Answer: The Portuguese were the first Europeans to establish colonies in India.
- Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in 1498. The Portuguese set up trading centres at Cochin, Calicut and Cannanore on the Malabar coast.
- Francisco de Almeida, the first Viceroy, followed a policy of naval supremacy. Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from Adil Shah of Bijapur in 1510 and made it the capital of Portuguese India.
- They later obtained Diu, Daman, Vasai (Bassein), Chaul, Salsette and the islands of Mumbai on the west coast, and settlements at Hugli and San Thome on the east coast.
- They controlled sea trade through the cartaz (permit) system and strong forts; their administration was headed by the Viceroy, with officers like the Arcebispo, Chancellor, Vedor da Fazenda and Capitaon.
- Their power declined because of religious intolerance and forced conversions, the rise of the Dutch and the English, the Mughal conquest of Hugli (1632), the gift of Mumbai to England (1661) and the Maratha conquest of Vasai (1739). Goa, Daman and Diu remained Portuguese until they were freed by Operation Vijay in 1961.
