Portugal - Faction Thread.

[D.Sebastian]

As there is no easy avaible source on the portuguese army of that century,I think we will have to speculate how did the cavalaria ligeira looked like based on some information we have.Here is what I got:

In the portuguese restoration war (In the XVII Century),the cavalry was divided in mounted arquebusiers (Considered light cavalry,but had armor,similar to english ironsides and Harquebusiers).They were considered light cavalry because the cuirassiers/heavy cavalry were fully armored.The cavalaria ligeira is a sucessor of the mounted arquebusiers
Before the reforms of 1707 (Wich replaced the portuguese tercios with regiments),the cavalry had no uniforms,and some man definitly had armors.
In 1754,one regiment of cavalaria ligeira was created (The bragança),but they were dressed as french cuirassiers of the time,at least in late times (My pictures of them are from the 1790s)
Now some pictures that I found or have:
This one shows pre-1707 cavalry,with no uniforms.
This other shows cavalry officers and cavalrymen in backgroud (I dont know what cavalry is this on the background,they look like fully armored dont ?)
This represents a cavalrymen,and it's dated from 1750!
The number 7 here shows a cavalrymen from the first half of the XVIII Century

And some pictures of generals:This shows an early general
This is a general from the 1750s

[KLAssurbanipal]

Thank You.
Picture with a cavalrymen from 1750 don't work...
So, Cavaleria Legeira I should make from SYW only? or SSW too?

[Antiochus]

D.Sebastian, don't worry. in our development forum, I saw that KLA finnished Portugal. Now he make Britain.

[D.Sebastian]

That is good!
Make cavalaria ligeira for both periods,but in the last give them cuirasses under the coat or no cuirasses.

[KLAssurbanipal]

Here is full preview: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=186499




PORTUGUESE ARMY:



Officer:



Armoured Pikeman (Spanish Succession War):



Marine, as Portuguese Guard (Seven Years War):



Militiaman:



Dragoon (Spanish Succession War):



Cavalaria Ligeira (Spanish Succession War):



Cavalaria Ligeira (Seven Years War):



& Portuguese General




Special Thanks to Lordz and OiM teams for using some elements of units.

[Ludicus]

Back from Holidays.
Congratulations, King Louise Assurbanipal, great job
Excellent research, D. Sebastian.

[Ludicus]

Battles, India, 18th Century - Portuguese-Maratha War.

Battle of Baçaim

Baçaim (today Vasai)during the Portuguese period was known for the refinement and wealth and splendour of it's buildings, palaces and for the beauty of it's churches. This Northern Province, included a territory which extended as far as 100kilometers along the coast, between Damão (Daman) and Bombaim (Bombay), and in some places extended for 30-50 kilometers inland. It was the most productive Indian area under Portuguese rule.
In 1719, the province of Baçaim numbered about 60,000 inhabitants;of these were 2,000 Portuguese and 58,000 Christian Indians.
Of all the Portuguese forts still existing in India, Baçaim is one of the most imposing. Today Baçaim is a tangle of ruins, the Portuguese buildings inside the fort are in ruins, although there are enough standing walls to give a good idea of the floor plans of these structures. The city has, still well preserved, his imposing boundary walls, with his two access doors and his 10 bastions. Scattered inside the walls there are the ruins of numerous town-houses and churches, among other things: the church and the convent of the Dominicans, the Franciscan church of Santo Antonio (with numerous Portuguese tombstones, the remains of the cloister and the ruins of the bell-tower), the church of Nossa Senhora da Vida, the church and convents of the Augustinian, the "Camara" palace, the Misericordia, the church Matriz of S. José, the ruins of the Jesuits church and convent. Well preserved are also the remains of the old citadel of Sao Sebastião
The Fort, enclosing a whole town within the fort walls, included 10 bastions, of these nine were named as: Cavaleiro, Nossa Senhora dos Remedios, Reis Magos Santiago, São Gonçalo, Madre de Deus, and Sam Sebastião; São Sebastião was also called "Porta Pia" or pious door of Bassein. There were two medieval gateways, one on seaside called Porta do Mar with massive teak gates cased with iron spikes and the other one called Porta da Terra. There were ninety pieces of artillery, 27 of which were made of bronze and seventy mortars, 7 of these mortars were made of bronze. The port was defended by 21 gun boats each carrying 16 to 18 guns.

