Rebirth of an Empire "O Renascimento de um Império" v2.0

Lusitania

Donor
One question why in the map Mangalore is British, when the 1778 Treaty of Mangalore say that it would be Portuguese from that date onward.
Was na error in map making or something else happend?


Good catch we did make a mistake in the map and we will correct it.

on a another note we like to thank all our readers. We have reached 100,000 views.
 
The Three-Years War (1780-1783) - The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781) (5 of 9)

Lusitania

Donor
The Three-Years War (1780-1783) (cont.)

The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781) (5 of 9)

Second Treaty of Satari (1781)

When the Maratha army reached Pune on 15th of May, an envoy was sent to Satari, the site of the previous treaty of friendship between the late Vice-Roy Castro and the late Peshwa Narayan Rao, to negotiate a new status quo with the Luso-Goans and the British. Initially hoping for a status quo ante bellum arrangement, the Peshwa was downturned to find that Vice-Roy Frederick, citing the breach of the previous treaty of Satari of 1774, the stepping down of the Gujarat revolt and the unprovoked endangerment of their enclave, would accept nothing short of territorial and monetary compensations that would checkmate the Marathas and Gujarat against future possibilities of threat. When the Maratha envoy hesitated, the Goan counterpart threatened to tell Vice-Roy Frederick to join the Bombay British force, shatter what remained of the Maratha army and conduct a mass strike on Pune.

With the ongoing threat of the Gaekwad Maharaja lingering to the northwest, Madhavrao accepted European terms.

The Second Treaty of Satari of 1781 was therefore signed in the following 20th May between the Portuguese and the Peshwa of Pune and stating the following terms and compensations:
  • Reinstatement of all diplomatic and commercial privileges signed in the 1774 Treaty of Satari;
  • Portuguese and British recognition of Madhavrao as the rightful Peshwa of Pune against all claimants;
  • Expansion of British Surat to fully encompass the estuary of the Tapti River;
  • Expansion of British Bombay to include the city of Basseim/Vassai;
  • All lands south of the Vengurla-Amboli line to be annexed to Goa
  • All lands north of the Vaitarna River, south of the Ambika River and west of the Deccan Plateau to be annexed to Daman;
  • All Gujarat lands south of the Badhar-Setruji river lines to be annexed to the Diu Island territory, including the island of Piram Bet; [1]
  • Allow for the construction of a road linking Goa and Daman, as well as a road network within the new territories, provide the labor for the construction of the road and pay all costs. Any border tariff was to be negotiated with Goa.
  • Payment for the construction of a number of strategic forts for the Portuguese, including Fort ‘Pirão’ at Piram island, Fort ‘Bragança’ at the Khamloli pass and Fort Bhadar at the new Portuguese-Baroda border;
  • Portuguese missionaries would be free from prosecution and attacks and anti-Christian edicts would be officially lifted;
To add muscle to the paper, the treaty understood any breach of contract to be an official renewal of Anglo-Luso hostilities against the Marathi and Gujarat people. Terms were extended as impositions on the Baroda as well, although the impending revolt of the Maharaja would further endanger the Peshwa’s authority in the future. The war between the Maratha states and Portugal and Britain had come to a disastrous end for both the states of Baroda and Pune but the Gujarat took the blunt of it, suffering heavy civilian casualties resulting in over 20 percent of the population dying of starvation and disease over the following five years. The economy of eastern Gujarat was in taters and would take years to recover.

Under further influence by Nana Fadnavis, who resented both the defeat to the Europeans and the Gujarat rebellion, the Marathi leader marched on Baroda and deposed Maharaja Fateh by the Peshwa in June of 1781 under the grounds of treason, allowing Manaji Rao Gaekwad to succeed. Manaji was unable to assert his authority over the local leaders who ruled their respective territories, however, and unrest would continue for decades.

In Pune, Nana Fadnavis was able to restore order after the war and start rebuilding the state. The economic strains as well as the territorial and trade concessions made to both the Portuguese and British fully prevented the Maratha state to fully recover and Peshwa of Pune became a figure head without any influence or power.

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Portuguese Diu

Dark Green: Pre-Treaty Diu
Light Green: Post-Treaty Diu
Barred Green: ‘Greater Diu’[2]
Purple: Baroda State
Red: British Surat
Cyan Lines: Diu Road Network

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Portuguese Damão

Dark Green: Historical Damão
Yellow: 1774 Satari Treaty Damão
Light Green: 1781 Satari Treaty Expansion
Cyan Lines: Damão Road Network & Goa Highway

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Portuguese Goa

Dark Green: Pre-Treaty Goa
Light Green: Expanded Goa
Pink: Maratha Confederacy
Orange: Mysore Kingdom
Yellow: Hyderabad Nazim
Cyan Lines: Road Network & Highway to Damão

The treaty clearly favored the Portuguese above all parties, but the British faced pressing wars against the Dutch, French and Americans and could not afford to be malcontent with the expansion of their Surat foothold and war reparations. Eyre Coote and William Hastings clashing ambitions for the area would fuel a sense of resentment in the Bombay office over losing influence share in the region to the now much bigger territories of Damão and Diu but stability in the region depended on the power triad of the British, Marathi and Portuguese being content with what they got, lest a new, more fearsome war involving the revolting Barodas break out.

On 17 May 1782 the British with the help of Shindhia concluded the treaty of Salbai. The treaty of Salbai gave Bassein and all lands between Bassein and Bombay to the Bombay presidency thus doubling Bombay’s territory. The British also received the city of Surat and the surrounding area. In return the British recognized Madhau Rao Narayan as the Peshwa.

The Second Treaty of Satari offered the Portuguese significant territorial expansions as well as a great deal of military prestige and the lion share of this expansion occurred in Diu and Damão which, previously confined to small enclaves under the protection of Goa, now were both as large as Greater Goa itself and held considerable power over their joint region. While their administration was still undergoing growing pains, the sheer size and strategic occupation of the new borders guaranteed Damão and Diu a vastly increased influence over the affairs of the commercial and hydraulic hotspot that was the Gulf of Cambay, now called Cambaia by the Portuguese Navy, especially if they coordinated their efforts.

To add to this effect was the inclusion of Piram island in the annexation to Diu, allowing the Portuguese to build a naval outpost there to further their interests and effectively holding the European possession closest to the core of the bay of great cities like Baroda, Surat and Ahmedabad. Forte Pirão, as the outpost assembled there would be called, was located on a position that had historically allowed pirates to toll the Gujarat commerce and the Portuguese wished to use this island to their advantage too.

As already stated, however, the provinces greatly expanded side brought inevitable growing pains and a bold new policy was needed to ensure Portugal’s claim on these lands would not be endangered.

The large size of both Damão and Diu rendered their previous linked governance obsolete and instead recognition of their individual status was necessary; on 30th May the province of Goa officially surrendered patronal powers over these two territories and young King Joseph II ordered a ceremonial promotion from linked enclaves to full scale provinces. ‘Damão & Diu’ ceased to exist and the Portuguese Province of Damão and the Portuguese Province of Diu were born in their wake, holding rule over all immediate new territories and Diu possessing the island of Pirão (now officially renamed from Piram Bet under the Overseas State Theory doctrine from the previous administration cycle).

In both cases great challenges awaited but also great opportunities. As a result of the vastly different populations and circumstances both city centers faced, they would have to form unique policies to overcome their difficulties.

War Analysis & Lessons

The Luso-Maratha War of 1780 was, to all intents, an unfortunate affair; Portugal enjoyed good ties with Narayan Rao and Maratha friendship not only brought profit to Goa and Damão, but also protection against Tipu Sultan and his Mysorean land army. For this all to be brought down by his death against the British in a conflict stirred by the influence of an irredentist minister was worrisome at the least and expectations of future conflict were obvious.

Even so, military observers of all sides took notes of what occurred and reported the following observations that conditioned the progress of the conflict:
  • Ongoing Anglo-Maratha War: perhaps Madhavrao’s greatest error was thinking he could push out both the British and the Portuguese at once. Fighting two European armies with similar, but not equal, fighting positions, stakes and organizations, impeded the Marathi from properly arming general Haripant with enough forces to overwhelm the Portuguese, allowing Frederick to score victory after victory on the southern provinces;
  • Conflicting Maratha-Baroda Commitments: Despite being subservient to Pune, the Baroda state acted on individual motivations that prevented the full force of the Confederacy from being brought down on the English and Portuguese and even prolonged the war beyond Madhavrao’s capitulation to Frederick;
  • Total Portuguese Sea Domination: The Maratha Confederacy limited fleet was no match to Hammershark Rebelo’s squadrons and a constrictive blockade was maintained on the Cambay Gulf throughout the entire span of the war, significantly limiting Marathi maneuver options, increasing their war stress and giving the Portuguese a vital edge in amphibious maneuvers;
  • Superior Portuguese Weaponry & Supply: The Luso-Goans possessed the best equipment in the war, even considering the British, and the advantage was especially significant against Marathi irregular troops. Despite budget issues and the unexpected attack, the Bluecoat regiments possessed gun-drilled cannons, armed rocket squadrons, quality bayonet muskets and a well-organized and motivated supply depot crew which allowed the Indic Army a technical and endurance advantage despite the smaller base territory and diminutive forces;
  • Decisive Portuguese Leadership: The Luso-Goan chain of command was far more flexible and effective, as repeatedly shown in battles against the Marathi where the Brigadier Generals under Frederick conducted independent maneuvers that properly contributed for the overall success of the army division;
  • British Determination: The Bombay Office and Eyre Coote both sustained a very pressuring war campaign against both the Marathi and the Gujarats, maintaining a period of high tension for the Marathas in the western theater that catalyzed their surrender to Frederick;
  • Divisive ‘Casus Belli’: The war was mostly fought by the Marathi as a sudden aggressive whim from a new Peshwa against a period of friendly commerce with the Portuguese, so popular support for the war was limited as opposed to the Goans who felt threatened and betrayed directly;
  • Native Battleground: Most of the war was fought on Marathi or Gujarati ground, as opposed to the Luso-Mysore War which saw action inside Goa’s domains, and this limited Portuguese initiative and occupation efficiency significantly;
This all meant that Pune’s attack was, to all intents, ill-advised and poorly managed despite a vast superiority in land troop numbers and the only thing limiting further punitive actions was Portugal’s comparatively puny military, demographic and political force in the region. The successive actions, both with the bayonet and with the pen, were also very valuable and the following military lessons were noted down:
  • Armed Rocket Validation: The Portuguese-style ‘Belenos’ Armed Rockets proved the worth of both their strategic firepower and platform flexibility by offering a unique advantage over the adversary, especially one relying on infantry masses, as a disruptive and morale-wrecking weapon, fueling its spread to other Brigades in the Indic Army and, eventually, the Atlantic Army;
  • Gun-Drilled Cannon Validation: The improved cannon barrel construction delivered shots dramatically superior to heavier, classic ordinances in a variety of ways. These guns were moved into place more rapidly, fired much more energy-efficient rounds and their rolling shot attack rivaled canister firing in terms of sheer kill count and morale shattering;
  • Large-scale Logistical Operations: The Portuguese were forced to improve upon their occupation and supply depot building skills as Frederick’s maneuver pushed deep into enemy territory over cliff obstacles demarcating the western border of the Deccan Plateau. By the end of the war their troops were more well fed and armed than the British despite a much deeper penetration into the Indian heartland;
  • Light Troop & Mariner Troop Operational Development: The Mariner and Light battalions saw heavy independent action in the Kathiawar peninsula, being forced to exercise their strengths on hostile territory without line infantry support;
  • Brigadier General Andrade’s Promise: Gomes Freire de Andrade proved himself as an aggressive and motivating leader and would be called to greater conflicts in future wars;
[1] This island was captured, fortified and cleansed of pirates by the Marines during their coastal takeover operation.

