Author: Our special guest author Kan Dashan
Speaking of Western navigators, columbus of the American continent must have been at the top of the list, in addition to magellan and the relatively unknown da Gama. In fact, Da Gama's contribution to navigation was so great that he discovered the Cape of Good Hope route. Before the official opening of the Suez Canal, Europe basically had to go to the Cape of Good Hope to reach Asia.
Da Gama, who had achieved such great things in history, was so badly popular that his men even cursed him in his diary: Hurry up and die. What's going on?
One, the other side of da Gama
Da Gama in history textbooks is positive, and he contributed his life's work to the Age of Discovery. But for the people who were "visited" by Da Gama in that era, he was the embodiment of disaster.
Some of the inhabitants who lived along the African coast at the time knew that the Portuguese had a bad temper and would easily resort to force when they encountered unfamiliar situations. The sailors led by Da Gama would take hostages to protect themselves when they encountered vigilant local natives. I would like to ask, can you accept such a great navigator?
On 20 May 1498, he led a fleet of ships to Calicut, a port city on the southwest coast of India. The city also has a Chinese name, called Guri. Isn't it familiar? Yes, a century before Da Gama arrived in Calicut, Zheng He's fleet had anchored here.
After decades of exploration, da Gama finally realized his dream of reaching India. But the excitement of discovering the Indian continent at this time was far less intense than the fear of unfamiliar lands. He first sent a prisoner from the fleet ashore, hoping to learn something about the local situation in advance. Ironically, the prisoner was not received by native Indians, but by Tunisian merchants from North Africa. It is difficult to say that this is a historic encounter between the Middle East and the West in the age of navigation, because it is all westerners who are communicating with each other.
Through communication, da Gama learned that 90 years ago there had been a group of sailors who had landed in Calicut, who were "wearing iron armor, helmets, spears, each with long hair, and the leader without a beard." It comes every two years, and each fleet has 20 to 25 large ships." The "sailors" of the local population were the Zheng He fleet of the Chinese Daming. From this we can see that there were already entangled trade networks in the Indian Ocean in the early "Age of Discovery" in the West.
The so-called "pioneers of Western navigation", they actually joined quite late, even less than the Tunisian merchants.
Second, why India is so important
The history teacher tells us that the reason why the West has the idea of navigation is mainly influenced by the "gold everywhere" China in Marco Polo's book. But what makes everyone wonder is that if China has such a big attraction, why is the navigator's main target india?
In fact, this is another meme buried by Marco Polo in the book. In his book, he wrote that an English knight named John Mandeville began to travel the world one day out of boredom, exploring the Arab world and the Eastern world for more than 30 years. In the end, his deeds touched the Indians, and the locals elected him as the King of India. The "King of India" entertains more than 30,000 people every day and eats at a table made of emeralds. The gates of his palace are made of rare jade, and the halls and chambers inside the palace are carved with crystal. The king's throne is made of 24K pure gold and is studded with gemstones.
Since this was the only Christian king in the Eastern world known to Westerners at the time, Western navigators hoped to find India first, find the descendants of this king, and then use India as a foothold to find distant China.
3. General of the Indies
Da Gama discovered India and exchanged some goods with the local area and returned home, exposing his pirate nature on the way. The convoy hijacked a ship returning from Mecca to Calicut, carrying about 380 men, women and children. The Portuguese did not hesitate to give all the men several times, and the women gave all their money and beg to spare innocent children.
But da Gama ordered the ship to be burned, burning the entire ship to death. The whole process was unbearable for some of the people who accompanied the ship, and an anonymous report was reported directly to the Portuguese royal family, recounting all the evil deeds of da Gama during his voyage to India, and even wrote at the end: The whole fleet wanted him to die quickly. But the king of Portugal didn't care about that, because da Gama could indeed bring back huge profits for the royal family. He shipped back half a ton of pepper, the first time pepper had been imported from India to Europe by pure sea, saving the Ottoman Turks from working as a middleman on land routes to earn the difference.
