Rebirth of an Empire "O Renascimento de um Império" v2.0
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Paris Treaty – Aftermath: Territorial Integration – Malaca
Lusitania
Donor
Paris Treaty – Aftermath (cont.)
Territorial Integration – Malaca
“Is it Maláca or Málaca? And this place is useful to the crown in what manner?”
-José Gonçalo da Gama, first governor of the second Portuguese administration in Malaca, pointing out the settlement’s lack of effective usefulness
“Is it Maláca or Málaca? And this place is useful to the crown in what manner?”
-José Gonçalo da Gama, first governor of the second Portuguese administration in Malaca, pointing out the settlement’s lack of effective usefulness
The territorial acquisition of Malaca was made possible by Coronel Brito’s attack on the fortress and was a welcome addition to Portuguese gains in the Paris Treaty, as it symbolized a return to old glory in many ways. The first governor of the new administration was José Gonçalo da Gama, a man who initially was intended to become a future governor of Angola before the colony’s uplifting to overseas state status.
As the Dutch administration had demonstrated, however, the usefulness of the port was in question. The VOC preferred Batavia as an HQ for its trade operations and the strait could be easily policed by native powers from other positions, especially Johor and especially considering the Dutch were allied to strait powers and opened their ports to them. The 142 years of Malacca being Dutch had led, to no Dutch fault, the degradation of Malaca’s importance in the region and they held on to the city mostly to prevent it from falling to other Europeans’ hands.
Tempered by two decades of financial culture development, many Portuguese administrators and politicians also had their doubts supersede their sense of national pride; governor Gama, for example, actively called out the lack of importance the port had fallen into and predicted that his tenure would be marked by unfair political and economic disadvantages, not to mention an exaggerated pressure to succeed.
Added to the financial prospects, there was also the matter of the inhabitant policy to be decided on; Malaca was populated by a native Malayan majority, by a Dutch burgher minority protected by Portuguese guarantees in the Treaty of Paris and, finally, a “kristang” minority descendant from the First Portuguese Administration. None of these, including the kristangs, were especially excited about the new government; the Dutch and Malayans were actively opposed to it while the kristangs felt the Portuguese would not only be unable to protect them but would also expose them to discrimination by the majorities.
Failure was not an option, however, as pressure from all corners of Portuguese Asia as well as Lisbon itself made it clear to Governor Gama that Malaca would not be held in neglect. In sympathy with the difficulties felt in Malaca, however, the Goan colonies authorized the Indic Army to station protective and law enforcing Companies in the settlement so that the first steps to assimilation would run smoothly.
Governor Gama therefore enacted the following projects:
- Portuguese-Malayan Law Code: A new legal codex begun to be drafted to attend to Malaca’s particular needs with the goal of pacifying natives and assuring them that the old authoritarian Portuguese ways based on the sword and cannon were a thing of the past;
- Malacca City Renovation: Working on top of previous Dutch plans to improve the city that had been interrupted in 1780, the Portuguese drafted and initiated construction efforts to repair the fortifications and improve the Malacca River’s urban estuary with the final objective being of increasing the city’s defensive and docking capabilities;
- Gear Shifting to Logistics: Activity in the city began to be geared to change from being a commercial trade center to being a connecting point between Portuguese colonies, with less funding going to markets and instead going to naval and military support;
- Diplomatic, Linguistic & Cultural Development: Knowing that the city was now inhabited by a tri-factor of Dutch, Portuguese and Malaysian cultures, Governor Gama diverted funding to develop the embassy, the schools and the theater with the objective of turning Malaca into the primary meeting point between European personalities and the Malaysian Peninsula;
- Passive and Asset Downsizing: The scale of Malaca’s capital responsibility, mainly through a series of sales and financial scrapings to Dutch Burghers and Goa, began to be intentionally decreased with the objective of reducing its liabilities and toxic assets;
Malaca City Plan (1782)
Gama’s reforms were important to prevent Malaca from becoming a financial sinkhole
The Gama reforms on Malaca were harsh and no one predicted the city would ever return to its old glory, but should they succeed then the colony would at least be sustainable and useful to the empire, something that satisfied the central government’s main objectives.
Points 1 & 2
“The Malaccans do not seem to be completely hostile to us. Therefore, we must respond in kind and set an example for the entire region.”
-Governor Gama arguing in his letter to Goa for the justice sector of his proposed budget
“The Malaccans do not seem to be completely hostile to us. Therefore, we must respond in kind and set an example for the entire region.”
-Governor Gama arguing in his letter to Goa for the justice sector of his proposed budget
The first point regarding the law was the biggest indication that the 2nd Administration would be far different from the 1st. The Malaca law codex made use of the Dutch example as well as lessons learned from the First Luso-Dutch War, where Portuguese religious zealousness ultimately proved its diplomatic undoing, as well as making use of a general difference in colonial attitude between Post-Pombaline Portuguese and their Albuquerquean ancestors.
