This is a map
of the world's shipping lanes
showcasing the intricate network
of maritime routes
that connect our modern world
through global trade.
Although some of these routes
were established in more recent times
such as the Suez and Panama canals,
most of these oceanic highways
were chartered long ago
in an age where there was
no reliable way of navigation
other than local knowledge
and some rudimentary maps.
However, just over 500 years ago
at the beginning of the 16th century
these international trade routes
did not even exist.
Only due to the emergence
of the small Iberian nation of Portugal
as a maritime superpower,
were these connections
to other parts of the world
made possible through their daring
voyages and navigational prowess.
Portugal quickly established
an empire for itself,
stretching from Africa, to Asia
and South America.
These maritime exploits
not only fueled Portugal's wealth.
an astonishing rise to power,
but also laid the foundation
for the interconnected global economy
that we benefit from today.
But how did this relatively obscure nation
on the edge of Europe emerged
to forge an Empire that would shape
the course of History
for centuries to come?
This is the History
of the Portuguese Empire.
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Thank you.
The kingdom of Portugal emerged out
of the series of events
known to History as the Reconquista
which was the the gradual reconquest
of Christian lands
on the Iberian Peninsula
from the Muslim Moors
who had invaded the territory
far back in the 8th century,
having established itself
as a sovereign kingdom
by the middle of the 12th century,
the Portuguese went on to push
out the remaining Moors to the South
by capturing the territory
of the Algarve in 1249,
effectively setting out the borders
of their kingdom
along the same lines
to which they exist today.
With their own territory secured
from external threats
and the possibility of further expansion
on the Iberian Peninsula ruled out
on account of their friendly relations
with the neighboring Christian
kingdom of Castile to the east.
Portugal turned its attention
towards the sea
and the possibility
of exerting its own influence
upon both it and the lands
that lay beyond in North Africa.
The year 1415 marked a pivotal
moment in Portuguese expansion
for a decision was made to orchestrate
an attack on the city of Ceuta,
which was held by the Marinid Sultanate.
Although many at the time
considered this
nothing more than a continuation
of the hostilities
between Christians and Muslims,
in reality it paved the way
for the Portuguese
to expand their dominions
and economic interests
beyond the Iberian Peninsula
and marked the beginning
of the Portuguese Empire.
Despite capturing the city,
the Portuguese were not able
to advance further into North Africa
as they had initially planned,
owing to determined resistance
by local Muslim forces.
Nevertheless they continued
to guarnison Ceuta
and used its harbor as a base
to explore the Atlantic
coastline of Africa.
This policy of maritime exploration
was championed by a prominent figure
in the early days
of the Portuguese Empire´:
Prince Henry, the Navigator.
He was curious to know
how far the Muslim territories in Africa
extended Southward,
and whether it would be possible
to reach Asia by an easterly sea route.
Consequently, scores of Portuguese ships
began to set off into the Atlantic Ocean
and around the coast of North Africa
probing further and further into what
were at the time uncharted waters.
The islands of Madeira and the Azores
were first cited in 1419 and 1427,
respectively,
and were subsequently
incorporated
as the latest additions
to the expanding Portuguese Empire.
One of the first natural barriers
the Portuguese encountered
on their explorations
was Cape Bojador.
The violent waters that surround it
had claimed many vessels
that had previously tried to pass through
and it was widely deemed
to be a point of no return.
That was until 1434,
when Gil Eanes successfully
found the navigable passage
around the cape
and opened up further
exploration South
towards subsaharan Africa.
No sooner had this feat been achieved
that the merchants of Lisbon
began to search
for newer and more exotic markets
to which they could trade to.
gold, ivory, pepper, cotton and sugar,
all from Africa,
soon became more commonplace
amongst the trading stools of Lisbon
as did the practice
of selling African slaves
which began the long and dark history
of the transatlantic slave trade
that would continue for the next 400 years
Over the subsequent decades
of the 15th century,
the Portuguese ventured
further and further South
down the coast of Africa.
reaching the Cape Verde Islands
in 1456
and the Gulf of Guinea by the 1460s.
As they explored, they left behind
a series of "padrões",
stone crosses engraved
with the Portuguese coat of arms,
marking out their territorial claims
which were followed up
with the construction of forts
and trading posts.
