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General


This work is a joint report prepared by the Dutch merchants W.A. Brahe and N.S. Muij on the ship Het Pasgeld, sent on 8th May 1756 for purposes of negotiating trade arrangements at the Sindh port, on the mouth of the Indus, called by the Dutch and other Europeans as Diewel-Sindh. The informative part of the document comprises the following:












The purpose of this introduction is to give a simple and brief account of each of the above and also an account of rivalries, the tactics used there in, and the outcome during different periods in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and discuss in some detail the articles of trade and their utility.


Portuguese in Sindh.


In the 15th century Venice had developed as the most important trading centre of Europe. It imported Eastern goods and spices from India, Southeast Asia, java and China through Arab merchants. In the 15th century Ottoman Turks occupied Egypt, Syria, Arabia and Iraq and cut off this trade route.


Europeans started searching alternative routes to Eastern trade as the Turks had put heavy duties on them through their territories. The Portuguese were the first European nation who discovered India via Cape of Good Hope in 1498. They soon established their factories or warehouses on important coastal ports and by export of goods to Europe became a rich nation. All the other European nations envied them but were kept away from East by the strong navy of the Portuguese who thus controlled the trade of India, Southeast Asia, China and the Philippines.


The Portuguese had established a factory at Lahri Bundar by about 1510 AD, with or without permission of the Samma rulers of Sindh. They had done the same along the western coast of India and the whole of Southeast Asia. For the whole 16th and first half of 17th century, the Portuguese were so powerful that the Indian Ocean was called the Portuguese Sea. They carried out substantial share of Sindh’s trade abroad and also brought goods from abroad. The monopoly was achieved by:


  1. Occupying strategic ports or points and forcing the local governments to sign treaties, giving the Portuguese the right to establish factories, carry out trade, have concessions and even monopoly of trade.


  1. Building well fortified forts at ports and bombarding boats of any other agency attempting to trade.


  1. Like pirates capturing the ships of other trading communities on the high seas and looting, burning or taxing them.


  1. Local business and sea-faring communities were converted into buying and selling agents of the Portuguese as Portuguese were not masters of the land as they were of the sea.


  1. Creasing terror among the crew of captured ships, so that they never sail with cargo ships of opponents of the Portuguese.


  1. Helping the Indian States in local feuds and wars, against one another.


  1. Keeping the maps of sea routes secret from other sea-faring nations of Europe.


  1. Keeping away the Arab merchants of the coasts of India, Africa, Persian Gulf and countries around Persian Gulf.


All major ports along the Indian coasts, Southeast Asia and Indonesia, were thus occupied. Philippines and Sri-Lanka (Ceylon) were conquered and ruled directly. A number of islands and island cities were captured, fortified and ruled directly. African coastal ports too were subdued. Spain was the only ally. The Pope under a treaty between these two countries had allowed Spain to occupy the whole of Americas except Brazil, which along with Eastern countries of old world was to be monopoly of the Portuguese. Their supremacy lay in huge ships which looked like forts and were fortified with guns. Guns were not known in the East and when they became known none of the rulers, including the Great Mughals, thought of building ships. The Portuguese did not have enough man power to fight on the land but they could make all the coastal States, land-locked. No ruler including the Mughal emperors could challenge them on the sea for more than a century and a quarter since they came to India.


For slightly over a century, after the discovery of America in 1492 AD, by Columbus, and of India in 1498 AD, by Vasco da Gama, they had complete monopoly over the seas of the world. The kings of Spain and Portugal were pioneers of this imperialist monopoly of trade. Then they crumbled. Among the reasons for their loss of monopoly, one was the British defeat of Portuguese and Spanish Armada, but much more important than this was the loss of Portuguese manpower. The kings of Spain and Portugal in a religious zeal had allowed their men to convert the subdued populace to Catholic faith and marry among the converts. The Portuguese married Indians, Ceylonese, Southeast Asians, Spaniards and the Red Indians. The next generations were neither as vigorous nor able-bodied nor had the European technology and zeal. Continuous supplies of man power form these countries for the two nations over a century exhausted this important resource, and the collapse, when it came, was sudden and complete. It was in fact the absence of Portuguese and Spaniards’ woman power in the territories they occupied that led to this end.


Upon their down fall the lead was taken by the Dutch, followed by the English, as subsequent paragraphs show.


Portuguese-Dutch Rivalry.