For once, religious persecution was outlawed, with religious violence being declared a proper court charge to being jailed and having your assets seized (this alone simultaneously pacified the social cliques and warned them that challenging the new administration would only render harsh results). Secondly the Dutch Burghers were allowed to continue their commerce freely and the ports remained open to native powers. This was a deliberately anti-protectionist stance that guaranteed Malayan sultans that the Mare Clausum was a thing of the past (for now). This did not prevent the fleeing of Muslim merchants from the port, as it had happened in the 16th century.
Finally this translated to a more sophisticated colony overall, with a just court and open market. Governor Gama did not tolerate dissent, but he also sought to modernize the settlement as much as he could and this passed from letting go of the notion that Malaca was to be turned into some sort of Christian stronghold.
To enforce all this it was important to have in place a modern legal mechanism, so an official tribune was established inside the Portuguese fortress to settle matters between the various social segments beneath the eye of the Portuguese authority. Law, order but most importantly justice became the guidelines, motivated by a desire to reduce the chance of a native uprising.
The second point concerned itself with improving Malacan infrastructure to the point it would be once again impenetrable and useful to the Navy. The old fort of Formosa was a bygone relic, but Dutch fortifications could be easily repaired, renamed and reformed. Moreover, the commercial attractiveness of Malaca was not entirely abandoned and a good portion of the infrastructural budget went to renovating Malaca’s harbor and the Malaca River banks. The insight of the Dutch settlers was vital, as they had good engineering skills especially geared towards fluvial and dock improvements.
The third point was perhaps the most important one; Portuguese merchants had a divisive stance on Malaca, with one faction believing it to be an unquestionable gem and the other claiming it was a hassle and a danger to their operations (mostly due to concerns that it would encourage Johor to finance pirates to spite Portugal). Governor Gama himself suspected Malaca served no purpose other than satiate some misguided sense of national anger towards Portugal’s misfortunes. The loss of Malaca in the 17th century had been a telltale sign of the decline of the Portuguese Empire and many associated its return to the benefits of the Late Pombaline Age.
Now it stood to reason that Malaca was useful only in the sense it guaranteed that Portugal had its own entry point to the Far East and the South East Asian region. Rationalists and free trade defenders, for example, argued that using Malaca as a trade door lock was counterproductive and kind of an ungentlemanly move towards Portugal’s new allies, the Dutch (some Portuguese were still having trouble with this last idea, just to top it). There were also concerns regarding the traditional peacekeeper of the region, the Chinese Empire. Restricting trade through the strait could repeat the tragedy of the 17th century where the Emperor, after Portugal first conquered Malaca, persecuted the Portuguese in Canton for three whole decades.
Admiral Rebelo, now promoted to his new post by letter from the King himself after the Three Years War, argued that Malaca was now more useful as an entrepôt for the Navy instead of for the merchant class. The Portuguese had suffered tremendous administrative and naval difficulties in Macau and Timor after the loss of Malaca, as now they had no reliable private resting point to relay their troops, letters and ships through. The recovery of Malaca eased this somewhat just for the simple fact it encouraged Goans to stay in contact with the Timorese and the Macanese. It was also important in the sense it reminded the Dutch they could no longer keep the Portuguese off South East Asian affairs and that natives now had a second power to bargain benefits from.[2]
Malaca’s importance therefore was promoted within the context of administrating the Portuguese Empire rather than for commercial steering; Dili, Macau and Goa stationed their own offices in the city to look out for their respective interests, allowing issues to be immediately mediated between the two parties for the benefit of their merchants and emissaries. Malaca therefore became the meeting point of three different colonial administrations, triangulating Portuguese interests in Asia. For Timor this was a boon, as it ensured its exports would reliably and profitably reach its clients.
For Macau, however, it meant increased risk. In 1785, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Emperor Quianlong’s reign, a Luso-Malacan embassy traveled to Beijing to assure the emperor of their good intentions and generally placate him, but unfortunately it would fall under the context of a bad climate between Macau and its mainland homologue. Governor Gama wished to request both a Chinese recognition of Malaca as Portuguese and laborers to help develop it as a new and improved city. While the encounter still resulted in an influx of Chinese workers and merchants that came to live in Malaca in dockyards and warehouses to develop Malacan docking power, as well as make the Empire look over the de jure transfer of power from the Netherlands to Portugal, it still contributed to the rise of tensions between Portuguese Macau and China due to issues pertaining Chinese understanding of how well the Portuguese still served them.
Still, over the course of the following two decades Malaca focused on developing a lax trade policy to encourage merchants to keep making use of it and ensure it maintained a good infrastructure to support the Navy. This allowed the province to keep itself afloat while it served the rest of the Empire as a central resting point.
