Velankanni and Christian Missionaries
Vasco da Gama on the Malabar Coast - Copilot Designer T he Portuguese did not come to India to propagate Christianity. Their immediate attraction was trade, particularly spice trade. Europe had an enormous appetite for Indian and Asian products such as pepper from the Malabar Coast, cinnamon from Sri Lanka, cloves and nutmeg from the Indonesian archipelago, and fine cotton textiles from India. It was not easy to establish trade connections with Malabar because Muslim merchants were already well-established. Serious conflict gradually developed between the Portuguese and the Muslim merchant communities. It was not a simple religious confrontation between Christians and Muslim. Commercial rivalry, political interests and control over maritime trade were fundamental. The Hindu ruler of Calicut kingdom, the Zamorin (Samoothiri in Malayalam), initially entertained the Portuguese, but the relationship deteriorated as the Portuguese attempted to secure trading advantages. The competitio...
