weapons from the defeated Portuguese which they then reverse engineered and mass-produced in China such asmatchlockmusketarquebuses which they namedbird guns andbreech-loading swivel guns which they named as Folangji (Frankish) cannon because the Portuguese were known to the Chinese under the name of Franks at this time. The Portuguese later returned to China peacefully and presented themselves under the name Portuguese instead of Franks in theLuso-Chinese agreement (1554) and rented Macau as a trading post from China by paying annual lease of hundreds of silvertaels to Ming China.[78]
Despite initial harmony and excitement between the two cultures, difficulties began to arise shortly afterwards, including misunderstanding, bigotry, and even hostility.[79] The Portuguese explorerSimão de Andrade incited poor relations with China due to his pirate activities, raiding Chinese shipping, attacking a Chinese official, and kidnappings of Chinese. He based himself at Tamao island in a fort. The Chinese claimed that Simão kidnapped Chinese boys and girls to be molested and cannibalised.[80] The Chinese sent a squadron of junks against Portuguese caravels that succeeded in driving the Portuguese away and reclaiming Tamao. As a result, the Chinese posted an edict banning men with Caucasian features from entering Canton, killing multiple Portuguese there, and driving the Portuguese back to sea.[81][82]
After the Sultan of Bintan detained several Portuguese under Tomás Pires, the Chinese then executed 23 Portuguese and threw the rest into prison where they resided in squalid, sometimes fatal conditions. The Chinese then massacred Portuguese who resided atNingbo andFujian trading posts in 1545 and 1549, due to extensive and damaging raids by the Portuguese along the coast, which irritated the Chinese.[81] Portuguese pirating was second toJapanese pirating by this period. However, they soon began to shield Chinese junks and a cautious trade began. In 1557 the Chinese authorities allowed the Portuguese to settle in Macau, creating a warehouse in the trade of goods between China, Japan, Goa and Europe.[81][83]
Portuguese operations in Asia did not go unnoticed, and in 1521Magellan arrived in the region and claimed the Philippines for Spain. In 1525, Spain under Charles V sent an expedition to colonise theMoluccas islands, claiming they were in his zone of theTreaty of Tordesillas, since there was no set limit to the east. The expedition ofGarcía Jofre de Loaísa reached the Moluccas, docking atTidore. With the Portuguese already established in nearby Ternate, conflict was inevitable, leading to nearly a decade of skirmishes. A resolution was reached with theTreaty of Zaragoza in 1529, attributing the Moluccas to Portugal and the Philippines to Spain.[85] The Portuguese traded regularly with theBruneian Empire from 1530 and described the capital of Brunei as surrounded by a stone wall.
The Portuguese empire expanded into the Persian Gulf, contesting control of the spice trade with theAjuran Empire and theOttoman Empire. Albuquerqueconquered theHuwala state ofHormuz at the head of the Persian Gulf in 1515, establishing it as a vassal state.Aden, however,resisted Albuquerque's expedition in that same year and another attempt by Albuquerque's successorLopo Soares de Albergaria in 1516. In 1521 a force led byAntónio Correia capturedBahrain, defeating theJabrid King,Muqrin ibn Zamil.[86] In a shifting series of alliances, the Portuguese dominated much of the southern Persian Gulf for the next hundred years. With the regular maritime route linking Lisbon to Goa since 1497, theisland of Mozambique became a strategic port, and there was builtFort São Sebastião and a hospital. In the Azores, the Islands Armada protected the ships en route to Lisbon.[87]
In 1534, Gujarat faced attack from theMughals and the Rajput states ofChitor andMandu. The SultanBahadur Shah of Gujarat was forced to sign theTreaty of Bassein with the Portuguese, establishing an alliance to regain the country, giving in exchangeDaman,Diu,Mumbai andBassein. It also regulated the trade of Gujarati ships departing to theRed Sea and passing through Bassein to pay duties and allow the horse trade.[88] After Mughal rulerHumayun had success against Bahadur, the latter signed another treaty with the Portuguese to confirm the provisions and allowed the fort to be built in Diu. Shortly afterward, Humayun turned his attention elsewhere, and the Gujarats allied with the Ottomans to regain control of Diu and lay siege to the fort. The two failed sieges of1538 and1546 put an end to Ottoman ambitions, confirming the Portuguese hegemony in the region,[88][89] as well as gaining superiority over the Mughals.[90] However, the Ottomans fought off attacks from the Portuguese in the Red Sea and in theSinai Peninsula in 1541, and in the northern region of the Persian Gulf in 1546 and 1552. Each entity ultimately had to respect the sphere of influence of the other, albeit unofficially.[91][92]
Portuguesecarracks unload cargo in Lisbon. Original engraving byTheodor de Bry, 1593, coloured at a later date