The fourth point regarded internal politics; the status of Malaca within the empire had to be decided using the new colonial policies drafted by Minister Castro and taking in consideration its social make up. The age of aggressive conversion to Catholicism was over, but Malaca was still an important historical springboard for Roman Christianity in Asia. On the other hand, it sat on a region that was in itself a massive Islamic hub. Prospects for religious assimilation appeared expensive and very risky. The Colonial Profit Doctrine argued that stabilizing the colony’s finances was more important than using it as a tool for imperial conversion, so religious proselytization would have to be put aside.
Language, population and rights, however, were a different matter. While the Dutch settlers were guaranteed their independence, the Portuguese had full authority to input school curriculum to educate locals in Portuguese. The only available case to base the methodology on, however, was the case in pre-war Portuguese Konkan (Northern Goa & Southern Damão) where Canarim, the official creole, was tolerated to protect the quantitative power of the language in the region.[3] Governor Joseph Soares of Greater Damão recommended to Governor Gama to encourage Kristangs to feel at peace and focus the language spreading to pure Malayans.
This meant, however, that Malaccan linguistic demographics would remain fractured for the foreseeable future but, in return, would mean the protection of the present influence and peace between Portuguese Malaca and the Johor Sultanate, which would not have so much reason to feel the Portuguese were a danger to their people.
Point 5 & Conclusion
The most difficult point of all, but also the most financially critical, was the rebalancing of the present assets in the city in order to keep Malaca economically stable. There was a high number of Dutch settlers whose fortunes had been guaranteed by the Portuguese as untouchable, but tax policy experts predicted that the regular colonial taxation, even under CPD reduction, would inevitably lead to the ruination of Malaca in the long term due to an inability to provide the richer citizens with the means to sustain their wealth. While many burghers were allowed to keep doing commerce as they pleased, the colony of Malaca in itself had been entering a downward spiral for some time and even before the war the settlers feared that Batavia would sell them off to the British at some point.[4]
The Portuguese found themselves in the position to give Malaca some use the Dutch could not, given their popular affection to the city, the context of their empire’s logistics and communications, the commerce predicted to be held with Siam and China in short term and finally the support of Goa and Timor’s administrations, but their ability was not transcendent to the world’s changing currents; it was likely Malaca would never see its golden age returning, as even its initial prosperity had been ruined by the First Portuguese Administration’s conquest of it, as it disrupted traditional Spice Island docking movements.
As a result, many assets, mostly in the form of stocks, wares and even weaponry, were sold off to the Batavia office as a means to lessen the Malacan burden in the long term. The objective would be to get rid of potentially toxic possessions the Portuguese had little capacity to improve upon and build up treasury for more adequate projects (such as repairing the city after Coronel Leonel’s attack on it). This effectively lessened Malacca’s wealth but perhaps this was better than letting said wealth rot until it made the surrender of the city inevitable.
Finally, in conclusion, the return of Malaca was a very welcome news for the empire as a whole as, as already stated, it seemed like a symbol of the return to a better time for the population, but its integration had to be done with many painstaking decisions that made it clear to the colonists that it would never be the same Malaca that once made the empire rich. Its inclusion, however, meant a definitive return of Portugal to the South East Asia political theater, as evidenced by visits from Siamese and Burmese embassies immediately after the war seeking to guarantee bilateral relations, as well as a return of Portuguese interest to the far off Chinese Sea, where many riches still laid un-plundered.
[1] Image courtesy of https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4193562/all
[2] While at first the Dutch felt assured by these concessions it would ironically lead to the steeling of the alliance, as it assured the Dutch that any conspiracy to block off the Portuguese would be more costly than worth it.
[3] See Section: The Three-Years War (1780 – 1783) – The Luso-Maratha War (1780 – 1783) – War Impact - Countries and People – Internal Powers – The Vice-Roy, the Archbishops and the Governors.
[4] iOTL as part of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 the Dutch traded the unprofitable Malacca for British colony on the island of Sumatra.
Note:
How do the Portuguese go about integrating Malaca. That was a question on the regional leaders and the local population. The previous Portuguese administration had left allot negative feeling in the region (except for the Christians who were happy for the Portuguese return. As mentioned the value of Malacca as a trading center had greatly diminished but instead the focus became on the new strategic value. While a more relaxed attitude towards locals and religion was put into practice but even so Muslims did not feel welcome under Portuguese administration and left. Questions/ Comments???
We will post the integration of Malabar on October 18 as we continue to discuss the world after the "The Paris Treaty of 1783.
Why? With the Portuguese busily shifting populations of their empire around why specifically going for Chinese when internal manpower is available and easier to assimilate?
Because China is still relatively close by, has a huge labor pool which makes them cheap, and the Chinese guest workers could be sent back home when the construction projects are finished? Just my assumptions. The OP made it clear how Portugal has relatively mixed opinions on keeping the region all together and maybe they don't really care to treat it as a "core colony" like Goa? Maybe they also want to try to improve relations with the Chinese emperor by hiring a lot of Chinese workers? Just my guesses.