In February 1739, Chimaji Appa, the Maratha ruler Bajirao Peshwa’s younger brother, attacked Bassein with 22,000 men.
He first occupied the Versova, Dharavi and blockaded Baçaim Creek. The Portuguese sought help from the British in Bombay but they instead sent ammunition and three of their gunners to assist the Marathas.
They then laid 12 mines, two of which exploded causing a breach in the fort wall. When they mounted an assault on the fort, a third mine exploded killing hundredsof Maratha warriors.
The Portuguese kept up their defenses by throwing hand grenades and throwing huge stones from mortars, causing havoc among the Marathas. The Marathas finally exploded more mines in the breached wall causing the tower of St. Sebastião to collapse. The Marathas secured a position in the fort from where the Portuguese could not longer defend the fort.
The Marathas casualty was about 12,000 killed or wounded while the Portuguese casualty was about 800 killed or wounded, among those killed on the Portuguese side were General Martinho da Silveira, General Pedro de Melo and Lt.-Colonel João Malhão.
After a desperate resistance on 16 May 1739 the Portuguese signed surrender. The treaty of surrender stipulated that all garrison would be allowed to march out of town with full honours of war. Those who wanted to leave had 8 days to take all their movable property and move out.
On 19th May 1739, Captain Caetano de Souza Pereira capitulated and handed over the Court of Baçaim. They left Baçaim on 23 May 1739.
The Portuguese lost eight cities, four chief ports, twenty fortresses, two fortified hills, the island of Salsette with the city and the fortress of Thana, Island of Arnala the island of Caranja, and 340 villages.
The churches and almost all the buildings from fortress were destroyed and looted by the Marathas. The church bells were paraded carried off on elephant backs as victory souvenirs. One Church bell was carried to and located at Naroshankar Temple on the banks ofGodavari river in Nasik, Panchavati area. The other church bell is located at Ashta-Vinayaka temple in Ballaleshwar in Sudhagad, district Raigad.
The Maratha ruler Madhavrao Peshwa offered free land grants to Hindus who would settle in Bassein and imposed a tax system to encourage purification/conversion of Christians back into Hinduism. After 205 years of uninterrupted Portuguese rule, Baçaim was progressively neglected, and the neighbouring English Bombay assumed importance in trade and commerce.
But even the Marathas could not hold control over Bassein for long.
The English and the Marathas tried not to clash with each other, however when the British heard of Portuguese expedition was being prepared for the recovery of Salsette, the British Bombay Government seized that island in 1774.
The British tried to negotiate the surrender of the fort but when negotiations failed, a British force was dispatched to take it by force. On December 28, 1774, the fort ofVasai (Bassein) was stormed, and the greater part of the fort garrison was killed.


Some images

Fortress and City, old map



The Portuguese buildings inside the fort are in ruins, although there are enough standing walls to give a good idea of the floor plans of these structures. Some have well-preserved façades.
Inside the walls there are the ruins of numerous town-houses and churches, among other things: the church and the convent of the Dominicans, the Franciscan church of Santo Antonio (with numerous Portuguese tombstones, the remains of the cloister and the ruins of the bell-tower), the church of Nossa Senhora da Vida, the church and convents of the Augustinian, the "Camara" palace, the Misericordia, the church Matriz of S. José, the ruins of the Jesuits church and convent. Well preserved are also the remains of the old citadel of Sao Sebastiao.






Church




Fort Entrance

[ChaosLondon]

Nice one Ludicus - I'm back off travelling in India in December, and always on the lookout for things to potentially go & visit!
My mum's side of the family are Goan, so there's plenty of Portuguese blood if you go back far enough...

Looking forward to commanding cacadores against the French!

[Ludicus]

Nice one Ludicus - I'm back off travelling in India in December, and always on the lookout for things to potentially go & visit!
My mum's side of the family are Goan, so there's plenty of Portuguese blood if you go back far enough...

