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HISTORY LESSON - 5.1.14 COLONIAL EXPANSION II THE Islamic global order which revolved round the Indian Ocean for a long time was replaced by the Christian global order by the end of the Era of Discovery. Europe’s hegemony over the rest of the world was established. According to many historians the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks proved to be one of the turning points of World history. Another very important factor was the Portuguese occupation of the Guinea coast of Africa. The first prevented the entry of the Europeans in the East via land route and the second opened the path of a whole new world, waiting to be explored and then exploited for the up gradation of European society and civilization. The weapon with which Europe opened up the world was the sailing-ship which was a gun-carrier. Long before the arrival of the Portuguese, the region from East Africa and Ethiopia to Arabia, the Yemen, Persia, India and the Indonesian archipelago, witnessed an economic, social and cultural integration into complex patterns under the aegis of Islam. It was a world economy in and around the Indian Ocean with India at its centre and the Middle East and China as its two dynamic poles. This world of Islamic dominance though absorbed the shock and devastation of Mongol attacks, it collapsed under the pressure of invasion from Christendom which started with the Crusades and continued throughout the 15th and 16th centuries by the European explorers. The Moors occupied parts of Spain in the 8th century A.D. In the 15th century Europe was trying to recapture the areas which went under Islamic influence. But the way of expansion was blocked by the powerful Turks in the East. TURKISH EXPANSION IN EUROPE At the beginning of the 15th century the Byzantine Empire was reduced to Constantinople, Salonica and the Morea. The Turks surrounded the capital Constantinople on all sides and had already carried out their first attack on it. It was under Mehmet II, named the Conqueror, that Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453 and the Western world shuddered. This was only a step, great as it was; the banner of Ottoman success was to be raised yet higher. The invasion of Serbia in 1459 was immediately followed by the conquest of Trebizond, a great trading state on the coast of the eastern Black Sea. From Trebizond, Turkish conquest rolled on. In the same year the Turks occupied the Peloponnese. Two years later they took Bosnia and Herzegovina. Albania and the Ionian islands followed in the next twenty years. In 1480 they captured the Italian port of Otronto. In 1517 Syria and Egypt were conquered. They took longer to pick up the remainder of the Venetian Empire, but at the beginning of the 16th century Turkish cavalry were near Vicenza. In 1526 they wiped out the army of the Hungarian king in a defeat at Mohacs, which is remembered as the black day of Hungarian history. Three years later they besieged Vienna for the first time. In 1571 Cyprus fell to them. The Turks entered deep into Europe by the end of the 16th century. RETALIATION OF THE WEST The Ottoman Empire was of unique importance to the history of Europe. It is one of the factors which have marked off decisively the history of its eastern from that of its western half. The establishment of the Ottoman Empire for a time sealed off Europe from the Near East and the Black Sea and, therefore, in large measure from the land routes to Asia. Yet this challenge had awoken another sort of response. Europeans had to find a way round the Islamic barrier. Even before the fall of Constantinople Portuguese ships were picking their way southwards down the African coast to look for a new route to the spices of the East and, possibly, an African ally to take the Turk by the flank from the south. Thus Western Europe came to the fore front. Portugal and Spain were the two European countries which actually suffered the brunt of the Islamic attack. In fact the real aim of Henry the Navigator behind sending government sponsored expeditions was to encircle Islam which was partially achieved by occupying the Atlantic islands and Morocco. Containment of the Islamic forces was one of the major motivations for these explorations. The Arab Muslims were controlling the Red Sea trade route and by that the Mediterranean trade for a long time. After discovering the sea route to India the Portuguese edged out the Arabs from the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean trade lost its importance as the Portuguese opened direct trade link with India and the Spice Islands. The Christian world was successful in counteracting the forces of Islam and crusading zeal played a most significant part in this war. And after Martin Luther’s propagation of Protestantism and the split in the Christian Church a new wave of Protestant expansion was added to the original Iberian Catholic thrust. PORTUGAL: EXPLORATION AND EXPANSION Geography, according to the Annales School of historians, has always played a vital role in the making of history. The ocean currents, river slopes, tides, direction of the wind – all have their own significance. Portugal and the whole Iberian Peninsula which is located at 40 degrees North parallel had its advantages as the area between 40 degrees to 35 degrees North was considered to be the best location to get the right wind during sailing. Before the invention of steam ships getting the right wind direction was the most important thing for sailors. Portugal and the Andalucian coast of the Iberian Peninsula were thus situated in a very advantageous position. Moreover Portugal has a vast coastline which produced good trained sailors. Portuguese fishermen had acquired knowledge and experience of the sea for generations. These people ventured for exploration of a new sea route without much ado. Technological innovations like fast sailing ships mounted with manoeuvrable guns gave an advantage to the Iberian sailors. Thus started the Iberian phase of global expansion, which carried Papal blessings and a Crusading spirit with it. Another important motive behind all these expeditions was finding an easy and direct route to the spice islands of the East. After the fall of Constantinople, the spice trade via land route came to be entirely controlled by the Islamic traders. Portuguese and Spanish adventurers wanted to open a new