Casa da India

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The Paço da Ribeira (Eng. Palace on the Bank) in which the Casa da Índia was located. Located on the Tagus, it had a central tower (after the renovation work under King Dom João III, called "the colonial ruler" ) and a terrace in front of the river. On the left is the shipyard (pt. Ribeira das Naus) with some ships under construction. The open area on the right is the Terreiro do Paço with the port and pillory (pt. Pelourinho). Engraving by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg . " Civitates Orbis Terrarum ", 1572 .
The palace on the banks in its Mannerist and Baroque form in the middle of the 18th century, just a few years before it was completely destroyed on November 1st, 1755 by the great Lisbon earthquake and the subsequent tsunami . Relevant maps, expertise in geography and cartography were destroyed.

The Casa da Índia ('India House') in Lisbon was created after the discovery of the sea route to India by the Crown of Portugal . These authorities had to administer the entire Portuguese overseas trade and enforce the royal monopoly on various goods. The Casa da Índia was both the central authority for the administration of almost all overseas territories and the central goods transshipment point or clearing house for almost all areas of Portuguese overseas trade. Only trade with Brazil was subject to a private consortium under Fernão de Noronha in the first decades after the discovery of South America . As an economic institution, it functioned like a trading post or a trading establishment. It was right next to the Royal Palace in the central area of Lisbon called ribeira on the banks of the Tagus River. It was also responsible for organizing the annual fleets, the so-called Armadas da Índia .

The forerunners of the Casa da Índia emerged in the wake of the Portuguese voyages of discovery along the African coasts and the associated trading opportunities. The Casa de Ceuta was founded in Lisbon as early as 1434 . However, it was not very successful because after the Portuguese conquest of Ceuta in 1415, the trade routes and flows of goods connected with the city moved to other places. Around 1445, the Casa de Arguim and de Guiné were founded in Lagos on the Algarve , both of which, also known as Companhia de Lagos , served to develop Portuguese trade with West Africa . After the death of Heinrich the Navigator , both houses were moved to Lisbon in the sixties of the 15th century and later merged in the Casa da Guiné e da Mina , since the Portuguese had shared one with the Fort São Jorge da Mina on the West African coast since 1482 prosperous fortified military and trade base.

With the commercial development as part of the Indian trade and the establishment of a system of maritime trading bases in Asia , all activities in the Casa da Guiné, da Mina e da Índia were centralized around 1503 , although the names for the Casa vary in the sources. Often referred to later as Casa da Índia , it became the most important economic institution in Portugal. The Spanish monarchs also used the decades of experience of the Portuguese in building an overseas trade and administrative network when they founded their Casa de Contratación in Seville in 1503 . In 1504 all trade activities with Africa and especially the new trade routes to Asia were subjected to state control by the Portuguese royal family, subordinated to the Vedor da Fazenda (supreme royal treasurer) and brought together in the Casa da Índia . All goods had to be handed over to the Casa , who examined them, sold and cleared customs at an agreed price, and the income was paid out to the respective owners.

The Casa da Índia served as a customs authority, audit office and accounting office for the monies and goods of the individual overseas branches and as an archive, it was active as warehouse management, personnel authority for seafarers, military and traders, but also as one of the world's first postal services. The Casa da Índia set the prices, carried out and checked purchases, sales and payments, it equipped the fleets, took care of the necessary military escort, handled the incoming and outgoing ships and issued the various certificates, permits and licenses . Through the Casa da Índia the royal officials overseas were appointed and supervised, but also the royal decrees, regulations and laws were disseminated overseas.

Between 1506 and 1570 the Casa da Índia had to enforce the official royal monopoly for all imports and sales of spices , silk and shellac as well as for the export of gold , silver , copper and corals. The royal monopoly on copper in particular brought great profits, as copper was a hot market in India and West Africa. Between 1495 and 1521 alone, the Portuguese crown bought around 5,200 tons of copper, mostly supplied by the Fuggers from Hungary , in what was then the center of international trade in Antwerp , most of which was shipped to India. The monopoly trade remained profitable until 1570 and strengthened the equity and creditworthiness of the Portuguese state. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that this monopoly trade has always been accompanied by largely free trade in other products such as textiles, weapons, paper and paper goods or salted fish (including Bacalhau ). The share of the crown in total trade with Asia was about 25% in 1506 and rose to 50% and more in the course of the monopoly, but never completely ousted private merchants from this business. Royal monopolies were also repeatedly leased to private merchants for a certain period of time through the Casa da Índia . These monopoly provisions also applied to overseas trade not affecting the motherland between Goa , the capital of the Estado da Índia from 1510, and the various trading establishments in Asia and Africa. In this context, the Casa da Índia was also responsible for police services in the fight against smuggling and piracy . After 1570, the monopolies were lifted again, except for the purchase of spices and the trade in copper and silver.

The first rules and regulations of the Casa da Índia known to us date from 1495 and July 3, 1509, which were confirmed and extended by royal decree on August 2, 1537. In 1519 the Casa was given the supervision and taxation of the trade in African slaves and between 1592 and 1594 a separate department ( consulado ) was established in the Casa da Índia , which dealt with the protection of the ports and the fight against pirates.

In the years around 1600, at the time of the personal union between Spain and Portugal (1580-1640), a commission consisting of three Castilians was set up by the Spanish king to monitor the Casa da Índia , which led to great resistance in Portugal.

With the decline of the Portuguese trading empire and the decline of political power, the importance of the Casa da Índia gradually declined. With the formation of the constitutional monarchy and the emergence of new state structures in Portugal in the first half of the 19th century, the various areas of the Casa da Índia then merged into the new ministries and authorities.

On September 17, 1833, the Casa da Índia was dissolved by decree and the remaining fiscal tasks were assigned to the customs authority of Lisbon, Alfândega Grande de Lisboa .

See also

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