I wish you best of the luck. A beautiful place. December? New Year´s Eve on beach is fantastic Visit North Goa ( covers cities of Panaj, Old Goa and Vasco da Gama) : golden beaches, monuments and churches. Visit Basilica do Bom Jesus, a world heritage site, the first church in India to be raised to a status of basilica. The remains of St Francis Xavier are kept here. The largest modern art gallery in Asia is attached to the curch. The Se Catedral, in Old Goa, is amazing. Goa (Rome of the Orient!...) has an enormous collection of churches and convents.
Visit Fort Aguada - a spring within the fort provided water suppy, "água", to the ships...there are dozens of places to visit, more than I can remember

[ChaosLondon]

It's my 4th trip back.
Old Goa is fantastic - especially if you're scrambling over the ruins of St Augustines at sunset. Hardly anyone seems to walk up the hill to St Augustines, so it's always deserted. Some of the old Portuguese tombs are amazing, and all of the old painted tiles...
Definitely spending time in Panaji as well (I have relatives there), sitting in the Top Gear Pub watching football with the locals, and eating crab xacuti at Godinho's restaurant...
I think the family are getting together for New Years just north of Panaji, on a little island in the river, and then I'm free to travel. I'll go back & stay in Arambol (my favourite beach in North Goa). And then I have another 3 months to bimble around...
Maybe go & see some famous sites of the Mahratta Wars?

But I think we're getting rather off-thread here!

[Ludicus]

It's my 4th trip back.
Old Goa is fantastic - especially if you're scrambling over the ruins of St Augustines at sunset. Hardly anyone seems to walk up the hill to St Augustines, so it's always deserted. Some of the old Portuguese tombs are amazing, and all of the old painted tiles...
Definitely spending time in Panaji as well (I have relatives there), sitting in the Top Gear Pub watching football with the locals, and eating crab xacuti at Godinho's restaurant...
I think the family are getting together for New Years just north of Panaji, on a little island in the river, and then I'm free to travel. I'll go back & stay in Arambol (my favourite beach in North Goa). And then I have another 3 months to bimble around...
Maybe go & see some famous sites of the Mahratta Wars?

Great! Crab xacuti, there is nothing like its taste. Goan cuisine is one of the best in India.

Commodities Flow in the Portuguese World (16-18th centuries)
(read post 67: "Merchant Guide 1750-1800 -Trade in the East")

From/To

1.Baltic-Portugal : cereals, amber, wheat

2.Germany-Portugal: metals, metal objects, arms, glass, armour - salt, wine, fruits, olive oil, hides

3.Portugal-Morocco: cloths, spices, lacquer

4.Morocco-Portugal: cereals, fruits, metals, coral, carpets, textiles

5.Madeira-Portugal: sugar, wines, dyes

6.Azores-Portugal: sugar, wines, wheat, cotton, dyes

7.Cape Vert-Portugal: salt, maize, dye

8.Portugal-W.Europe: brazilwood, dyes, spices, ivory, peppers, sugar, wines, silks, salt, cloth, tobacco, dyewoods

9.W.Europe-Portugal: cereals, manafactured goods, woollens, textiles

10.Portugal-Italy: brazilwood, dyes, spices, ivory

11.Italy-Portugal: cereals, velvets, glass, faience

12.Portugal-Brazil: olive oil, flour, codfish, wines, tools, manafactured goods

13.Brazil-Portugal: brazilwood, sugar, gold, diamonds, hides, woods, resins, oils, cotton, tobacco, silver, beverages

14.E.Africa-Portugal: ebony, gold, ivory, coral

15.Portugal-E.Africa: cloth, glass beads

16.Brazil-W.Africa: tobacco, gold, brandy, hides, horses

17.W.Africa-Brazil: slaves, ivory

18.S.Brazil-La Plata: sugar, slaves, rice

19.La Plata-Brazil: silver

20.W.Africa-Portugal: slaves, ivory, gold, peppers, musk

21.Portugal-West Africa: manafactured goods, textils, blankets, metal objects, beads, bracelets, corn horses, shells

22.Goa/Cochim-Bandas/Molucas: cottons, copper

23.Bands/Molucas-Goa/Cochim: cloves, nutmeg, mace

24.Goa-East Africa: textiles

25.East Africa-Goa: slaves, gold, ivory

26.Goa-Hormuz: spices, silks

27.Hormuz-Goa: silver, horses

28.Goa-Portugal: spices, cottons, porcelains, aromatic woods, chintzes, ivory, precious stones, perfumes, lacquer, medicinal plants

29.Portugal-Goa: bullion, copper, metals, European clothes & linens, European goods, lenses, clockes

30.Goa/Cochim-Malacca: Indian linens, cotton goods, spices, pepper, ivory, lenses, clocks