After a series of prolonged contacts with Ethiopia, the Portuguese embassy made contact with theEthiopian (Abyssinian) Kingdom led by Rodrigo de Lima in 1520.[93][94] This coincided with the Portuguese search for Prester John, as they soon associated the kingdom as his land.[95] The fear of Turkish advances within the Portuguese and Ethiopian sectors also played a role in their alliance.[93][96] TheAdal Sultanate defeated the Ethiopians in thebattle of Shimbra Kure in 1529, and Islam spread further in theregion. Portugal responded by aiding kingGelawdewos with Portuguese soldiers and muskets. Though the Ottomans responded with support of soldiers and muskets to the Adal Sultanate, after the death of the Adali sultanAhmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi in thebattle of Wayna Daga in 1543, the joint Adal-Ottoman force retreated.[97][98][99]
The Portuguese also made direct contact with theKongolose vassal stateNdongo and its ruler Ngola Kiljuane in 1520, after the latter requested missionaries.[100] Kongolese kingAfonso I interfered with the process with denunciations, and later sent a Kongo mission to Ndongo after the latter had arrested the Portuguese mission that came.[100] The growing official and unofficial slave trading with Ndongo strained relations between Kongo and the Portuguese, and even had Portuguese ambassadors from São Tomé support Ndongo against the Kingdom of Kongo.[101][102] However, when theJaga attacked and conquered regions of Kongo in 1568, Portuguese assisted Kongo in their defeat.[103] In response, the Kongo allowed the colonisation of Luanda Island; Luanda was established byPaulo Dias de Novais in 1576 and soon became a slave port.[103][104] De Novais' subsequent alliance with Ndongo angered Luso-Africans who resented the influence from the Crown.[105] In 1579, Ndongo ruler Ngola Kiluanje kia Ndamdi massacred Portuguese and Kongolese residents in the Ndongo capitalKabasa under the influence of Portuguese renegades. Both the Portuguese and Kongo fought against Ndongo, and off-and-on warfare between the Ndongo and Portugal would persist for decades.[106]
In east-Africa, the main agents acting on behalf of the Portuguese Crown, exploring and settling the territory of what would become Mozambique were theprazeiros, to whom vast estates around the Zambezi River were leased by the King as a reward for their services. Commanding vast armies ofchikunda warrior-slaves, these men acted as feudal-like lords, either levying tax from local chieftains, defending them and their estates from marauding tribes, participating in the ivory or slave trade, and becoming involved in the politics of theKingdom of Mutapa, to the point of installing client kings upon its throne.
In 1542, Jesuit missionaryFrancis Xavier arrived in Goa at the service of João III of Portugal, in charge of anApostolic Nunciature. At the same timeFrancisco Zeimoto,António Mota, and other traders arrived in Japan for the first time. According toFernão Mendes Pinto, who claimed to be in this journey, they arrived atTanegashima, where the locals were impressed byfirearms, that would be immediately made by the Japanese on a large scale.[107] By 1570 the Portuguese bought part of a Japanese port where they founded a small part of the city ofNagasaki,[108] and it became the major trading port in Japan in the triangular trade with China and Europe.[109]
Guarding its trade from both European and Asian competitors, Portugal dominated not only the trade between Asia and Europe, but also much of the trade between different regions of Asia and Africa, such as India, Indonesia, China, and Japan.Jesuit missionaries, followed the Portuguese to spreadCatholicism[110][111] to Asia and Africa with mixed success.[112]
The Portuguese mapped and claimedCanada in 1499 and the 1500s.
Based on theTreaty of Tordesillas, the Portuguese Crown, under the kings Manuel I, João III and Sebastão, also claimed territorial rights in North America (reached byJohn Cabot in 1497 and 1498). To that end, in 1499 and 1500,João Fernandes Lavrador exploredGreenland and the north Atlantic coast of Canada, which accounts for the appearance of "Labrador" on topographical maps of the period.[113] Subsequently, in 1500–1501 and 1502, the brothersGaspar andMiguel Corte-Real explored what is today the Canadian province ofNewfoundland and Labrador, and Greenland, claiming these lands for Portugal. In 1506, King Manuel I created taxes for the cod fisheries in Newfoundland waters.[citation needed] Around 1521,João Álvares Fagundes was granteddonatary rights to the inner islands of theGulf of St. Lawrence and also created a settlement onCape Breton Island to serve as a base for cod fishing. Pressure from natives and competing European fisheries prevented a permanent establishment and it was abandoned five years later. Several attempts to establish settlements in Newfoundland over the next half-century also failed.[114]
Within a few years after Cabral arrived from Brazil, competition came along from France. In 1503, an expedition under the command ofGonçalo Coelho reported French raids on the Brazilian coasts,[115] and explorerBinot Paulmier de Gonneville traded for brazilwood after making contact in southern Brazil a year later.[116] Expeditions sponsored byFrancis I along the North American coast directly violated of theTreaty of Tordesilhas.[117] By 1531, the French had stationed a trading post off of an island on the Brazilian coast.[117]
