The colonies of Portugal were a collection of a large number of overseas territories located in different parts of the world - in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The enslavement of these lands and the peoples inhabiting them continued for five centuries, from the 15th century until the middle of the 20th century.
Education
Historically, Portugal was surrounded on almost all sides by strong Spanish kingdoms and did not have the opportunity to expand its land territory at the expense of other European lands. This state of affairs led to the fact that at the end of the 15th century the Great geographical discoveries began to occur, caused by the vigorous activity of the Portuguese nobles and numerous trading elites. The result was one of the largest colonial powers that lasted for several centuries.
The founder of the empire is considered to be Infante Henry (Enrique) the Navigator, with whose support Portuguese sailors began to discover hitherto unexplored lands, trying to reach the shores of India, bypassing around Africa. However, at the time of his death in 1460d. his people didn't even make it to the equator, only sailing as far as Sierra Leone and discovering a few islands in the Atlantic.
Further expansion
After that, sea expeditions were interrupted for a while, but the new king perfectly understood that his state needed to continue to open other lands. Soon the Portuguese navigators reached the islands of Principe and Sao Tome, crossed the equator, and in 1486 reached the African coast. At the same time, expansion into Morocco took place, and fortresses and new trading posts were quickly erected in Guinea. Thus began to emerge numerous colonies of Portugal.
About the same time, another famous navigator Bartolomeu Dias reached the Cape of Good Hope and rounded Africa, went to the Indian Ocean. Thus, he was able to prove that this continent did not stretch to the very pole, as ancient scientists believed. However, Dias never saw India, as his men refused to go any further. A little later, another famous navigator will do this, who will finally complete the task set more than 80 years ago by Infante Enrique himself.
Building an empire
In 1500, another navigator went to India - Pedro Alvares Cabral, whose ships strongly deviated to the west. So they discovered Brazil - a colony of Portugal, on which territorial claims were immediately made. The next discoverers - Juan da Nova and Tristan da Cunha - annexed the islands of St. Helena and Ascension to the empire, as well as an entire archipelago named afterthe last one. In addition, in East Africa, a number of small coastal Muslim principalities were either abolished or became vassals of Portugal.
One after another, discoveries took place in the Indian Ocean: in 1501, Madagascar was discovered, and in 1507, Mauritius. Further, the paths of the Portuguese ships passed through the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Socotra and Ceylon were occupied. At about the same time, the then ruler of Portugal, Manuel I, created a new public office of Viceroy of India, who oversaw the colonies in East Africa and Asia. They became Francisco de Almeida.
In 1517, Fernand Peres de Andrade visited Canton and established trade with China, and 40 years later the Portuguese were allowed to occupy Macau. In 1542, merchants accidentally discovered a sea route to the Japanese archipelago. In 1575, the colonization of Angola began. So, at the time of the heyday of the empire, the colonies of Portugal were in India, in Southeast Asia and on the African continent.
United Monarchy
In 1580, according to the so-called Iberian Union, Portugal united with neighboring Spain. Only 60 years later she managed to restore her statehood. Here a reasonable question arises: was Portugal a colony of Spain during these years? Some historians give a positive answer. The fact is that the union, all the time of its existence, waged a stubborn struggle with such a dynamically developing maritime power as the Netherlands, which seized more and more new territories in Africa, Latin America andAsia. The Spanish monarchs defended and expanded only their possessions, not particularly caring about the allied lands. That is why historians have the opinion that Portugal was a colony of Spain from 1580 to 1640
At the end of the 16th century, the conquerors continued their expansion deep into Asia. Now their actions were coordinated from Goa. They managed to capture Lower Burma and planned to conquer Jaffna, but they occupied only the small island of Mannar. It is known that Brazil was owned by Portugal, whose colony brought her considerable income. However, Prince Moritz, who acted in the interests of the West India Company, owned by the Dutch, inflicted a number of rather humiliating defeats on the Portuguese. Because of this, a vast strip of foreign territories appeared in Brazil, now belonging to the Netherlands.
After the dissolution of the union and the acquisition of statehood by Portugal, in 1654, she again established her power over Luanda and Brazil, but the conquest of new lands in Southeast Asia was thwarted by the Dutch. So, of the entire territory of Indonesia, only East Timor remained, which became the subject of the Lisbon Treaty, signed in 1859
Conquest of the Dark Continent
The first colonies of Portugal in Africa appeared at the beginning of the XV century. Famous navigators and their teams, getting to the mainland, carefully studied the local markets, and also paid special attention to the presence of natural resources. In Ceuta, located in northern Africa, there was a lively trade between Europeans and Arabs, whilethe main commodities were gold, ivory, spices and slaves. The occupiers understood that they could significantly enrich themselves if they took all this under their control. Even in the time of Henry the Navigator, it was known that there were rich gold reserves in West Africa. This could not but interest the Portuguese, who planned the capture of the colonies on the Black Continent.
For the sake of deposits of the precious metal in 1433 an expedition was organized at the mouth of Senegal. The settlement of Argim immediately formed there. From these places, after 8 years, the first ship was equipped, which carried a cargo of gold and slaves to the country.
