Francisco De Almeida

Francisco de Almeida was a nobleman, soldier, and explorer from Portugal. He rose to prominence as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and subsequently in the Moorish wars and the conquest of Granada in 1492. He became the first ruler and viceroy of the Portuguese State of India in 1505.

Table of Contents

1. Francisco De Almeida
2. Blue Water Policy
3. Conclusion
4. FAQs
5. MCQs

Francisco De Almeida

• In 1505, King Ferdinand I of Portugal appointed a three-year governor in India and provided him with adequate troops to preserve Portuguese interests.
• The newly appointed governor, Francisco De Almeida, was tasked with consolidating the Portuguese position in India and destroying Muslim trade by conquering Aden, Ormuz, and Malacca.
• Francisco de Almeida arrived at Cochin on October 31, 1505, with only 8 ships remaining.
• He learned that the Portuguese traders at Quilon had been slaughtered while he was there. He dispatched his son Lourenço with six ships, which indiscriminately sank Calicut boats in Quilon’s harbour.
• Almeida settled down in Cochin. He improved the Portuguese defences at Cochin’s Fort Manuel.
• With his victory in the naval Battle of Diu in 1509, Almeida is credited with establishing Portuguese hegemony in the Indian Ocean.
• Almeida was the first Portuguese to arrive in Bombay by the sea in 1509.
• He went after Meliqueaz, to whom he had sent a frightening letter, and the Mamluk Mirocem, leading a fleet of 23 ships near the port of Diu, in the naval Battle of Diu on 3 February 1509.
• He defeated a joint fleet of the Mamluk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan of Gujarat, and the Zamorin of Calicut, with technical naval help from the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), which worried for its eastern trade lines.
• He was also instructed to construct fortifications at Anjadiva and Cochin.
• Kilwa and Cannanore Almeida, on the other hand, faced danger from Egypt’s Mamluk Sultan, in addition to the Zamorin’s resistance.
• The Egyptians formed a navy in the Red Sea to oppose the Portuguese advance, spurred on by the merchants of Venice, whose profitable trade was now jeopardised owing to Portuguese meddling.
• The Portuguese squadron was beaten by the combined Egyptian and Gujarat navies in a naval action off the coast of Diu in 1507, and Almeida’s son was slain.
• The next year, Almeida avenged his defeat by annihilating both navies. Almeida’s dream was for the Portuguese to rule the Indian Ocean.
• The Blue Water Policy (cartage system) was his policy.
• Almeida died in a conflict with indigenous peoples at the Cape of Good Hope in 1510, before returning to Portugal. Lourenço de Almeida, his only son, had previously been killed in the Battle of Chaul.

Francisco de Almeida

Blue Water Policy

• Don Francisco de Almeida, the first Viceroy of the Portuguese territories in India, is credited with the “Blue Water” Policy.
• The primary aim behind this plan is to make Portugal a dominant country in the maritime area.
• In India, it is the fortification of the Indian Ocean in order for Portuguese businesses to establish themselves in the Indian Ocean.
• The goal of Viceroy of Possession in India, Francisco de Almeida’s blue water policy was to preserve sea dominance in Indian waterways and limit their operations to solely economic dealings.
• The Portuguese should be the sole trading power in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, according to this doctrine.
• Instead of erecting fortifications on the Indian continent, it was suggested that the Portuguese become formidable at sea.

Conclusion

Conclusion

With his victory in the naval Battle of Diu in 1509, Almeida is credited with establishing Portuguese authority in the Indian Ocean. Almeida died in a confrontation with indigenous people near the Cape of Good Hope in 1510, before returning to Portugal. Lourenço de Almeida, his only son, had been slain in the Battle of Chaul.

FAQs

Question: Where is the Red Sea located?

Answer:

Between Africa and Asia, the Red Sea is a saltwater entrance of the Indian Ocean. It has a southern link to the ocean, via the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden.

Question: What is a cartaze system?

Answer:

The “cartazes” licence system was established in 1502 to manage and enforce the Portuguese trade monopoly over a large region of the Indian Ocean, utilising local commerce: the cartaz was given by the Portuguese at a modest fee, providing merchant ships with security from pirates and competing governments.

Question: Explain about the Battle of Chaul?

Answer:

The Battle of Chaul was a naval battle fought at the Indian port of Chaul in 1508 between the Portuguese and an Egyptian Mamluk fleet. The Mamluks were victorious in the fight. It came after the Siege of Cannanore, in which a Portuguese garrison successfully repelled an onslaught by kings from the south of India.

MCQs

MCQs

Question: Consider the following statement.

1. Almeida’s vision was to make the Portuguese the master of the Indian Ocean.
2. His policy was known as the Blue Water Policy

Which of the above statements is/are correct

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (c) See the Explanation

• The newly appointed governor, Francisco De Almeida, was tasked with consolidating the Portuguese position in India and destroying Muslim trade by conquering Aden, Ormuz, and Malacca.
• Almeida’s dream was for the Portuguese to rule the Indian Ocean.
• The Blue Water Policy was the name of his policy.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

Question: Who among the following Europeans were the last to come to pre-independence India as traders? [ UPSC 2007]

(a) Dutch

(b) English

(c) French

(d) Portuguese

Answer: (c) See the Explanation

• The French, like the Portuguese, English, and Dutch, built commercial bases in India.
• Pondicherry, on the Coromandel Coast, was the first French settlement in south-eastern India, founded in 1674 CE.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.