The increase in brazilwood smuggling from the French ledJoão III to press an effort to establish effective occupation of the territory.[118] In 1531, a royal expedition led byMartim Afonso de Sousa and his brother Pero Lopes went to patrol the whole Brazilian coast, banish the French, and create some of the first colonial towns – among themSão Vicente, in 1532.[119] Sousa returned to Lisbon a year later to becomegovernor of India and never returned to Brazil.[120][121] The French attacks did cease to an extent after retaliation led to the Portuguese paying the French to stop attacking Portuguese ships throughout the Atlantic,[117] but the attacks would continue to be a problem well into the 1560s.[122]
Upon Sousa's arrival and success, fifteen latitudinal tracts, theoretically to span from the coast to the Tordesillas limit, were decreed by João III on 28 September 1532.[120][123] The plot of the lands formed the hereditarycaptaincies (Capitanias Hereditárias) to grantees rich enough to support settlement, as had been done successfully inMadeira andCape Verde islands.[124] Eachcaptain-major was to build settlements, grant allotments and administer justice, being responsible for developing and taking the costs of colonisation, although not being the owner: he could transmit it to offspring, but not sell it. Twelve recipients came from Portuguese gentry who become prominent in Africa and India and senior officials of the court, such asJoão de Barros.[125]
Of the fifteen original captaincies, only two,Pernambuco andSão Vicente, prospered.[126] Both were dedicated to the crop ofsugar cane, and the settlers managed to maintain alliances withNative Americans. The rise of the sugar industry came about because the Crown took the easiest sources of profit (brazilwood, spices, etc.), leaving settlers to come up with new revenue sources.[127] The establishment of the sugar cane industry demanded intensive labour that would be met with Native American and, later, African slaves.[128] Deeming thecapitanias system ineffective, João III decided to centralise the government of the colony in order to "give help and assistance" to grantees. In 1548 he created the first General Government, sending inTomé de Sousa as first governor and selecting a capital at theBay of All Saints, making it at theCaptaincy of Bahia.[129][130]
Tomé de Sousa built the capital of Brazil,Salvador, at the Bay of All Saints in 1549.[131] Among Sousa's 1,000 man expedition were soldiers, workers, and sixJesuits led byManuel da Nóbrega.[132] The Jesuits would have an essential role in the settlement of Brazil, including the cities of São Vicente, andSão Paulo, the latter co-founded by Nóbrega.[133] Along with the Jesuit missions later came disease among the natives, among themplague andsmallpox. Are we sure it was the Jesuits in particular who brought smallpox with them[134] Subsequently, the French would resettle in Portuguese territory atGuanabara Bay, which would be calledFrance Antarctique.[135] While a Portuguese ambassador was sent toParis to report the French intrusion, João III appointedMem de Sá as new Brazilian governor general, and Sá left for Brazil in 1557.[135] Sá and his forces had by 1560 expelled the combinedHuguenot, ScottishCalvinist, and slave forces from France Antarctique, but left survivors after burning their fortifications and villages. These survivors would settleGloria Bay,Flamengo Beach, andParapapuã with the assistance of theTamoio natives.[136]
The Tamoio had been allied with the French since the settlement of France Antarctique, and despite the French loss in 1560, the Tamoio were still a threat.[137] They launched two attacks in 1561 and 1564 (the latter event was assisting the French), and were nearly successful with each.[138][139] By this time period, Manuel de Nóbrega, along with fellow JesuitJosé de Anchieta, took part as members of attacks on the Tamoios and as spies for their resources.[137][138] From 1565 through 1567 Mem de Sá and his forces eventually destroyed France Antarctique at Guanabara Bay. He and his nephew,Estácio de Sá, then established the city ofRio de Janeiro in 1567, after Mem de Sá proclaimed the area "São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro" in 1565.[140] By 1575, the Tamoios had been subdued and essentially were extinct,[137] and by 1580 the government became more of anouvidor general rather than theouvidores.[clarification needed][141]
Iberian Union, Protestant rivalry, and colonial stasis (1580–1663)
In 1580, KingPhilip II of Spain invaded Portugal after acrisis of succession brought about by kingSebastião of Portugal's death during a disastrousPortuguese attack on Alcácer Quibir inMorocco in 1578. At the Cortes of Tomar in 1581, Philip was crowned Philip I of Portugal, uniting the two crowns and overseas empires underSpanish Habsburg rule in adynasticIberian Union.[142] At Tomar, Philip promised to keep the empires legally distinct, leaving the administration of the Portuguese Empire to Portuguese nationals, with aViceroy of Portugal in Lisbon seeing to his interests.[143] Philip even had the capital moved to Lisbon for a two-year period (1581–83) due to it being the most important city in theIberian peninsula.[144] All the Portuguese colonies accepted the new state of affairs except for theAzores, which held out forAntónio, a Portuguese rival claimant to the throne who had garnered the support ofCatherine de Medici of France in exchange for the promise to cede Brazil. Spanish forces eventually captured the islands in 1583.[145]
