Chapter 97: Survey of Portuguese India and the East India Companies
After the Iberian-Japanese War, Portugal lost Macau and Malacca, a blow to its power in East and Southeast Asia that the kingdom would never recover from. These losses were so crippling and humiliating that they helped spark Portugal’s struggle for independence from the dominion of the Spanish Habsburgs. As part of this rebellion against Madrid, the Portuguese State of India would assert its independence from Spanish overseas power and begin to reshuffle its political orientation and priorities to reflect the new realities of the postwar landscape in the Far East. Under governors like Pero da Silva and Joao da Silva Telo e Meneses, Portuguese India would refrain from focusing too much on recovering its lost power in the Far East, instead investing it instead in its African and Indian possessions. This not only set a long-term trend towards Portuguese overseas consolidation around its Indian Ocean interests but also allowed it to stave off attacks upon its coastal ports and trading outposts as well as Ceylon by the VOC in the 1640s and 1650s. Under the reigns of King John IV and his son Afonso VI, Portugal would also markedly distinguish its foreign policy in Asia from that of its former hegemon, working to repair relations with Japan and other countries wary of Portugal’s former association with Madrid. Due to such efforts and the decline of Spanish power in the Far East, Portugal would re-emerge as a major trading partner for its Indian goods in the region and even surpass Spain in importance in many instances. Portugal would also maintain its status as the preeminent European power within Indian waters for the rest of the century.
The juggernaut among the European powers in Asia, however, was unquestionably the VOC. Through its alliance with the Japanese during the Iberian-Japanese War and the negative reputation Catholicism would develop in the aftermath of the conflict, the Dutch solidified their status as the major European trading power in Asia, only holding a secondary status with realms like the Mughal Empire and Siam. They benefited greatly from the transition of Macau from Portugal’s window into Ming China to a cosmopolitan port open to the entire outside world and would use their newfound wealth and power to expand its military might and political power in Southeast Asia. In addition to intervening directly in Vietnamese affairs on the side of the Trinh lords in the 1640s, the Dutch intervened in the local affairs of sultanates like Aceh and Gowa and signed treaties with them that enabled monopolized control over trade, particularly the Sumatran gold trade. They also continued a long-term effort in expanding Dutch power and influence over the island of Java. The VOC also had limited influence over the Sultanate of Ternate, a longtime ally that had aided them against the Spanish and Tidorese during the Iberian-Japanese War. Dutch territorial gains in former parts of the Spanish Netherlands injected further wealth into their economy and mercantile talent into Dutch colonial efforts, predominantly men from Antwerp. By 1665, the Dutch East India Company was the largest private company in the world.
The VOC would even expand into new avenues beyond Asia. The most significant of these was the establishment of the Dutch Cape Colony in 1652 on the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa by VOC navigator Jan van Riebeeck and 90 Calvinist settlers. The Fort de Goede Hopp, a earth-and-timber fortification, was constructed and served as the primary center of the colony until its replacement by a stone fortification, the Castle of Good Hope, in 1674. Despite its primary duty as a key supply depot for ships traveling between Europe and Asia, van Riebeeck made a concerted effort to establish agricultural production, introducing crops from cereals and ground nuts to apples and grapes. Under his command, the colony began to grow and the story of the Afrikaner people, or ethnic Dutch settlers in southern Africa, began. The other major venture related to exploratory expeditions to Australia and surrounding islands. These had started with the voyage of Willem Janszoon in 1606 and accidental landings onto the coast. They would be followed by the voyages of Abel Tasman in 1642 and 1644 whose observations contributed significantly to the early mapping of the continent and Oceania as a whole.
Painting of the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck and Dutch settlers by Charles Bell
However, the Orangist-Republican political deadlock in the 1650s caused problems for Dutch commerce that rippled through the VOC’s operations. Due to a lack of support from home, the VOC’s attempts at conquering Portuguese Ceylon and Portuguese outposts on the Malabar Coast went nowhere and a share of its trade would be swiped by other competing European powers in Asia. Once the crisis ended, however, the Hague was able to once again focus on adequately supporting the Republic’s mercantile interests. This would prove key in upcoming European conflicts where the war would spill into the mercantile ambitions of various European powers.
