The adventures of Mendes Pinto
Image 1: The arrival of Portuguese merchants in Asia.
Historical Context
The Early Modern world was a world of connectivity. During this period the centre of trade shifted from the Mediterranean Sea to South America and Asia. Portugal was one of the European powers that expanded her empire. And in the sixteenth and seventieth century, Portugal established an overseas empire that reached as far as Africa, South America and Asia. During which they also expanded their trade network from the Mediterranean Sea to these new regions. Discoveries, such as Vasco da Gama’s discovery of a sea route to India, made this possible. The rounding of the Cape of Good Hope, during his explorations, opened up a world of possibilities to the Portuguese. During the sixteenth century, the Portuguese competed with Spain for power and wealth in the world and in 1494 both countries singed the Treaty of Tordesillas. This treaty divided the world outside Europe between the two and stated that Portugal would get all the new discovered lands in the east.
Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India in 1498 and in the following years the Portuguese continued to explore Asia, establishing different trading posts along the coast. By the end of the sixteenth century the Portuguese established a network reaching all the way from Lisbon to Japan. The headquarters of the Portuguese overseas empire in Asia was located in Estado da índia; the Portuguese State of India. Goa became the central hub of the Portuguese trading network in the region. The Crown of Portugal appointed a governor that had the task to oversee the Portuguese possessions in Asia. With Goa as hub, the Portuguese maintained their trade network with other countries in Asia such as Malaysia, China, Thailand and Japan. Portuguese merchants traded in several products such as salt, wine, olive oil, cork, dried fruits, wax and honey. And they imported all kinds of exotic luxury goods, for example sugar, pepper, ivory, gold, Chinese porcelain, silk and spices.
The Early Modern world was a world of connectivity. During this period the centre of trade shifted from the Mediterranean Sea to South America and Asia. Portugal was one of the European powers that expanded her empire. And in the sixteenth and seventieth century, Portugal established an overseas empire that reached as far as Africa, South America and Asia. During which they also expanded their trade network from the Mediterranean Sea to these new regions. Discoveries, such as Vasco da Gama’s discovery of a sea route to India, made this possible. The rounding of the Cape of Good Hope, during his explorations, opened up a world of possibilities to the Portuguese. During the sixteenth century, the Portuguese competed with Spain for power and wealth in the world and in 1494 both countries singed the Treaty of Tordesillas. This treaty divided the world outside Europe between the two and stated that Portugal would get all the new discovered lands in the east.
Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India in 1498 and in the following years the Portuguese continued to explore Asia, establishing different trading posts along the coast. By the end of the sixteenth century the Portuguese established a network reaching all the way from Lisbon to Japan. The headquarters of the Portuguese overseas empire in Asia was located in Estado da índia; the Portuguese State of India. Goa became the central hub of the Portuguese trading network in the region. The Crown of Portugal appointed a governor that had the task to oversee the Portuguese possessions in Asia. With Goa as hub, the Portuguese maintained their trade network with other countries in Asia such as Malaysia, China, Thailand and Japan. Portuguese merchants traded in several products such as salt, wine, olive oil, cork, dried fruits, wax and honey. And they imported all kinds of exotic luxury goods, for example sugar, pepper, ivory, gold, Chinese porcelain, silk and spices.
Image 2: Portuguese architecture in the town of Panjim, located in Goa, India.
The Portuguese network
Trade and social networks played an important role in the expansion of the European long-distance trade. Actors within these networks were crucial for the flow of information. Personal relations were also important to obtain accurate details about trade conditions, commodity prices and whether or not foreign merchants were trustworthy. Actors within a network passed on this information from person to person but also relied on the distribution of letters. Several factors such as kinship, family ties and religion played an important role in the emergence of these networks. The Portuguese network in Asia was a very decentralised and fragmented network. It was mostly a trade network and the main objective of the Portuguese was trade, and not the establishment of colonies. The focus of the overseas empire laid on keeping control over the sea and port cities such as Goa, Hormuz, Malakka and Macau were important for this. As the trade network expanded, the role of actors within the network grew since the collection of information was central to limit the risks of long-distance trade. |
Image 3: Places Mendes Pinto visited during his travels.
Fun Facts
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One of the Portuguese that was a part of this network was Fernão Mendes Pinto. He has written a travel account of his twenty-one year journey called Peregrinação. Between 1537 and 1558 he travelled from Portugal along the east coast of Africa to Asia. In his travel account he writes about his adventures as a soldier, merchant, pirate, slave, ambassador, missionary and even as a doctor. During his travels he meets cannibals, pirates and kings and queens of ancient and unknown empires.
Mendes Pinto is very detailed when it comes to describing the places he visited, customs, the people he met and the routes he took. However, we only know little about Pinto himself; he only briefly introduces himself in the beginning of the travel account. Pinto was probably born in 1509 of 1510 and died in 1581 in Almada, Portugal.
We can distinguish three main areas and phases in his travel account. The first adventure Mendes Pinto went on, was traveling from Portugal to Dus, a town on the northwest coast of India. Mendes Pinto had a lot of bad luck on his first voyage; French pirates captured him and Mendes Pinto ended up on the Spanish coast. Eventually he made his way back to Portugal where he, in March 1537, finally embarked a Portuguese ship that set sail to India.
In the second phase Mendes Pinto sailed along the coast of Africa and the Persian Gulf. He did so as a soldier in service of Prester John of the Indias. However, Mendes Pinto lost the battle and was sold as a slave after being captured. Pinto was first sold to a Muslim and later to a Jewish merchant. With his second master, the Jewish merchant, Mendes Pinto travelled through Yemen and Ormuz, which is now Iran. When Mendes Pinto arrived in Hormuz he was freed by the Portuguese crown who paid a high price for Pinto’s release. Being a free man again, Mendes Pinto boarded a Portuguese ship and set sail for Goa. And the third and last phase consists of his travels in the region of India, China, Malaysia and even Japan. This is also the phase where Mendes Pinto was the most active in the Portuguese trade network as a merchant. He acquired a lot of wealth during his travels in this area.
