Previously Known From Line Drawings // The Fourth Known

Sale: Triton X, Lot: 1233. Estimate $10000.  Closing Date: Monday, 8 January 2007.  Sold For $24000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

INDIA, Colonial. Portuguese India. D. Manuel I o Afortunado (the Fortunate). 1495-1521. AV Manoel or Cruzado (3.42 g, 12h). Goa mint; Afonso de Albuquerque, viceroy. Struck January-August 1510. Armillary sphere set on base; border composed of pellets within two circles / Open-work cross pattée with central pellet within circle; pellet at each angle; border composed of pellets within two circles. F. Rebello, “Confirma-se a existencia do Manoel ou Cruzado de ouro cunhado após a conquista de Goa,” Numismatica 94 (September-December 2005), p. 5, I (this coin); Vaz, Indo-Portuguese E1.01 = Gomes 21.01 (Índia Portuguesa) [both illustrated with line drawing]; Friedberg 1449. Good VF, light toning in devices. Extremely rare.

Struck at Goa in the months of that town’s first occupation by the Portuguese viceroy, Afonso de Albuquerque (January-August 1510), this extremely rare manoel (or cruzado) had been known only from a line drawing published in T. de Noronha & A. de Toro, Numismatica Portugueza a Dicionario de Numismatica Portugueza (Porto: 1872-1884), and subsequently reproduced in modern catalogs on the subject. Although gold half manoels were known, the existence of this larger denomination had been a subject of scholarly speculation. However, a small hoard of gold coins discovered in the vicinity of Goa in October 2005 contained two specimens of this type. Our coin, a previously unknown specimen and not one of those reported from the hoard, represents the fourth known example. Although there is a great similarity in style between this coin and the one illustrated from published report of the hoard, the lack of any die-link among these coins indicates that they were part of a large issue.

By the middle of fifteenth century, Europe’s access to the spices and the luxury goods from the East had been severely curtailed by the Turkish advance in the eastern Aegean and the continued loss of Byzantine territory and power. Consequently, the Silk Road, which for centuries had provided the conduit for such items, was effectively closed to the West Europeans, spurred by the technological developments of the Renaissance, sought alternative routes by which they could continue to acquire these luxury items. The first nation to begin exploring alternative routes was Portugal. Beginning with Prince Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese slowly began to embark on voyages charting the Atlantic coast of Africa, making detailed maps and incrementally establishing outposts from which explorations further south might occur. In 1488, when Bartholomeu Dias, a student of o Infante D. Henrique o Navegador (Prince Henry the Navigator), had rounded the southern tip of Africa, the Portuguese had discovered the possibility of a sea route to the East that would allow them to acquire spices, and other luxury goods directly from their sources.

These explorations by the Portuguese served a three-fold purpose. By controlling the trade routes to East, the details of which were a closely guarded state secret, Portugal could acquire much-needed revenue. Portugal could also attain a significant advantage over its neighbor Spain, who, under the kings of Castile and Leon, had been contemplating the annexation of Portugal. Finally, the kings of Portugal, devout monarchs that they were, could begin diplomatic relations with the legendary Asian Christian monarch, Prester John, whereby an alliance to drive the Turks from the Mediterranean might be obtained. Consequently, Manoel I commanded Vasco da Gama in 1497 to complete the formation of a trade route from the tip of Africa to India.

Rounding the Cape of Good Hope in December 1497, da Gama edged his way up the eastern coast of Africa, continuing his predecessors’ policies of establishing posts along the way. At Mombasa, he encountered hostility from the local population; instead he continued north to Malindi, a friendlier city and one that provided him with the aid of local Arabic cartographers and Indian traders. On 20 May 1498 he reached India, landing at the port of Calicut (mod. Kozhikode). Although da Gama met with initial resistance from local merchants and experienced difficult negotiations, a trading agreement between the Portuguese and the local ruler was reached. Between the time of da Gama’s departure from India in 1499 and 1502, Portuguese interests there suffered and required da Gama’s return with a fleet of twenty warships. Laying siege to Calicut, in October 1502 he compelled the local ruler to sign a revised treaty whereby, in addition to the great quantity of war booty he received, da Gama severely curtailed Muslim trading between India and East Africa. The following year, upon da Gama’s return to Portugal, Manoel I established the Estado da Índia, or Province of India, and appointed Francisco de Almeida, a trusted advisor, as the province’s first viceroy. As a result Portugal dominated the Indian Ocean trade routes from which it developed its Asian economic empire.

Among those who followed in da Gama’s footsteps was Afonso de Albuquerque. A military adventurer with significant ties to the Portuguese crown, he had served in Africa before heading out in 1503 for India. There, he assisted the viceroy Almeida in supporting the rule of the Kochi king, Unni Ramman Koyil. In return for their services, the new king granted the Portuguese the privilege of constructing a fort there. As a result, Kochi became the residence of the Portuguese viceroy. For the next seven years, Albuquerque fought in the Western Indian Ocean. He soon, however, ran afoul of Almeida, especially when royal letters arrived recognizing Albuquerque as the new viceroy. Almeida imprisoned his rival and only upon the arrival of the grand-marshal of Portugal in November 1509, was Albuquerque released and installed as the new viceroy, a position he held until his death in 1515.

Upon his installation as viceroy, Albuquerque set out on an aggressive policy of consolidating Portuguese control the Western Indian trade routes and undercutting the Muslim presence there. In January 1510, he unsuccessfully attacked Calicut, receiving a severe wound. Immediately thereafter, he besieged and captured Goa, a town that until then had been under the control of the Sultans of Delhi. From January to August, the Portuguese contolled the town, when our coin was struck. Unable to hold it for long, Albuquerque abandoned Goa in August. In November, however, he returned with reinforcements and recaptured it. As a result, the Portuguese now had a permanent colony under their control and a naval base from which they could conduct future regional operations.