Modern Humanities Research Association

'The Friendship of Kings was in the Ambassadors': Portuguese Diplomatic Embassies in Asia
and Africa during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Author(s): STEFAN HALIKOWSKI-SMITH
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Portuguese Studies, Vol. 22, No. 1 (2006), pp. 101-134
Published by: Modern Humanities Research Association
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The FriendshipofKingswasin the
Ambassadors':PortugueseDiplomatic
Embassiesin Asia and Africaduringthe
Sixteenthand Seventeenth Centuries
STEFAN HALIKOWSKI-SMITH
Therehas been fromtheverybeginnings discussion as to the nature
and
ofPortuguese Europeanpower in Asiain the earlymodernperiod
priorto the Battle of Plassey and colonialism in all of its territorial
Historians
manifestations.1 have moved on from considering it a Vasco
da Gamaepoch,withall the of and
presumptions hindsight European
to callingit an 'AgeofPartnership',
superiority, an Age ofBrokerage',
or perhapsmostneutrally, but also evasively, Age of Commerce'.2
an
Historiographymovedonagainatsomepointinthemid-1990s fromthese
broadgeneralizationsregarding powerrelations intotherealmofcultural
toquestions
history, offirstencounters andtheintrinsiccommensurabili ty
oftheEuropeanandAsianworlds.3 K. N. Chaudhuri's AsiaBefore Europe:
and civilisationoftheIndian OceanfromtheriseofIslam to 1750, and
economy
hisuse ofsettheory, probably representsthemostambitious (and most
misunderstood) attempt at generatinga one-to-one mappingof these
twoworlds.4 Byreducing themtotheirbasiccivilisational
buildingblocks
(foodand drink,clothing, housingand attitudesto land and domestic
animals)hisapproachsoughtto tackletheproblembystarting fromthe
mostelemental aspectsof the encounter oftwoworlds. Butalthough this
can tellus abouthowdifferent peoplesreactedto heat,animals,and the
delimitation ofspace,and helpus withregardto howto groupdifferent
humansocieties, we are stillverymuchleftwithintherealmofhuman
beingsand thematerial world- at mostthestructures ofproduction -
and removed fromthetricky essenceofpowerthat
and oftenintangible
1 I would like to thank
TimothyCoates of CharlestonCollege forhis reading and comments
and Diego Ramada Curto of the EUI, Florence, forhis 'invisiblehand' and forstimulatingmy
interestin the sociological dimensionsof the Portugueseworld.
2 Blair B.
Kling & M. N. Pearson, The Age ofPartnership. Europeansin Asia before
Domination
(Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,1979); ¿ MacPherson,TheIndian Ocean:a history ofpeople
and thesea (Delhi: OxfordUniversity Press, 1998), ch. 3 ('The Age of Commerce, 1450-1700'),
or AnthonyReid, SouthEast Asia in theAgeofCommerce, 1450-1 680 (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1088).
3
Amongstthe best worksof this historiographicalmoment are StuartSchwartzed., Implicit
Understandings: observing,reporting on theencounters
and reflecting betweenEuropeansand other
peoples
in theearlymodernera (Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1994); Stephen Greenblatt,
Marvellous Possessions:thewonderoftheNewWorld(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991).
4 K. N. Chaudhuri,Asia Before Europe,economy oftheIndian Oceanfromtheriseof
and civilisation
Islamto 1750 (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press, 1990).
1O2 STEFAN HALIKOWSKI-SMITH
inevitablyconstitutesrelationsbetweenlarge groupsof people brought

intointeraction. In thisarticle,I wouldliketo movebeyondChaudhuri's
civilisationalbuildingblocks to questiona highlyformalizedand ritual
socialfunctionthatbroughtAsiansand Europeanstogether, butone that
also dealtwiththe nerveessenceof power,and thathas been recognized
foritsinstrumental importancein Europeanexpansion.5This is theissue
ofdiplomaticembassiesdispatchedbythePortugueseto different corners
of theIndian Ocean world.