Adding to what @Boneheaded_Bookkeeper said, having guest workers from China take up the burden of construction can help limit the opportunities of the native Malayans, corralling them towards the longer-term project of naval logistics in the area. The armed forces are doubling as a social churn to integrate native populations into Lusophone culture, staffing docks and warehouses and crewing transport ships can be a way to draft lots of Mayalan men into environments that enforce Portuguese but leaves them with relatively decent retirement packages and histories of service to the empire, while keeping them relatively close to home (fewer will accept postings all the way to the Atlantic) and not letting them dominate in an environment where they might be a direct liability (i.e. a sea battle or bombardment against other Malayans).
Lusitania
Donor
Yes for the next decade or two the Portuguese will be advancing both the study and building of strategic fortification. While this was done iOTL, a richer and more powerful Portugal will have the capacity to have stronger fortifications.
Lusitania
Donor
Thanks for question and based on what we have written in past it is fair assumption to think Portuguese would of brought people from other regions to Macau and you right they did. By 1780s almost half the city/outpost population was non white with Portuguese Indians and Africans being the largest group. Followed by Europeans and other Portuguese speaking people.. The remaining 30-35% were Chinese who spoke Portuguese to a varying degrees depending on education and interaction with the Portuguese speaking segment of colony. That mix of people and migration will continue increasing as trade with Japan, China and Far East including Russia grows.
What was agreed with Chinese government was the hiring of temporary workers to enlarge both the docks , city and keep. Usually brought in for 6-12 month contracts. The expansion planned was very large and would take over a decade both giving Portuguese a large defensive port to project power and protected city. Included in the project was the reclamation of additional land around the islands to enlarge Macau. The rocks and building materials needed for all that came from
China. As part of the agreement to expand Macau was the cost of laborers in China, hiring of Chinese junks to transport building materials and temporary Chinese workers in Macau.
I hope this helps to explain the situation in which the Portuguese who were the only Europeans to have a port in China found themselves in. Another important aspect was that unlike rest of Portuguese Empire outpost and territories Macau was the only one in which the Portuguese were tenants. The Chinese had not till then ever recognized Portuguese claims to Macau and continued to recognize it as Chinese territory.
iotl China only agreed to transfer ownership of Macau to Portugal in the late 19th century. The first territory conquered from China by European was Hong Kong. While we not going to specify changes to future status and size in the TL yet. We can state that they will be different. The size and importance of Macau is already bigger by 1780 than iotl. But China is China and a huge country not easily cowed.
Paris Treaty – Aftermath: Territorial Integration – Malabar
Lusitania
Donor
Paris Treaty – Aftermath (cont.)
Territorial Integration – Malabar
“The Vice-Roy has put us in the frontline against Tipu’s cannons.”
-Governor Joseph Soares, arguing against Vice-Roy Frederick’s political accomplishment appraisals
Territorial Integration – Malabar
“The Vice-Roy has put us in the frontline against Tipu’s cannons.”
-Governor Joseph Soares, arguing against Vice-Roy Frederick’s political accomplishment appraisals
As a result of the war, the ports of Maia, Cochim and Coulão were also annexed, resulting in the entire Malabar region being under Portuguese control, a significant addition in the sense it meant that virtually the entire western Indian coast was under the Portuguese sphere of influence. These ports were placed under the administrative jurisdiction known as the “Velhos Portos”, which enjoyed special trade rights and practiced laxer policies regarding interaction with the Indian natives. Their integration, therefore, was much less in-depth than Malaca, which had issues regarding distance and importance to solve.
Moreover, the annexation of Malabar was a crowning jewel in Vice-Roy Frederick’s tenure, as it accomplished his objective of bringing the entire western Indian coast under Portuguese control. Whether this was politically positive or not was up to debate; Frederick Holstein was an efficient Vice-Roy but was opposed by Joseph Soares (the governor of Damão) and several minor Old Port governors who believed the Vice-Roy had belligerent inclinations that threatened to spark a new devastating Mysore invasion. In any case, Frederick was now seen back in Lisbon as a Vice-Roy so successful that his feats now emulated those of Afonso de Albuquerque himself.
With the exception of Surat and Bombay, the entire western coast was once again under Lusitanian control
The prospects for political and commercial power growth in the region were pretty enormous and this would attract the preoccupation of several powers, including the British. It didn’t seem feasible anymore that Portuguese presence could be curtailed without a major national upset akin to the disasters suffered in the 16th and 17th centuries. The prestige alone of recovering these territories was hard to shake off.