31.Malacca-Cochim/Goa: gold, copper, silks, musk, porcelain, pearls, medicinal plants, Japanese objects

32.Malacca-Macau: spices, pepper, woods, hides, European goods, Indian cloths, ivory, lenses, clocks

33.Macau-Malacca: pearls, medicinal plants, porcelain, musk, silks, copper, gold, Japanese objects

34.Macau-Nagasaki: European goods, gold, silks, porcelains, musk

35.Nagasaki-Macau: Japanese silver, lacquerware, furniture, screens, weapons

36.Macau-Manila: Chinese silks, Indian cottons, furniture, porcelain

37.Manila-Macau: American silver


Numbers refer to accompanying table: (click, elarge)



Source:A.J.R. Russell-Wood, A world on the move.

[Steel of Fury]

I'm interested to know how those who plan to play Portugal will conduct their campaign. Being a small country with a more powerful neighbor who can threaten you ( Spain ) and with Muslim factions like the Barbary States having close access to the country, I wonder what your strategies will be. The faction is probably as challenging and as danger-filled as Prussia.

[Romman]

Being a small country with a more powerful neighbor who can threaten you ( Spain )

and spanish couldn't conquer this small land....

[Ludicus]

I'm interested to know how those who plan to play Portugal will conduct their campaign. Being a small country with a more powerful neighbor who can threaten you ( Spain ) and with Muslim factions like the Barbary States having close access to the country, I wonder what your strategies will be. The faction is probably as challenging and as danger-filled as Prussia.

Good question

1. Strategic alliances in Europe.
2. Expanding the empire overseas.

This time period is rich of great nations vying for power, in Europe, America, and India (the struggle between the Marathas and the Mughals took place in this century, with the English, French, Portuguese, and Dutch meddling in local affairs and destabilizing both local empires). Expect many epic confrontations between great powers, which can sometimes be too dangerous to be fought in home territories

Barbary States:
Portugal had a relatively strong navy and the Barbary navy was (relatively) weak.
Quote, post 92, Barbary States thread:

...In an attempt to address the challenge posed by the Dey of Algiers, Thomas Jefferson, then U.S. Minister to France, attempted to build a coalition of weaker naval powers to defeat Algiers, but was unsuccessful. However, the Kingdom of Portugal was also at war with Algiers, and blocked Algerian ships from sailing past the Straits of Gibraltar. As a result U.S. merchant ships in the Atlantic Ocean remained safe for a time and temporarily relieved the U.S. Government from the challenges posed by the Barbary States..In 1793 the situation for American trade grew worse. For several years Portugal had been at war with Algiers. Now a Portuguese-Algerian truce enabled the corsairs of Algiers to sally again past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic. In October and November, 1793, eleven American vessels were captured, forcing the United States, which had thus far only managed to conclude a treaty with Morocco, to engage in negotiations with the other Barbary States....

[Steel of Fury]

and spanish couldn't conquer this small land....

Ludicus: Good reply. Nice information too.

[Ludicus]

Ludicus: Good reply. Nice information too.

You are welcome

[Ludicus]

Decline and Rebirth in Asia

Decline

The opulent wealth from Asian trade, Brazil’s growing sugar economy, and Portugal’s mercurial rise combined to attract the jealousy of other European powers. The fact that the Spanish Habsburgs held the Portuguese crown from 1580 to 1640 only exacerbated these difficulties. A concerted attack by Spain’s archenemies, the Protestant powers of England and particularly the United Provinces of the Netherlands, characterized the history of the 17th Century Portuguese overseas empire in Asia, Africa, and the New World. In Asia, by the mid-17th century, the earlier glories of the Estado da India were tarnished.
The early 1660´s marked the nadir of Portuguese power in Asia.

Diverse explanations have been given for this precipitous decline:
a) Portuguese historians argued that this reversal of fortunes was occasioned by the Spanish captivity.
b) British historians of the 19th century argued that it was the corrupt nature of Portuguese administration that undermined the Estado da India.
c) For C.R. Boxer, the most prolific historian of the past century in the field, the reasons for Portugal’s imperial decline were simple:” the superior manpower,[and] superior firepower of the Dutch.
d) In the 1970´s the Danish historian Niels Steensgaard, maintained that the entrance of the more advanced proto-capitalist entrepreneurial companies of the English and Dutch into the Asian trade doomed the monarchical monopolism of the Portuguese Crown to extinction.