It maywell be worthstartingwitha clarificationof terms,though,
for the embassies analysed here and their internationallegal and
institutionalcontextswould be scarce recognizableto GarrettMattingly
fromhis renownedstudyof Renaissancediplomacy,of 1955, or,indeed,
to the Portuguesehistoriansof diplomaticrelations,like theViscountof
Santarém,whodid notfindthemworthy ofinclusionalongsideEuropean
statecraft.For a start,therewas no web of permanentembassiessuch as
had grownup amongstthe majorsecularstatesof Italybythe 1450s,nor
theirmethodicand standardizedtestimonials, the dispacciand relazioni.
Portuguese embassies in the Indian ocean world, rather,were sent out
individually when the occasion demanded, though theJesuitmissions
could last some years.7In general,then,it would be hard to recognise
here whatsubsequenthistorianshave chosen to speak of as the 'origins
ofmoderndiplomacy',whichM.S. Andersonhas definedas 'a networkof
organizedcontactswhichlinkedmore or less continuously the statesof
westernEurope'. On the otherhand, it would be untrueto suggestthat
the authoritiesof respectiveIndian Ocean societiessaw the Portuguese
only as passing ships. Most Asian receptionsof the Portuguese,for
example,distinguishedbetweenthe payingof respectsto the King in
Portugaland hisviceroyor governorin Goa.
Similarproblemsof recognitionattachto categoriesand agents.One
such arises in respectof the role of degredados, criminalsand convicts
deliberately left behind by Portuguese fleets in isolated places with
instructions to forgelinkswithlocal civilizationsand obtaininformation
on possiblesources of preciousmetalsby marchinginland. They were
not officially embassies (TimothyCoates speaks of them as 'cultural
5 Pedro Soares Martínez,HistoriaDiplomáticadePortugal(Lisbon: Verbo, iq86), 102.

GarrettMattingly,RenaissanceDiplomacy(Oxford: Cape, 1955); Manuel de Barros e Sousa,
Visconde de Santarém,Quadroelementar das relacöes dePortugalcomas diversas
políticase diplomáticas
potenciasdo mundo,desdeo principio
da monarchia,18 vols (Paris:J.R Aillaud, 1842-76).
7 The thirdmissionat the Mughalcourttechnically
lastedfrom1595-1773,thoughfor
EdwardMacLagan,TheJesuits andtheGreat
Mughal(London:Burns,Oates& Washburne,1932)
itwasbroughtto an end in 1605.The firsttwomissions
wereconsiderably
shorter(1580-83
and 1KQ1-Q2).
1494- 1618 (London: Longman,
M.S. Anderson,TheOriginsoftheModernEuropeanStateSystem,
1998),52.
PORTUGUESE DIPLOMATIC EMBASSIES IN ASIA AND AFRICA 103
intermediaries'), butitwaspreciselythelackofanyformality thatenabled

theirdiplomaticsuccess.Degredados likeAntonioFernandes,forexample,
a humble ship's carpenter,managed to get his East Africanhosts to
worshiphim,receivinghimas some kindof god.9
A similarquestionapplies to religious'missions'aimingat conversion
oflocal populations- weretheyembassies?The DominicanfriarGaspar
da Cruz,who electedto visitCambodiabetween1555-56, in his account
calls his tripan embassy,thoughmanyof the more grandiloquentlike
Xavier preferredto see themselvesas 'apostles'.10From a functional
perspective, however,thereis littleto separate'embassy'and 'mission',
and oftentheywent together.Dias de Novais's embassyto the Ngola,
whichsoughta commercialagreementthatcould set the stageforslave-
trading,was accompanied byJesuitcolleagues who insistedthat their
purposewas to convertNgola Ndambiand his subjectsto Christianity. In
thisinstance,however, theNgola showedlittleinterestbeyondthegifthis
brotherthe kingof Portugalhad senthim,and themissionended badly,
withhostagestakenand the restof the missionexpelled.11
Thirdly, thereis the case of Portugueseenvoyswho wereemployedby
nativeAsiansocieties.Should theybe consideredPortuguesediplomatic
embassies?One such envoy,Tomás Pereira S.J.,was sent by the boy-
EmperorK'ang-hsion behalfof the newlyacceded Manchu dynastyto