From these bases they engaged
profitably in the gold and slave trades
which they held a virtual monopoly on
for well over a century.
The real prize for the
portuguese merchants however
was a supposed, but as yet unconfirmed,
sea route to Asia .
They hoped that the discovery
of such a route
would allow them direct access
to the spice markets of the Indies
and bypass the expensive
arab and venetian merchants
who controlled the overland trade routes
through the Middle East
and across the Mediterranean
into Europe.
Then, in 1488 news reached
the ears of the Portuguese authorities
that Bartholomew Dias had rounded
the southern tip of Africa
and reached the Indian Ocean,
proving that such an easterly
passage did indeed exist.
However, this revelation would soon
be eclipsed in magnitude,
just four years later,
when Christopher Columbus sailed
westwards across the Atlantic Ocean
in search of his own theoretical route
to the Indies
and in the process inadvertently
discovered an entirely New World.
The discovery of the Americas
which Columbus claimed
in the name of Spain
and initially believed to be part
of Eastern Asia
quickly created a problem
for the two Iberian Nations.
Not knowing where one set of recently
discovered lands ended
and another began,
they consequently agreed to divide
the world in two spheres of influence,
between themselves, marked
by a north/south line of Meridian
roughly halfway
between the Cape Verde Islands
controlled by Portugal
and the Caribbean Islands of the Americas
which Columbus had recently discovered
and claimed for Spain.
The Treaty of Tordesilhas
ratified this agreement in 1494
and effectively carved the world in two.
with the lands to the East of this line
to be claimed solely by Portugal
and the lands to the West
claimed solely by Spain.
With the dispute settled,
Portugal could finally begin to undertake
its long-standing ambition
of charting a sea route to Asia
and so, on the 8th of July 1497,
the explorer Vasco de Gama left Lisbon
with a fleet of four ships
and a crew of 170 men
bound for the Indian Ocean
in search of Asia.
After a voyage of some 10 months
Vasco da Gama's expedition
finally made landfall
on the Malibar coast of India
in May 1498
and subsequently met with the Zamorin,
or king of Calicut
to establish the trade relations
that they they had long hoped for.
Whilst the Portuguese's arrival
was greeted with hospitality,
the local indian traders
found little value
in the trinkets and commodities
the Europeans had brought with them
to exchange
and so, da Gama's expedition
largely left empty-handed.
Their return journey back to Portugal
took an agonizing amount of time
owing to the monsoon conditions
they had to face up at sea
which took an immense toll
on both the crew and the ships
Nevertheless the survivors arrived back
in Lisbon during the summer of 1499
and were given a hero's welcome.
Despite the meager quantities
of spices and other goods
they had brought back.
Although the expedition itself
may not have been profitable,
it demonstrated that maritime trade
to Asia was possible
and had huge potential .
The second expedition to India
set sail in 1500
under the command of
Pedro Alvares Cabral.
Although while traversing
across the Atlantic Ocean
sailed too far West
and unexpectedly, reached
the coast of what is now Brazi.
Although this discovery
may have been unintentional
some speculation suggests
the Portuguese may have
already been aware of Brazil's existence
and secretly knew that this part
of South America
fell within their designated territory
according to the Treaty of Tordesilhas.
Cabral recommended
to the Portuguese King, Manuel I,
that the land be settled
and two follow-up voyages
were sent in 1501 and 1503.
The land was found to be abundant
in brazilwood
from which it later inherited its name
but the failure to find gold or silver
meant that for the time being
the Portuguese instead decided
to concentrate their efforts
on the invaluable trade out of India.
As the first decade of the 16th century
progressed,
the Portuguese ventured further
into other parts of Asia
such as Sri Lanka and Indonesia,
where they discovered the sources
of cinnamon and nutmeg.
So valuable were these commodities
that Alfonso de Albuquerque.
the first appointed Vice-Roy
of Portuguese India
ordered the construction
of trading posts and fortifications
along the 14,000 miles long route,
stretching from Portugal
to the East Indies.
These served as basis of operations
for conducting trade
and ensured the safeguarding
of their valuable cargos
that were to be transported
on the long arduous journey
back to the markets of Europe.