[2] See section: The Three Years War (1780 -1783) – The Luso-Maratha War (1780 – 1781) – Territorial Integration – Greater Diu.

Note:
The Luso-Maratha War continued a series of war between the Europeans and Indian countries. Just as iOTL these wars were significant in that it allowed European powers namely British to gain control of the Indian subcontinent and resulted in by the early part of the 19th century subjugating all independent Indian countries and principalities under European control. These wars re-imagined with Portuguese involvement tries to imagine a scenario where a bolstered and stronger Portuguese are involved in such wars and what the outcomes would be. To understand Portuguese position and strength in 1780 I would recommend readers review both Portuguese Maratha War of 1774 and the Portuguese Mysore war. Questions/Comments

Note regarding posting of this section. The Luso-Maratha War is over 60 pages and will be divided in approximately nine sections.

Now we can see the extent that the Portuguese have gained in the war and the next several posts will detail how the Portuguese try and integrate these territories and just as important the shifting political control and strength along Indian Subcontinent western coast.

Please return Sunday December 29 as we post the 6th section of The Three-Years War (1780 -1784) - The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781).
 
Oh my, that is some serious Portuguese expansion right there. Give that a decade or two and the whole "comparatively puny military, demographic and political force in the region" will cease to exist. Once Portugal can put multiple tens of thousands of men on the field it will be all over for the Indian kingdoms, unless they unify, centralize, cease infighting, and modernize faster than Meiji japan. For some reason I doubt that they will be capable of it. Good for Portugal.
 

Lusitania

Donor
Oh my, that is some serious Portuguese expansion right there. Give that a decade or two and the whole "comparatively puny military, demographic and political force in the region" will cease to exist. Once Portugal can put multiple tens of thousands of men on the field it will be all over for the Indian kingdoms, unless they unify, centralize, cease infighting, and modernize faster than Meiji japan. For some reason I doubt that they will be capable of it. Good for Portugal.
If history is any indication things do not look all great for the Indian powers. There will be some changes and improvements to some of their positions but overall not many changes.
 
The Three-Years War (1780-1783) - The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781) (6 of 9)

Lusitania

Donor
The Three-Years War (1780-1783) (cont.)

The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781) (6 of 9)

Territorial Integration - Greater Diu
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The heraldry of the Diu now held provincial honors and featured an allusion to Portugal on the left of the shield, a moon-shaded castle on Girnar hill on the right side and a bottom representing the waves of the Indic Ocean

The city of Diu faced the most tremendous of these challenges; used to be confined to its secure island and being overseen by Goa, it now had to step up to the challenge of becoming the capital of a new Portuguese overseas province spamming a significant portion of the Kathiawar coast and countryside. To aid it in its task were the war reparations paid by the Baroda, the road network project imposed by the peace treaty and, last but not least, the appointment of John Forbes, the Brigadier General of the Diu Brigade that accomplished himself against the Marathi, as the first governor of its provincial seat.

The most important help in integrating the territories, however, was the new magistracy class in the empire formed from government initiatives in the field of accounting, administration and commerce. The provinces of Diu, Daman and Goa now counted with a plethora of people educated in universities in the studying of assets and their management, meaning sheer land and people mass was a far less chaotic obstacle to territorial absorption to the Portuguese by 1781, as bureaucracy had expanded to keep track of the expanding human capital.

This, combined with new colonial edicts, would allow the new governors to properly take in the new land.

Governor John Forbes
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Born 1733
Died 8 April 1808
John Forbes became the first provincial governor of Diu and his military inclination would shape his politics and the territory’s entrance to Portuguese dominion

Governor Forbes had a number of important tasks to accomplish:
  • Administration & Tax Reform: A comprehensive model for ruling Diu had to be laid out and established, taking in consideration the large expansion in borders;
  • Completion of ‘Road Network’ project: The Diu province road construction had to go as efficiently as possible and ensure circulation in routes to important Baroda cities, mainly Rajkot and Bhavnagar;
  • Completion of strategic fortifications: The forts of Pirão, Bahdar, Junagadh and Talaja had to be completed and fortifications in Diu had to be expanded to its new boundaries and reformed;
  • Establishing the Portuguese code of law: Tagus Declaration policies, Royal law and justice departments had to be established to counter the traditional caste system the Gujarat lived under;
  • Initiating assimilation procedures: Building on the previous point, Portuguese schools, Verneyist churches, military instruction and policing had to be settled in the territory to guarantee the natural absorption of peasants into citizens the new Diu Province;
  • Harness territorial resources: Agricultural, mineral and existing industry had to be seized upon, restarted and, if possible, improved to ensure Diu’s legitimacy as a local economy;
  • Harness commercial power: Maintenance of merchant communities, harbors and naval law, especially regarding Pirão Island and Diu itself, had to be tapped on to maximize the commercial steering Diu was capable of;
All these tasks were daunting, to say the least, but Forbes was a ruthless leader, tempered by Brit demeanor and the hardships of war under the Portuguese, and his proactive government would be relentless, omnipresent and worthy of an entrepreneur. Hard work awaited him and there was no time to lose.

The first challenge was, obviously, the people of Sorath and Gohelwar territories he now ruled over. The Gujarat of the southern portion of the peninsula, many of which supported the war against the Europeans, were of Hindu majority and Islam as the main minority, had strong historical and cultural ties to the land and had the city of Junagadh by the religiously sacred Mount Girnar to anchor their identity in the region. Diu was far from being the most important settlement so its rise to capital was dribble at best, not to mention Diu itself was not an entirely Portuguese city, so, unless careful, wily action was taken to upset the mindset balance, it was likely unrest would make integration of Diu was impossible.

John Forbes first action, therefore, was a bold step of administrative expansion for his base city and a large mainland area around the island bordered by Gimar Hills to the north and nearby rivers was formally gathered under the new district construct known as ‘Greater Diu’, a division where edict and policies would be directly and ruthlessly applied, while all remaining territories were granted partial autonomy for the first year except for military and naval matters.

It was in the Greater Diu district that Forbes focused his most ruthless efforts to pacify and assimilate the Gujarats. To this end the following steps were taken;
  • Diu Diocese Encroachment: The Verneyist Church was introduced immediately, establishing a number of churches giving sermons in Portuguese, and officially disenfranchising the Islamic religion in favor of the native Hindu;
  • Repression of violent religious practices: Traditions like the Hindu Sati were forbidden in Greater Diu’s premises, attracting women of the outlying province possessions to make families in the Portuguese center under its influence;
  • Road Network Coring: All roads would converge in Diu and, hence, so would all cheaper commerce, meeting of traffic, movement in ports and spreading of influence on all aspects of governing, further entrenching the small city as the new provincial capital;
  • Primary School Sector: The only schools for children in the region would be in Greater Diu, and hence so would the most important regional families be educated in;
  • Caste System Repression: The Indian system of estates based on race, lineage and breed was replaced with Tagus Declaration style social structure, allowing Gujarat of all creeds to rise to capitalist, bureaucratic and military ranks for as long as they resided in Greater Diu;
These policies triggered a migration event in southern Kathiawar, where many impoverished, disenfranchised and religiously unstable communities flocked to the fields north of Diu Island to work, build houses and have families under Greater-Dian policies, while the remaining territories like Junagadh were allowed to continue their traditional rule and ended up losing, in some cases, almost 30% of their population over the following five years.

This effect was boosted by PRP policies, of course, but also commerce with none other than the recently conquered Cisplatina, a Brazilian province that was emigrating freed African slaves to Portuguese possessions. To reduce the homogeneity of the present Indians, Marathi from Daman and Kokand from Goa were also brought in, causing a decrease of the percentage bulk of the native tongue and improving the importance of the administrative and commercial language, the Portuguese, as a unifying dialect to the residents.

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‘Greater’ Diu’s Urbanization

The migration of Gujarati unto Diu’s premises to live under religiously pacifist laws was the primary proponent of the expansion of Diu’s streets unto the Kathiawar mainland

District Demarcation, Law Enforcement & Religious Law

I care not for old preconceptions of divisions in this land; tis our flag now waving in the forts, not the Maharaja’s. Tell the people they can have their Gods as for as your tongue is concerned, that they can have their tongue as far as your God is concerned and that they can have their freedom as far as living in Diu is concerned.
-John Forbes, to his magistrates, upon laying out their administration guidelines

Following the raising of Portuguese banners on ports, forts and towns, John Forbes divided the Diu province into districts administered by magistrates following Pombaline colonial law; all officials had to speak Portuguese as it was the bureaucratic tongue and religious background could not be taken into account (in theory). A total of six districts were demarcated, including the already laid out ‘Greater’ Diu; the district were generally named after vague Latinisations of landmarks or important road crossroads (namely Cachala and Talaja) though, in ‘Caixão’s district’s case, the soldiers often joked it was named after the fact its planned fortifications faced prospects of Baroda invasions in the near future.

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Diu Province’s Districts

The demarcation was laid out with political goals in mind, paying little concern with demographic identifications

Forbes’ demarcations, as it would happen in Daman as well, were purposely conceived to not follow traditional divisions in the region, instead imposing a new administration echelon and ruling style that fit the new overlord’s needs. Populations were not necessarily happy but the intended effect of breaking their regional mindset was the main goal so that assimilation would be more feasible. Religious law was also increasingly harsher the further you were away from Diu, while Maruva, Caixão and Cachala still tolerated Hinduism somewhat (largely for the populist nightmare it would be to burn all their temples and symbols), Hinduism was repressed on equal ground with Islamism in Talaja and, most particularly, Gernão, where the religious holy site of Girnar hills was located.

Taxation was also reformed in the region; not only did modernized land measurement and coining arrive from Goa but rates remained at pre-Portuguese rates for Hindus but were even lower for Christian Portuguese. This prevented the shift in taxation from being perceived as an attack on Hindus (as their situation remained clearly the same as under the Maharaja) but opening a window to privilege in conversion, something that appealed to impoverished citizens. Islamic communities, however, had their taxes purposely raised. This had immediate violent effects, with unrest triggering a number of uprising mostly led by Imam community leaders against the European colonizers.