The Tordesillas boundary between Spanish and Portuguese control in South America was then increasingly ignored by the Portuguese, who pressed beyond it into the heart of Brazil,[143] allowing them to expand the territory to the west. Exploratory missions were carried out both ordered by the government, the "entradas" (entries), and by private initiative, the "bandeiras" (flags), by the "bandeirantes".[146] These expeditions lasted for years venturing into unmapped regions, initially to capture natives and force them into slavery, and later focusing on finding gold, silver and diamond mines.[147]
However, the union meant that Spain dragged Portugal into its conflicts with England, France and theDutch Republic, countries which were beginning to establish their own overseas empires.[148] The primary threat came from the Dutch, who had been engaged in astruggle for independence against Spain since 1568. In 1581, theSeven Provinces gained independence from theHabsburg rule, leading Philip II to prohibit commerce with Dutch ships, including in Brazil where Dutch had invested large sums in financing sugar production.[149]
Spanish imperial trade networks now were opened to Portuguese merchants, which was particularly lucrative for Portuguese slave traders who could now sell slaves in Spanish America at a higher price than could be fetched in Brazil.[150] In addition to this newly acquired access to the Spanishasientos, the Portuguese were able to solve their bullion shortage issues with access to the production of the silver mining in Peru and Mexico.[151]Manila was also incorporated into the Macau-Nagasaki trading network, allowing Macanese of Portuguese descent to act as trading agents for Philippine Spaniards and use Spanish silver from the Americas in trade with China, and they later drew competition with the Dutch East India Company.[152]
In 1592, during thewar with Spain, an English fleetcaptured a large Portuguese carrack off the Azores, theMadre de Deus, which was loaded with 900 tons of merchandise from India and China estimated at half a millionpounds (nearly half the size of English Treasury at the time).[153] This foretaste of the riches of the East galvanised English interest in the region.[154] That same year,Cornelis de Houtman was sent by Dutch merchants to Lisbon, to gather as much information as he could about the Spice Islands.[152][155]
The Dutch eventually came to acknowledge the importance of Goa in breaking up the Portuguese empire in Asia. In 1583, merchant and explorerJan Huyghen van Linschoten (1563– 8 February 1611), formerly the Dutch secretary of the Archbishop of Goa, had acquired information while serving in that position that contained the location of secret Portuguese trade routes throughout Asia, including those to the East Indies and Japan. It was published in 1595 and then greatly expanded the next year as hisItinerario.[156][157] Dutch and English interests used this new information, leading to their commercial expansion, including the foundation of the EnglishEast India Company in 1600, and the Dutch East India Company in 1602. These developments allowed the entry ofchartered companies into the East Indies.[158][159]
The Dutch took their fight overseas, attacking Spanish and Portuguese colonies and beginning theDutch–Portuguese War, which would last for over sixty years (1602–1663). Other European nations, such as Protestant England, assisted theDutch Empire in the war. The Dutch attained victories in Asia and Africa with assistance of various indigenous allies, eventually wrenching control ofMalacca (1641),Portuguese Gold Coast (1642;Elmina Castle seized by the Dutch already in 1637),Ceylon (1658), andKochi (1663). The Dutch also had regional control of the lucrative sugar-producing region ofnortheast Brazil as well asLuanda, but the Portuguese regained these territories after considerable struggle.[160][161]
Meanwhile, in the Persian Gulf region, the Portuguese also lost control ofBahrain in 1602,Ormuz was captured by a joint alliance of theSafavids and the English in 1622, andMuscat was captured byOman under theAl-Ya'arubs in 1650.[162] The1625 Battle off Hormuz, one of the most important of thePortuguese–Safavid wars, would result in a draw.[163] They would continue to use Muscat as a base for repetitive incursions within the Indian Ocean,including capturing Fort Jesus in 1698, which resulted in a loss ofZanzibar in 1698.[164] In Ethiopia and Japan in the 1630s, the ousting of missionaries by local leaders severed influence in the respective regions.[165][166]
The loss of colonies was one of the reasons that contributed to the end of the personal union with Spain. João IV was proclaimed king of Portugal in 1640 and thePortuguese Restoration War began. Even before the war's final resolution, the crown established the Overseas Council, conceived in 1642 on the short-lived model of the Council of India (1604–1614), and established in 1643, it was the governing body for most of the Portuguese overseas empire. The exceptions were North Africa, Madeira, and the Azores. All correspondence concerning overseas possessions were funneled through the council. When the Portuguese court fled to Brazil in 1807, following the Napoleonic invasion of Iberia, Brazil was removed from the jurisdiction of the council. It made recommendations concerning personnel for the administrative, fiscal, and military, as well as bishops of overseas dioceses.[167] A distinguished seventeenth-century member wasSalvador de Sá.[168]
Portuguese warshipRainha de Portugal saluting the squadron of Admiral Ball at Malta in 1798. In the 18th century thePortuguese Navy was among the most powerful in the world.
