The Portuguese and the little kingdoms of Kanara

Abstract

By the sixteenth century, the Portuguese had firmly entrenched in western India, particularly the southern region. In the process, they had to deal with different regimes-both substantial and insignificant-thereby finding themselves compelled to devise appropriate strategies. The Portuguese proved generally aggressive in dealing with the 'little kingdoms', relatively smaller political powers, which did not possess the ability to challenge Portuguese naval supremacy. However, they did not use the same strategy while dealing with the larger political powers such as the Vijayanagara and even the Keladi Nayakas of Karnataka. It is important to analyse the nature of the Portuguese relationship with the little kingdoms that seemed to be vulnerable yet possessed sufficient political and economic clout to respond to the Portuguese challenge. The present paper is an attempt in this regard.