This occurred despite the supposed pro-Abrahamic approach of the Verneyist church, demonstrating that the fight against Islam was still very alive in the Portuguese church.

John Forbes knew this but let it play out naturally, his objective being that of holding fire until the repression triggered violent uprisings, thus bringing further sympathy from the Hindu Gujarat majority to the new administration. By 1st of December imams issued a joint declaration that arms would be taken if Diu continued to disallow the worship of Muhammad and Forbes let their voice be heard to all but with no relief, triggering a widespread revolt from Junagadh to Talaja on 10th of December.

The military presence of Portugal in India, however, was too strong, well-funded and organized and the Islamic minority was unable to gain sympathizers with large sectors of the Hindus due to tolerance practiced in Diu-bordering districts or with Jains, who practiced pacifism as a spiritual living. On 20 December 1781 the Diu Brigade stationed in the region had to crackdown on several simultaneous Islamic uprisings, resulting in many leader executions, border expulsions and PRP arrests.

This whole event brought great sympathy from the Hindu majority, who saw the war between their Islamic brethren and their Portuguese administrators as a popular disruption of peace, and John Forbes capitalized on this to increase militia and construction manpower in the region from Hindu Gujarati. The migration from Junagadh faithful away from their holy hill of Girnar to Keshod or even Diu itself, however, continued and eventually Forbes managed to coerce the population into allowing the Verneyist church to swoop in and establish churches the mountain as a syncretic spiritual site.

Using a combination of adopting Hinduism architecture and ideas as well as an alliance with the Germanic protestant churches in Europe, Diu was able to syphon a significant amount of missionaries into the districts and Girnar who built small schools and temples protected under military law but disallowed to criticized what Forbes called ‘aged Hindus’ (namely adults Hindus which were less likely to accept mixing with Verneyists and protestants) and instead focus on a primary education strategy aimed at Gujarati and immigrant children. This culminated in the expansion of the church of St. Paul in Diu into an abbey and the establishment of the first chapel in Mount ‘Gernão’, now partially adopted as a Verneyist religious site.

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Top: Diu Catholic College
Bottom (left to right): St. Paul Abbey in Diu & ‘São Gernão’ Chapel in Girnar

The expansion of religious infrastructure in the new provinces allowed the establishment of the Diu archdiocese and Mt. Girnar as a multi-religious pilgrimage site

In 1783, after the peace of the Treaty of Paris, religious violence would be officially outlawed in the Portuguese province by John Forbes, though religious bordering remained firmly strong. Hinduism remained a strong regional identity factor and a majority for the population, not to mention Mt. Girnar continued to allow pilgrimage of outside Hindus into it. By that same year, only approximately 7% of the region’s population was of an assortment Christianity, but this was a stark difference to the previous 1% confined to Diu Island.

It also effectively replaced Islam as the main minority religion in the region; most of the most zealous that did not attempt to attack the Bluecoats migrated to the north, to the Baroda domains, to try their luck in more Islam-friendly states.

Economy & Production: Cotton, Water and Gold
In the meantime, the district demarcation continued to benefit Diu itself, whose increasing population and urbanization over the following three years would cause the absorption of outlying fishing villages of the island into neighborhoods and an eventual spread to the mainland through a rebuilt bridge to Ghogola, now named Rebelo neighborhood after Vice-Admiral Hammershark. The road network and district boundaries made the Diu port the most useful to the peninsular region, its market being significantly more stable and profitable to go through for many inner towns of the Kathiawar. The appointed district magistrates continued to work towards this, reforming their respective regions, increasing bureaucracy, clearing land, ensuring road maintenance and managing the population so as to favor the urbanization of Diu, the entrance of missionaries and, most politically noticeable, the tolling of ships.

However Diu itself was not entirely productive based on its own resources, being more of a politically strategic spot than a rich territory. Most of its annexed territories, including Gernão and Caixão, only possessed fishing-based economies and some of the hinterland of Greater Diu itself belonged to the Gir Forest, inhabited by Asian lions and dry territory. The Malava and Taluja districts possessed some minor gem reserves which included diamonds, but not in a prospected portion that justified a significant portion of the economy for the Portuguese administration, as it was hard to motivate a resentful population to shift gears from farming and work in mines for the white man.

Governor John Forbes had to rely on a significant extent on the Portuguese India Company to mobilize the pacified portion of the population towards productive activity and, even so, make it so that it would benefit Diu itself in the end. Most of the population was organized into economic sectors between fishing, agriculture and commerce, with the members more willing to undergo education, especially either Portuguese or Catholic, being given opportunities in administration and trade.

Of the fisherman population, a large portion of the population that wasn’t vital for the feeding of the territory was recruited into sailing, usually serving the first few years in the Portuguese Indic navy but given promotion opportunities should they be willing to migrate to East Africa or Europe, but the most important mobilization was of the agricultural base towards cotton; at the time of the Luso-Maratha War, the American revolution was breaking out and American cotton prices, both from America itself and Brazil, were increasing at the expense of the cotton gin textile enterprise machine in the Douro Valley. John Forbes guaranteed that Diu cotton could not only reduce costs by sheer law of supply, but also provide it at lower production costs than American plantations.

By 1782, the Diu cotton market was booming.

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Diu Cotton Market – 1782

The Diu Cotton Market became the primary economic output of the province unrelated to its commercial steering.

Diu cotton was the most supplied quantity of the raw material in all of Portuguese India, outpacing even the nearby large province of Damão which underwent similar agricultural boosts. It was from Diu that the Mozambican coastal cotton agriculture began as well, with Indian planters buying land and starting farms in northern and central Mozambique, where not only the climate was appropriate, and the territory was nearby, but where some Islamic populations had already historically settled in. Cotton and cotton planters therefore became Diu’s top exportations and many Luso-Indians from Diu that went on to live in Brazil, Africa and Portugal became renowned for their Gujarat heritage and family connections to the cotton sector.

While Luso-African Cotton would historically surpass Diu quantities, the port of Diu remained a stamp of quality but also of profitable agricultural labor even in comparison to slave plantations, contributing to the demise of the surviving slave-based economies lingering all over the empire, though this would, unfortunately, only effectively replace it with virtual slavery, meaning work that was not equivalently corresponded with company salary, agricultural outcrop or market sale.

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Luso-Indians in Northern Mozambique

The Gujarat communities were hardworking agricultural entrepreneurs and contributed to the transformation of many Portuguese African colonies and the decline of slave labor, but also helped giving birth to ‘sweatshop’ plantations

Another economic measure was the building of hinterland reservoirs to counteract the climate and dryness, just like it had been done in southern Portugal. Despite the cotton based economy, the territory faced serious water availability issues, with some villages gathering around the same wells and a lot of rainwater being wasted. To help improve the economy and popularize the new administration, John Forbes planned the construction of a number of strategic reservoirs, many paid off by the cotton profits and shares bought on Diu businesses, and also planned to gather enough investment to eventually start mining operations in the gold and diamond reserves in northern Cachala.

These last few measures would be of longer-term, however, as fluvial and mineral engineering were expensive, long and dangerous businesses and most of the gains in these would be seen throughout the 1790s, in a completely different phase of the empire’s governing. Even so they would be a structural part of the province’s legitimacy as a profitable territory with durable identity.


Note:
The Luso-Maratha War continued a series of war between the Europeans and Indian countries. Just as iOTL these wars were significant in that it allowed European powers namely British to gain control of the Indian subcontinent and resulted in by the early part of the 19th century subjugating all independent Indian countries and principalities under European control. These wars re-imagined with Portuguese involvement tries to imagine a scenario where a bolstered and stronger Portuguese are involved in such wars and what the outcomes would be. To understand Portuguese position and strength in 1780 I would recommend readers review both Portuguese Maratha War of 1774 and the Portuguese Mysore war. Questions/Comments

Note regarding posting of this section. The Luso-Maratha War is over 60 pages and will be divided in approximately nine sections.

The integration of Diu was a huge task, so great was the expansion that Diu became its own province and the work needed to mold the new lands to the Portuguese empire was huge. Note for those comparing Portuguese to British methods they are totally different. The Portuguese brought their own government model and laws and implemented a completely different power structure that threw asside former leaders and rulers. While for most part the British prefered to work through the existing rulers. The Portuguese introduced major reforms in all aspects of the lives of the Indians and as was customary in those times sent tens of thousands of Indians to other parts of the Empire. Results were not accomplished overnight and would take years if not decades in some cases.

Please return Sunday January 12 as we post the 7th section of The Three-Years War (1780 -1784) - The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781).
 
Amazing work as always. I don't really have much to comment on and enjoyed the update greatly. Will come back once I think of something. :biggrin:
 
One final post to cap off the year, and as always it is excellent. I like seeing the focus shift from the war itself to the consolidation of gains made by Portugal because of it.

The Verneyist Church was introduced immediately, establishing a number of churches giving sermons in Portuguese, and officially disenfranchising the Islamic religion in favor of the native Hindu;

Religious law was also increasingly harsher the further you were away from Diu, while Maruva, Caixão and Cachala still tolerated Hinduism somewhat (largely for the populist nightmare it would be to burn all their temples and symbols), Hinduism was repressed on equal ground with Islamism in Talaja and, most particularly, Gernão, where the religious holy site of Girnar hills was located

You don't really go into detail what is meant by "disenfranchising" and "repressed". Are temples being closed? Are non-Christians not allowed weapons? It isn't clear. Also, it seems at odds with the assimilation strategy implied with the quotes below, among others:

Traditions like the Hindu Sati were forbidden in Greater Diu’s premises, attracting women of the outlying province possessions to make families in the Portuguese center under its influence

The Indian system of estates based on race, lineage and breed was replaced with Tagus Declaration style social structure, allowing Gujarat of all creeds to rise to capitalist, bureaucratic and military ranks for as long as they resided in Greater Diu

These policies triggered a migration event in southern Kathiawar, where many impoverished, disenfranchised and religiously unstable communities flocked to the fields north of Diu Island to work, build houses and have families under Greater-Dian policies, while the remaining territories like Junagadh were allowed to continue their traditional rule and ended up losing, in some cases, almost 30% of their population over the following five years.

The strategy here (a clever one, I might add) seems to be to attract the groups most susceptible to assimilation (low caste individuals and women who aren't thrilled with the prospect of Sati) to Greater Diu, while letting those who would most resist change remain in their ways, unwittingly giving the Portugese time to let their assimilation efforts go to work and to strengthen their presence on the peninsula. Why would repression of Hindus be the most blatant in the area of the local holy site, almost as if to stoke anti-Christian sentiment as much as possible? Why confirm the worst fears of native reactionaries?