In 1661 the Portuguese offeredBombay andTangier to England as part of a dowry, and over the next hundred years the English gradually became the dominant trader in India, gradually excluding the trade of other powers. Spain recognised the end of theIberian Union in 1668, with Portugal in exchange cedingCeuta to the Spanish crown.[169]
After the Portuguese were defeated by the Indian rulersChimnaji Appa of theMaratha Empire[170][171] and byShivappa Nayaka of theKeladi Nayaka Kingdom[172] and at the end of confrontations with the Dutch, Portugal was only able to cling ontoGoa and several minor bases in India, and managed to regain territories in Brazil and Africa, but lost forever to prominence in Asia as trade was diverted through increasing numbers of English, Dutch and French trading posts. In 1787, inGoa theConspiracy of the Pintos, also known as the Pinto Revolt, known in Portuguese asA Conjuração dos Pintos occurred, this was a rebellion againstPortuguese rule.[173]
The leaders of the plot were three prominent priests from the village ofCandolim in theconcelho ofBardez, Goa. They belonged to the noble Pinto clan, hence the name of the rebellion.[174]
This was fought due to the Portuguese refusing to create bishops and other officials from the colonies and demanded equality. The family was one of the firstIndian families to be considered as aFidalgo by the Portuguese crown and two brothers were granted a coat of arms in 1770, and included in thePortuguese nobility
This was the first anti-colonial revolt inIndia and one of the first byCatholic subjects in all European colonies.
Thus, throughout the century, Brazil gained increasing importance to the empire, which exportedbrazilwood and sugar.[147]
In 1693, the Bandeirante Antônio Rodrigues de Arzão,Caipira fromTaubaté, discovered gold in the interior of theCaptaincy of São Vicente, an area currently corresponding toMinas Gerais, in Brazil.[175] Major discoveries of gold and, later, diamonds in Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso and Goiás led to a "gold rush", with a large influx of migrants.[176] The village became the new economic focal point of the empire, with rapid settlement and some conflicts. This gold cycle led to the creation of an internal market and attracted a large number of immigrants. In 1739, when Minas Gerais was already separated as a captaincy, its population was somewhere between 200,000 and 250,000.[177]
The gold rush considerably increased the revenue of the Portuguese crown, who charged a fifth of all the ore mined, or the "fifth". Diversion and smuggling were frequent, along with altercations betweenPaulistas andEmboabas (Term of thePaulista General Language andCaipira dialect that refers to 'foreigner', used at the time to refer to immigrants from Portugal and other regions in Brazil). In 1709, after the defeat of the Bandeirantes in theWar of the Emboabas, which culminated in the bankruptcy and sale of the Captaincy of São Vicente to the Portuguese crown, which would reorganize it as the Captaincy of São Paulo and Minas de Ouro, a whole set of bureaucratic controls began.[178][179] The crown also restricted the diamond mining within its jurisdiction and to private contractors.[179] In spite of gold increasing global commerce, the plantation industry became the leading export for Brazil during this period; sugar constituted at 50% of the exports (with gold at 46%) in 1760.[177]
Africans became the largest group of people in Minas Gerais. Slaves labeled asMinas andAngolas rose in high demand during the boom. TheAkan within theMinas group had a reputation to have been experts in extrapolating gold in their native regions, and became the preferred group. In spite of the high death rate associated with the slaves involved in the mining industry, the owners that allowed slaves that extracted above the minimum amount of gold to keep the excesses, which in turn led to the possibility ofmanumission. Those that became free partook in artisan jobs such as cobblers, tailors, and blacksmiths. In spite of free blacks andmulattoes playing a large role in Minas Gerais, the number of them that received marginalisation was greater there than in any other region in Brazil.[180]
Gold discovered in Mato Grosso and Goiás sparked an interest to solidify the western borders of the colony. In the 1730s contact with Spanish outposts occurred more frequently, and the Spanish threatened to launch a military expedition in order to remove them. This failed to happen and by the 1750s the Portuguese were able to implant a political stronghold in the region.[181]
In 1755 Lisbon suffered a catastrophicearthquake, which together with a subsequenttsunami killed between 40,000 and 60,000 people out of a population of 275,000.[182] This sharply checked Portuguese colonial ambitions in the late 18th century.[183]
According to economic historians, Portugal's colonial trade had a substantial positive impact on Portuguese economic growth, 1500–1800. Leonor Costa et al. conclude:
intercontinental trade had a substantial and increasingly positive impact on economic growth. In the heyday of colonial expansion, eliminating the economic links to empire would have reduced Portugal's per capita income by roughly a fifth. While the empire helped the domestic economy it was not sufficient to annul the tendency towards decline in relation to Europe's advanced core which set in from the 17th century onwards.[184]
