What is Blue Water Policy?
The Blue Water policy was introduced by the Portuguese in India to control sea trade instead of expanding inland territories. It focused on naval dominance and monopoly over the Indian Ocean trade routes.
Its basic idea is to make Portugal a powerful country in the maritime region under this strategy. In India, it is the fortification of the Indian Ocean for establishing Portuguese business in the Indian Ocean. The aim of the blue water policy of the viceroy of Portugal in India, Francisco de Almeida, was to maintain sea supremacy in the Indian waters and confine their activities to a purely commercial transaction.
Cartaze system that is Blue Water Policy
For several hundred years, the Arabs were the de facto sovereigns of the Indian Ocean, but they did not dispute the supremacy of the rulers of the coast. As a result arabs enjoyed a trade monopoly between India and the West. Also, in the Indian Ocean, no concept of sovereignty was ‘mare librum’.
The Portuguese were a great sea power and had great dominion in the east due to their powerful navy. The Portuguese considered that the sea belonged to them by virtue of the Papal Bulls. That is the freedom of navigation only to the Christians in Europe who are governed by Roman law.
The whole maritime area of ‘Estado da India’, was declared to be mare clausum, by the right of quasi possessio by the Portuguese crown. This provided the legal justification for the Cartaz system. The Portuguese justified this concept and they argued that “the sea belonged to the king of Portugal”.
According to Cartaz, every Asian trading vessel had to purchase a pass or cartaz from the Portuguese authorities and in return, the vessel was qualified for Portuguese protection.
Key feature of Cartaz System (Blue Water Policy)
- Each cartaz stated the size of the vessel, the list of crew, and to give particular of the ship’s captain.
- It also described the cargo and stated for which port the ship was bound.
- Every vessel has to pay dues on the cargo onboard at the fortaleza or deitoria where the cartaz was issued and to leave a sum as security for the payment of similar dues on her return.
- Some goods, such as spices, metal such as iron and copper, naval stores, etc., were prohibited, as was giving passage to Turks and other muslims.
Violation of the Cartaz System
Any ship that was found to be sailing without Cartaz or that violated the terms of the Cartaz was confiscated, and her crew either killed or sent into slavery to the galleys.
How it worked: The Cartaz System: Economic Rationale
The sum charged for the issue of a cartaz was only nominal; the cartaz system was accutually in reality is a device to create another source of income by diversion of trade to ports that the Portuguese controlled.
It was not considered to imply that the Portuguese had any kind of political hegemony over the states.
Legal and Religious Justification of the Cartaz System
Insofar as the system required justification or legitimacy beyond the raw capacity of Portuguese sea-power to impose it, it was validated by a series of papal bulls. The most notable of these was the Romanus Pontifex promulgated by Nicholas V in 1454, which provided the religious and legal framework for Portuguese maritime claims.
Operational Limits and Convoys
The Cartaz system was only effective in the waters surrounding a few specific ports where the Portuguese maintained a strong presence, where they could provide a cafila or convoy, as they did, for example, on the west coast of India for ships sailing from Goa to Gujarat or to the Malabar coast.
Political Influence and Commercial Treaties
Nevertheless, some form of political dominance, however limited, often followed the establishment of trading relations. Attempts were sometimes made to define these relationships through commercial treaties between the Portuguese and the local rulers.
Limits of Sovereignty and Control
Where no treaties existed or where the Portuguese were granted nothing more than a simple right to trade alongside the merchants of other nations, they couldn’t entertain any pretensions to exclusive control (senhorio) over trade and navigation, let alone to full sovereignty over territory.
Such sovereignty could only be exercised over those lands formally incorporated into the Estado da India, either by conquest or by treaty and subsequently designated as a possessao (possession) of the Portuguese Crown.
Portuguese in India
Bartholomew Diaz was the first navigator to cross the equator. Then Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India and reached it on May 17, 1498.
He was welcomed by Manuvikrama Varma, the King of Zamorin of Calicut. The Portuguese established settlements at Cochin, Cannanore, and Calicut in 1502 AD.
In 1502 AD, settlements were established by the Portuguese at Cochin, Cannanore, and Calicut. Cochin was a prime centre for trade up to 1530 AD.
After their death, Vasco da Gama was buried in Cochin.
Portuguese Governors
Francisco de Almada
Francisco de Almada is the first governor. He introduced the Bluewater policy.
Alphonso de Albuquerque
The second Portuguese Governor conquered Goa from the Bijapur Sultan in 1510 AD. He founded the concept of the Portuguese empire in India and encouraged conversions and forced marriages between local and Portuguese officers.
Nino de Cunha
He shifted the capital city from Cochin to Goa. St.Xavier, a popular Jesuit father, visited India during the tenure of Alfanso De D’Souza.
Portuguese Settlements
On the West Coast, the Portuguese had settlements at Ormuz, Dabool, Cambay, Surat, Goa, Daman and Diu, Salsette, Bassein, Kand alyan. The East Coast settlements were Santhome near Chennai and Hugli in Bengal.
On the Malabar Coast, it is Cochin, Calicut, and Cannanore.
Portuguese Trade in India
The spice trade was the main. The Portuguese were the first to start a licensing system and to follow monopolistic trade. The licensor was named Cartazes by the Portuguese.
The decline of Portuguese in India
The English Captain named Best defeated the Portuguese in the Battle of Swalley, and by this, the Portuguese lost Surat. Ormuz lost the Dutch in 1622.
Hugli lost in 1631. Mumbai was given as a dowry in 1661 by the Portuguese to the English, for the marriage between Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza and Prince Charles II of England.
The Dutch won Cochin against the Portuguese in 1663. The Salsette and Bassein Islands were occupied by Peshwa Bajirao in 1739.
Because of the defeats against other European nations like the English, Dutch, and Mumbai given as a dowry to the English, the Portuguese were now only left with Goa, Daman, and Diu till 1961 AD.
FAQ
- Who implemented the blue water policy?
Francisco de Almedica introduced the Bluewater policy or Cartaza System. The idea behind this system was to make Portugal a powerful maritime nation.
References
The First Portuguese Colonial Empire (Exeter Studies in History, 11) Paperback – 30 September 2008