Still, policies needed to be decided for short term administration. An important aspect of the reintegration of these territories was the fact that Dutch Malabar was organized in Municipalities (Kochi/Cochim) was the first municipality in the Indian subcontinent). This was because of the philosophy of Dutch expansion in India as opposed to Portuguese or even British ones; they focused mostly on corporate urban development and concentrating power in trade cities and left rural expanses be, foregoing county-style administration. The Portuguese had also signed agreements to protect the rights of Dutch settlers and Burghers in the conquered territories, so the natural solution was to integrate Dutch administration into the Goan hierarchy.
There was also the matter that European involvement in Travancore affairs had grown weak. In 1753, the Dutch signed the treaty of Mavelikkara to detach themselves from native affairs after a series of grueling conflicts with the king that weakened them significantly (this was one of the factors behind Dutch frailty in the war and why the Goan fleet was able to so easily assault Dutch Malabar). This ultimately led to Tipu Sultan’s invasion of Kerala which subdued a helpless Travancore to Mysorean rule. Portuguese Malabar was therefore surrounded by a Travancore region in submission to a major enemy, Mysore, and no political agents were in place to inherit from the Dutch to deal with this matter.
The ‘Old Port’ style of administration therefore seemed ideal at first, focusing on ruling these ports indirectly from Goa, appeasing natives and securing commercial profit and justice. There were doubts, however, regarding the profitability of these ports, as the Portuguese found themselves only reaping the benefits of trade of minor spices and exotic flora in a time where the entire empire was growing less and less interested in rural commodities and more and more desperate for industrial ones.
It also seemed pretty obvious that these ports would become stages for future sieges by Tipu Sultan, so a rushed effort was made to repair the fortifications from the damage caused by the Portuguese themselves. Pacifying and allying themselves with the “Partido Holandês”, as the political bodies of the Dutch settlers became known as, was also of vital importance. The presence of Sephardic Jews, St. Thomas Christians and other Abrahamic minorities also became important weights to balance in the power scale to achieve government objectives.
Repaired Forts of Coulão and Cochim
The main figurehead of the sympathetic population in these ports became Johan van Angelbeek.
Johan Gerard Van Angelbeek
Dutch Colonial Officer
(1727 – 1799)
Born in East Frisia in 1727, Johan was a VOC Koopman who was appointed by Dutch Ceylon to act as an intermediary to Portuguese Malabar with the aim to ensure the Portuguese side of the Paris Treaty regarding the well-being of the Dutch settlers was respected. He pushed the Goan office to allow the Malabar ports to continue their Dutch policies and, even though he was unsuccessful in arguing that they should be fully left alone or even that Dutch burgher assets should be fully protected, he succeeded in securing religious toleration rules which prevented many settlers from revolting or leaving in the long run. Nominally he was an enemy of Portuguese authority, but it’s arguable that without him it would have been impossible to secure Dutch cooperation in preparing the new territories for profitability and security.
All this preoccupation and political fighting stemmed from the Dutch observing the initial effects of the Portuguese takeover of Mahé, now known as Maia. The former French trade outpost was immediately stripped of its protections, as the Portuguese viewed the French as much bigger enemies and ill-intenders during the war than the Dutch, and there was little to no political assimilation practiced in the port, where Portuguese law and commercial command was immediately installed. In fact many French traders fled south towards Malabar, where they sought protection with the Dutch Parties that had secured better agreements.
Moreover, Maia became a form of militarized outpost as its importance to syphon trade was negatively biased against by the Portuguese, who preferred Calecute and Mangalore, so the significantly hilled region surrounding Maia was turned into a springboard for the Indic Army Battalions to stage their attacks from, something the Mysoreans eyed very carefully.
Still, all was not tension between the Portuguese and their European counterparts; a significant number of ambitious Dutch and French actors also saw the circumstances of complete Lusitanian monopoly over southwestern India as an opportunity for profit. Many took part in projects to unify trade with the traditional Portuguese trade posts of Panjim, Calecute, Cannanore and Mangalore, with French actors in particular attempting to head a diplomatic mission to convince Tipu Sultan to let them fund the construction of a road between all these ports.
Other more suspicious ones instead took the protective route, seeking to strengthen their respective outpost defenses and supply funding in what they saw as a delicate short-term period of hostility. It was therefore too soon to take conclusions regarding this new Portuguese Malabar and wars with Tipu Sultan would have to be fought before a definitive administration was decided on.
Note:
This post is about the integration of Malabar and the rest of Western Indian coast under Portuguese control or influence. We really need to understand the political implications to the Indian and to European nations. The conquest of these ports followed by British acceptance of Portuguese dominance and control (British had been limited to two enclaves (Surat and Bombay) meant the Portuguese practically controlled western coast from the Southern tip of Indian subcontinent to Diu. How this would play out in future political and military purposes would be something to analyze and for future leaders and military people to decide at the moment the Portuguese are busy integrating things. One interesting point I wanted to make was the continuing number of Dutch who decided to stay within the Portuguese Empire. While some left those staying behind may find themselves much richer and powerful than they be under Dutch rule. Questions/ Comments???