Of course, this strategy of attracting people open to change also means the outermost provinces are deliberately filtered of Portugese-sympathetic nativea - the people who remain in those areas overwhelmingly would prefer nothing more than for Baroda to return and kick the Portugese out. I suppose that's what the fortresses are for.

If I was Forbes, I would be very conscious on using the issue of the Sati as a lever with which to break the power of the traditionalists. Girls' schools in Greater Diu, and tutors hired by native families in the other provinces, couldn't tell their female students to run away to Greater Diu, but they could, y'know, "generally mention" the experiences and opportunities they know that women can find there, and "just put it out there" that the leader of the local church or chapel may "know a guy who knows a guy" who can get one to Diu no questions asked. Losing 30% of your population in 5 years is bad, that 30% being disproportionately young women is a harbinger of demographic collapse. This influx of young women could also be matched by an influx of young immigrant men - integration of even the deep rural countryside is going to need to involve a lot of people who can seamlessly cross the divide between Gujarat and Portugese traditions, and since making those people is a lengthy and involved process it's best to start as soon as possible.

The Malava and Taluja districts possessed some minor gem reserves which included diamonds, but not in a prospected portion that justified a significant portion of the economy for the Portuguese administration, as it was hard to motivate a resentful population to shift gears from farming and work in mines for the white man.

Seems like an opportunity to declare the area the deposits are in "public land" and allow the locals to make a stake and pocket whatever gems they dig up. By the time the easier pickings dry up and more organised mining is required in order to dig deeper, the area would have already gone through significant change to support the prospecting boom - somebody has to sell the prospector his stuff, give him lodgings, feed him, and attend to his "other" needs.

Of the fisherman population, a large portion of the population that wasn’t vital for the feeding of the territory was recruited into sailing, usually serving the first few years in the Portuguese Indic navy but given promotion opportunities should they be willing to migrate to East Africa or Europe

I admire the political sensibilities of this. Aside from their experience of the sea, it also allows more Gujarati to receive integration via the military without necessarily making them face the prospect of leaving home or fighting members of their own people, like they might if in the Army - with Baroda's navy trashed and left in no state to fight for a very long time, the only foes on their horizons are common pirates, even in the event of another war with Baroda these fishermen-turned-seamen won't get put in the position where they might prove unreliable.

While Luso-African Cotton would historically surpass Diu quantities, the port of Diu remained a stamp of quality but also of profitable agricultural labor even in comparison to slave plantations, contributing to the demise of the surviving slave-based economies lingering all over the empire, though this would, unfortunately, only effectively replace it with virtual slavery, meaning work that was not equivalently corresponded with company salary, agricultural outcrop or market sale.

This seems like it might cause trouble: the pro-slavery faction in the empire is dissipated and abolitionism/race equality as a movement grows stronger every day, there's no reason why they'd overlook this just because it isn't technically slavery. The prospect of revolts in Portugal's cotton-profucing regions against slave-like conditions during the 1790s, when Portugal is going to be fighting for its life and when it will need cloth and cash the most, might force a confrontation and an intervention by the government before it boils over.
 
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Lusitania

Donor
One final post to cap off the year, and as always it is excellent. I like seeing the focus shift from the war itself to the consolidation of gains made by Portugal because of it.

Yes the way each war it setup is as follows:
1) Setting
2) Progress of War
3) Peace Treaty
4) Analysis and Integration of the conquered land
5) Impact of the war

Since this war led to 3 major areas being expanded (Diu, Daman and Goa) each will have a section and usually a detailed report on how the Portuguese go about integrating the region into their empire. We are talking about two small enclaves that have been expanded into their own provinces. Diu is the first and the information we are providing gives the reader a detailed picture of how life for the Portuguese and the locals has changed.

You don't really go into detail what is meant by "disenfranchising" and "repressed". Are temples being closed? Are non-Christians not allowed weapons? It isn't clear. Also, it seems at odds with the assimilation strategy implied with the quotes below, among others:

This is a combination for mixture of approaches. Church, temples that are seen as anti Portuguese or centers for resistance are the first to be "closed" or destroyed. Their leaders arrested and either imprisoned or exiled to mines or other remote places outside the Sub-continent. Some temples are left open, those that do not preach resisting Portuguese rule or attacking Portuguese interests. Catholic Church is given land in many of the villages, sometimes taking over the land that former Hindu temple existed. The Portuguese Catholic Church in Portuguese India is almost fully Indian self contained, meaning the religious figures who arrive in the region are not Europeans but would be Indian. In fact the church is able to also send out tens of priests and other religious people to preach and convert not only those around Portuguese India but also follow the Indians being sent to other continents.

The only ones who are authorized to have weapons are Portuguese citizens, this was a policy that implemented in the first conquests when locals attacked Portuguese officials with swords.

As for Assimilation we are talking about a mixed policy. Adhere to Portuguese law and administration and we provide you with a better opportunities than you had before. Laws to help those oppressed, schooling and ability to advance and prosper without regard to caste or previous social class.

The strategy here (a clever one, I might add) seems to be to attract the groups most susceptible to assimilation (low caste individuals and women who aren't thrilled with the prospect of Sati) to Greater Diu, while letting those who would most resist change remain in their ways, unwittingly giving the Portuguese time to let their assimilation efforts go to work and to strengthen their presence on the peninsula. Why would repression of Hindus be the most blatant in the area of the local holy site, almost as if to stoke anti-Christian sentiment as much as possible? Why confirm the worst fears of native reactionaries?

Of course, this strategy of attracting people open to change also means the outermost provinces are deliberately filtered of Portuguese-sympathetic native - the people who remain in those areas overwhelmingly would prefer nothing more than for Baroda to return and kick the Portuguese out. I suppose that's what the fortresses are for.

If I was Forbes, I would be very conscious on using the issue of the Sati as a lever with which to break the power of the traditionalists. Girls' schools in Greater Diu, and tutors hired by native families in the other provinces, couldn't tell their female students to run away to Greater Diu, but they could, y'know, "generally mention" the experiences and opportunities they know that women can find there, and "just put it out there" that the leader of the local church or chapel may "know a guy who knows a guy" who can get one to Diu no questions asked. Losing 30% of your population in 5 years is bad, that 30% being disproportionately young women is a harbinger of demographic collapse. This influx of young women could also be matched by an influx of young immigrant men - integration of even the deep rural countryside is going to need to involve a lot of people who can seamlessly cross the divide between Gujarat and Portuguese traditions, and since making those people is a lengthy and involved process it's best to start as soon as possible.

Yes the goal was to slowly build on up the economy, bringing in tax revenue that allows the state to implement policies that help integrate a greater percentage of the population. Remember those that resist but do not attack or incite others are left for another day, while those considered against the Portuguese have a way of disappearing, While every year more and more people are becoming in some ways assimilated and accepting of Portuguese rule. Those who have the most to gain adopt more of the Portuguese Indian customs and way of life. Providing school to both boys and girls (many times run by Portuguese Catholic Church) or other denominations increases those who have most to gain by assimilation.

While greater Diu is the area of greatest Assimilation in time the rest of province of Diu will become like Greater Diu. Sati will be outlawed and gallows erected in any village that practices Sati. The first time all leaders and every 1/5 males in village are hung as penalty for Sati then the message will spread. But that level of control takes time as the Portuguese move slowly with greater Diu being the center of the Portuguese assimilation in the first decade or two. Recruitment to the Portuguese armed forces continually allow the provinces governor to spread Portuguese control. So while at beginning control in the outer districts is limited slowly over time it becomes same as Greater Diu and all Diu becomes a magnet for those escaping persecution and repression.

Seems like an opportunity to declare the area the deposits are in "public land" and allow the locals to make a stake and pocket whatever gems they dig up. By the time the easier pickings dry up and more organized mining is required in order to dig deeper, the area would have already gone through significant change to support the prospecting boom - somebody has to sell the prospector his stuff, give him lodgings, feed him, and attend to his "other" needs.

Prospectors will slowly work many of these deposits and in some cases convicts or "rebels" would be used as laborers in these mines.

I admire the political sensibilities of this. Aside from their experience of the sea, it also allows more Gujarati to receive integration via the military without necessarily making them face the prospect of leaving home or fighting members of their own people, like they might if in the Army - with Baroda's navy trashed and left in no state to fight for a very long time, the only foes on their horizons are common pirates, even in the event of another war with Baroda these fishermen-turned-seamen won't get put in the position where they might prove unreliable.

Portuguese Indic Navy was growing and in dire need of sailors, at same time there was also the growing Indic merchant fleet that absorbed some, but those that wanted to advance needed to migrate, so we could see a large Indian portion of the Portuguese far east or Atlantic Navy. We also note that the Portuguese navy was one of the most integrated navies in the western world with at times over 1/3 being non European. In time Indian officers and captain would appear another thing that would set the Portuguese navy apart from its other European counterparts.

This seems like it might cause trouble: the pro-slavery faction in the empire is dissipated and abolitionism/race equality as a movement grows stronger every day, there's no reason why they'd overlook this just because it isn't technically slavery. The prospect of revolts in Portugal's cotton-profucing regions against slave-like conditions during the 1790s, when Portugal is going to be fighting for its life and when it will need cloth and cash the most, might force a confrontation and an intervention by the government before it boils over.

iOTL when the British abolished slavery in the 1830s they imported thousands of Indians to the West Indies to work in the plantations. So it seems that Portuguese are moving ahead of the British in the TL. Also freedom and slavery were in many ways almost identical. Only difference that Slaves could be sold but most plantations and farm workers would be born, live and die in the farm or plantation with their salary being almost their room and board and a little amount of coin. But virtual slavery continued for centuries throughout the world and still exists today.

As for confrontation, slavery had been abolished in Europe, Africa, India and Asia only Brazil was it continuing. At same time it was being slowly suppressed there too. Portuguese production of cotton or Diu Cotton became the "cadilac" of Portuguese cotton and used for the more expensive clothing and bedding or cloths. It became symbolic like "Port" wine with its production and sale and use closely guarded to make sure others did not profit from it. A "Algudao de Diu" label affixed to would mean the cloth could command hefty premium. Also means some would try to fake.
 
You don't really go into detail what is meant by "disenfranchising" and "repressed". Are temples being closed? Are non-Christians not allowed weapons? It isn't clear. Also, it seems at odds with the assimilation strategy implied with the quotes below, among others:

This question reminds me to make an important disclosure about the way religious policies are picked in this TL by the actors; in case it isn't clear, the general idea is to reduce religious interference with government, but Islam is a particular case among Abrahamic religions where its holy book instructs not just how to act spiritually, but how to conduct government and even warfare as a whole. It's a particularity of the Mohammed teachings.