Plan of the city of São Sebastião (Rio de Janeiro) in 1820
Unlike Spain, Portugal did not divide itscolonial territory in America. Thecaptaincies created there functioned under a centralised administration inSalvador, which reported directly to the Crown in Lisbon. The 18th century was marked by increasing centralisation of royal power throughout the Portuguese empire. TheJesuits, who protected the natives against slavery, were brutally suppressed by theMarquis of Pombal, which led to the dissolution of the order in the region by 1759.[185] Pombal wished to improve the status of the natives by declaring them free and increasing themestizo population by encouraging intermarriage between them and the white population. Indigenous freedom decreased in contrast to its period under the Jesuits, and the response to intermarriage was lukewarm at best.[186] The crown's revenue from gold declined and plantation revenue increased by the time of Pombal, and he made provisions to improve each. Although he failed to spike the gold revenue, two short-term companies he established for the plantation economy drove a significant increase in production of cotton, rice, cacao, tobacco, and sugar. Slavery increased as well as involvement from the textile economy. The economic development as a whole was inspired by elements of theEnlightenment in mainland Europe.[187] However, the diminished influence from states such as the United Kingdom increased the Kingdom's dependence upon Brazil.[188]
Encouraged by the example of the United States of America, which had won its independence from Britain, the colonial province ofMinas Gerais attempted to achieve the same objective in 1789. However, theInconfidência Mineira failed, its leaders were arrested, and of the participants in the insurrections, the one of lowest social position,Tiradentes, was hanged.[189] Among the conspiracies led by the African population was the Bahian revolt in 1798, led primarily by João de Deus do Nascimento. Inspired by theFrench Revolution, leaders proposed a society without slavery, food prices would be lowered, and trade restriction abolished. Impoverished social conditions and a high cost of living were among reasons of the revolt. Authorities diffused the plot before major action began; they executed four of the conspirators and exiled several others to the Atlantic Coast of Africa.[190] Several more smaller-scale slave rebellions and revolts would occur from 1801 and 1816 and fears within Brazil were that these events would lead to a"second Haiti".[191]
In spite of the conspiracies, the rule of Portugal in Brazil was not under serious threat. Historian A. R. Disney states that the colonists did not until the transferring of the Kingdom in 1808 assert influence of policy changing due to direct contact,[192] and historian Gabriel Paquette mentions that the threats in Brazil were largely unrealised in Portugal until 1808 because of effective policing and espionage.[193] More revolts would occur after the arrival of the court.[194]
Brazilian independence crippled the Portuguese Empire, both economically and politically, for a long time
In 1808,Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Portugal, andDom João,prince regent in place of his mother,Queen Maria I, ordered the transfer of the royal court to Brazil. In 1815 Brazil was elevated to the status of Kingdom, the Portuguese state officially becoming theUnited Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (Reino Unido de Portugal, Brasil e Algarves), and the capital was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, the only instance of a European country being ruled from one of its colonies. There was also the election of Brazilian representatives to theCortes Constitucionais Portuguesas (Portuguese Constitutional Courts), the Parliament that assembled in Lisbon in the wake of theLiberal Revolution of 1820.[195]
Although the royal family returned to Portugal in 1821, the interlude led to a growing desire for independence amongst Brazilians. In 1822, the son of Dom João VI, then prince-regentDom Pedro I, proclaimed the independence of Brazil on 7 September 1822, and was crowned Emperor of the newEmpire of Brazil. Unlike the Spanish colonies of South America, Brazil's independence was achieved without significant bloodshed.[196][197]
At the height ofEuropean colonialism in the 19th century, Portugal had lost its territory inSouth America and all but a few bases in Asia. During this phase, Portuguese colonialism focused on expanding its outposts in Africa into nation-sized territories to compete with other European powers there. Portugal pressed into the hinterland of Angola and Mozambique, and explorersSerpa Pinto,Hermenegildo Capelo andRoberto Ivens were among the first Europeans to cross Africa west to east.[198][199]
Slavery was officially abolished in the Portuguese Empire in 1878. However, this did not endforced labour or imply equality between "civilized" and "indigenous" subjects of the empire. This distinction would even be legally codified in a more explicit way by theFirst Republic whichtook power in 1910.[200][201]
British Ultimatum and end of Portuguese monarchy (1890–1910)
In the 19th century, Portugal launched campaigns to solidify Portuguese Africa.