Since this post was a little shorter than normal posts we will the next section called "The Second Colonial Accord – Guinea, Cape, Australia and Zeeland" on October 23 as we continue to discuss the world after the "The Paris Treaty of 1783.
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With Portugal set to become the overlord of Western India, what are the reaction of independent rajas and nawabs, whether they are choosing to fight, collaborate or trying to stay neutral? How will foreign traders react to this dominance?
Ideally, there should be no colony occupying half of India, so when they become independent no one will be able to claim India in its entirety.
In a similar way to how the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, Peru or Gran Colombia was divided into several countries, while Brazil remained a united entity.
On the other hand, I wondered how is the European reaction to the resurgence of Portugal. The British are in a difficult position, on the one hand their ally and trading partner is stronger and more influential, on the other they are becoming powerful enough to impose their own policies, ceasing to be an English puppet state (because when there is much difference in power or dependence between allied countries, indirectly becomes a vassal relationship). The simple fact that Portugal established an alliance with the Netherlands without first consulting with England shows the new power of Portugal, capable of making its own policies.
PS: Technically the UK is even more formidable with a stronger Portugal (its ally), Napoleonic France could try to strengthen Spain, Denmark or Two Sicilies in an attempt to counter the English alliance. The balance of power and that ...
Unfortunately, with a stronger Portugal I see Spain losing territory, be it Galicia, the Canary Islands, the enclaves in Morocco or minor border adjustments, and that is not to mention the colonies, although they would surely be Caribbean islands or the Philippines. An independent Catalunia or Navarre is even possible, the Spanish territorial integrity was maintained mainly by the balance of power in Europe, since Spain was considered a secondary power. Unfortunately for Spain, Portugal fulfills the role of secondary power now, and consequently the territorial integrity of Spain is no longer so important, especially when Portugal is pro-British and the United Kingdom would end up winning the Napoleonic wars, it pays to secure a powerful ally south of France.
In a similar way to how the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, Peru or Gran Colombia was divided into several countries, while Brazil remained a united entity.
On the other hand, I wondered how is the European reaction to the resurgence of Portugal. The British are in a difficult position, on the one hand their ally and trading partner is stronger and more influential, on the other they are becoming powerful enough to impose their own policies, ceasing to be an English puppet state (because when there is much difference in power or dependence between allied countries, indirectly becomes a vassal relationship). The simple fact that Portugal established an alliance with the Netherlands without first consulting with England shows the new power of Portugal, capable of making its own policies.
PS: Technically the UK is even more formidable with a stronger Portugal (its ally), Napoleonic France could try to strengthen Spain, Denmark or Two Sicilies in an attempt to counter the English alliance. The balance of power and that ...
Unfortunately, with a stronger Portugal I see Spain losing territory, be it Galicia, the Canary Islands, the enclaves in Morocco or minor border adjustments, and that is not to mention the colonies, although they would surely be Caribbean islands or the Philippines. An independent Catalunia or Navarre is even possible, the Spanish territorial integrity was maintained mainly by the balance of power in Europe, since Spain was considered a secondary power. Unfortunately for Spain, Portugal fulfills the role of secondary power now, and consequently the territorial integrity of Spain is no longer so important, especially when Portugal is pro-British and the United Kingdom would end up winning the Napoleonic wars, it pays to secure a powerful ally south of France.
Lusitania
Donor
Thanks, have fixed the threads, kept forgetting.
Yes Indian subcontinent is becoming a much more "interesting" place. If both French and Dutch can continue to expand in the South East and Portuguese continue their dominance in the west. The British will be left with the Bay of Bengal. We also have the potential for many of the Indian lords and Raj staying independent or at least aligned but independent of European control.
The Portuguese in a short period of time have sliced a piece here and piece there from one lord and another. Their conquest have been moderate or limited more by Portuguese structural limitations and power projections. IOTL the British had not come to dominate or control all of Indian coast yet but were on their way. Here the Portuguese have negotiated with the British East India company to stay out of west with Surat and Bombay as the sole British ports in the west more due to British wishing to concentrate on Affairs in the Bay of Bengal area. The Indian lords are looking at the Portuguese with worry and some have decided to ally themselves to the Portuguese such as Hyderabad. While Mysore only has hatred for the Portuguese who he sees an enemy.
There is still a great shakeout from the Portuguese ascendency happening and we will see by their actions how things pan out. That they have authorized and encouraged Dutch to stay and trade within the Portuguese Empire. They are just one of a few countries traders who are tentatively checking out Portuguese trade and commerce opportunities. We have British, Swedes and Russians also with trade treaties with the Portuguese who have sought out opportunities in the Portuguese Empire. Added to this is the growing business community in Brazil who too are part of the growing number of entrepreneurs who look at Portuguese India with interest.
These are valid and interesting points you bring up.