route for the age old trade by exploring the sea. This venture ultimately led to the discovery of the West Indies and finally of America. With the discovery of America by Columbus and the sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, both in the last decade of the 15th century, a new world system was born. The Atlantic islands and Gibraltar were the first Portuguese settlements overseas. With the population upsurge in the 16th century Europe, land was becoming scarce. The Atlantic islands provided good agricultural land. The strategic position of these islands was also advantageous. They were used by the Portuguese as a sort of spring board to Africa, especially the Western coast of Africa and more specifically Morocco. Portugal wanted to control the corn trade from Morocco which was previously controlled by the Arab Muslim traders. Moreover, control of Gibraltar by the Portuguese means halting the intrusion of the Arabs into those areas. The East African stations were also of great importance as they were part of a commercial network already created by the Arabs. After setting up their trading posts there, the Portuguese deliberately harried the Arabs so as to send up the cost of the spices purveyed by way of Red Sea and the Middle East to the Venetian merchants of the eastern Mediterranean. In South America the Portuguese occupied Brazil and started utilising the vast cultivable land there. In 1500 a Portuguese squadron, probably on the way to the Indian Ocean, ran out into the Atlantic to avoid adverse winds and to its surprise struck land at Brazil. Henceforth Portugal had a destiny across the Atlantic as well as in the Orient. But the main Portuguese effort still lay to the East. Portugal occupied Madeira in the African coast in 1420. Eventually they captured Azores in 1430. Finally the Portuguese arrived at the Cape of Good Hope and then Vasco da Gama landed in Calicut by crossing the Indian Ocean. Then the Portuguese occupied Calicut by defeating the forces of the Zamorin and thereby destroying the influence of both the Muslim and the Gujarati merchants. This made them more confident about their own power. The Indian market was open for the Portuguese, but the trade became a one way traffic as there existed no demand for European products in India. The Far East wanted virtually nothing from Europe. When Vasco da Gama showed what he brought to give to a king, the inhabitants of Calicut laughed at him; he had nothing to offer which could compare with what Arab traders already brought to India from other parts of Asia. In fact Arab merchants were more welcome to the Indians as they could supply goods to fulfil Indian needs. Thus the only way left for the Portuguese was to use force and gun power. The abandonment of the oar for propulsion and the mounting of large numbers of guns, enormously strengthened the value of Portugal’s scanty manpower. The adventurers who first reached the coasts of India were soon boarding Asian ships, torturing and slaughtering their crews and passengers, looting their cargoes and burning their ravaged hulks. The next Portuguese captain who came after Vasco da Gama terrorised the local people by bombarding Calicut. The Portuguese set up forts in all the trading posts they occupied and launched a kind of naval war by using their superior ships loaded with guns against any other trader sailing in the Indian Ocean. By 1517 the Portuguese had been able to fight off the fleets organized by the Turks to keep them out of the Indian Ocean. The Turks had more success in keeping control of the Red Sea, because in those narrower waters the oar propelled galley retained more of its usefulness. Even there, though, the Portuguese were able to penetrate as far as the Suez isthmus. Eventually the Turks and the Arabs lost out and the Red sea route was abandoned. As a result the Italian ports such as Venice and Genoa also declined. The trade with Europe shifted from East to West. Instead of Venice or Genoa European merchants flocked towards Lisbon and Antwerp in the 16th century. The Portuguese terrorised the Oriental traders by using brutal force and introduced a kind of permit system to control the trade in the Indian Ocean. It was known as Albuqurque’s Navicert System. By this system any merchant ship sailing through the Indian Ocean or carrying goods for the Indian Ocean ports had to take a permit from the Portuguese authority to do so. Albuqurque’ Navicert System was a clear marking of the Portuguese domination in the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese could usually exact what they wanted in the end because of a technical superiority which exaggerated the power of their tiny numbers. Other newly discovered areas such as the West Indies, Mexico and Peru came under Spanish influence. Silver coming from Peru was one of the major factors that induced Spain to make further explorations into America. A triangular trade pattern thus evolved. Manufactured articles were brought from Europe to Africa. Slaves were taken from Africa to the various plantation areas of American colonies and plantation crops were brought to Europe. Expanding European colonial settlements lacked sufficient labour force. African slaves filled up the need. Africans were good workers. They often had experience in agriculture and cattle rearing. Moreover they came from tropical countries and were thus used to that climate and resistant to tropical diseases. Slave labour was extensively employed in the plantation and mines of the New World and slave trade proved to be much more profitable than gold trade. But Portugal could not keep its colonial empire for long. Gradually the Portuguese government was losing its interest in the Eastern trade. Portugal’s supremacy disguised its fundamental weakness: a lack of manpower and a shaky financial base. It lasted until the end of the 16th century and was then replaced by that of the Dutch. Disintegration of the Portuguese power started from 1580 when Portugal was united with Spain. The Portuguese royal power was leasing out the trading right to whoever was ready to pay. Unlike the trade of the English East India Company, which was a public limited company, the Portuguese trade was financed and controlled entirely by the Portuguese government. The important policy decisions were made by the monarchy. So when the monarchy lost its interest, the Portuguese monopoly of the Eastern