Seeking Prestige and Survival: Gift-exchange Practices between the Portuguese Estado da Índia and Asian Rulers

Abstract

Abstract The relations between the Portuguese Estado da India and other Indian powers were based on several forms of interaction from embassies to commercial exchanges. One important channel of communication was the exchange of gifts. The Estado often used gifts to consolidate its ties with local powers, to ward off the hostility of potential enemies, and to maintain allies or find new ones. This article analyses how the gifts offered and received by the Portuguese served the interests of the Portuguese Crown in India, and lead to the adoption of local ritual practices by the Estado da Índia.