By analysing his travel account we come to learn that Mendes Pinto was a part of an intense network of exchange of the Portuguese overseas empire. He played a vital role in sustaining the flow of information within this network. Studying Pinto’s network shows us how he obtained information, the relationships he maintained during his travels and how he passed information on. For example, Mendes Pinto refers to a lot of letters he received during his travels, containing vital information about trade for the Portuguese Empire. Moreover, he shows how trade networks in Asia operated, who the most important actors were and how all of these smaller networks within local communities were combined.
In 1558 Mendes Pinto embarked a Portuguese ship for the last time, sailing back to the Lisbon, the port where Mendes Pinto had left twenty-one years earlier. Back home in Portugal, Mendes Pinto settled down, married and presumably had two daughters. At the same time, he began writing his book, which he finished in 1578. Pinto's travel account is an unique primary source about the Portuguese empire in the sixteenth century. He gives us a detailed overview and new insights into how the Portuguese trade network operated in Asia.
J.M.S
Mendes Pinto is very detailed when it comes to describing the places he visited, customs, the people he met and the routes he took. However, we only know little about Pinto himself; he only briefly introduces himself in the beginning of the travel account. Pinto was probably born in 1509 of 1510 and died in 1581 in Almada, Portugal.
We can distinguish three main areas and phases in his travel account. The first adventure Mendes Pinto went on, was traveling from Portugal to Dus, a town on the northwest coast of India. Mendes Pinto had a lot of bad luck on his first voyage; French pirates captured him and Mendes Pinto ended up on the Spanish coast. Eventually he made his way back to Portugal where he, in March 1537, finally embarked a Portuguese ship that set sail to India.
In the second phase Mendes Pinto sailed along the coast of Africa and the Persian Gulf. He did so as a soldier in service of Prester John of the Indias. However, Mendes Pinto lost the battle and was sold as a slave after being captured. Pinto was first sold to a Muslim and later to a Jewish merchant. With his second master, the Jewish merchant, Mendes Pinto travelled through Yemen and Ormuz, which is now Iran. When Mendes Pinto arrived in Hormuz he was freed by the Portuguese crown who paid a high price for Pinto’s release. Being a free man again, Mendes Pinto boarded a Portuguese ship and set sail for Goa. And the third and last phase consists of his travels in the region of India, China, Malaysia and even Japan. This is also the phase where Mendes Pinto was the most active in the Portuguese trade network as a merchant. He acquired a lot of wealth during his travels in this area.
By analysing his travel account we come to learn that Mendes Pinto was a part of an intense network of exchange of the Portuguese overseas empire. He played a vital role in sustaining the flow of information within this network. Studying Pinto’s network shows us how he obtained information, the relationships he maintained during his travels and how he passed information on. For example, Mendes Pinto refers to a lot of letters he received during his travels, containing vital information about trade for the Portuguese Empire. Moreover, he shows how trade networks in Asia operated, who the most important actors were and how all of these smaller networks within local communities were combined.
In 1558 Mendes Pinto embarked a Portuguese ship for the last time, sailing back to the Lisbon, the port where Mendes Pinto had left twenty-one years earlier. Back home in Portugal, Mendes Pinto settled down, married and presumably had two daughters. At the same time, he began writing his book, which he finished in 1578. Pinto's travel account is an unique primary source about the Portuguese empire in the sixteenth century. He gives us a detailed overview and new insights into how the Portuguese trade network operated in Asia.
J.M.S
Further reading:
Bethencourt, Francisco en Diogo Curto. Portuguese Oceanic Expansion, 1400-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Disney, A.R. A History of Portugal and the Portuguese empire: From Beginnings to 1807 Volume 2, The Portuguese Empire. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Morineau, Michel en Sushil Chaudhury. Merchants, Companies and Trade: Europe and Asia in the Early Modern Era. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Pinto, Fernão Mendes. The travels of Mendes Pinto. Ed. And trans. by Rebecca Catz. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. “Holding the World in Balance: The Connected Histories of the Iberian Overseas Empires, 1500-1640.” The American Historical Review 112, no.5 (Dec., 2007): 1359-1385.
Images:
Image 1:https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/art-japan/edo-period/a/arrival-of-a-portuguese-ship
Image 2: http://theorangemango.com/the-top-5-churches-of-goa/
Image 3: http://wsimag.com/pt/cultura/119-fernao-mendes-pinto
Bethencourt, Francisco en Diogo Curto. Portuguese Oceanic Expansion, 1400-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Disney, A.R. A History of Portugal and the Portuguese empire: From Beginnings to 1807 Volume 2, The Portuguese Empire. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Morineau, Michel en Sushil Chaudhury. Merchants, Companies and Trade: Europe and Asia in the Early Modern Era. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Pinto, Fernão Mendes. The travels of Mendes Pinto. Ed. And trans. by Rebecca Catz. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. “Holding the World in Balance: The Connected Histories of the Iberian Overseas Empires, 1500-1640.” The American Historical Review 112, no.5 (Dec., 2007): 1359-1385.
Images:
Image 1:https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/art-japan/edo-period/a/arrival-of-a-portuguese-ship
Image 2: http://theorangemango.com/the-top-5-churches-of-goa/
Image 3: http://wsimag.com/pt/cultura/119-fernao-mendes-pinto