trade began to wane. Portugal was a very small country with limited manpower. It was not possible for Portugal to send enough people to its colonies for keeping control on them. Moreover the distance between Portugal and its Eastern trading posts were too far. In those days of poor communication, it proved to be difficult to keep regular contact to have effective control on them. Thus Portugal eventually lost its powerful position in the Indian Ocean first to the Dutch and finally to the English. Antwerp collapsed in a welter of political and economic disasters. Amsterdam and London surpassed it as a commercial centre in the 17th century. SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS Spain was another European country to achieve success in sending overseas expeditions and making colonies in the early era of Discovery. Columbus, a Genoese sailor had crossed the Atlantic to look for Asia, confident in the light of Ptolemic geography that he would soon come to it. He instead discovered the Americas for the Catholic monarchs of Spain. In the name of the ‘West Indies’ the map commemorates his belief that he had accomplished the discovery of islands off Asia. The Portuguese had reached a known continent by a new route. Unlike them, Columbus had in fact discovered an entire continent. In 1494 the historic name ‘New World’ was first applied to his discoveries. It was another Italian in Spanish service, Amerigo Vespucci, who soon afterwards ran far enough to the south to show that not merely islands but a whole new continent lay between Europe and Asia by a western route. Before long it was named after him,- America. The landing of Columbus had been followed by a fairly rapid and complete exploration of the major West Indian islands and some considerable settlement, particularly in Hispaniola and Cuba. The Spanish settlers looked for land as agriculturists, and gold as speculators. The Spaniards who ranched and looked for gold in the islands were often Castilian gentry, poor, tough and ambitious. The first penetration of the mainland had come in Venezuela in 1499. Then, in 1513, Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and Europeans for the first time saw the Pacific. In 1519, Hernan Cortes started his historic expedition from Cuba. He landed on the coast of Vera Cruz with his followers and began his march to the high central plateau of Mexico. When the Spaniards reached the city of Mexico, they were astounded by the civilization they found there. Besides its gold and wealth of precious stones, it was situated in a land suitable for the kind of estate cultivation which was familiar to them at home. Conquest of the Aztec civilization of Mexico by Cortes became one of the most dramatic stories of the whole history of imperialism. Mexico came to be known as the New Spain. In 1531 Pizarro set out upon a similar conquest of Peru. This was an even more remarkable achievement than the conquest of Mexico and displayed even more vividly the rapacity and ruthlessness of the conquerors. Settlement of the new empire began in the 1540s and almost at once there was made one of the most important mineral discoveries of historical times, that of a mountain of silver at Potosi, which was to be the main source of bullion for Europe for the next three centuries. In both Mexico and Peru the Spaniards found that vast agricultural lands were available and the existing population had the basic knowledge and experience of cultivation. Therefore they immediately set up colonies in those parts and started commercial farming. The products were sent to European markets. Added to them was the gold and silver which flooded Europe’s bullion market. After 1540 silver flooded across the Atlantic. By 1650, 16000 tons of silver had come to Europe, to say nothing of 180 tons of gold objects. Spain handled her colonies in a different way. Spain considered her overseas settlements not as Spanish colonies but as a part of her empire. The native population of those areas were considered as direct subjects of Spain. The Indies were governed by viceroys at Mexico and Lima as sister kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, dependent upon the Crown of Castile. They had a royal council of their own through which the king exercised direct authority. This imposed a high degree of centralization in theory but in practice it was impossible to control the colonies closely from Spain with the communications available then. The viceroys and captains-general under them enjoyed an important and real independence in their day-to-day business. But the colonies could be run by Madrid for fiscal advantage and, indeed, the Spaniards and Portuguese were the only powers colonizing in the western hemisphere for over a century which managed to make their American possessions not only pay for themselves but return a net profit for the metropolis. This was largely because of the flow of the precious metals. Thus Western civilization came to the Portuguese and Spanish colonies as a pre-modern Catholic civilization while the Dutch and the English colonies of later period received mercantile capitalism and rationalist ideologies with a milder dose of Christianity. A EUROPEAN WORLD The enterprise behind all these changes had only been possible because of a growing substratum of maritime skill and geographical knowledge. The new and characteristic figure of this movement was the professional explorer and navigator. Many of the earliest among them were, like Columbus himself, Italian. New knowledge, too, underlay not only the conception of these voyages and their successful technical performance, but also allowed Europeans to see their relationship with the world in a new way. Jerusalem ceased to be centre of the world; the maps Europeans began to draw, for all their crudity, are maps which show the basic structure of the real globe. The most striking thing about this progression is its cumulative and systematic nature. Europeans had always wanted land and gold; the greed which lay at the heart of enterprise was not new. Nor was the religious zeal which sometimes inspired them and sometimes only cloaked their actions. What was new was a growing confidence derived from knowledge and success. Europeans stood in 1500 at the beginning of an age in which their energy and confidence would grow seemingly without limit. The world did not come to them; they went out to it and took it.