The Portuguese and the Asian Seas, c. 1500 - c. 1640: remarks for a global review of the first European expansion in the East. Part I: The Asian Seas in the beginning of the sixteenth century

Abstract

Between the end of 1497 and the beginning of 1498 Vasco da Gama’s ships crossed from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean and begun the enquire of the “civilized” Eastern Seas. At the same time they paved the way to the first European expansion in the area, they also started the process full of global geopolitical implications defined by the historian Pierre Chaunu as the “désenclavement du monde”. In this first part of our article we will identify the main aspects of local societies and the most important trade routes established between different Asian seaports as the Portuguese found them at that time. From the Western Indian Ocean to the Straits of Malacca, from the Indonesian Archipelago to the Sea of Japan, we will review the productive specializations and trading networks, the main features of political and material reality concerning the major local entities, as well as the role performed by the most powerful merchant communities. We will see that the sudden coming up of the western people affected some of the changes going on in the Asian previous navigation and trade system. Nevertheless, we will also stress that the local realities and forces affected in a far larger way the strategic options taken by the newcomers.