I must say that Portugal with its expansion was supported by the Catholic Church, led by the Pope, who gave her all the rights to seize and own any African territories. Therefore, it is not surprising that for almost a hundred years not a single ship belonging to other European countries moored to these shores. During this time, the Portuguese gained new knowledge, made accurate maps of the area, and also compiled the best navigational documents. At first, they willingly cooperated with the Arabs and shared their travel experience with them, and largely due to this, Benin was included in the number of colonies in 1484, and a little later, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
State rate
As is known from the history of the Black Continent, the invaders conducted a well-thought-out covert and aggressive policy here. Having opened the sea route to the Hindustan peninsula, which runs along the coast of Africa, the Portuguesecarefully concealed data not only about all equipped expeditions, but also about the occupied lands. In addition, the continent was flooded with crowds of spies working for them, who collected information about the local states. In particular, they were interested in the size of countries, population and armies. All data obtained in this way was kept in the strictest confidence so that competitors, which were the UK, France and Holland, could not take possession of them.
In the 16th century, the Portuguese Empire reached its peak, while other European powers often experienced difficult war times and therefore had no opportunity to interfere in its colonial policy. It's no secret that African tribes practically did not stop fighting among themselves. This situation played into the hands of the Portuguese, as the natives easily fell under the influence of Europeans.
Legacy
Colonial domination in Africa, which lasted for five centuries, brought almost no benefit to the conquered underdeveloped countries, except perhaps for new crops such as cassava, pineapple and maize. Even the culture and religion of the Portuguese did not take root here because of their extremely aggressive and therefore hateful policy.
No technical innovations were introduced on these lands on purpose, as it was unprofitable for the colonists. Based on this, we can conclude that the former colonies of Portugal and their enslaved peoples received more harm than good from the expansion. This is especially true of the spiritual and social spheres in both West and East Africa.
India is a colony of Portugal
The sea route to the Hindustan Peninsula was opened by the world famous Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama. After a long journey, he and his ships, having circled the African continent, finally entered the port of the city of Calicut (now Kozhikode). It happened in 1498, and after 13 years it becomes a Portuguese colony.
In 1510, Duke Alfonso de Albuquerque firmly established himself in Goa. From that moment began the history of the Portuguese colonization of India. From the very beginning, the duke planned to turn these lands into a stronghold for further penetration of his people deep into the peninsula. A little later, he consistently began to convert the local population to Christians. It is worth noting that the faith has taken root, since the percentage of Catholics in Goa is still much higher than in the rest of India, and is approximately 27% of the total population.
The colonists almost immediately started building a European-style settlement - Old Goa, but the city in its present form was built already in the 16th century. It has since become the capital of Portuguese India. In the next two centuries, due to several malaria epidemics that raged in these places, the population gradually moved to the suburbs of Panaji, which later became the capital of the colony and was renamed New Goa.
Loss of Indian territories
In the 17th century, the more powerful English and Dutch flotillas reached the shores of India. As a result, Portugal lost part of its once vastterritory located in the west of the country, and at the beginning of the last century it could control only a small part of its colonial lands. Three coastal regions remained under her rule: the islands on the Malabar coast, Daman and Diu, annexed respectively in 1531 and 1535, and Goa. In addition, the Portuguese colonized the island of Salset and Bombay (the current Mumbai is now one of the largest Indian cities). In 1661, it became the property of the British Crown as a dowry of Princess Catherine de Braganza to the English King Charles II.
The city of Madras (originally called the port of Sao Tome) was also built by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Subsequently, this territory passed into the hands of the Dutch, who built reliable fortifications in Pulikat north of present-day Chennai.
Here the colonies of Portugal existed until the middle of the last century. In 1954, India first captured Nagar Haveli and Dadra, and in 1961 Goa finally became part of the country. The Portuguese government recognized the independence of these lands only in 1974. A little later, the four regions were merged into two territories, called Dadra and Nagar Haveli, as well as Daman and Diu. Now these former colonies of Portugal are included in the list of the most popular tourist destinations in India.
The beginning of the collapse
By the 18th century, Portugal was losing its former might as a colonial empire. The Napoleonic Wars significantly contributed to the fact that she lost Brazil, after which the economic decline began. It was followed by the liquidation of the monarchy itself, whichinevitably led to the cessation of expansionism and the subsequent rejection of the remaining colonies.
Many researchers are convinced that the version that Portugal was a colony of France during the Napoleonic Wars is untenable. Most likely, it was one of the vassal republics. At the end of the 19th century, Portugal tried to save the remnants of its possessions by developing a special plan for the unification of Mozambique and Angola, presented at a conference of colonial empires in Berlin. However, he failed, encountering opposition and an ultimatum from Great Britain in 1890
Struggle for Independence
By the beginning and middle of the last century, from a long list of colonies that once belonged to Portugal, only Cape Verde (Cape Verde Islands), Indian Diu, Daman and Goa, Chinese Macao, and Mozambique remained under its rule, Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Principe, Sao Tome and East Timor.
The fascist regime in the country, established by the dictators Cayetano and Salazar, also did not contribute to the process of decolonization, which by that time had covered the possessions of other European empires. However, left-wing rebel organizations still operated in the occupied territories, which fought for the independence of their lands. The central government responded to this with constant terror and specially designed punitive military operations.
Conclusion
Portugal as a colonial empire disappeared only in 1975, when democratic principles were adopted in the country. In 1999, the UN formally recordedthe loss of overseas territory - East Timor, after the so-called Carnation Revolution took place there. In the same year, the former colony of Portugal in China, Macao (Aomyn), was also returned. Now the only remaining overseas territories are the Azores and Madeira, which are part of the country as autonomies.