Obviously Christian and Hebrews, especially during these older times, also pursue a fusion of church and state, but this is not directly mandated by their texts, unlike with the Coran. This is something you can ask your local Iman, if you wish, about how what differentiates them from Christians is how Islam dictates how broader aspects of life should be governed. You can also read more about the way Islam merges the church with politics here :): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_aspects_of_Islam

This means that whenever these integration sections are written, they will always seem to readers that they take a disproportionate crackdown on Islamic communities and mention that there is a higher rate of failure of government policies when tolerance is picked, but this is NOT intentional. Its mostly because the religion itself is more prone to 'allergy' towards being administered by actors not of its faith. It's NOT a deliberate attempt to portray said communities negatively, it's just an unfortunate consequence of the way the Islamic faith is particularly rooted in the idea that church should be merged with state.

And since the post-Pombaline society is particularly technocratic, in the sense that it refuses to fuse spiritual matters with goverment policy and tends to pick the result they understand to work best, it leads to the unfortunate consequence that the Portuguese in this TL end up becoming particularly harsh with the right of minorities to regional laws in Islamic colonies.
 
The Three-Years War (1780-1783) - The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781) (7 of 9)

Lusitania

Donor
The Three-Years War (1780-1783) (cont.)

The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781) (7 of 9)

Territorial Integration - Greater Daman
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The heraldry of Greater Daman took after that of the original Daman territory, featuring two castles representing the city and the inner possession of Silvassa

The expanded Province of Daman faced as much promise as troubles; it had multiplied its landmass over eight times, taking control of several local important marks in the geopolitical map, but also taking over a large native Marathi population that, albeit no stranger to the Portuguese after two centuries living by Damão, had never been their subject either.

Much like with Diu, however, Damão had in its possession exciting new administrative tools and manpower to make use of in its new age of growing power in northwestern India. The first appointed governor of the new province independent of Goa was Joseph Soares.

Governor Joseph Soares
I have no intention to be popular, Andrade, only successful. Pick up your men and do your rounds; we have a territory yet to conquer.
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-Joseph Soares to Br. General Andrade, on the subject of his draconian demands
Lord José Pedro Soares
Born 5 May 1750
Died 6 November 1822
Merchant, Ship Captain, Navy Voluntary and Colonial Governor

‘Joseph Pedro Soares’ was born in Lamego, Portugal, in 1750, during Pombal’s tenure as the Foreign Affairs Minister. As a young man he had a restless soul and at age of 18 signed on a sailing ship headed for the Far East and India. At age of 22, he had become captain of the ship and over next four years sailed mostly between Macau and Panjim, amassing a small personal fortune in the growing Luso-Russian commerce. In 1777, however, he was caught up in the Indian conflicts and signed up his ship to help the Portuguese Indic navy during the Luso-Mysore war. In the battle of Bangalore his ship was part of Hammershark’s frontal dive into the enemy fleet line and suffered several shots, resulting in Captain Soares losing sensation on his left leg. In 1778 he sold out his share in the ship and moved to Bangalore, now a Portuguese possession, where he used his savings to finish his studies in commerce and administration while taking part in the integration efforts.

In 1780, however, during the Second Luso-Dutch War, part of the Three-Years War, a revolt against Portuguese rule instigated by Dutch and French agents occurred in the city. With the full force of the Brigades stationed in India fighting the ongoing Luso-Maratha War, Portuguese Mangalore risked facing a major defeat, but Joseph was able to rally commercial sympathizers, Christian Indians and the garrison against the insurgents and defeat them. When reinforcements finally arrived most of the insurrection leaders had been executed while their followers had been arrested and made to clean up the damage and start rebuilding the city.

Impressed by Soares’ ruthless administration and initiative, the Portuguese India Company recommended him to Vice-Roy Holstein as a provincial governor and, following the 1781 Treaty of Satari, Joseph sailed to Damão where he took office as the new overlord.

Joseph Soares relied heavily on infrastructural projects to bring about legislation and authority to the new territories, drafting the new population towards constructing roads, halls, offices and ports at the cost of reparation money and the reflux of the commercial flow. Most of the new administrators were either Damão residents educated after the repeal of Blood Cleanliness laws or Caucasian colonists brought in by PRP or Brazilian governor acts and they had to deal with a population unused to Portuguese command.

The local government, therefore, was still in a state of quasi-war with the local Marathi and Joseph was ruthless on them, ordering the Daman Brigade to smash the nearly immediate uprisings after passing his first edicts and ordering PRP light ships from Lisbon to be stationed in the port of Daman at all times.

The first successes in implementation were military; Brigadier General Andrade was officially stationed with the 1st Daman Brigade in the news territories and went about to periodically crackdown on resistance with his Bluecoats and light troop auxiliaries and making sure the new vital fortifications, especially a star fort in Khamloli to the south and basic fortifications in the many critical passes to the Deccan interior, were finished and equipped in time for the next conflict as well as to harden the sovereignty of the new borders.

The second were commercial and political ones; Joseph Soares worked around the clock to build up new fortified plazas in towns like Jawhar, Bulsar, Navsari and Dharampur from where flags would be erected, decisions would be made, and contracts would be signed in the name of the crown. These new ‘feitorias’, both fluvial and hinterland, were the cornerstone of Soares’ administration as most new churches, town fortifications and investments were made in these tight, planned out spaces.

Joseph Soares would go down as a governor known for his harsh hand on legal matters, but one that paved the way for future governors to have an easier time investing in the Damão province. He was awarded non-hereditary peerage for his contributions by King Joseph II as well as membership in the Chamber of Commerce council, immortalizing his feats in history.

District Demarcation, Fortification & Legislation

Much like in Diu, the new province of Greater Damão was divided into districts akin to Metropolitan Portugal, but in this particular case Governor Soares based the divisions on regional roles directed at the military and economic benefit of the overall territory, instead of religious equilibrium. A coincidence, however, was found in the privileges enjoyed by the capital district aimed at encouraging the population to migrate to Damão’s premises; religious tolerance, institutions and employment investment was higher here than in the new lands, so many Marathi contributed to the urbanization of Damão throughout the three years that followed on their own accord.

This was because the Konkani lowlands had relatively high population (though the portion of the region taken by the Portuguese was the more lightly populated, with locations further to the south still in Maratha hands, like Thana and Basseim, still boasting regional records) and some towns like Navsari boasting tremendous historical identities going back all the way to the Copper Age. The region’s strategic potential, however, was not only high but vital to capitalize on, especially if Daman wished to stay politically relevant in spite of British Surat and British Bombay’s nearby commercial hotspots.

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Damão Province’s Districts
The demarcation was laid out with military and economic goals in mind, unlike Diu which followed a political agenda

The border provinces, especially the ‘Barreira Alta’ and ‘Barreira Baixa’ (Upper Barrier and Lower Barrier) which had lower population density and higher terrain hardiness, were specialized in military development, with most military drills and fortification construction being conducted in these districts and with a higher number of buildings seized for military hospitality.

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Many minor fortifications were assembled during the first phase of Portuguese rule over these lands

The Daman River fluvial star fort built in Barreira Alta protected the city of Dadra from eastern attacks and doubled as a dam to control the flow of the entire river and the Khamloli valley Bragança Fortress blocked the main artery from the south with a pronged style of star fortification and both these constructions would become historical landmarks of Soares’ stewardship.

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Bragança and Dadra Fortresses
These two large constructions were the main projects completed in Damão upon Portuguese expansion and secured its domains throughout the remainder of the musket warfare period

The district of Banda Interior, being flatter and more populated with towns like Jawhar, followed a more administrative approach that focused on securing communication and traffic with the Daman office and the building of western schools. Finally, the coast districts of Banda Litoral, Bolsa Litoral and Navegador followed a commercial approach, allowing the Portuguese India Company to move in and secure the production of Indian goods but, more importantly, steer port traffic resources to Damão itself. The outpost port of ‘Belos Ares’ in the southwestern tip of the province was built from the congregation of local villages and, combined with Condado, Bulsar, Bilimora and Navegador, formed a network of minor ports under the Company’s jurisdiction that ensured maritime vigilance.

In fact, this led to one of the first metropolitan-colonial exportations of the semaphore system, with the Company installing signal towers in most of these new fortresses and ports to ensure Damão controlled the entire province which, in combination with the reforms done in the nearby province of Diu, would lead to shift of commercial power in the Gulf of Cambay, as detailed below.[1]

Economy & Production –Sugar, ‘Blue Gold’, Weaponry and Ports

You never keep both the gun and the powder with you. The difference between a well-kept gun colony and an open rebellion is the gunpowder being made half a world away in Rio, away from the people.
-Joseph Soares

Despite the significantly higher population than and different culture from Diu, the territories of Greater Damão faced economic realities similar to it, namely a plethora of exotic agriculture (to Europeans of course) and a host of fishing villages. They also had an established sugarcane plantation sector and these seemed to be the most immediately profitable bet for the province despite Brazilian sugar outweighing it countless times over.

Governor Joseph Soares was one in mind with John Forbes in the policy of agricultural specialization; where dedicating a significant portion of the region’s resources and mentality to a single cash crop helped establish market prestige through quality standards, much like it had been done with wine in metropolitan Portugal region charters like the Douro Valley and some Alentejo farms. Sugarcane, however, was seeing something of an economic infamy in the minds of the Portuguese economists, as it was associated with what had been the increasingly problematic sugarcane market in Brazil that continuously discouraged industrialization, slave liberation and land tax reforms.

Governor Joseph therefore allowed a degree of agricultural diversity, betting on some side crops like grapes and rice while keeping sugarcanes as the main organized agricultural sector in the region. The plantation of mangoes was also bolstered as a regional crop. Contracts were signed between him and the nearby European province governors to incentivize the growth and privileging of Daman sugar over Brazilian one as an effort to offset the market’s slave labor stranglehold, much like cotton had done in Diu.

Another promoted agriculture was the one aimed at dyes and their grinding, particularly indigo dye, at the time so valuable it was known as ‘Blue Gold’, with the objective to promote commerce with the increasingly important textile industries in Europe. While indigo plantations were present in the southern US and Brazil, they were unable to match Bengalese dyes, which were the largest supply of natural indigo in the world, so setting up a focused production of the more expensive dyes had commercial promise. Many of the farmers steered away from sugar canes were gathered around plantations by the rivers were the material could be more effectively processed.

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Indigo dye became the second agricultural brand in Daman under Soares

Bulsar, Nova Sares and Bilimora, all northern riverside towns were the main centers of the dye production initiative. The overall objective of this was, once again, to solidify Daman identity in the conquered region by force of soft influence. Damão obviously could not compete with Surat and Bengal directly in textiles and dyes or even in strategic commerce, so capitalizing on its larger size and uprooted, unrested population to artificially inflate importance was perceived as the best strategy by the Portuguese governor.

The extent of the success of this was debatable; while Surat remained naturally superior, the population of Greater Damão had, indeed, been almost completely mobilized through employment manipulation against the odds the foreign stewardship faced while in Surat the British had to negotiate with their protected princes to maintain sovereignty. While the Konkani Indians did not identify with the Portuguese government, the greater effort to develop the impoverished region compared to other colonized parts of India (including Goa and Diu) did and the employment policies offered them a channel to conduct their energies.

