Why is the Portuguese second only to other European countries in Southeast Asia?
The Portuguese left their Far Eastern possessions, Malacca in 1641, Makassar in 1661, and Moluccas in 1663, a process that began with the loss of Ambon to the Dutch in 1605.
However, in East Timor, the orcs were able to stop military attacks on the Portuguese because they established contact with local chiefs and they also had access to financial and land resources.
Kenneth Macpherson points out that until the 18th century, Portugal had private trade in the Bay of Bengal, either with the British, French, Danes, or alone.
The East India Company focused on trying to wrest market share from the Portuguese or trying to incorporate the Portuguese into the EIC. The Portuguese private textile trade accounts for a large share of the market.
Besides, the contacts made by the Portuguese in Southeast Asia helped to develop new markets, especially in Manila.
At the end of the 18th century, Macau's trade with Portuguese private agents on both sides of the Indian coast was significant. Portuguese trade activity in South and Southeast Asia weakened in the early 19th century.
The Portuguese lacked new business technology and modern communication technology. The Napoleonic Wars led to British hegemony over the Indian Ocean and formed a new capitalist world trading system in the early 19th century.
The Portuguese brought the British, Dutch, French and Danes into their commercial networks in Asia, and all but a few enclaves left the Indian Ocean.
According to Dunn, Portugal's inferiority to the Netherlands showed the structural superiority of commercial capitalism over Portugal's feudal system. Some believe that Portugal's declining power in Asia is due to inadequate enforcement of trade monopolies.
This argument was due to the absence of serious civilian and military forces loyal to the Portuguese king, as well as the lack of effective administration.
Proponents of free trade believed that the decline of the Portuguese was due to the monopoly system. Before incorporation into the Portuguese crown, there was a trade monopoly in the Indian Ocean.
Some monopolies were acquired through diplomatic means, as the rulers of Asia enlisted the Portuguese to increase their military power.
Others were acquired through the military hegemony of the Portuguese, with trade, military hegemony and sea power complementing each other.
The Dutch tried to follow the Portuguese pattern of intermarriage, hoping that Dutch culture would also flow into Asia, but all failed.
The paradox, therefore, is why Portuguese identity became so entrenched in Asia, while Portuguese empire and colonial rule did not last long in most places.
Historians studying Estado have overlooked the Portuguese presence outside Estado, as well as the Portuguese communities and descendants who continued to live in Asia after the end of the official Portuguese presence.
Whatever they are called – orcs, local inhabitants, burghers or Portuguese tribes – they are cultural mediators and guardians of Lusitanian identity.
Although the exclusive trade rights disappeared, the Portuguese continued to live on the coast and in the hinterland as pirates, gunners, small merchants and priests.
In India, by the 17th century, the Portuguese were challenged by the Mughals, who occupied the Hooghli region in 1632.
The Portuguese continued to live in these settlements and gradually absorbed them into the Eurasian Community.
As British influence rose in the 18th century, many Portuguese went to Calcutta (Garcota), the capital of British India.
As Kolkata developed into an industrialized city, more and more Portuguese and Eurasian people came to the city from rural settlements.
This led to the construction of the Kolkata Roman Catholic Cathedral on Portuguese Street from 1797 to 1799.
After the Portuguese left Sri Lanka, no Sri Lankan clergy remained, and the Catholic Church was threatened during the Dutch era.
It was rescued from Goa by Father Joseph Vaz, who entered Sri Lanka in disguise to work in the Kandiyan Kingdom under Sinhalese rule.
Catholic priests were not allowed to enter the maritime ports of Dutch-controlled Sri Lanka.
At the beginning of the 16th century, when the Portuguese entered Southeast Asia, Ayutthaya (in the Kingdom of Siam, today known as Thailand) was the most powerful state in Indochina.
Even after the Portuguese fortress in the east was officially defeated by other Europeans, it did not end Portuguese dominance outside Estado or the "Shadow Empire", as exemplified by the Portuguese presence in Thailand.
Resources:
Harrison in Southeast Asia during Portuguese colonization; Liu Pingye: Nanyang Question, 1957-07-027
the aging colonial power – Portugal; Judenzhong World Knowledge1955-11-27
