Question

3 (Find out the influence of the Portuguese on different walks of Indian social
Ć life and prepare a brief note on it​

Answer 1

Answer:

Though India had maintained some sort of a contact with the Western world both during the ancient and medieval times, a direct naval contact with the Western world was established only in 1498 when Vasco da Gama sailed round the west coast of, Africa, crossed the Arabian sea and reached Calicut.

The event was a turning point in the history of India and marked the dawn of the modern era. Though the Portuguese did not establish any territorial empire in India and they possessed only some trading ports on the west-coast, they came to dominate trade and commerce with India.

It may be noted that before the advent of the Portuguese the sea­borne trade between India and the West was in the hands of the Arabs. The Portuguese not only asserted their naval superiority by overthrowing the Arabs but also conquered large territories in India.