Aside from the 3 major European powers in Asia (the Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish), 4 other European countries maintained a mercantile presence through their respective East India Companies: Denmark, England, France, and Sweden. The English East India Company was the veteran amongst this second tier of competing European powers, having been around since the beginning of the century. They began their venture into the region in 1602 with the establishment of an outpost at Bantam on the island of Java. Soon, the EIC [1] expanded their operations to the Indian subcontinent, setting up shop in Madras, Masulipatnam, and Surat in the first half of the century. The early growth of the company, especially at Bantam, is attributable to Japanese trade access William Adams gained for both Dutch and English trade interests and their swift expansion into the spice market. Over time, English merchants would also follow the Dutch into the markets of Joseon, Siam, and other realms in the region. However, they would never build up the enterprise the Dutch operated as they lacked any particular relationships or significant territories. Nevertheless, they remained fiercely competitive and would soon be butting heads with the VOC directly.
The French and Swedish, by contrast, were newcomers to the Asian mercantile scene, having only begun their ventures in the mid-17th century. The French, having established friendly diplomatic relations with the Japanese and determined to move on from its failed attempts, were in a promising position upon the formation of the newly restructured and renamed French East India Company in 1642. Ex-VOC official and French Huguenot refugee Francois Caron was recruited by Cardinal Mazarin to become the first director-general of the CIO [2] [3], and under his leadership the company prioritized trade with Japan and China early on, achieving early success. Caron followed up this progress and pushed the company to expand its operations into the Indian subcontinent, establishing a large outpost at Pondicherry in 1654 and other smaller factories in Surat and Masulipatnam [4]. Pondicherry, alongside the Siamese outpost of Phuket, would become the main centers of French trade power in Asia. Caron would also unsuccessfully attempt to jumpstart a new colony on the island of Madagascar, although the CIO would later found a settlement on the nearby isle of Reunion. After Caron’s retirement in 1655, the company would build upon his foundational steps and France would continue to invest capital into the CIO. Through the company’s activities, not only were Franco-Japanese relations strengthened but strong ties between the French and Siamese would begin to develop as well. The French were a rising force to watch in Asia.
Coat of arms of the French East India Company
The Swedish East India Company, or the SOIC, was an even newer entity, its creation in 1651 having been one of the first acts of the Swedish monarchy under the reign of John IV Sigismund [5]. After the successful establishment of the Swedish Gold Coast and a long period of peace in northern Europe, high chancellor and regent of the teenage king Axel Oxenstierna helped establish the SOIC and set aside funds for the new enterprise. It would follow in the footsteps of the Danish East India Company and primarily focused on the trade of tea. Soon, Swedish factories were springing up across the region from Surat to Serampore and Ayutthaya. This early growth, however, would be disrupted by the outbreak of the Second Northern War, a war that would center around the growing power of the Swedish Empire abroad and at home.
Speaking of the Danes, they had founded their own East India Company back in 1616 under the rule of King Christian IV. After initially attempting to create a foothold on the island of Ceylon, the company signed a treaty in 1620 with Raghunatha Nayak, the ruler of the Tanjore Kingdom in southern India, that gave them possession of the town of Tranquebar. From their man base in Tranquebar, the company as previously mentioned and focused heavily on the trade of tea. At one point, they were smuggling 90% of their tea into England and made huge profits. Around this time, however, Denmark-Norway became involved in the Imperial Liberties’ War and the War of the Sound Dues and suffered defeat after defeat on the battlefield. After the War of the Sound Dues, the company was financially ruined and Danish trade activity was temporarily suspended until 1669.
As the 17th century progressed, the trade competition in Asia only increased with more European merchants sailing from the other side of the world to bring back exotic goods like spices, tea, silk, and indigo and native merchants more than eager to interact and work with the faraway visitors. The huge profits generated by the exchanges also increased the power and influence of the East India companies, making these private entities comparable in power to sovereign kingdoms and sultanates in many instances. Their commercial presence in Asia for the rest of the century and beyond not only formed the foundation of an increasingly globalized economy but would continue to shake up the political and diplomatic affairs of the greater region.
View of Surat (painted in 1670)
[1]: Abbreviation for the English East India Company
[2]: Abbreviation for the French East India Company (Compagnie des Indes orientales)
[3]: Francois Caron was the first director-general of the CIO when it was founded IOTL in 1664.
[4]: Establishment of outposts happens earlier than IOTL.
[5]: The founding of the SOIC happens 80 years earlier than OTL.