Brazil Or India?

The following have similarities to some of my Brazilian stamps and the same currency, so why do they say India? Or am I totally off base and they are stamps from India?
Thanks
Donna

Hi Donna

The stamps you have scanned are from Portuguese India before India took them over. They are part of a set of 15 stamps that was issued in 1933.

They used currency called similar to Brizil because Brazil was once colonized by Portugal and many Postuguese colonies used "Reis". It is interesting to note that Brazil is the only Latin American country that speaks Portuguese rather than Spanish.

Hope this helps

Bujutsu

The Treaty of Torsedillas in 1494 divided the newly discovered New World between the two most powerful countries involved in its discovery, Spain and Portugal. Not having liked where a Papal Bull had drawn the north-south dividing line (100 leagues west of the Azores), the Portuguese negotiated this treaty with Spain to give them everything west of a line running 370 leagues west of the Azores. This meant the Portuguese could colonize much of South America (Brazil) and the Spanish pretty much got the rest. Maps and longitude were not that accurate back then, or the Portuguese probably would not have agreed to that line!

That's why Brazil speaks Portuguese and the rest of South and Central America is mainly Spanish-speaking

More useless info

You guys are great! I feel smarter with every answer I receive!
Thank you.
Donna

My history of South America is a little shaky. In a general sense
although there is a grey area, I have always understood that
the Portuguese, compared to the rest of the world at that time, were traders, rather than colonisers.
Care to expand on your take with the Portuguese in Brazil?

well they were traders and as such they did make some colonies like portugese india which they ruled for nearly 400 years but they were never a big power like spain britain or france. also they wanted to integrate with the natives by mariiage etc as opposed to others at the time who just wanted to trample the natives and not touch them with a 10 foot pole

The British were also traders of course, in the early days at least. After taking the Dutch East Indies in the Napoleonic Wars, the British exchanged them for the Dutch settlements in India and Malaya. I wonder who's sorry now.

John Evelyn in his Diary for the 19 June 1682 records meeting emissaries of the Sultan of Bantame (now Banten, on the Northeast coast of Java). Evelyn wasn't impressed.

The Bantame, or East India Ambassadors (at this time we had in London the Russian, Moroccan, and Indian Ambassadors,) being invited to dine at Lord Geo. Berkeley's (now Earl), I went to the entertainment to contemplate the exotic guests. They were both very hard-favour'd and much resembling in countenance some sort of monkeys. We eate at two tables, the Ambassadors and interpreter by themselves. Their garments were rich Indian silks, flower'd with gold, viz. a close waistcoate to their knees, drawers, naked legs, and on their heads capps made like fruit-baskets. They wore poison'd daggers at their bosoms, the hafts carved with some ugly serpents or devils heads, exceeding keene, and of Damasco metal. They wore no sword. The second Ambassador (sent it seemes to succeed in case the first should die by the way in so tedious a journey), having ben at Mecca, wore a Turkish or Arab shash, a little part of the linen hanging downe behinde his neck, with some other difference of habite, and was halfe a Negro, bare legg'd and naked feete, and deem'd a very holy man. They sate cross-legg'd like Turks, and sometimes in the posture of apes and monkeys; their nails and teeth black as jet, and shin¬ing, which being the effect, as to their teeth, of perpetually chewing betel to preserve them from the tooth-ache, much raging in their country, is esteem'd beautifull. The first Ambassador was of an olive hue, a flat face, narrow eyes, squat nose, and Moorish lips, no haire appeared; they wore several rings of silver, gold, and copper on their fingers, which was a token of knighthood or nobility. They were of Java Major, whose Princes have ben turn'd Mahometans not above 50 yeares since, the inhabitants are still pagans and idolators. They seem'd of a dull and heavy constitution, not wondering at any thing they saw, but exceedingly astonished how our Law gave us property in our estates, and so thinking we were all Kings, for they could not be made to comprehend how subjects could possess anything but at the pleasure of their Prince, they being all slaves; they were pleas'd with the notion, and admir'd our happi¬nesse. They were very sober, and I believe subtle in their way. Their meate was cook'd, carried up, and they attended by several fat slaves, who had no covering save drawers, which appear'd very uncouth and loathsome. They eate their pilaw and other spoone-meate with¬out spoones, taking up their pottage in the hollow of their fingers, and very dextrously flung it into their mouthes without spilling a drop.

poor herge was sorry later in his life for such comments john just didnt know any better

Rod222 wrote:



You are pretty much right, if by "trading" you mean economic exploitation rather than settlement and political possession. While the argueably most significant impact on native life was the introduction and spread of Catholicism by the Jesuits, the Portuguese settlement of Brazil pretty much followed economic trails. At first, resources were harvested from the forest using mostly native labor, and later imported African slave labor. The discovery of gold in the mid to late 1600's did give impetus for some more inland excursions and villages, and these were mostly Portuguese speculators and adventurers, rather than settlers. The French, who did not recognize the Treaty of Torsedillas, was another cause for the Portuguese to increase their presence in the area, if a military one. The Dutch and Spanish also forced the Portuguese to protect their claim. An organized central government (eventually organized under the Portuguese crown) did not happen until after several decades of the failure of decentralized local "captaincies" to maintain security (read "cash flow"). It was at this point, probably about 50-100 years after the treaty with Spain, that a "colony" could be said to come about. Up until then, the Portuguese presence (excluding the missionaries) was purely exploitative in nature and not sedentary in intent.
Dave, who hopes this has a little bit of philatelic significance.

sadly colonialism will always be a black bot on the history of mankind.

Hi All

Thanks for all that added 'useful' information <G>.

It is always interesting to have the background history to the countries that we collect. It is too bad that those people who do not collect stamps, also do not realise the historical and geographical significances because I think they are missing out on a lot.

This is what makes are hobby interesting.

Chimo

Bujutsu

I agree 100%. I am just getting started and never knew that every single stamp is just full of history and stories. I'm loving it!

Thanks.
Donna

Nice work Dave,
beautifully written.
Thank you.