Notes on the sixteenth century Bengal trade

Notes on the sixteenth century Bengal trade

Sanjay Subrahmanyam — Delhi School of Economics

The place of Bengal in sixteenth century Asian trade is a somewhat enigmatic one, as this undoubtedly puzzling quotation from a Malay chronicle describing the first Portuguese visit to Melaka-suggests. While there has been some study of maritime Bengal in the ’Iberian century,’ it has hitherto focused almost exclusively on a narration of picaresque tales regarding the Portuguese in the area, their licentious life, adventures and misadventures, and attempts at territorial conquest. A series of studies, beginning with Danvers’ and Whiteway’s somewhat unimaginative writings, and continuing with the books of Joaquim Campos, Tapan Raychaudhuri and more recently Susil Chaudhuri, have taken note of certain commercial aspects, to be sure.’

The early Portuguese expeditions tp Chittagong, Satgaon, and Gaur are noted, as is the later rise (from about 1580) of Hugli in the place of Satgaon as the chief port of western Bengal. All these studies are more or less unanimous in one respect: the belief that the Portuguese, on account of their superior military force, succeeded in the first forty years of the sixteenth century in effectively replacing most of Asian long-distance trade and shipping from Bengal. Or, as Campos succinctly puts it, ’Towards the middle of the sixteenth century, a great part of the Bengal trade and shipping passed into the hands of the Portuguese.’ Similar statements can be found in any of the standard works on the area; a recent essay by George Winius goes a step further still, asserting that by the close of the sixteenth century, ’most of the trade of the entire bay [of Bengal] was in Portuguese hands’3 (emphasis added). The only cautious note in this general view of Portuguese domination is struck by Susil Chaudhuri, who notes that ’the Portuguese mastered the major portion of the overseas trade, albeit (sic) the limited activities of a few Malaya, Arab and Indian traders.’’

If the Portuguese did really meet with such success in Bengal, despite the fact that their presence there was very largely one comprising private individuals, we may consider it remarkable. Studies by Genevi6ve Bouchon, Charles Boxer, Michael Pearson, and myself (among others) have in the past been at some pains to point out how maritime Asia in the sixteenth century was the preserve neither of the Estado da India, nor of Casado traders.’ The Portuguese presence in its various layers was undoubtedly an important one, but it was not achieved by wholly excluding other traders, be it in Gujarat, Malabar, Coromandel or Indonesia. The desire to gain exclusive rights- which no doubt existed often enough in sixteenth century Lusitanian hearts and minds-was difficult to translate into achievement.

In this study, we attempt to unravel the enigma of Bengal in sixteenth century Asian trade, focusing on two aspects: first, the Portuguese official and unofficial commercial role in the area, and second, the ’response’ (for lack of a better word) of other traders to the Lusitanian element. What follows is consequently broadly divided in two sections. The picture that emerges contains, we shall see, significant blank areas, but seems-on the face of it-to offer some modifications to the image current in the literature on the region. Needless to add, this study is based almost exclusively on the Portuguese sources of the sixteenth century.