Download HISTORY LESSON - 5.1.14 COLONIAL EXPANSION II THE Islamic

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.