Description
Book SynopsisFeaturing updates and revisions that reflect recent historiography, this new edition of The Portuguese Empire in Asia 1500-1700 presents a comprehensive overview of Portuguese imperial history that considers Asian and European perspectives.
Trade Review"This masterful history of Europe's first great Early Modern maritime empire goes well beyond the limits of traditional nationalistic and Eurocentric interpretations. Integrating European and Asian sources, Subrahmanyam's new edition is a synthetic, interpretative and at times speculative book that sets the Portuguese Indian Ocean empire in the context of Asian and World history. There is no book in English that provides a better introduction to this topic." (Expofairs.com, 23 October 2013)
Table of ContentsAbbreviations x
Maps xi
Tables xii
Acknowledgments xiv
Preface to the Second Edition xv
Preface to the First Edition xvii
Introduction: The Mythical Faces of Portuguese Asia 1
1 Early Modern Asia: Geopolitics and Economic Change 11
Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-century States 13
The Circulation of Elites 22
Towards a Taxonomy 27
Long-term Trends 30
2 Portuguese State and Society, 1200-1500 33
Crown and Nobility 33
In Search of a Bourgeoisie 40
Mercantilism and Messianism 48
Summing Up 55
3 Two Patterns and Their Logic: Creating an Empire, 1498-1540 59
The Early Expeditions 60
From Almeida to Albuquerque: Defining the First Pattern 67
The Second Pattern: East of Cape Comorin 74
The Logic at Work: Portuguese Asia, 1525–40 78
Towards the "Crisis" 83
Notes 85
4 The Mid-Sixteenth-century "Crisis" 87
The Dilemmas of Joanine Policy 88
S´as, Sousas, and Castros: Portuguese Asian Officialdom in the Crisis 96
The Mid-century Debate 104
The Far Eastern Solution 107
The Estado in 1570 113
Notes 114
5 Between Land-bound and Sea-borne: Reorientations, 1570-1610 115
Trade and Conquest: The Spanish View 116
Spain, Portugal, and the Atlantic Turning 120
Girdling the Globe 124
The “Land” Question 130
The Maritime Challenge 141
Concessions and Captains-Major 145
The Beginnings of Decline? 150
6 Empire in Retreat, 1610-1665 153
Political Reconsolidation in Asia, 1570-1610 154
Syriam and Hurmuz: The Beginnings of Retreat 160
Reform and Its Consequences 167
The Decade of Disasters: Portuguese Asia in the 1630s 172
Restoration, Truce, and Failure, 1640-52 181
The Retreat Completed, 1652-65 186
Asians, Europeans, and the Retreat 188
Notes 189
7 Niches and Networks: Staying On, 1665-1700 191
The Cape Route and the Bahia Trade 192
The Vicissitudes of the Estado: The View from Goa 198
Mozambique, Munhumutapa, and Prazo Creation 206
The Portuguese of the Bay of Bengal 211
Survival in the Far East: Macau and Timor 217
The Portuguese, Dutch, and English: A Comparison 222
8 Portuguese Asian Society I: The Official Realm 227
The Problem of Numbers 228
The World of the Casado 236
Networks, Fortunes, and Patronage 243
"Portuguese" and "Foreigner" 250
Rise of the Solteiro 253
The Impact on Portugal 257
9 Portuguese Asian Society II: The Frontier and Beyond 261
Renegades and Rebels 262
Mercenaries, Firearms, and Fifth Columnists 269
Converts and Client Communities 274
A Luso–Asian Diaspora? 279
10 Conclusion: Between Banditry and Capitalism 285
Glossary 295
A Note on Quantitative Data 303
Bibliography 307
Maps 323
Index 333