negotiatewiththe Russiansat Nerchinsk,and playeda keyrole in the
historiccompromisesigned there in 1689. Given K'ang-hsi'spersonal
verdicton Pereira,thathe thoughtPereiraan honestand astuteservant, it
seemsherethatalthoughnotrenegingon hisfaith,whichwasthecase with
so manyPortugueselet loose in the East,Pereira'sloyaltieswereentirely
at theserviceofhishost.12K'ang-hsilatertooktheunprecedentedstepof
sendinga Portugueseambassador,Antoniode MagalhäesS.J.,to Lisbon,
to thecourtofD. Joao V,wherehe arrivedon 20 December 1722.13
9 Timothy inthe15th
Coates,'CrimeandPunishment century world.The transition
Portuguese
ofviolence
: theimprint
fromInternalto ImperialExile', in Thefinal argument in medieval
on society
andearly modern Europe, eds. DonaldJ.Kagay,LJ.AndrewVillalon(Woodbridge:BoydellPress,
1998);Fernandes's secondofthreejourneys wasrecordedbyGasparVeloso,clerkofthefactory
at Sofala,in a letterto theKing(1533), ArquivosNacionaisdo Torredo Tombo,Lisbon,Cartas
dosVicereis1-162,doc. Ill, 180-88.
10
Gaspar da Cruz, Tractadoem que se Cötammuitopor Estensoas Cousas da China, cö suas
e assidoRanodOrmuz
Particularidades, (Evora,1569). A morerecenteditionofthistextcan be
foundin Luisde Albuquerque ed.,Primeiros escritos
sobrea China(Lisbon:Alfa,1989).
1* The is containedin a letterofAntonioMendesof9 May1563 written afterhe had
embassy
returned to Lisbon,and publishedbyAntonioBrásio,Monumenta missionaria
Africana(Lisbon:
Agencia GeraldoUltramar, 1952- ), II, 495-512.
12 TheDiaryofThomasPereira,18 vols.
ofNerchinsk.
J. Sebes, TheJesuitsand theSino-RussianTreaty
(Rome:InstitutumHistoricumS. I., 1961).
3 See Joâode Deus Ramos,'As RelaçoesDiplomáticas
entrePortugale a Chinana primeira
metade do século XVIII ', in A Diplomaciana Historiade Portugal.Actas do Coloquio(Lisbon:
da Historia,1990).
AcademiaPortuguesa
If the termembassyis problematicin the Portugueseoverseasworld,

then so is the notion of ambassador.From reading Russell-Wood's
surveybook of 1992, A Worldon themove:The Portuguesein Africa,Asia
and America, one would thinktherewas a naturalcadre of ambassadors
awaitingdeployment.14 This was trueand also not true.Some, such as
AmbassadorAntonioMiranda de Azevedo,had impeccablecredentials
as Mayorand Sea Captain of Colombo (Ceylon), and Captain of the
Pacém (Pasai) fortress in Sumatra.15AmbassadorPedro Vaz de Siqueira
wenton to become the Captain General of Macau in 1698.1 Whether
ambassadorsreceived a distinct,professionaltrainingand were thus
fullyprofessionalised is, however,a good question.Diplomatswere not
universally homens de leis,as José Calvetde Magalhâeshas arguedwas the
case in the seventeenth and eighteenthcenturies.17 Often'ambassadors'
are referredto as 'envoys'or 'orators',suggestingthe professionwas not
a particularly establishedor specificone. On occasions,it was humanists
at the royalcourtsuch as Damiäo de Góis or tradingfactors(feitores) who
were dispatchedoverseas.1 Otherwise,prelateslike Frei Domingos do
Rosàriooftenservedas nunciosor ambassadors.19 RitaCosta Gomes has
suggested that their legal education and politicalexperiencerendered
themsuitableholdersof highoffice,but therewereadditionalfactorsin
theirfavour:the vowsof obedience made as membersof an Order was
some guaranteeof theirpliancy;theyhad a suitablesecond identity with
whichto travelundercover;theyweren'taccustomedto pomp or finery;
as confessors, men of the churchknewhowto keep secrets.20 I have not,
however, found anything in the Portuguese archives from the firsthalf
of the sixteenthcenturythatcompareswiththe manual of the parfait
diplomateunearthedfromtheFrencharchivesbyE. Griseille,suggesting a
specificcode of comportment.21
14
JohnRussell-Wood,A Worldon theMove:ThePortuguese
inAfrica,
Asia and America(Manchester:
Carcanet,1992).