Shortly thereafter,
the Portuguese trading network
stretched to cover an area
surrounding the coastlines of Africa,
Arabia, India, Indonesia
and even as far as China and Japan.
Although the Portuguese were
primarily motivated
to establish trade relations
through peaceful means
their arrival into Asia was often met
with a fair degree of suspicion
from local merchants
who saw them
as nothing more than foreign
interlopers on their territory.
Consequently as tensions grew,
the Portuguese took to enforcing
their trading activity
with the use of force
Throughout the 16th century
numerous conflicts broke out
across the wider indopacific region,
as the Portuguese engaged in warfare
against the numerous
sultanates and empires of Asia.
Often possessing
superior military technology
over their adversaries,
the Portuguese were largely successful
at defending their commercial enterprises
as well as going on the offensive
to capture strategic targets
that they wish to take for themselves.
However, it was not just
trade and conquest
that advanced the realms
of the Portuguese Empire.
Religion also had its part to play
Accompanying the officials, merchants,
mariners and soldiers,
on board the ships leaving Lisbon
were small numbers
of priests and missionaries
typically belonging to the Jesuit order.
They had been ordered
by the Portuguese monarchy
to spread the Catholic faith
amongst the native peoples
of Asia and Africa
who they had come into contact with.
this policy had mixed successes
for, though their efforts
help towards establishing relations
and new settlements, such as the port
of Nagasaki in Japan, in 1571,
Elsewhere the priests and missionaries
spread the word of God
through violence and coercion.
In the case of the Goa,
Inquisition for example,
they heavily persecuted the Hindu
population of Portuguese India
in a bid to convert them
to Christianity.
The early period
of the Portuguese Empire
was concentrated on developing
trade across Asia and Africa,
which were much more lucrative
and easily accessible compared to Brazil.
attitudes towards this quickly changed.
However, when other European explorers,
particularly the French,
began to develop interests
of their own in the territory
and established a trading post
there, in 1531,
the Portuguese response,
as decreed by King John III
on the 28th of September 1532
was to deter further
French incursions to the region
by initiating a large-scale
colonization program
that would see the land divided up
and ruled by 15 separate captaincies
with instructions to build settlements,
grant allotments and administer Justice.
Each Captain was responsible
for developing and absorbing
the costs of colonization,
although they were not allowed
to own the land outright.
Despite their best efforts, however,
only two of the captaincies reached
any stage of significant development,
owing principally to their dedication
in growing the highly profitable
crop of sugar cane.
This required an enormous amount
of labor to produce
and over time it became exclusively
reliant on enslaved Africans
to work in its fields.
Such was the scale and importance
of the sugar industry
that of the estimated 4 million Africans
who were sold into slavery in the Americas
between the 16th and 19th centuries,
up to 40% ended up in Brazil.
The Portuguese presence in South Americ
began to slowly develop,
as time passed,
with the cities of Bahia, São Paulo
and Rio de Janeiro,
all being founded in the
mid-6th century.
However, a significant change
in the progress of the Portuguese Empire
occurred in 1580,
when a succession crisis
triggered by the untimely death
of King Sebastian, two years earlier,
saw Philip II of Spain invade Portugal
and take the throne for himself.
With that, the two crowns
and overseas empires of Spain and Portugal
were united under the Iberian Union
although they would continue
to be ruled separately and distinctly
from one another.
During this time, however,
in the late 16th century,
Spain was at war with England,
France and the Netherlands
and as a result of the union
with its Iberian neighbor,
Portugal quickly found itself
embroiled in the wider conflict
with European rivals
who were all competing to establish
overseas empires of their own.
The Dutch, in particular, posed
the most comprehensive threat to Portugal
at this time,
for they had just gained
their independence
from the Spanish Habsbourg monarchy
in 1581
and being adept merchants
and maritime explorers
were keen to participate in the lucrative
trade to Asia for themselves.
These ambitions were also shared
by the English
and both soon learned
of the navigational routes
established by the Portuguese
that would take them
to the spice markets
of India and Indonesia.
