Question

Document 2

Source: Duarte Barbosa, government official employed in a Portuguese trading-post on the Malabar Coast, travel narrative
published in Portugal in 1516.
The Muslims in Calicut are rich, and live well, and they used to control all the sea trade from that town. Indeed, if the king
of Portugal had not discovered India, Malabar would already have been in the hands of the Muslims.
In addition to the local Muslims, there are also foreign Muslims in Calicut such as Arabs, Persians, and Gujaratis. They are
great merchants, sail to all parts of the world with their goods, and have their own Muslim leader who rules over them and
disciplines them as necessary, without the Hindu king of Calicut meddling with them. And before the king of Portugal
discovered the country, the Muslim traders were so numerous and powerful in the city of Calicut that the Hindus did not
dare to enter into disputes with them.
And after the king of Portugal made himself master there, and these Muslims saw that they could not defend their
position there, they began to leave Calicut, so that very few of them remain today.
Please provide a short 1-2 sentence summary. In 1-2 sentences, how does it tie to the prompt: evaluate the extent to which the Portuguese transformed maritime trade in the Indian ocean in the sixteenth century. In 1-2 sentences, explain why this document may have been written.

Answer 1

The document by Duarte Barbosa describes how Muslim merchants controlled Calicut's trade before the Portuguese transformed Indian Ocean maritime trade, subsequently causing many Muslim traders to leave Calicut.

Step-by-step explanation:

The account by Duarte Barbosa emphasizes that prior to the arrival of the Portuguese, Calicut was a prosperous trading center dominated by Muslim merchants from various regions, including Arabs, Persians, and Gujaratis. This dominance in trade, however, was challenged when the Portuguese transformed maritime trade in the Indian Ocean during the sixteenth century, taking control over sea trade and causing many Muslim traders to depart from Calicut.

The document likely serves as an eyewitness account and an official report detailing the changes in Calicut's trade and social dynamics due to Portuguese intervention, which could have been used to inform the Portuguese crown and other officials about the effectiveness of their maritime policies in the region.