15 See Flores,Os e o Mar do Ceiläo.Trato,Diplomaciae Guerra(1498-1543), (Lisbon:
J. Portugueses
Cosmos, 1998), pp. 138-44, 255 n. 76.
For the ambassador's activitiesin Siam, see Maria da Conceiçào Flores, 'A Embaixada de
Pedro Vaz de Siqueira ao Siäo em 1684', Anais deHistoriadeAUm-Mar%(2002), ^p>^-7f>.
17 Calvet de
J. Magalhäes, 'A Accäo Diplomatica no Pensamento dos Diplomatas Portugueses
dos Séculos XVII e XVIII', A Diplomaciana HistoriadePortugalp.16.
1 See Maria do séculaXVI,(Lisbon: n. pub.,
Barata,Rui FernandesdeAlmada,diplomata portugués
1971); also, thelettersof the Portuguese factorin Antwerp Rui Fernandez,whowassentto
southern Germany (letterof 10January, 1520,forexample),repr.inBraamcamp Freiré,Noticias
da Feitoria
deFlandres,doc. XLII, p.i 10 & doc. XXXIX.Forsomeinteresting recentresearchon
Damiäode Góis'sdiplomatic in centralEurope,see Franciszek
activities Ziejka,'Un humaniste
portugaisà Cracovie',in StudiaSlavicaAcademiaeScientiarum
Hungaricae,vol. 49, no. 1-2 (2004),
99-102.
9 E.
Prestage,Domingosdo Rosàrio.Diplomatae Politico(Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade,
1926).
Rita Costa Gomes, A cortedos Reis de Portugalno Final da Idade Média (Lisbon: Difel, 1995),
p. 121.
21 E.
Griseille,'Un manuel du parfaitdiplomate au 16e siècle', Revued'histoirediplomatique,28
(1915)>775-
PORTUGUESE DIPLOMATIC EMBASSIES IN ASIA AND AFRICA IO5
Then there is the question of individualmotivation.Some mouths

clearlywateredat the idea of ambassadorialservice.Fernäo Gomes de
Lemos addressedhis letter:'Lord- because my desire has alwaysbeen
to die in thingsof augmentationof your royalestate,I accepted the
embassy'.22But becomingan ambassadorwas not alwaysa particularly
desirablething.Ambassadors wouldoftenbe expectedto payforpresents
and conveyanceup front,in expectationof a repaymentby the Crown
which,as HumbertoLeitao has shown,was fairlyunlikelygiventhe fact
thatthe Crownwas unable to operateitsown networksof paymentdue
to the 'manydeductionsmade by the officialswhose responsibility it
was to payit'.23There are plentyof examplesof Portuguesebeing more
or less forcedto assume the king'sserviceon a completelyad hocbasis.
Tomé Pires was a humble apothecary,not even a physician,working
at the feitoriain Malacca who, returningto Europe, was more or less
coerced into makinga U-turnat Cochin and lead an embassyback to
China. Mendes Pintowas persuadedbythe Captainof Malacca to go on
a missionto the Battakupon 'the opportunity to make a bit of profiton
which was
the side' (parquetalvezmemontanaisso algumpedaço de proveito),
apparently also DuarteCoelho's motivein accompanying Pireson hisfirst
at
attempt reaching the Middle Kingdom.24Coelho was a simplegibiteiro
(armour-maker) . DuarteFernandeswas a tailor,and he was pressedinto
officialserviceon the Siam missionon the strengthof his knowledge
of the Malaylanguage.25Some of the Portugueseenvoyswere not even
bonafidePortuguese:Duarte Fernandesand Duarte Coelho were cristäos
novos,whileDuarte Catanho,who attemptedto act as mediatorbetween
the Portugueseand Ottomanempiresat the timeof theirencountersin
theIndian Ocean duringand aftertheOttomancampaignagainstDiu in
1538,wasVenetian.2
One mightthinkthatas the newarrivalsin the Indian Ocean Worldit
wouldbe the Portuguesewho tookthe diplomaticinitiative. But thiswas
not true:upon the appointmentof new captainsto the post in Malacca
22'Senhor- em cousasdacreçemtamento de vosso

porquemeusdessejosfoysempremorrer
Real estadoaçeytey a embayxada', Letterof F. Gomesde Lemosto the KingDom Manuel,
Cochin,4 Jan.1517,A.N.T.T., CorpoCronològico, pte.1,m. 21,doc. 4.
