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The 500-year-old community of Portuguese descendants in Malabar, now called Kerala, is composed of an interesting group of people whose history goes back to the beginnings of European interaction with northern India. This study concentrates on the Portuguese influence from the end of the 15th century to present times, exploring their commercial and religious interventions in Malabar and the resultant political polarization and social changes. In 1453, Constantinople was blockaded by Ottoman Turks, which prevented Europeans from trading with Asian countries and made it necessary for Europeans to find a new sea-route to India. Finally, two Portuguese navigators, Vasco da Gama, followed by Pedro Alvares Cabral, reached Calicut in 1498 and 1500, respectively, leading to the creation of the so-called Portuguese State of India in 1505. The policy of politics through marriages was introduced by Afonso de Albuquerque, who married Portuguese soldiers with Indian women, which resulted in a social group faithful to Portuguese trade centers; this mixed race, or mestices, eventually formed the Luso-Indian community in Malabar.
The momentous interaction between Portugal and Kerala com­menced with the historic voyage of Vasco da Gama in 1498. It had lasting impact on the society of Kerala. The voyage, with the express purpose of searching for ‘Christians and Spices’, left longlasting imprint on the life of the people of Kerala. Though the Portuguese did not have political dominion in Kerala, the political influence they gained in Kerala precipitated a lot of socio-cultural changes. The intensity and degree of these changes were commensurate with the tenor of the Portuguese networking with the diverse socio-cultural traits in Kerala. Those sections of the Kerala society that gained a higher extent of interconnectedness with the Portuguese manifested a higher degree of socio-cultural transition. One of the most significant means for socio-cultural change that the Portuguese employed in Kerala was ecclesiastical legislation. This cultural interface between Portugal and Kerala resulted in multiple fissions and fusions in the society of Kerala. This book delves deep into the multifarious interaction between the two communities and the consequent socio-cultural changes that Kerala witnessed during 1498-1663, the period when Portuguese influence was at its acme. Please note: This title is co-published with Manohar Publishers, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
India, especially coastal India, has a long history of shipbuilding and navigation dating back to the Indus Valley Civilization. Indian shipwrights and the labour force associated with various aspects of shipbuilding excelled in naval architecture. Their native wisdom was adopted by the Europeans engaged in shipbuilding in coastal India. Similarly some of the techniques of navigation followed by Indians were emulated by the European mariners. A comprehensive peep into the science of naval architecture and navigation is attempted in this work making a comparative study of Indian and Portuguese architecture and navigation. The volume discusses the importance of the timber grown in the monsoon-fed forests of the Malabar coast and its appreciation by the Portuguese shipwrights and theoreticians of naval architecture. The work shows that increase of the tonnage of ocean-going vessels and the appearance of hostile mariners from other quarters of Western Europe compelled the Portuguese to adopt enhanced technology in naval architecture and navigation. The fact that the use of canons for defence against intruders made the Portuguese vessels stronger than the Indian ships which, for centuries, were accustomed to considerably peaceful navigation is also brought out in this much anticipated volume.
Between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, a distinct form of Islamic thought and practice developed among Muslim trading communities of the Indian Ocean. Sebastian R. Prange argues that this 'Monsoon Islam' was shaped by merchants not sultans, forged by commercial imperatives rather than in battle, and defined by the reality of Muslims living within non-Muslim societies. Focusing on India's Malabar Coast, the much-fabled 'land of pepper', Prange provides a case study of how Monsoon Islam developed in response to concrete economic, socio-religious, and political challenges. Because communities of Muslim merchants across the Indian Ocean were part of shared commercial, scholarly, and political networks, developments on the Malabar Coast illustrate a broader, trans-oceanic history of the evolution of Islam across monsoon Asia. This history is told through four spaces that are examined in their physical manifestations as well as symbolic meanings: the Port, the Mosque, the Palace, and the Sea.
Aleixo de Menezes, 1559-1617, former Archbishop of Goa.