Indo-Portuguese Week in Bangalore

This past week in Bangalore, the Alliance Francaise of Bangalore hosted "The First Festival of Portugal". I went with some co-workers on Saturday night to see Marouan Benabdallah -- concert pianist. He's Hungarian / Moroccan by birth -- and was absolutely superb. I didn't quite get the tie-in with Portugal -- he's not Portuguese nor did he play any Portuguese music -- but not going to lose too much sleep over that one.

I did get to meet H.E. Luis Filipe Castro Mendes, the Ambassador from Portugal to India. Very nice guy -- and he was thrilled to hear that my grandfather was from the Azore Islands (and interesting to hear how Azore is supposed to be pronounced!). I've attached a very bad/blurry picture of the Ambassador (stupid iPhone).

After the concert, there was a tasty dinner buffet -- mix of Portuguese, French, and Indian. I have to say the best part was the wine and the french cheese (thanks to La Fromagerie).

Today's history lesson will be about the Portuguese in India: Vasco de Gama discovered a new route to India and landed at Kappad (in Kerala) on May 17, 1498. This is considered the beginning of a new phase in maritime history and he paved the way for the merchants of Portugal to India.

The foundation of Portuguese power in India was laid by Alfonso de Albuquerque, who came to India in 1503, advocated and embarked upon a policy of dominating South Asian commerce by setting up forts at various strategic places in Asia and Africa. The Portuguese established a strong navy in the Indian Ocean and extended their operations towards the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. The new policy was given a start by the capturing of Goa from Bijapur in 1510 by Albuquerque. The Portuguese established their base in Goa.

Albuquerque died in 1515, leaving the Portuguese as the strongest naval power in the west coast of India. His successors established a number of important settlements through central/south India -- but in due course of time, they lost their authority over most of the places to the English -- except for Goa, Daman, and Diu, which they held on to until 1961.