Achin cannon and junks. Twice again, in 1615 and for the lasttime in 1628, Malacca was besieged, and on each occasion theAchinese were repulsed with equal bravery. But the increasedmilitary forces sent out to resist these attacks proved an insup-portable drain on the revenues and population of Portugal .
In 1580, the Portuguese Crown was united with that of Spanish Spain , under Philip n. This proved the ruin of the maritime j^g“ ences ’and commercial supremacy of Portugal in the East. The in-terests of Portugal in Asia were henceforth subordinated tothe European interests of Spain ; and the enemies of Spain ,the Dutch and the English , preyed on the Portuguese as wellas on the Spanish commerce. In 1640, Portugal again becamea separate kingdom. But in the meanwhile the Dutch andEnglish had appeared in the Eastern Seas; and before theirindomitable competition, the Portuguese empire of the Indieswithered away as rapidly as it had sprung up. The period ofthe highest development of Portuguese commerce was pro-bably from 1590 to 1610, on the eve of the subversion of theircommercial power by the Dutch , and when their politicaladministration in India was at its lowest depth of degradation.
At this period a single fleet of Portuguese merchantmen sailingfrom Goa to Cambay or Surat would number as many as 150or 250 carracks. Now, only one Portuguese ship sails fromLisbon to Goa in the year. 1
The Dutch besieged Goa in 1603, and again in 1639. Bothattacks were unsuccessful on land ; but the Portuguese weregradually driven off the sea. In 1683 the Marathas plundered Downfallto the gates of Goa , and in 1739 they sacked Bassein, theNorthern capital. The further history of the Portuguese in India ,India is a miserable chronicle of pride, poverty, and sounding i6 39 ' i 739 -titles. The native princes pressed upon them from the land.
On the sea they gave way to more vigorous European nations.
The only remaining Portuguese possessions in India are Portu- Goa , Daman, and Diu, all on the west coast, with a total area 2 ue ® e po ?'of 2365 square miles, and a total general population (Native 1881.and European ), according to the last Census, 2 of 561,384in 1891. About 30,000 of so-called ‘Portuguese ’ half-castesare found in Bombay , and 20,000 in Bengal, chiefly in the
1 Reproduced, without verification, from Sir George Birdwood ’s Report,p. 70.
2 The Census of Portuguese India for 1881 takes a distinction between‘actual’ and ‘nominal’ population. The enumeration seems to have beenconducted with greater completeness in the Portuguese Settlements in1891, but I have so far been able to obtain only the gross total, withoutbeing able to analyse or examine its details.