The “colonial impact”
Starting in the sixteenth century, the Indian subcontinent became the venue
for an acting out of European nationalisms, especially the desire for eco-
nomic windfalls and the extension of political hegemony perpetrated by
“East India” trading companies, in collaboration with the crowns of several
European nations. The Portuguese were the first on the scene, followed
within a century by the Danish, Dutch, French, and British traders. These
contacts brought about the era of colonialism, which led in turn to Indian
responses and the dawning of modern India.
The Portuguese, British and other Europeans
After the visit of Vasco da Gamato Calicut in 1498, the west coast of India
became a main focus of Portugal’s worldwide naval hegemony. By 1508,
Albuquerqueand his men had defeated the local armies of the khan
governing Goa and claimed the port as a Portuguese possession. He per-
mitted his men to marry the widows of defeated soldiers and to settle along
the coast. For generations, Portuguese culture permeated the west central
coast of the subcontinent. Portuguese Indians farmed the soil and intro-
duced a number of crops from other parts of the Portuguese empire:
tobacco, pineapple, cashew nut, peanuts, sweet potatoes, even certain forms
of red pepper. In addition, cash crops for export were developed: coconut,
cotton, and such spices as pepper, ginger, and cinnamon. Because the
Portuguese navy assumed hegemony of the Arabian Sea (theretofore
controlled by the Arabs), the Portuguese language became the virtual
“lingua franca” of the Indian ports of trade. The tight organization of the
Portuguese militia was emulated by the Mughals and the Mara ̄tha ̄s alike.
Not least of all, Goa became an outpost for the copying of Portuguese art,
architecture, and religion. The European-style printing press was intro-
duced. Grammars and translations of indigenous languages were spawned
and Roman Catholicism became a vigorous part of the Indian landscape.^12
Religion was an important part of the Portuguese legacy. Catholic mission-
aries of various orders were sponsored – Dominicans, Franciscans, and
especially Jesuits were a visible presence, as were seminaries in the training
of new clergy. The work of three Jesuit missionaries, in particular, will
illustrate the scope and nature of their work.
Enrique Enriquez, who was in India from 1546–1600, was instrumental in
developing lexicons and grammars of Tamil, Mara ̄thı ̄, and Konkanı ̄ (the
language of the coastal region). The purpose, of course, was to make the
vernaculars accessible for the foundation of Christian ideology; yet one of
Streams from the “West” and their Aftermath 171