1) The British have just come through a very difficult war in which it found itself beset by enemies on all sides while at same time fighting an internal war against the revolting colonists. Its one and only ally the Portuguese had diverted both French and Dutch attention from the British but to no avail as it still lost its revolting 13 colonies. Consolation was that it gained Southern Africa, strengthened its position in Indian Subcontinent and expanded in South East Asia. Meanwhile remaining British North America would continue to provide much opportunities and growth potential.
The Portuguese alliance as you mention is becoming a two edge sword. Portugal is growing and expanding into a potential rival but with British attention still concerned with Spanish and French intentions the British will be counting on the growing Portuguese Empire to counter the continued French-Spanish threat. Therefore without any other ally that can fill the position of the Portuguese with a global empire able to project power in several regions it is not a strong bodes well for the British. Trade with the Portuguese Empire even as it industrialized and grows has doubled since 1755 making it a very important market for British goods.
2) Portuguese trade agreements upto now have been minor disruptions to British trade who continue to have unfettered access to the Portuguese market. So what they said if the Portuguese have made inroads into Germanies, Sweden or Russia the business loss there for British has been negligible in their minds. The Portuguese-Dutch agreement was much more worrying to the British but Portuguese Ambassador in London was able to resolve some of the initial fear. As the Portuguese sold the agreement as an attempt to sway the Dutch from the French camp and either towards the Portuguese/British camp or at least neutral thus allaying some fears in London.
3) British attitudes towards the Portuguese have not really changed, even as the Portuguese economically grow and the empire expands. The Portuguese still the poor relative needing British help and hiding behind British coat tails. There were a few negative British newspaper editorials regarding the Portuguese expanding using the British as a shield but overall the British continue to look negatively at the Portuguese but one they will continue to rely more on to counter the French-Spanish.
4) As for Spain, there continues to be great concern both in Portugal and Brazil since the Portuguese and Spanish share a huge border. As the empire grows it will need to invest in military and military fortifications with both countries bordering one another. The Portuguese were able to avoid military clash with Spanish this time but the next time they probably wont be so lucky. The growing disparity between Portugal and Spain will unfortunely only exasperate the distrust and anger between the two countries.
So we will have a more balkanized India in the long run with potentially independent countries...that's interesting...I wish to see where that goes...
It's a good thing the Portuguese are taking everyone into account and that the Dutch in cities such as Cochim are cooperating.
It's a good thing the Portuguese are taking everyone into account and that the Dutch in cities such as Cochim are cooperating.
Oooh boy, better not let the Portuguese Imperial Marine Sailors hear about what the average Englishman thinks of them hehe.
Lusitania
Donor
The Indian subcontinent will be governed and colonized very differently. It the current divisions continue as the colonial powers expand (no reason to believe they won’t). The Indian subcontinent will look very differently in the modern era. Gone will be the ability for any one country to dominate the region or impose it policies or views. We could see half a dozen or more countries existing in the region. With culture, political, language and religion all playing a part in differentiating them from one another. Too much to speculate right now and st this it be interesting to simply view the way the people and countries progress and interact with one another.
The Portuguese have taken great strides to open its economy to outsiders, be they business, investors or settlers something that in majority of the cases was not really practiced. This provided the Portuguese with new skill and capital that it desperately needed to grow and expand.
The Portuguese were adamant on making its new alliance and economic partnership with Dutch a reality instead just a concept. The existing partnerships and trade agreements with the Germans (Hamburg), Sweden and Russia had at that moment allowed Portuguese to enter new markets and to also bring new investment in the Portuguese empire. The legalization of Jews both living and worshiping in Portugal and its empire had also entrenched the new Portuguese liberalization and openness. Many Englishmen were living in The Portuguese empire and the inclusion of Dutch in Malabar and Malacca was in reality an extension of the existing practice.
Both countries snd its people will need time to get used to the new relationship. That Portuguese entered it from a position of strength and Dutch in an attempt to stem the decline and potential take over of rest of empire by British changes the dynamics of both the perception of its people and willingness to adhere to its implementation.
The Portuguese were very familiar with the way British and other countries viewed them. The Portuguese had over the decades come to accept these attitudes but in the last few decades things have changed. The belief in themselves and pride had resurfaced and was changing the way Portuguese looked at themselves. First with the new generation and more slowly with the older ones.
But while Portuguese could and would reclaim their pride and glory and think themselves equal to any nation over time the way Portuguese society was changing would continue to make other countries both ridicule and look down on the Portuguese.
This attitude from foreigners would stem from a variety of reasons depending on their attitudes and prejudices such as:
1) the expanding role that non-Europeans would continue to play in Portuguese society
2) tolerance of non catholic faiths in Portuguese empire 3) increased power to overseas provinces such as Brazil and eventually Portuguese India.
Yes they were very diplomatic about it. The Portuguese interceded on behalf of Dutch making sure British treated them fairly and siding with rest of the other countries in limiting US size but otherwise the British knew the Portuguese were on their side.