This meant that the traditionally successful agricultures were not harmed for the most part, and the surplus of farmers unable to feed themselves was given salary by the Portuguese India Company to work in new plantations. Sugar and Dyes therefore became a common product in the region for the populace, standing out from outlying territories. While the conditions were difficult, they showed off labor results.

Soares was therefore perceived as harsh, but honest about his intentions.

To further improve the agricultural sector, a number of fluvial projects were outlined, mainly the clearing of vegetation and the already mentioned Daman fort’s dam which helped artificially control the discharge of the Daman Ganga River. While this reduced the natural infiltration of water in certain regions were work was not intended in, it focused it back on will in areas intended for plantation, especially areas closer to the coast, using engineering notes taken in similarly dry areas like Morbeia and Beja.

The problem still remained, however, that the overall territory had an unremarkable economic output relatively to its size and population, so Joseph Soares had to go above and beyond in finding new activities for the region and eventually settled on servicing the Navy; the coast Daman ruled over offered less natural harboring than Goa, but offered harboring nonetheless and had better supplying conditions than dry Diu. It also possessed the spare population to work on raw materials, especially a material from a nearby province that was being worked on in Lisbon, the iron output of Goan mines.

In August 1781, while reviewing the plans for the Maratha-landed Daman to Goa highroad with Governor Frederick Holstein, Soares suggested a contract of iron supply from Goa to Damão to be worked on by metallurgies he intended to activate. It was the typical policy of Pombaline Portugal for weaponry to be manufactured in the metropolis to reduce the chances of stockpiles falling in the hands of separatists, with the special exception of the gunpowder industry in Brazil, so Soares had to write a letter to the Navy & Colonial Ministry in Lisbon to authorize the establishment of weapon workshops and the respective stock marketing.

At the time, the Silver Arm weaponry complex in Lisbon was finishing its last construction phase and began handing out stocks in the Chambers of Commerce. It’s company board profited significantly from the high demand for quality weaponry in both the Army and the Navy, so it was not interested in boosting colonial productions, but the Luso-Maratha War was just one of the ongoing conflicts so sheer necessity overpowered mercantilism; many of the forts and manpower stationed in the expanded Portuguese India needed lots of new guns and there was also the need to install an official manufacturing of the Armed Rockets division, which had just proven its worth against the Marathas.

Joseph Soares was thus given authorization and personnel to establish a gun and musket production sector in Daman, but not a cannon one. As early as 1782, the first organized western-owned supplier of weaponized pyrotechnics was built (while the Indic Army already possessed Armed Rockets and revamped equipment for it, they were merely adapted remains of captured samples in the Luso-Mysore War of 1777).

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Damão Weaponry Sector
The province became the primary builder and supplier of Armed Rockets and muskets for the Indic Army

The final cuts of the budget were steered towards strengthening the region’s naval importance, particularly by organizing new settlement centers by the coast. The most important of these centers was ‘Belos Ares’, a southwestern fishing colony organized by Soares at the mouth of the Vaitarna river, where Portuguese domains ended, and named after the Spanish settlement of similar geographic position in La Plata. Centered just north of Jhow Island, it was comprised of native farmers and fishermen steered around a walled town hall and its objective was initially an initiative to improve food supply conditions for the nearby fortifications in Khamloli’s Bragança fortress.

The town, however, would evolve as an outpost of naval vigilance and ship construction, with a lighthouse and drydock eventually being built in it by the struggling new inhabitants to serve fishing and war needs. This effort was replicated in Dahanu, where the new port named Condado would eventually supplant the native town in administration, as well as Bulsar and Bilimora themselves, but the case of Belos Aires was so prominent that the construction of an over-border bridge over the Vaitarna River from it was temporarily considered before military concerns overruled the project.

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Organized port towns of mixed architecture like Belos Ares, Bulsar and Condado became the fourth main aspect of the expanded Portuguese Damão

The construction of these artificial fishing colonies was accelerated by the fact that the Arabian Sea was still reeling from the war campaign against William Piranha, who had now fled to China and Indonesia but rumors said he had been captured by Hammershark somewhere in Timor. The fishermen and merchants felt the need of a well-organized and secure water domain and the Portuguese had amassed significant naval prestige from their victories against Tipu Sultan’s navy and over William Piranha himself, who had been forced to flee the region by Hammershark in 1779.

There were also the ongoing naval conflict of the Three Years War against the Dutch and the French to frighten the rural folk. The prospect of living nearby strong walls and professional navies, not to mention a demand for naval workforce, therefore appealed to the native population, who began migrating to these port towns from their less developed fishing villages, effectively urbanizing these colonies much faster than Joseph anticipated.

In conclusion, the economy of Damão was branded by sugar, dyes and weaponry, three things the empire at the time needed to balance in terms of cheaper supplying. Damão would therefore evolve as the military center of the Portuguese Indic army over time, providing approximately 20% of the national arms production by the aftermath of the Three Years War.

Sinu Nostrum - Lords of the Cambay
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The Pearls of the Cambay are now the Lusitanian sisters of the Indian sea; Daman and Diu now rule over the gulf from their thrones, their loyalty to the Lisbon King.
-declaration on the uplifting of Diu and Daman

The inclusion of the territory of Piram Bet, now named Pirão Island, in Portuguese demands was not a result of sheer land greed; while British Surat was a highly strategic position for commerce in the area, the gulf of Cambay (por. Golfo da Cambaia) was centered by this small, forested island which had been historically used by pirates like Mokhadaji Gohil in the 14th century to toll ships trafficking in the gulf. The destruction of its fort by the Muslims threw the territory into obscurity, but when the Baroda State in the middle of the eighteenth century acquired it a bastion was rebuilt to reestablish control, only for, little later, with the 1781 treaty of Satari, it to be turned to Portugal.

This combined with the province of Diu itself and the coast-strangling province of Daman meant that any ship seeking to leave the important gulf had three watchful Lusitanian eyes to pass through, and with one of the strongest navies in the area present it was unlikely that the power projection of these territories over commerce would pass anytime soon. Only a small battalion of Indic Army marines was stationed there, but with much larger Bluecoat battalions marching back and forth in nearby mainland territories, this proved more than enough to discourage prolonged assaults on the fort.

Surat remained a vital source of wealth for the British, as its river cut deep into central Indian Territory, but the gulf waters themselves continued to be majorly controlled by Portuguese eyes and guns, and so tolls and tariffs were applicable to any ship passing through the Diu-Pirão-Damão water line, this despite the triple territory domain not having direct physical control over the gulf ports themselves or even being the most internally placed European enclaves, this honor being reserved to Surat.

The problem with the British stratagem of expanding their city, however, was that Diu and, most importantly, Damão were willing to offer lesser tariffs on the Indians for exporting their goods on account of a more stable administrative position (for some ruthless reasons), larger trade infrastructure (mainly the road network) and the reattachment of privileged commercial ties with the Marathi Confederacy by the Second treaty of Satari. Surat therefore was assailed by a loss of importance potential which greatly aggravated the Bombay office, which had a harder and harder time competing with Portuguese West India, especially as its expenses increased due to military ambitions.

Surat, moreover, had been in decline for some time. Ever since the Bombay office was established, its importance as a port for the British had diminished gradually for over a century and its heavily native population made it unlikely that the British would ever be able to directly syphon its economy unto themselves. Increasing resentment from the Bombay office to Eyre Coote over the limited British gains and their focus on Surat had also bred dysfunctional conflict in the Company. It was likely a better treaty gains stratagem would have been an expansion of Bombay instead of Surat.

In the meantime, Damão issued a number of port concentration projects that led to the birth of artificial shipping colonies like Condado and Belos Ares made up of local fisherman natives and European merchant settlers. The province’s naval storage power was rising at the same time it positioned itself in the middle of the power scale tipping between Surat and Bombay. Not only that, but the entire ‘flatland’ coast all the way to the Deccan plateau rising was integrated in Portuguese borders, meaning North-South land commerce was in Lusitanian hands and grew in importance as the road project completed itself.

Damão and Diu therefore found themselves in a position of virtual strangling of the Cambay Gulf Commerce; even though Surat was further in, a belt of Portuguese waters centered by Pirão Island fort was formed between the two provinces that maintained a much tighter vigilance over entrances and exits in the important harbor cluster. This effect was heightened by the urbanization of Diu’s expanded administrative borders and of the many port towns in the Greater-Daman coast caused by employment prospects and fear of naval raids; by 1782 most of the regional merchants began basing their operations in Portuguese-promoted towns and most ships trafficking in the gulf stopped by either Diu or Daman’s ports instead of Surat.

The only disadvantages these two territories could not really overcome was the laxer religious law in British territories, not to mention their more natural positioning for conglomeration of region goods. It was becoming well known that Diu was pursuing an anti-Sunni policy in its countryside and that didn’t appeal well to merchants who still had a plethora of ports to make use of.

As the years passed, however, it became obvious that the Portuguese soft blockade was very much undeniable; pirates found themselves unable to conduct well organized operations due to the fortified territories being well capable of keeping them away and many east Kathiawar merchants stood to lose far more money if they chose to make use of their remaining Baroda or British harbor alternatives. Hinterland territories around Nishka and Pune also found themselves unable to profit from exportations without traversing their commerce through Portuguese Daman. Great quantities of plantation crops and textiles began crossing down the Deccan passes to Daman instead of going to Surat and many ships leaving Ahmedabad and Barygaza (Broach) passed through Portuguese waters.

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The ‘Cinta de Cambay’
The Portuguese Cambay water belt effectively ensured the dominance of Lisbon in the sea region despite the presence and prominence of British Surat

The claim of dominating the Cambay Gulf was thus made by the Portuguese India Company despite the British spike of Surat being very well present, a claim that had important political repercussions and would radicalize the stakes of the Luso-Dutch side of the Three-Years War.


[1] See Section: The Three-Years War (1780 – 1783) – The Luso-Maratha War (1780 – 1781) -Sinu Nostrum-Lords of the Cambay


Note:
The Luso-Maratha War continued a series of war between the Europeans and Indian countries. Just as iOTL these wars were significant in that it allowed European powers namely British to gain control of the Indian subcontinent and resulted in by the early part of the 19th century subjugating all independent Indian countries and principalities under European control. These wars re-imagined with Portuguese involvement tries to imagine a scenario where a bolstered and stronger Portuguese are involved in such wars and what the outcomes would be. To understand Portuguese position and strength in 1780 I would recommend readers review both Portuguese Maratha War of 1774 and the Portuguese Mysore war. Questions/Comments

Note regarding posting of this section. The Luso-Maratha War is over 60 pages and will be divided in approximately nine sections.