The rivalry between the Portuguese and the Dutch in the Eastern trade had historical reasons which are summarized below:


a)    The Portuguese, a small nation, could not handle the distribution of their East Indian produce in Europe, but allowed the Dutch to act as commission agents and thus helped their most determined future rivals in their own downfall. With the monopoly to the Eastern maritime trade the Portuguese had allowed their mercantile navy to deteriorate. Philip II, King of Spain, became King of Portugal too and annexed it in 1580. This arrangement reduced Portugal’s power in the East and well as in Brazil.


b)   In 1588 AD the Spanish Armada sent by Philip II against England was destroyed by a storm in the English Channel and, being further harassed by English ships, was forced to go around the British Isles. Having no route maps, their ships hit against rocks and 70 warships, out of a total of 130, were destroyed in this expedition.


c)   The Dutch had rebelled against Phillip II and therefore were no longer able to act as middlemen between Spain and Baltic countries or to obtain spices in Portuguese ports. They, therefore, favored their rise as a naval power and to have direct relations with spice producing countries. The Dutch developed fast ships. Combining trade with piracy they did not hesitate to attack the Portuguese ships. With 10,000 sailors, the ‘sea beggars’, as they were called, became the sea kings. They soon made Amsterdam in the tradition of old Venice and began to replace Lisbon and Seville as great centers of trade.


d)   The Portuguese opposed trading privileges to the English or Dutch from Akbar’s times, black mailing them as pirates, thieves and spies.


e)    Surat’s English chief Middleton’s defeat of Portuguese vessels from Gujarat to Red Sea in 1612 created the prospect that new comers i.e., the English or the Dutch, may challenge the Portuguese command of the sea.


f)     Downton (English at Surat) was prompted by Mugarabb Khan, Governor of Surat, in 1614 to attack the Portuguese. He was not ready to take offensive but was ready to defend himself which he did in 1615 with great loss to the Portuguese. The same governor had also asked Dutch at Masulipatam, in 1614, to help him against the Portuguese. Prince Khurram, whose governorship of Gujarat, included Surat, was in favor of the Portuguese in 1615, but in 1618, Roe secured a far man or grant from him, giving them reasonable facilities for trade. This reflects Middleton, Best and Downton’s efforts to defeat Portuguese, which tipped the balance slightly in favor of the British and other Europeans.


g)   In 1623 AD during the rebellion against his father, Shah Jahan sought help from the Portuguese, which not only was refused, but royalists were helped with gunners. This marked a turning point in favour of the English and the other Europeans nations, against the Portuguese.


h)   In 1630 AD the Portuguese attempted to get the Dutch and the English ousted from Surat and, to put pressure on governor of Surat, captured a ship of the Mughals, but English came to the rescue of governor.


i)     In 1632 AD, the Portuguese suffered a humiliating defeat at Hoogli at the hands of Shah Jahan.


j)    In 1634 AD, Shah Jahan offered concessions to the Dutch, if they would expel the Portuguese from Daman and Diu, but the proposal was not accepted by Batavia.


k)     In 1634 Mathew, the English governor of Surat, met the Portuguese Viceroy at Goa, and entered into a trade agreement. The purpose behind this move seems to counter balance Shah Jahan’s offer to the Dutch.


l)     By 1634 the English and the Dutch were well-established as traders in India, and had won prestige once enjoyed by the Portuguese.


m)   In 1637, the Mughals besieged the Portuguese ports, Daman and Diu, but peace was made through mediation of Fremlin, the British chief at Surat. The British strategy now was to maintain Portuguese in their possession, so that Dutch may not prey upon them.


n)    Sri-Lanka (Ceylon) was taken over form the Portuguese by the Dutch. Batavia became the largest commercial centre in the Far East by 1650 AD. The Dutch East India Company carried silk, indigo and traditional spices to other countries.


After the Anglo-Dutch war of 1780, the Dutch began to cede certain parts of their huge colonial empire to the English.


It was the Dutch, and not the English, who challenged Portuguese first in the Indian Ocean by rounding Cape of Good Hope in 1595 (which British had done in 1591), depriving Portuguese of their hold on Straits of Islands. In 1603 they blockaded Goa, and soon afterwards in 1612 made themselves masters of Indonesia. In 1619 they built city of Batavia on the site of Jakarta. They seized from Portuguese best Islands of Archipelago. Amboynas, the richest Island in southern Moluccas, was captured in 161858, they expelled Portuguese from Sri-Lanka (Ceylon) and in 1652 they captured the Cape of Good Hope. The great port of Malacca was captured earlier in 1614. Thus it was the Dutch and not the English who brought the downfall of the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean.