So much so, by the turn
of the 17th century,
Dutch and English mercantile interests
had been established in Asian ports
such as Surat, Madras,
Bantam and Sri Lanka
much to the dislike of the Portuguese
traders in the region.
Not only did this posed
a commercial threat
to the Portuguese Empire
with other European merchants
now competing for the same trade
but it also led to colonial conflict
as the Dutch began to attack
Portuguese trading posts and colonies..
The Dutch-Portuguese War
which was fought from 1598 to 1663
saw battles rage across the globe
wherever the colonial interests
of the two European powers
came into contact.
Although the Portuguese were able
to successfully repel the Dutch,
some areas such as the Second Battle
of Guararapes in northeastern Brazil,
many of their territories in Asia,
such as Malaysia, Sri Lanka
and the Gold Coast of Africa
were lost.
The wider fallout from this conflict
also resulted in further losses
for the Portuguese Empire
around the Persian Gulf and in Japan,
where local rulers sought to capitalize
on the weakened position of the Portuguese
and expel them
from their respective regions.
The loss of these colonial territories
spurred the Portuguese to end
the personal union
with the Spanish monarchy,
believing they had largely been
abandoned by their Iberian neighbor
who had prioritized
their own colonial interests
at the expense of Portugal's.
The resulting Portuguese Restoration War
which broke out in 1640
saw John the 4th proclaimed as king
and the establishment
of the Overseas Council
which was to govern all aspects
of the Portuguese Empire
from that point onward.
However, as the second half
of the 17th century progressed,
Portugal's colonial might
continue to decline
and other European nations
began to fill the power vacuum
which had had once occupied
with the English becoming
the most dominant power in India
and the Dutch cementing their control
over what is now Indonesia.
This, for the most part, left only Brazil
as the remaining territory
of significance within the Empire
and consequently became viewed
with increasing importance.
The interest in developing Brazil
was quickly helped in 1693
by the discoveries of gold
and later diamonds
in the Minas Gerais region,
which led to a gold rush
and a large influx of migrants
to the territory.
within four decades,
the population of Minas Gerais
had reached somewhere
between 200,000 and 250,000 people
as migrants from Portugal
arrived as prospectors
and African slaves were brought in
to work in the mines.
The Gold Rush considerably increased
the revenue of the Portuguese Crown
and, by the middle of the 18th century,
it constituted for some 46%
of the exports from Brazil,
although the sugar industry
remained the primary source of wealth.
Although the Portuguese Empire
had regained
some of its former prestige
and wealth by this time,
a devastating earthquake,
which struck the capital of Lisbon in 1755
marked what would ultimately become
the beginning of the end
for Portuguese colonial ambitions-
The natural disaster not only
put a huge financial strain on the Empire,
but the loss of life, estimated
to be somewhere in the region
of 40 to 60,000 people,
also significantly diminished
the ability of the Portuguese
to fully recover.
As the 18th century progressed,
a wave of Revolution began to sweep
across the wider Atlantic region,
first starting in North America
with the 13 colonies
declaring their independence
from Britain in 1775,
which in turn inspired
the French Revolution of 1789.
The Portuguese Empire soon began
to experience this phenomenon for itself
with the air of dissension finding its way
to their largest colony of Brazil.
Despite being initially confined
to localized slave revolts
that were quickly suppressed
there was a growing sentiment
within the South American territory
that it should embark
on its own journey
towards self-determination
outside of colonial rule.
The year 1808 would mark
a significant step in this direction
when the Portuguese royal family
led by the prince regent John VI
decided to flee Lisbon
in response to Napoleon Bonaparte
invasion of Portugal
and relocate the Royal Court to Brazil .
Seven years later, in 1815,
Brazil itself was elevated
to the state of a kingdom
within the wider United Kingdom
of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves,
and witnessed to the unprecedented honor
of having the capital moved from Lisbon
to its own city of Rio de Janeiro.
This further emboldened sentiment
within Brazil for independence
and within a year of the royal family
returning to Portugal,
the fourth son of John VI, Don Pedro I,
who had remained behind in Rio,
saw the chance to capitalize
upon the opportunity
to declare himself as emperor
of a newly independent
Empire of Brazil in 1822.