The project to connect the two colonies, thePink Map, was the main objective of Portuguese policy in the 1880s.[202] However, the idea was unacceptable to the British, who had their own aspirations of contiguous British territory running fromCairo toCape Town. The1890 British Ultimatum was reluctantly accepted byCarlos I of Portugal and the Pink Map came to an end.[202]
The King's reaction to the ultimatum was exploited by republicans.[202] On 1 February 1908, King Carlos and PrinceLuís Filipe wereassassinated in Lisbon by two Portuguese republican activist revolutionaries,Alfredo Luís da Costa andManuel Buíça. Luís Filipe's brother, Manuel, became KingManuel II of Portugal. Two years later, on 5 October 1910, he was overthrown and fled into exile in England in Fulwell Park, Twickenham near London and Portugal became arepublic.[203]
In 1914, the German Empire formulated plans to usurp Angola from Portuguese control.[204] Skirmishes between Portuguese and German soldiers ensued, resulting in reinforcements being sent from the mainland.[205] The main objective of these soldiers was to recapture theKionga Triangle, in northern Mozambique, the territory having been subjugated by Germany.In 1916, after Portugal interned German ships in Lisbon, Germany declared war on Portugal. Portugal followed suit, thus entering World War I.[206]Early in the war, Portugal was involved mainly in supplying the Allies positioned in France. In 1916, there was only one attack on the Portuguese territory, inMadeira.[207] In 1917, one of the actions taken by Portugal was to assist Britain in its timber industry, imperative to the war effort. Along with theCanadian Forestry Corps, Portuguese personnel established logging infrastructure in an area now referred to as the "Portuguese Fireplace".[208]
Throughout 1917 Portugal dispatched contingents of troops to the Allied front in France. Midway in the year, Portugal suffered its first World War I casualty. In Portuguese Africa, Portugal and the British fought numerous battles against the Germans in both Mozambique and Angola. Later in the year,U-boats entered Portuguese waters again and once more attacked Madeira, sinking multiple Portuguese ships. Through the beginning of 1918, Portugal continued to fight along the Allied front against Germany, including participation in the infamousBattle of La Lys.[209] As autumn approached, Germany found success in both Portuguese Africa and against Portuguese vessels, sinking multiple ships. After nearly three years of fighting (from a Portuguese perspective), World War I ended, with an armistice being signed by Germany. At theVersailles Conference, Portugal regained control of all its lost territory, but did not retain possession (by the principle ofuti possidetis) of territories gained during the war, except forKionga, a port city in modern-dayTanzania.[210]
By the 20th century, Portugal no longer called itself an empire, but apluricontinental nation with overseas provinces.
In the wake ofWorld War II, decolonisation movements began to gain momentum in the empires of the European powers. The ensuingCold War also created instabilities among Portuguese overseas populations, as the United States and Soviet Union vied to increase their spheres of influence. Following the granting of independence to India by Britain in 1947, and the decision by France to allow itsenclaves in India to be incorporated into the newly independent nation, pressure was placed on Portugal to do the same.[212] This was resisted byAntónio de Oliveira Salazar, who had taken power in 1933. Salazar rebuffed a request in 1950 byIndian Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru to return the enclaves, viewing them as integral parts of Portugal.[213] The following year, the Portuguese constitution was amended to change the status of the colonies to overseas provinces. In 1954, a local uprising resulted in the overthrow of the Portuguese authorities in the Indian enclave ofDadra and Nagar Haveli. The existence of the remaining Portuguese colonies in India became increasingly untenable and Nehru enjoyed the support of almost all the Indian domestic political parties as well as the Soviet Union and its allies. In 1961, shortly after an uprising against the Portuguese in Angola, Nehru ordered the Indian Army intoGoa,Daman and Diu, which were quicklycaptured and formally annexed the following year. Salazar refused to recognise the transfer of sovereignty, considering the territories merely occupied. The Province of Goa continued to be represented in the Portuguese National Assembly until 1974.[214]
The outbreak of violence in February 1961 in Angola was the beginning of the end of Portugal's empire in Africa. Portuguese army officers in Angola held the view that it would be incapable of dealing militarily with an outbreak of guerilla warfare and therefore that negotiations should begin with the independence movements. However, Salazar publicly stated his determination to keep the empire intact, and by the end of the year, 50,000 troops had been stationed there. The same year, the tiny Portuguese fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá inOuidah, a remnant of the West African slave trade, was annexed by the new government of Dahomey (nowBenin) that had gained its independence from France. Unrest spread from Angola to Guinea, which rebelled in 1963, and Mozambique in 1964.[214] Oil deposits found of the coast ofCabinda in the 1966 were used to fund the wars against independence movements.[215]