This act of sailing, which generated significant economic profits, also benefited the crew handsomely, and everyone received a great reward. In particular, Da Gama, king of Portugal at the time, Manuel I, decreed that da Gama would receive an annual allowance of 1,000 gold coins, a treatment that could be extended to future generations. What was the concept of 1,000 gold coins at that time? It is equal to the rental income of shops on a whole street of Wangfujing Commercial Street.
Manuel I could not wait to request a second voyage to India by da Gama, and before leaving the king named him "General of the Indies". The Portuguese were happy, but the Indians were not happy. Since the first discovery of India was in a hurry, Da Gama didn't have much to exchange for the half-ton of pepper, so he opened a white strip to the Indians. In a letter to the King of Portugal, the King of India said: "We need gold, silver, coral and bright red cloth from your country. ”
Fourth, the Style of Portugal
Da gama did not care about his agreement with the Indian king, and his second voyage to India brought a fleet and directly captured a port city in India, Goa, nearly 400 kilometers from Calicut.
Beginning in the 17th century, Portugal sent thousands of soldiers to replenish its garrison in India. Due to unsatisfactory water and unseen diseases, Europeans at that time could only survive an average of three years in India. Many people were reluctant to go, and in order to ensure the number of people, the Portuguese recruited a large number of criminals as soldiers and declared that they would be exonerated as long as they served in India. Even with such favorable conditions, there are still many people who are reluctant to go. To this end, the fleet openly carried out kidnappings in Portuguese cities, and the victims were shackled and locked until the ship bound for India set sail.
At the same time, in order to solve the problem of the loneliness of the garrison, the Portuguese royal family often encouraged the Portuguese to intermarry with local Women in India, and even said: "Your descendants will be scattered all over India, then India will sooner or later be our territory." ”
The main reason for this effort is that the Portuguese were eager to monopolize the pepper trade in the Indian Ocean. In terms of hydrological conditions, Goa belonged to the first class of Indian ports and thus became the center of portuguese trade and missionary work in Asia. After taking Goa, the Portuguese, in order to gain greater control over maritime trade, quickly advanced eastward. They found Malacca, a place with fresh air, moderate temperatures, abundant wood and other products. These advantages gained the favor of the Portuguese and became a key stronghold for controlling the Shipping Lanes of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Most of the buildings in Malacca were originally made of wood, but immediately after the Portuguese occupied it, large medieval fortresses were built on the banks of the Malacca River and along the coast to consolidate their positions and ensure that even if besieged, ships could still supply the garrison. In particular, the famous "Famo Sand Castle", the walls of this stronghold are 2.5 meters thick, 5 stories high, and different calibers of artillery are placed in each direction, which can be fired in all directions. Later, the treasure land of Malacca was taken away by the rising British.
5. Ambassador Pires
The ambassador Tommé Pires, 11 months after the Portuguese conquest of Malacca, came here and is said to have famously said, "Whoever becomes the master of Malacca chokes the throat of Venice." Pires wrote a book in Malacca called Introduction to the Orient. It mainly describes the landscape, geography and history of Southeast Asia. Of course, the Portuguese conquest of Malacca was written by him.
But there is also a coincidence in history, and there is a young man who is also on the scene of the attack on Malacca, his name is Ferdinand Magellan. Decades later, the then-unknown warrior began another climax of the Age of Discovery.
But the Ambassador Tomei Pires had bad luck and was ordered to continue east to China. In order to be able to meet the Chinese emperor, he bribed the emperor's favorite minister, Jiang Bin. People who know more about history know that Jiang Bin was the favorite of Emperor Zhengde of Daming.
But I did not expect that 3 months later, the Zhengde Emperor died. The reigning Jiajing Emperor liquidated Jiang Bin's forces and took Pires with him. In 1524, the poor Portuguese ambassador died in a prison in Canton.
Decades later, the Portuguese fleet finally landed in China, a place called Macau.
References: Guancang Sea: The Clash and Exchange of Civilizations in the Age of Discovery, The Last Crusade: Vasco da Gama's Expedition
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