Similar to Diu, Daman expansion was huge and needed a strong leader, luckily Soares had both the aptitude and ability to be the province of Daman first governor. He gained much fame and wealth for himself and his family. It was a fluke that we found out that @Archangel is a direct descendent of Soares. When I mentioned the discovery he mentioned he was very proud of his great, great... grandfather. We will have other opportunities for other readers to also have their ancestry linked.

The second part was the continued growth of Portuguese India along Indian subcontinent west coast all while at determent to the British presence in Surat and Bombay.

Please return Sunday January 26 as we post the 8th section of
The Three-Years War (1780 -1784) - The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781).



 
Wonder if the British are going to hold resentment against that.they are obviously allied but it will not be the first time they try to weaken an ally
 
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Once again wonderful update with more resources add to further hurt the slave trade across the empire and giving a strong loca manufacturing base for Portugal and military as well
Will this be the start of the downfall of British Portugal alliance or at least a decline?
 
Similar to Diu, Daman expansion was huge and needed a strong leader, luckily Soares had both the aptitude and ability to be the province of Daman first governor. He gained much fame and wealth for himself and his family. It was a fluke that we found out that @Archangel is a direct descendent of Soares. When I mentioned the discovery he mentioned he was very proud of his great, great... grandfather. We will have other opportunities for other readers to also have their ancestry linked.
Thanks for the cameo. ;)
 
In conclusion, the economy of Damão was branded by sugar, dyes and weaponry, three things the empire at the time needed to balance in terms of cheaper supplying. Damão would therefore evolve as the military center of the Portuguese Indic army over time, providing approximately 20% of the national arms production by the aftermath of the Three Years War.

If wages are getting lower in Damao than in the rest of the Empire then I could see cotton being sent there to be made in textiles with the local dyes. And could engineering being developped relative to the weapons, making this place, in the very long term, an important industrial area?
 

Lusitania

Donor
Wonder if the British are going to hold resentment against that.they are obviously allied but it will not be the first time they try to weaken an ally

very good question and one we will address in the next two updates. What we can reveal at this time is that British East India offices are somewhat regional at this time in history.
Once again wonderful update with more resources add to further hurt the slave trade across the empire and giving a strong loca manufacturing base for Portugal and military as well
Will this be the start of the downfall of British Portugal alliance or at least a decline?
Ah one question that strikes at the heart of the relationship of the alliance. One that will be be on many minds during the next decade or two as Portugal navigates its way through diplomatic minefield of the late 18th and early 19th century.

Note: British - Portuguese alliance is much more than the interaction between British East India Company and Portuguese India but two empires coexisting and at times there will be friction. This is a topic we will return to a few times over the next decades.

Thanks for the cameo. ;)

Pleasure

note: we will have the next cameo opportunity at end of the 3 year war section.

If wages are getting lower in Damao than in the rest of the Empire then I could see cotton being sent there to be made in textiles with the local dyes. And could engineering being developped relative to the weapons, making this place, in the very long term, an important industrial area?
While manufacturing is spreading out to overseas provinces such as Brazil and now Portuguese India it will be a while until we see a shift in textile industry to Portuguese India. That requires a stronger Portuguese presence in India than at moment and bigger industrial class and of course $$. But something like that is inevitable.
 
The Three-Years War (1780-1783) - The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781) (8 of 9)

Lusitania

Donor
The Three-Years War (1780-1783) (cont.)

The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781) (8 of 9)

Territorial Integration – Northern Goa

Finally there was the smaller territorial acquisitions made in Northern Goa, which increased Portuguese territory only approximately 20% but still included some notable locations like the Deccan road in Amboli used by the Portuguese to attack southern Maratha lands and the historically important urban center of Belgaum, at the time renowned for being at the frontier of Maratha-Mysore disputes and being the basket of an enormous scope of the western Indian sugar market.

In this theater, land integration was significantly easier by sheer law of size as while Damão and Diu multiplied their territories many times over, Goa only had a small stripe of land and a single major urban center to press its sovereignty over, so resources spent in welcoming the people into the club were visibly lowered, but still faced challenges unique to the Goan situation.


Centralization, District Demarcation & The ‘Novas Cidades’

One of these challenges was the internal structure of Portuguese India after the 1781 treaty of Satari expansions. Under the Portuguese these lands were placed directly under the thumb of Vice-Roy Holstein, who carried out administrative reforms to meet the needs of the much-expanded Portuguese India. The swelling of Diu and Damão into large provinces of sizes surpassing Greater Goa itself removed the prominence of the territory as the primary possession of the Portuguese into sheer terms of mass, but its notability in terms of history and degree of assimilation, modernization and infrastructure still made Goa the jewel of Portuguese India.

There was also the matter of the southernmost territories of Mangalore and Calecute, which remained subordinate to Panjim and therefore kept Goa at the center of Luso-Indian matters. Governor John Forbes and Joseph Soares therefore still owed loyalty to the Goan Vice-Roy in the hierarchical chain, but there was the need to make an effort in Goa to push the development efforts harder to ensure long term political stability (unlike in the British case where disputes between Bombay and Calcutta were, for a while now, being detrimental to English interests).

Vice-Roy Holstein followed suit the example of his subordinate governors and laid out an official demarcation map for Goa’s districts, basing the decision on geographical barriers, degrees of effective control and the artificial administrative centers that had been formed in Portuguese-promoted towns prior to the war (such as the Cascata settlement, Cintacora and Angola). These Districts were given several legislative, commercial and production choice privileges that other newborn districts in Damão and Diu did not have, but on the other hand had to contribute greater direct profits.


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Goan District Demarcation
Goan colonial districts were the most legislatively advanced colonies outside Brazil, possessing significant autonomy from the Portuguese India Company but greater obligations to the central colonial government

This distribution of borders allowed the Portuguese-favored centers to grow more effectively and attracted a greater community of highly educated magistrates to govern over the province under Holstein, but this was not deemed enough by the Portuguese government, which wanted to greatly increase assimilation rates in the region both in a demographic level and in a geopolitical one. This was signified by the conduction of many artificial urbanizations by the PRP office in Panjim authorized by the crown, leading to one of the most draconian colonial initiatives since the Goan Inquisition, the ‘New Cities’ project.

From 1781 onward till the end of the century, a number of ‘escorts’ were made in the countryside, uprooting rural populations in traditional centers to come to the bannered centers deemed by the Portuguese as strategically useful, such as Cintacora and Angola, but few came close in scale to the formation of the Cascata colony in southeastern Goa deep up the Kali River’s riverside slopes, where approximately 50,000 Indians were steered into over the course of the following two decades.


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Cascata Town Urbanization

The history of the formation of Cascata demonstrated how ruthless the PRP was even in heavily native populations such as the ones in Indian colonies, as well as the determination of Goa to develop itself into a stronger colony altogether.

Note:
The Luso-Maratha War continued a series of war between the Europeans and Indian countries. Just as iOTL these wars were significant in that it allowed European powers namely British to gain control of the Indian subcontinent and resulted in by the early part of the 19th century subjugating all independent Indian countries and principalities under European control. These wars re-imagined with Portuguese involvement tries to imagine a scenario where a bolstered and stronger Portuguese are involved in such wars and what the outcomes would be. To understand Portuguese position and strength in 1780 I would recommend readers review both Portuguese Maratha War of 1774 and the Portuguese Mysore war. Questions/Comments

Note regarding posting of this section. The Luso-Maratha War is over 60 pages and will be divided in approximately nine sections.

As with both Diu and Daman there was an effort to integrate these new territories into the larger Goa. The major difference between the enlarged Goan section and the two preceding was the fact that the Portuguese were adding a relative small section to a much larger Portuguese territory while the two preceding section had transformed both Diu and Daman from small enclaves to large provinces that required new enhanced administration, military and both social and economic realignment.

SInce this is the smallest of the 9 posts the 9th and final post of The Three-Years War (1780 -1784) - The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781) will be posted shortly.
 
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The Three-Years War (1780-1783) - The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781) (9 of 9)

Lusitania

Donor
The Three-Years War (1780-1783) (cont.)

The Luso-Maratha War (1780-1781) (9 of 9)

War Impact – Countries and People

The unprecedented expansion of Portuguese territory in Asia and the accompanying shuffling of powers were of undeniable importance and the implied shockwave exacerbated reactions from rival colonial powers.

Internal Powers – The Vice-Roy, the Archbishops and the Governors

While assailed in the overall context of the Three-Years War, which would ignite aggression between the Dutch and Portuguese East Indies, the conclusion of the Luso-Frankish conflict in the subcontinent allowed the solidification of Goa’s dominion over the entire Western Indian commerce, eclipsing even the strategic port of British Surat. The identity of Goa as an Indian nation governed by the Portuguese Crown grew ever more solid while Damão and Diu transformed into new colonies of their own, changing the status quo between Europeans and Indians to an even more fierce political conflict.

The full establishment of Portuguese sovereignty over the expanded Goa allowed for an entire sect of the Konkani people (approximately 40% of the contemporary population) which slowly became officially designated by the Portuguese colloquialism of ‘Canarim’. The Konkani language was already relatively isolated in the Indian family of languages, sharing a direct connection only with Kannada, and possessed a separate script from Maratha so, with a whole group of the population under the rule of a determinedly bureaucratic government, the Canarim dialect began to be formed as the primary vehicle of communication in native Goans.

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Konkani to Canarim
The old script of Konkani began to be slowly transformed into the Latinized Canarim which, while already a long-formed dialect, became the accepted compromise under Portuguese administration

The establishment of new settlements like Cascata helped speed along the necessity to adapt in the natives, which under great duress felt the most doors opened when following the compromised language. The increased profits avenues of commerce with East African territories and the exportation of weapons and materials to other territories helped grind in the fact that a uniformed language was needed to improve the Goan situation.

Vice-Roy Frederick, already made infamous by the war due to making crystal clear his ambitions to unite the west margin of the land under one great colonial strip, enforced Canarim as the official language in conquered territories under penalty of enforcing the actual Portuguese language. His objective was to push in his authority while maintaining a degree of autonomy from Lisbon, which he saw as a political adversary to his interests.

Against him, however, stood the combined powers of the governors, admirals and generals of Damão and Diu, namely the ruthless Joseph Soares, the celebrated Anthony Rebelo and the rising star Gomes Freire de Andrade, all of them more charismatic leaders than Frederick himself. The construction of Daman’s fluvial fortress en route to the Maratha hinterland doubled as a barrier between Governor Soares and the Vice-Roy, ensuring a political competition between the central colony and its underling territories, while Brigadier General Andrade was a bigger inspirational figure to the soldiers, who saw much daring action from the military man against the Maratha armies. As for Rebelo, he ensured the Portuguese navy squadrons present in India were a force obedient to itself, employing privateers like William ‘Piranha’ against Frederick’s best desires and deciding all the naval and amphibious operations with little interference.