According to one historian, Portuguese rulers were unwilling to meet the demands of their colonial subjects in part because Portuguese elites believed that "Portugal lacked the means to conduct a successful "exit strategy" (akin to the "neocolonial" approach followed by the British, the French, or the Belgians)" and in part due to the lack of "a free and open debate [in Salazar's dictatorial state] on the costs of upholding an empire against the anti-colonial consensus that had prevailed in the United Nations since the early 1960s".[216]The rise of Soviet influence among theMovimento das Forças Armadas's military (MFA) and working class, and the cost and unpopularity of thePortuguese Colonial War (1961–1974), in which Portugal resisted to the emerging nationalist guerrilla movements in some of its African territories, eventually led to the collapse of theEstado Novo regime in 1974. Known as the "Carnation Revolution", one of the first acts of the MFA-led government which then came into power – theNational Salvation Junta (Junta de Salvação Nacional) – was to end the wars and negotiate Portuguese withdrawal from its African colonies. These events prompted a mass exodus of Portuguese citizens from Portugal's African territories (mostly fromAngola andMozambique), creating over a million Portuguese refugees – theretornados.[217] Portugal's new ruling authorities also recognised Goa and other Portuguese India's territoriesinvaded by India's military forces, as Indian territories. Benin's claims overSão João Baptista de Ajudá were accepted by Portugal in 1974.[218]
Civil wars inAngola andMozambique promptly broke out, with incoming communist governments formed by the former rebels (and backed by the Soviet Union, Cuba, and other communist countries) fighting against insurgent groups supported by nations likeZaire, South Africa, and the United States.[219]East Timor also declared independence in 1975 by making an exodus of many Portuguese refugees to Portugal, which was also known asretornados. However, East Timor was almost immediatelyinvaded by Indonesia, which lateroccupied it until 1999. AUnited Nations-sponsored referendum resulted in a majority of East Timorese choosing independence, which was finally achieved in 2002.[220]
In 1987, Portugal signed theSino-Portuguese Joint Declaration with the People's Republic of China to establish the process and conditions for the transfer of sovereignty ofMacau, its last remaining overseas possession. While this process was similar tothe agreement between the United Kingdom and China two years earlier regardingHong Kong, the Portuguese transfer to China was met with less resistance than that of Britain regarding Hong Kong, as Portugal had already recognised Macau as Chinese territory under Portuguese administration in 1979.[221] Under the transfer agreement, Macau is to be governed under aone country, two systems policy, in which it will retain a high degree of autonomy and maintain its capitalist way of life for at least 50 years after the handover, until 2049. Thehandover of Macau on 20 December 1999 officially marked the end of the Portuguese Empire and the end of colonialism in Asia.[222]
Macau was returned to China on 20 December 1999, under the terms of an agreement negotiated between People's Republic of China and Portugal twelve years earlier. Nevertheless, the Portuguese language remains co-official withCantonese Chinese in Macau.[224]
Currently, theAzores andMadeira (the latter administering the uninhabitedSavage Islands) are the onlyoverseas territories that remain politically linked to Portugal. Although Portugal began the process of decolonisingEast Timor in 1975, during 1999–2002 was sometimes considered Portugal's last remaining colony, as theIndonesian invasion of East Timor was not justified by Portugal.[225]
Eight of the former colonies of Portugal havePortuguese as their official language. Together with Portugal, they are now members of theCommunity of Portuguese Language Countries, which when combined total 10,742,000 km2, or 7.2% of the Earth's landmass (148 939 063 km2).[226] As at 2023, there are 32 associate observers of the CPLP, reflecting the global reach and influence of Portugal's former empire. Moreover, twelve candidate countries or regions have applied for membership to the CPLP and are awaiting approval.[227]
Today, Portuguese is one of the world's major languages, ranked sixth overall with approximately 240 million speakers around the globe.[228] It is the third most spoken language in the Americas, mainly due to Brazil, although there are also significant communities of Lusophones in nations such as Canada, the US and Venezuela. In addition, there are numerousPortuguese-based creole languages, including the one spoken by theKristang people inMalacca.[229]
^C. Bloomer, Kristin (2018).Possessed by the Virgin: Hinduism, Roman Catholicism, and Marian Possession in South India. Oxford University Press. p. 14.ISBN9780190615093.
^J. Russo, David (2000).American History from a Global Perspective: An Interpretation. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 314.ISBN9780275968960.the Church of England was a " state church " in the colonies the way it indisputably was in England, and as the Roman Catholic Church was in the neighboring Spanish and Portuguese empires.
^Francis A. Dutra. "Overseas Council (Portugal)" inEncyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 4, pp. 254–255. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.
^Francis A. Dutra, "Salvador Correia de Sá e Benavides" inEncyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 5, p. 2. New York: Charles A. Scribner's Sons 1996.
de Almeida, Miguel Vale (2004).An Earth-colored Sea: Race, Culture And The Politics Of Identity In The Post-colonial Portuguese-speaking World. Berghahn Books.ISBN978-1-78238-854-8.
Daus, Ronald (1983).Die Erfindung des Kolonialismus. Wuppertal, Germany: Hammer.ISBN3-87294-202-6.
Disney, A.R. (2009a).History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire Volume 1, Portugal: From Beginnings to 1807. Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0521843188.
Disney, A.R. (2009b).History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire Volume 2, Portugal: From Beginnings to 1807. Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0521738224.
Paquette, Gabriel (2014).Imperial Portugal in the Age of Atlantic Revolutions: The Luso-Brazilian World, c. 1770–1850. Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1107640764.
Dutch Portuguese Colonial History: history of the Portuguese and the Dutch in Ceylon, India, Malacca, Bengal, Formosa, Africa, Brazil. Language Heritage, lists of remains, maps.
1 1975 is the year of East Timor's Declaration of Independence and subsequentinvasion by Indonesia. In 2002, East Timor's independence was fully recognized.
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