Now all this does result in some egos being bent in Paris as part of the negotiations. Something that Portuguese and British will try to address in bilateral meetings in London after the treaty. Which will be covered in the next post as we discuss Portuguese -British colonial accord that arose from the war.
I asked myself if miscegenation in Portugal began to affect the nobility. Especially those young sailors (including nobles) who join the navy for adventure and pleasure, meeting naked and wild women from America, Africa, India or elsewhere, and have children.
After all, a father will want better rights for his children (especially with the cultural tolerance that arises in Portugal), even if they are bastards and half Portuguese.
And it is not only a father, it is the rest of the family, you do not want your half brother or cousin to be a slave just because of their ethnicity, and with the cultural awareness that is consolidating in Portugal it is only a matter of time before society start asking non-Portuguese for better social rights. It will surely advance slowly but much better compared to the rest of Europe, probably first better rights will be asked for "white" people with African, Native American, etc. ancestry.
It is only a matter of several generations, when a nobleman without legitimate heirs or Portuguese bastards, wants to legitimize a bastard son with African blood (or another) in order to continue his lineage. That goes without saying if a minor Portuguese Prince (a second son who can join the navy) has a son or daughter with a non-Portuguese. I see a legitimation very difficult, but his father will surely want to give him the same rights as a white Portuguese and perhaps some minor noble title.
PS: The clergy is more complicated. On the one hand they can start accepting non-Europeans into the priesthood, or at least accepting it in Portugal (an exception to the rule). On the other, they can be harshly opposed, either by papal policy (the Pope and Portugal are not on good terms), by racism of the clergy (the clergy is appointed by the Pope, so the clergy may be originally from other European countries, and less tolerant upbringing compared to Portugal), or simply oppose for hating change, the clergy were always a very conservative group and are usually opposed to any type of change.
Anyway, I'm not sure what I said, but I'm sure that greater racial tolerance is calling for a strike for better social rights for the other ethnic groups in Portugal. I do not think that social equality is achieved between the Portuguese and the other ethnic groups (it takes several generations) but they will certainly have many rights that they will not have in the rest of Europe, being a small racial inequality.
PS: By the way, I love this timeline. You even inspired me to create my own Portuguese timeline. Set for now in 1350 -1380, between the death of Ines of Castro and the War of the Two Peters. Although I doubt that I will publish it here (if I finish it), English is not my first language and well ...
After all, a father will want better rights for his children (especially with the cultural tolerance that arises in Portugal), even if they are bastards and half Portuguese.
And it is not only a father, it is the rest of the family, you do not want your half brother or cousin to be a slave just because of their ethnicity, and with the cultural awareness that is consolidating in Portugal it is only a matter of time before society start asking non-Portuguese for better social rights. It will surely advance slowly but much better compared to the rest of Europe, probably first better rights will be asked for "white" people with African, Native American, etc. ancestry.
It is only a matter of several generations, when a nobleman without legitimate heirs or Portuguese bastards, wants to legitimize a bastard son with African blood (or another) in order to continue his lineage. That goes without saying if a minor Portuguese Prince (a second son who can join the navy) has a son or daughter with a non-Portuguese. I see a legitimation very difficult, but his father will surely want to give him the same rights as a white Portuguese and perhaps some minor noble title.
PS: The clergy is more complicated. On the one hand they can start accepting non-Europeans into the priesthood, or at least accepting it in Portugal (an exception to the rule). On the other, they can be harshly opposed, either by papal policy (the Pope and Portugal are not on good terms), by racism of the clergy (the clergy is appointed by the Pope, so the clergy may be originally from other European countries, and less tolerant upbringing compared to Portugal), or simply oppose for hating change, the clergy were always a very conservative group and are usually opposed to any type of change.
Anyway, I'm not sure what I said, but I'm sure that greater racial tolerance is calling for a strike for better social rights for the other ethnic groups in Portugal. I do not think that social equality is achieved between the Portuguese and the other ethnic groups (it takes several generations) but they will certainly have many rights that they will not have in the rest of Europe, being a small racial inequality.
PS: By the way, I love this timeline. You even inspired me to create my own Portuguese timeline. Set for now in 1350 -1380, between the death of Ines of Castro and the War of the Two Peters. Although I doubt that I will publish it here (if I finish it), English is not my first language and well ...
just a small nitpick - Malaysia and Malacca are not interchangable terms. Malaysia refers to the polity formed in 1963, as a combination of the Malayan Federation and British holdings on the island of Borneo. Malacca's etymology stems from the name of a local tree and refers to the city and its surrounding environs only, similar to how Shanghai does not refer to the whole of China. Malaya or the Malay Peninsula, on the other hand, derives its name from its inhabitants and either of these 2 terms would be more suitable to describe the current Portuguese sphere of influence.