Page 199 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

1500 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

The statue of Christ
atop Corcovado, 2,300
feet above the city of
Rio de Janeiro. The
complex at the top of
the mountain was
intended to mark the
100th anniversary of
Brazil’s independence
from Portugal in 1922
but due to funding
problems it did not
open until 1931.

seized in 1622 by Shah Abbas
of the Safavid dynasty of Persia
in cooperation with the British
not honor his promises to respect traditional liberties, and East India Company. Melaka, the other vital port in the
Portugal would regain independence in 1640. Although Portuguese system, fell to the Dutch in 1641 after a long
the administration of each domain remained distinct, the blockade.
territories of the joint crown of Portugal and Spain
became the first empire upon which the sun never set. 1663–1822: Divergences
Dutch victories in Asia shifted the focus of the Por-
1598–1663: Portuguese- tuguese empire to Brazil, originally little more than a way
Dutch World War station for the fleet to Goa. The world’s richest known
Battling for independence from Spain, the Dutch came gold deposits were discovered in Brazil in 1695, causing
into conflict with the Portuguese through the Spanish- a gold rush and a shift of population from the coastal
Portuguese union. Although traditionally trading part- areas. During the eighteenth century gold would displace
ners with Portugal, the Dutch challenged Portuguese sugar as the core of Brazil’s economy.
dominance of the spice trade by seeking spices at their After 1755 equally important changes came from
Asian sources. From the Dutch attack on Príncipe and reforms introduced by the Portuguese king’s prime min-
São Tomé on the western coast of Africa (1598) to their ister, the Marquês de Pombal. Pombal formed two char-
capture of Portuguese settlements on the Malabar coast tered companies with monopolies on Brazilian trade. He
of India (1663), the Protestant Dutch and the Catholic closed Brazilian ports to foreign ships in order to wean
Portuguese fought a global war for global trade, not only the ports from commercial dependency on Britain. A
over the European commerce, but also over the slave trade legal equality was announced for whites and indigenous
in Africa, the sugar trade in Brazil, and the spice trade in peoples, and in 1763 the Brazilian capital was trans-
southeastern Asia. Superior resources and a leadership ferred to Rio de Janeiro. In his pursuit of centralized
awarded by experience rather than social status gave the power Pombal butted heads with the Society of Jesus
advantage to the Dutch, although the Portuguese were (whose opposition was perhaps more imagined than
acclimated to tropical warfare and generally enjoyed real), and in 1759 he had the Jesuits deported from Por-
greater support from indigenous peoples—a result in part tuguese territories. For similar reasons universities and
of Portuguese marriage patterns and the efforts of Catholic printing presses were severely restricted.
missionaries. Even in areas occupied by the Dutch, such
as Brazilian Pernambuco from 1630 to 1654, use of cre- 1822–1999: Independences
olized (hybrids of mixed Portuguese and indigenous lan- In Brazil heavy taxes and increasingly rigid controls over
guages) Portuguese languages endured. Hormuz was the gold and diamond industries, designed to favor the