One constant in all this historiography was that the year 1663 marked an important watershed in the history of the Estado da India; for the loss in that year of Cochin is generally considered to have constituted the death knell for the Portuguese power in India.

Rebirth

Recent research has shown that during the last three decades of the 17th century, a significant rehabilitation campaign took place in Portuguese Asia.

That the Estado da India was reduced in size is undeniable, equally so is that problems and setbacks continued.
Nevertheless, there is definitive evidence to show that this campaign began with the reign of Prince Regent Pedro (1668-1702) and culminated with the viceroyalty of of Luis de Mendonça Furtado (1671-1677)

In theory, this reform campaign was grounded in the belief that the remaining Asian holdings if properly administrated and exploited in conjunction with the rich Rios de Cuama region of Mozambique, could serve as the basis for a profitable and viable Estado da India. In practice, this campaign reflects the fact that the harsh structural dichotomy advanced in the past between the monarchical monopolism of the Portuguese empire in Asia and those of the Dutch and the English does not hold up. Rather a symbiotic relationship existed in the imperial competition existed in the imperial competition in Asia among the European powers during the 17th century.
The Portuguese learned lessons from their Protestant competitors and sought to implement them in their empire. (While the Dutch and to a lesser degree the English, emulated some of the earlier practices of the Iberians -theme for another post)

Accordingly, the Portuguese undertook political, military, economic, and religious reforms during these decades.

Perhaps the most crucial decision made by Pedro came in 1699, when he refused an attractive offer of an anti-VOC alliance in Asia made by Louis XIV´s great minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Instead of recommencing open war with the much hated Dutch, Pedro instead began his reforms during the decade of 1670´s while his European rivals were warring with one another. Politically, the Crown effectively sought to re-establish control over the outlying fortresses of the Estado da India including Mozambique, Macao and Timor.

Economically, by more efficiently mandating prompt departures dates, the Portuguese rejuvenated the Carreira da India. Regular sailings between Lisbon and Goa resulted, and pepper cargoes again reached the docks on the Tagus nearly every year. The Portuguese, using savvy business techniques, also bought pepper cargoes at the most advantageous prices possible.
To one again enforce the cartaz system, fleets from Goa patrolled the Arabian Sea and Persian Golf, and many prizes were taken during this years.
Military, a formidable Terço (Regiment) was re-established in Goa, which successfully resisted the encroachments of the Marathas under Shivaji and his son Shambaji in the 1670s and 1680s.
Portuguese war fleets also bested the fleets of the powerful sultan of Oman during this period as well.

Religiously, Pedro and Mendonça Furtado recognized the need to temper the zeal of religiosos and the Inquisition. Various abuses were checked, most notable the lax interpretation of the 1559 law on Hindus orphans, in order to retain the commercial networks and capital of indigenous merchants living within the Estado. Great efforts were also made to develop the mineral and trade potential of the Zambezi River Basin in Mozambique.

As opposed to the dismal state of affairs described by Antonio de Mello de Castro in 1663 (“The needs of this State are so many and so great..”) the Estado da India budget of 1680 showed a positive balance of some 271,000 xerafins for that year, perhaps the largest such balance in a century.

Even though modern historians have been slow to appreciate these advances, they were certainly recognized by contemporaries in the Asian trade.
As Gerald Aungier, the English Company President in Surat, notified his Company Directors in early 1674,”The Portuguese Follow their trade as well in India as Europe vigorously, they have sent this yeare fewer shipps full laden for Lisboa, two or three shipps for China, some to Mossambique, Monbass [Mombassa] & Patta, & in October last they sent an Armada consisting of 5 shipps & about 10 small frigates well manned to the Persian Golf.”
All in all, it was an remarkable turn-around from the chaos and decline of the early 1660s and established the basis for the overseas empire in East Africa and Asia that would last until the late 20th century.

Source: The Globe Emcompassed, Glenn J. Ames, 2008 – Connections: Key Themes in World History. (excerpts)

[ChaosLondon]

Nice!
A lot of work, I suspect.

[Romman]

Nice!
A lot of work, I suspect.

just to find it

http://www.colonialvoyage.com/PpossAf.html

[Ludicus]

Nice work Romman
Let me guess: East Africa in the next post?