This quadratic gridlock allowed the fifth power, Governor John Forbes of Diu, to act mostly undisturbed and prevented Vice-Roy Frederick from immediately planning a new campaign against the Mysoreans, allowing a period of peace and recovery to bless Panjim. This however would also impede proactivity from the Navy against the last and most important conflict, the Second Portuguese-Dutch War, forcing Rebelo to stay around Goa despite the attacks on Timor and Flores and send out William to halt an entire enemy invasion on his own.

Moreover, the social powers of the clergy and other informal leaders also seized this opportunity to encroach their strength; the year of 1782 saw the greatest allocation of the budget to the construction of chapels and churches, an expense Frederick saw as wasteful, and the attitude from the swindlers about this was borderline predatory, with some priests and faithful flocks requesting expedient action from the constructers with the objective of seeing their investments through before Frederick could veto them.

The Patriarch of Goa at the time was Manuel Soares, co-author of the ‘Theological Demonstration’. The Patriarchy of Goa had ecclesiastic sovereignty over most catholic communities east of Arabia (with the notable exception of the Philippines whose Christian communities found themselves under Spanish sphere of influence) and while the church answered to the state now, it did not answer to the interests of a single Vice-Roy.

Taking advantage of the increasing independent identity of Goa in the Indian context and the growing history of bilateral persecution between Catholicism and traditional Indian religions, the patriarch martyrized a number of figures that took victim part in the Luso-Mysorean and Luso-Maratha violence, forever tying regional identity to religious one. The church of Goa grew stronger than ever despite its inability to convert the masses due to this, forming a fully developed political faction.

Regional Powers – The Peshwas, the Offices and the Nizam Alliance

Meanwhile, interregional contention grew fiercer as the demarcation of Portuguese claims grew tighter and as Vice-Admiral Rebelo’s actions towards the invading French Fleet proved that Goa was not completely on the British side. Vice-Roy Frederick was now a clear rival of the British office in Bombay but an ally of Calcutta. This complicated diplomatic matters, especially as French positions in India began to be destroyed and motivations for the Luso-Anglo Alliance in the region disappeared.

Another factor at play was the philosophical differences between Portuguese and British India; while the first encouraged a truly direct expansion into Indian Territory and the forceful extraction of its human and material resources, the second believed in the sovereignty of soft trade power, especially after the 1754 Battle of Plassey proved the possibility of ruling India entirely through puppet states. It was easier for the British to find allies in regional powers than for the Portuguese because of this. Prior to the war, the Portuguese side had hoped to take comfort in an alliance with the Maratha Confederacy but the growing intrigues of the Peshwa candidates now proved that even all the fighting done by the previous Vice-Roy for Narayan Rao had been for naught, merely resulting in the anti-Europeans seizing power a few years later.

The eyes of Panjim therefore turned towards a way to throw away all pretense of pacifism in an optimal manner and considering the current political environment, Goa’s best chance to grow was at the expense of weaker maritime powers in the area. With the French gone, however, options were limited. The best possible victim of Portuguese expansionism were the Dutch colonies, which were not an ideal target because for once, the Portuguese in general had no intention to revive their long history of losses to Amsterdam and for another, attacking another European naval power in the area without provocation further increased the risks of guaranteeing British dominion or, even worse, the total expulsion of Europe from India.

Around the same time, however, the roads linking Goa to the ‘Old Ports’ of Calecute and Mangalore were finished, bringing a spring of decreased costs in administration (not trade). The importance of maintaining either peace or subjugation with Mysore grew, and so did the irredentist desire of Goans to unite the western Indian shoreline under one hegemonic trade dominion. It seemed obvious that expansion through land would first come at Mysorean expense.

The Peshwas and Sultans of India, however, did not simply abide by the treaties imposed by Panjim silently; Tipu Sultan, now facing increased difficulties against the British as the French were pushed off the conflict, was more radicalized against westerners than ever while the many Maratha and Gujarat leaders resented the loss of lands around Daman and Diu as well as the cowardly nature they perceived on their Peshwa. Goa was therefore now stronger than ever by itself but also isolated and the chances of a grand Indian coalition against it grew by the day.

Despite his foolish aggressiveness, Vice-Roy Frederick was cautious enough to realize this and soon began conspiring to find a token Indian ally whenever he could. An optimal candidate was the Nizam of Hyderabad, Ali Khan, the leader of a reigning power who had suffered repeated humiliations and concessions to the Marathas around the 1720s yet formed a solid block of economic and military strength in the continent’s core.

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Nizam Ali Khan
1734-1803
Reigned 1762-1803

Despite being a partner Indian state to the Marathas, Ali Khan had good reason to resent the Peshwas; during the Narayan Conspiracy, Ali Khan had been lured by Raghunathrao into Pune with the promise of allying against the ascension of none other than Madhavrao, the man that would years later eventually replace Narayan and end the short Luso-Maratha friendship, not to mention with whom Ali Khan had personal grievances against. While the Narayan Conspiracy ultimately collapsed, Ali Khan was still defeated in a battle by Raghunathrao (who would also die at Narayan’s hands) just for the sake of ensuring no one opposed the doomed coup d’état.

While Ali took comfort in the defeat the conspirators took and the consolidation of young Narayan’s rule, the Peshwua passed away anyway due to Nana Fadnavis’ machinations which led to the 1779 Anglo-Maratha war, and Ali’s hated political foe rose to power and restarted Luso-Maratha hostilities. At the same time, he carefully watched Tipu Sultan’s vengeful campaigns against the Europeans and feared Hyderabad would soon be his next victim.

At the climax of the conflict, the Goa colony defeated Madhavrao and the rebelling Gujarats, reestablishing the Portuguese as the dominant European power in the western coast. This confirmed the Nizam’s suspicions that the decentralized model of the Maratha confederacy, while ensuring an otherwise unlikely union, was gradually leading to European biting on separate states of the Indians, like pirates preying on small kingdoms, as it removed strong authorities from vulnerable regions. This, in turn, meant the incoming possibility of a massive sub-continental power shift and the arrival of tens of thousands of white men armies instead of mere garrisons within the next thirty years.

In 1782, motivated by rising tensions between him and the Dutch directors, Vice-Roy Frederick sent an envoy with a defensive alliance proposal to the Nizam. The European objective was quadruple; to safeguard its new possessions, re-establish ties with Maratha puppets that had not been directly aggravated by Portugal, set up the possibility of a renewed justified war with Mysore and prevent Hyderabad from falling under British sphere of influence, none of which favored Hyderabad in particular.

Accepting this would also put the Nizam at risk against Madhavrao, perhaps even brand him a traitor to his Indian peers and an enemy to Tipu Sultan, not to mention an alliance between a landlocked nation and a coastal power would be difficult to coordinate. On the other hand, Goa had few to no trade disputes with Ali’s nation (if anything Goa’s growth was weakening Ali’s enemies) and it would, possibly, eliminate the need to sign a Subsidiary Alliance in the future with the British and open the path for a full potential independence of Hyderabad.[1]



In 1783, after the end of the Three-Years War, Nizam Ali Khan accepted to become an informal Portuguese-Indian ally, influenced by the ‘Ceylon Compromise’[2] and the enduring authority of Madhavrao in the Maratha Confederacy. This was an untypical alliance for both parties ideologically-wise, born out of sheer mutual interest in presenting a front to the Maratha-Mysore tug of war. Just like they shared no borders to have friction on, Goa and Hyderabad had no direct trade links to foment friendship on, either. The Nizam’s relatively high military strength and leadership, however, presented a decent counterweight to Goa’s fragilities.

The period of competition between the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company ended up allowing the wedging of the Portuguese India Company between the two as well, creating a triumvirate of trade powers in India that would shortly erupt into the Second Luso-Dutch War (1782-1783). This would, however, also result in the rising aggression between European and Indian countries, even as France made its way out of the sub-continent into its singular remaining port of Pondicherry.

Portugal – Colonial & Military Enthusiasm

Meanwhile, the victory of the Portuguese over the Maratha was viewed with great enthusiasm and relief back in proper Portugal. It is important to remind that it occurred in the context of the Three Years War, a period of tremendous national stress for the nation, as well as in the context of the Luso-French Maritime War, the primary threat to Portuguese interests. It seemed in 1782 more and more that Goa was a viable colony and the Portuguese army and, most intensely, its navy had indeed made a comeback to world prestige so much that at the start of the Second Luso-Dutch War a great deal of international investment had been made in prediction of a victory for Lisbon instead of Amsterdam (in Europe and America, at least).

The perception of Goa itself to both Portugal and the world would change as its size and influence were growing so significantly that it was almost viewed as a small separate power in itself, like Brazil. This worried Lisbon, presenting a significant threat to central authority and paternalism, but roused the capitalists and iodophiles of the nation who felt a fresh air of pride and business opportunity at such a consolidated colony. Damão and Diu were still seen as minor possessions despite their new administration and much greater size, however, and it would take the efforts of their separate governors, John Forbes and Joseph Soares, to make them soar like the capital colony.

The war therefore increased two different enthusiasms; the military one and the colonial one. It seemed possible for the country all of a sudden to win victories over medium-sized powers instead of helpless native nations and most importantly it all felt like the culmination of thirty years of hard work in the nation since the Lisbon Earthquake. While this all hailed as a good omen, the war with France, however, would continue and the darkest period of the war was yet to come.


[1] iOTL by 1805 British Indian had almost complete control of all coastal India and Hyderabad ended up becoming a Subsidiary State as British rule over the continent asserted itself.

[2] See Section: The Paris Treaty of 1783 – The New Globe – Indian Theatre Terms.



Note:
The Luso-Maratha War continued a series of war between the Europeans and Indian countries. Just as iOTL these wars were significant in that it allowed European powers namely British to gain control of the Indian subcontinent and resulted in by the early part of the 19th century subjugating all independent Indian countries and principalities under European control. These wars re-imagined with Portuguese involvement tries to imagine a scenario where a bolstered and stronger Portuguese are involved in such wars and what the outcomes would be. To understand Portuguese position and strength in 1780 I would recommend readers review both Portuguese Maratha War of 1774 and the Portuguese Mysore war. Questions/Comments

Note regarding posting of this section. The Luso-Maratha War is over 60 pages and will be divided in approximately nine sections.


We have finished the first of several major struggles that the Portuguese fought on a world wide scale that tested the country in ways none had since the liberation of the kingdom in 1640. The Portuguese actions are in line with those witnessed by iOTL by British East India Company against similar opponents, This war and subsequent wars will ultimately divide the Indian Subcontinent between the two dominant Europeans powers Portuguese in West and British in East. Although there are several twists and subplots we have added to present a more realistic and interesting TL.

Please return on February 9 as we start posting the next chapter in The Three-Years War (1780 -1784). This time we be discussing the - The Luso-French Maritime War (1780-1782).

 
Once again fantastic update also we see the end of the alliance in India and also hints that Portugal about to get a little beat up
 
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