The Pepper Empire
There is a huge boulder called Velliamkallu, 10 km into the sea from Payyoli beach near Kozikode. Local lore has it that during the Portuguese rule, murderers and serious law offenders were executed here and thrown off the rock into the sea. A morbid history to an otherwise peaceful beach surrounds. But that’s what the entire stretch of the western coast of India is – a strip of land that attracted traders, travelers and rulers, resulting in not just a tumultuous and fascinating history of activities from ancient times, but also a series of colonization in the 500 years of recent history. The Portuguese led the way and spread their Pepper Empire all around the Indian coast; particularly along the Western coast.
We have, indeed, come a long way from understanding a nation’s growth purely on the basis of its geology and geography but their significance in forming the culture, politics, economics and even language of a region, is still a determining factor. The importance of the Western Coast during the ancient times cannot be ignored. And all it takes is a drive along NH 17, and a few minor detours here and there, to understand and enjoy this.
The Indus valley settlements along the Gujarat coast, and in the Great Rann of Kutch, dating as far back as the 3rd millennium BC have unearthed monumental evidence for long standing maritime contact with Mesopotamia and Egypt. This was followed by a flourish of Greeco Roman trade and settlements, around the turn of the millennium all along the Peninsular coast line . The recent excavations at Patanam, near Kodungallur in Central Kerala have shed further light on this connection. Besides excavations, there are interesting references to the culture and economy of these regions, in the works of Greco Roman geographers, explorers, and political envoys. Dioscorides, the Greek Physician who was a contemporary of Pliny, describes the medicinal virtues of spices like pepper and turmeric from the Western coast in his treatise. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea has frequent references to Barygaza (Bharuch in Gujarat) and Muziris (identified as the regions around Kodungallur in Central Kerala). All these fascinating references to a far away land must have poked the curiosity of later travelers.
The sea trade route began at the Mediterranean coast, crossing over the Nile delta, into the Red sea, and out into the Arabian Sea at the Gulf of Aden onto the Indian shores. But in 45AD the discovery of the existing monsoon winds enabled a straight sail from Aden to Muziris; thus avoiding skirting along the Arab coast. Port towns of Bharuch, Nala sopara, and Kalyan north of Bombay, and many smaller centres further south remained active well into the historic period.
But the arrival of one man changed the cultural landscape of the entire western coast of India. Its effects linger on. Not just in nooks and crannies, but entire cities and states of Peninsular India. The man - Vasco de Gama from Portugal. Improved navigational skills and techniques facilitated direct sailing across the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. It eliminated the perils of close encounters with pirates and hard to pass middle men along the narrow Red sea. So saddled with an excellent knowledge of the African coastline, Vasco set sail to India from Lisbon in 1497, decidedly to explore a new sea route which would break the monopoly of the Venetian merchants over sea trade. He sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Arabian Sea and reached the port town of Calicut in Kerala in May 1498. Vasco literally fulfilled the dream of Portuguese explorer Bartholomew Dias, who had explored the route upto South Africa. Although not welcomed initially in Calicut, his subsequent voyage to Kerala coast with a fleet of warships saw a warm welcome at Cochin and later again at Calicut in 1502. Thus the Portuguese became the first to colonize along the Indian shores. They established the first European trading centre at Quilon in 1502. Although items of trade included cottons, silks, indigo, incense, precious stones and various other indigenous product, Indian spices were the most coveted items of trade.
Within a few years a headquarters was set up in Goa, although trade continued to be managed from Kozhikode, Kochi, and Kollam ports in Kerala. Slowly and steadily the Pepper Empire grew. Provinces north of Goa were managed from Bassein (modern Vasai, near Bombay). From the western most outpost at the island of Diu in Gujarat, the Empire followed a steady trail along the Western coast at Daman, Vasai, Bombay, Chaul, Goa, Honavar, Basrur, Mangalore, Calicut, Cannanore, Cochin and Quilon. This trail continues along the Coromandle coast from Tuticorin, all the way upto Hoogly in modern Bengal.
Following this coastal trail by road, beginning at the amazing fort and cathedral at the island of Diu in Gujarat, upto Fort Kochi in Kerala, is like surfing through the high and low waves of Portuguese heritage in India. What is obviously visible to the eye is the well preserved monuments; particularly the Bom Jesus World Heritage monument complex in Goa or the St. Angelo’s fort at Kannur, Kerala. But for the ardent history buffs, the dilapidated remains of once glorious monuments at smaller centre like Chaul, in Maharashtra can also tell a tale.
What we often forget is the distinct cultural ethos that these trade contacts and colonization’s give to the entire region. The 400 years of Portuguese rule is still alive at these towns, in its architecture, language, food and the inimitable `indigenous’ catholic flavor to the very being of states like Goa. The road side Cupolas along the streets is a unique cultural symbol all along these settlements. The urgency with which the colonizers enforced the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church on the locals in a series of bloody inquisition all across the coast can be sensed in the prisons and gallows at the spooky fortified abandoned `ghost’ towns at all the Portuguese strongholds.
The introduction of food preserves like vinegar, techniques of baking, or the acceptance of pork as a meat consumed by the civilized may be minor aspects of the assimilation process. But direct trade with the vast western market had far reaching impact on the coastal economy. It led to commercial cultivation of home garden spices like pepper and ginger, improved techniques for coconut plantations and it’s by product, and many such experiments. But the introduction of `outward looking’ houses with balconies to `see and be seen’ and large windows, is my favorite. Certainly in stark contrast to the prevalent closed structures of the times, with rooms opening to a central courtyard.