This left the Portuguese Empire
a shadow of its former self
now comprising only
of a few outposts in Asia
and the territories of Angola
and Mozambique, in Africa.
For the remainder of the 19th century,
the efforts of the Portuguese to retain
what little remain of their empire
were focused on southern Africa
and a proposal was soon made
to connect the two colonies
on either side of the continent
with one another
by expanding across the hinterland.
This project known as the "Pink Map"
was highly unpalatable to the British
who had become the world's
most powerful Empire by this point
for it directly affronted their own policy
for a connected system
of colonies across Africa
that was to stretch
from Cairo to Cape Town.
The British delivered an ultimatum
to the Portuguese in 1890
to end the "Pink Map" policy,
which subsequently brought any hint
of reviving Portuguese
colonial ambition to an end.
Having been humiliated
on the world stage in such a manner,
exposed the weakness
of the Portuguese government
in monarchy
which played into the hands of a growing
Republican movement within the country.
Sensing an opportunity
to further their cause,
on the 1st of February 1908,
King Carlos and Prince Louis Philipe
were assassinated in Lisbon
by two revolutionary Republican activists.
Although King Manuel II
immediately succeeded the throne,
he too had to flee the country
just 2 years later in 1910,
when the monarchy and government
were overthrown entirely
and Portugal was declared a Republic.
The continuing weakening position
of the Portuguese Empire
was exploited further by the outbreak
of the I World War in 1914.
The German Empire planned to expand
its own dominions
and influence in Africa
at the expense of the neighboring
Portuguese colonies
of Angola and Mozambique.
As there was only sporadic
skirmishing in the region at first,
Portugal did not formerly declare war
against Germany until 1916
but from that point on
much of the war effort
was forced in supplying the Allies
fighting in France
and neglected to defend
its African colonies
from further German attacks.
As the war came to an end, in 1918,
with the Treaty of Versailles, however,
Portugal was able to regain control
of all its lost territory.
The interwar years bore witness
to another coup in Portugal,
this time replacing the unstable
Republican government
with a more right-wing regime
called the "Estado Novo" in 1933.
The new administration
chose to remain neutral
during the II World War
and instead preserve what remained
of its overseas Empire.
By the war's conclusion however
there was a growing shift in attitudes
towards European imperialism
and calls for decolonization
began to grow louder around the world.
The efforts of Britain and France
in granting independence
of the colonies under their control
put great pressure on Portugal
to do the same,
although it remained reluctant to do so.
The establishment of Indian
independence from Britain in 1947
created a flash point on this issue.
As the Portuguese enclaves
of Goa, Damon and Diu
were not permitted to join the newly
independent state,
the Indian army was eventually
ordered into the territories, in 1961.
But Portugal, under the dictatorship
of Antonio de Oliveira Salazar,
continually refused to acknowledge
their incorporation into India.
Further reluctance to grant independence
of their colonies in Africa
resulted in the Portuguese Colonial War
which was fought from 1961 to 1974.
Many African Independence Movements
received support from the Soviet Union
as part of the wider Cold War
during this time
and as a result guerilla warfare
soon became widespread
across Portugal's African colonies.
The growing cost and unpopularity
of the war at home, however,
saw another military coup
carried out against the Estado Novo regime
in what became known
as the "Carnation Revolution"
on the 25th of April 1974.
The new government quickly ended
the hostilities overseas
and began withdrawing its troops
to start the process of recognizing
the independence of its colonies.
Angola and Mozambique
declared an independence in 1975
as did East Timor.
And the Portuguese government also finally
recognized its former colonies in India
as now being part of the Indian State.
The final piece of the Portuguese
overseas territory
to undergo a transfer of sovereignty
was that of Macau,
which was handed over
to the People's Republic of China
on the 20th of December 1999
and officially marked the end
of the Portuguese.
With that, one of the longest lived
maritime and commercial empires in History
came to an end.
Although the territories
of the Azores and Madeira
are now governed as
autonomous regions of Portugal,
the legacy
of the Portuguese Empire lives on,
with the Portuguese language
continuing to be spoken
by some 250 million people
around the world
and, perhaps most importantly,
the sea roots that were established
by those early maritime explorers
continue to carry the world's trade
over 5 centuries on.