The religious fanaticism of the Portuguese consumed a good part of their energies; monks and friars flocked to the east, establishing churches, converting locals, which brought resentment of local population and rulers but they also did much to spread education.


The English as well as the Dutch now took to preying on the Portuguese trade in the Indian Ocean due to the latter’s weakening power. In 1599 the English declared that they had perfect and free right to trade in all places where Portuguese and Spaniards had not established any fort, settlement or factory.


The Dutch had 15 voyages to the East between 1595 to 1601, and in 1602, combined several companies for trading with India into Dutch United East India Company (VOC) with powers of attack and conquest. The Dutch government supported the company in all its undertakings, subsidized its expeditions and made it a semi national concern.


English-Dutch Rivalry.


Causes of rivalry were numerous. The foremost being:


a)      Dutch, who were sole distributors of Portuguese goods in Europe and Baltics found themselves in a difficult position, reached java themselves and entered European market. The Portuguese eastern trade had already been dwindling since 1580 and the Dutch assuming monopoly of the European market, increased prices of spices in 1600 AD. The British therefore formed the East India Company in the same year.


b)      The Portuguese were a losing power in early 17th century and the Dutch started ousting them from their possessions, with the help of the local populace who had grievances against the former owning to their arrogance, religious prejudices and ill-considered actions. The British wanted a share in the spoils, but the Dutch were stronger due to availability of capital, government support, large number of ships and 10,000 sailors.


c)      The British were able to get their full share in the article of pepper, but the Dutch kept monopoly of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and other fine spices.


d)      The Dutch, besides their naval supremacy had 21 years true between Holland and Spain in 1600 Ad. This freed them from the danger of war in Europe and from any conflict with the Portuguese in the East Indies, and thus were encouraged to oppose the English.


e)      In 1619 AD, the Dutch intercepted four English ships, compelling them to come to terms and in the 1619 treaty the Dutch Company was allowed half of the trade in pepper against English monopoly and the Dutch allowed the English one third of fine spices.


f)        Four years later the Dutch captured an English ship with ten Englishmen along with nine Japanese and one Portuguese, who all were executed on charges of conspiracy against their possessions in East Indies.


g)      In 1653-54 AD the Dutch captured three English ships which had left Surat. One was destroyed.


h)      After the Dutch war of 1654 AD, under the treaty of 1665, the British got compensation for 1619 AD massacre.


i)        The Dutch captured three English vessels in the bay of Bengal and intercepted ships between Surat and Bombay between 1672-74 AD, but the English were unaffected as they had entered in a series of treaties with local rulers, as well as with the Portuguese, and aimed to oust the Dutch from India as they could not do anything to remove them from the East Indies.


j)        The Dutch had established factories in India at Pulicat (1610), Surat (1616), Chinsura (1653), Qasimbazar, Barangore, Patna, Balsore Neaptatam (1659) and Chochi (1663). The number of factories was substantial and well distributed along the whole coast of India. The English, however, continued their efforts to oust the Dutch.


k)      The Dutch retained their overall commercial position until mid-eighteen century, with increased power and colonies in the East Indies, Sri-Lanka and the Cape of Good Hope.


l)        The defeat of the Dutch in the battle of Bedara (Biderra) in 1759 AD, two years after departure of Brahe, caused the Dutch opposition to the English to collapse.


m)    With the establishment of the English rule in Bengal, the English in India gradually usurped the Dutch coastal possessions in 1773, Sri-Lanka in 1782 (under Warren Hastings) and the Cape of Good Hope in 1795. The Dutch were stripped off almost half of their colonies.


Thus Brahe is justified in stating that Dutch troubles in India were caused by the English.


n)      In the 17th century the English concentrated more on Indian trade as compared to the Dutch who after the capture of Java, Samatra, Archipelago, Aboyno and Sri-Lanka, concentrated on the trade of these countries and sent shipping expeditions to India, responsible to Batavia, where as the English trade was decentralized form Surat (later on shifted to Bombay); Madras in the 17th century and Calcutta, a third centre, was added at the end of 17th century.


o)      The English started their trade factories in India at Surat (1612), Balasore (1633), Lahri Bundar (1635), Madras (1640) and Hoogli (1651), 24 miles north of Calcutta. These were organized under two governors at Surat and Madras in 1661. By 1663 the Dutch had nine factories in India against four of the English, as the English factory at Lahri Bundar was closed. The English, however, added many more factories in the next 94 years as compared