23H. Leitâo,OsPortuguesesemSolareTimor de1515 a iyo2 (Lisbon:IAC,1948),pp. 81-82.
4 MendesPinto,Peregrinaçào (Rio de Janeiro:Relógiod'Agua,2001), vol. 1,ch. 14,p. 55. In
linewithRebeccaCatz'srecentendorsement of thehistoricalcontentof Pinto's account,and
thatof historianslikeMichaelSmithies, whospecialiseon theareasofAsiaPintodescribes, I
havedrawnextensively fromthedetailtherein.R. Catz,TheTravels ofMendes Pinto(Chicago:
UniversityofChicagoPress:1989); M. Smithies, 'The SiamofMendesPinto's Travels, Journal of
theSiamSociety,
85:2 (1997), 59-73. Biographical informationconcerning Coelhocan be found
in LuísFilipeThomaz,De Ceutaa Timor (Lisbon:Difel,1994),p. 452, n. 120.
25According to GasparCorreia,Fernandeswas also 'good-natured and verywellinformed',
Lendasda Ìndia,II (Lisbon,18*0),p. 262.
2 Antonioda Silva
Regó,'DuarteCatanho:Espiàoe Embaixador', Anais,s.2,4 (1953), 123-
40.
orviceroys in Goa,theneighbouring kingdoms sentambassadors to call

on himand congratulate himon hisappointment, withoffersto renew
thepeaceandfriendship treatiesmaintained withtheKingofPortugal.27
TheBattak peopleofnorth-western Sumatra brought valuablegiftsaswell
as a letterinscribed on a palmleaf,whilethe'HighEmperour ofInde',
thoughtto be the Préster John,dispatchedMatthew'an Armenicane
borne' togetherwithJames,a young'Abessyne'noble,in 1514, in
recognition of the arrivalof Portuguese messengers.2 Otherpolities,
theKingdomofVijayanagar, forexample,wereslowerto respond.This
conforms withthe theoryproposedby M.S. Andersonwhereby small
statestendedtosendembassies 'driven byambition andinsecurity',whilst
largerones,suchas Francein theEuropeancase,wereslowest toengage
in diplomatic correspondance.29 It is worthnoting,also, thatAfrican
embassies tendedtobe senttoLisbonratherthanGoa.
Takingtheinitiative wasone thing,buttherulesofEuropeanstately
etiquette, as Garrett Mattingly has shown,demandedthatdespatching
embassieswas meantto function on the strictbasisof reciprocity. In
Asia,stateinterest and balanceof powercomplicated thishypothetical
equilibrium. Thus,forexample,we can see howin thecase of Miguel
Ferreira'sembassy toPersiain 1513,thearrival ofa Persianembassy was
immediately reciprocated a one
bydespatchingPortuguese together with
one oftheHidalcäo,theKingofBijapur.3° Here,theSafavids werea key
of
ally Portuguese in thecontainment of their dogged Ottoman The
rivals.
Portuguese did not,however,treat everybody likethe A
Persians. letterof
theCaptainofMalaccaRuyde Britodescribes howhe showeda Siamese
delegation aroundMalaccaand especially theartilleryand thingsofwar
in 1514.He chosenotto reciprocate theirembassy arguingin a frank
lettertoAfonsode Albuquerque that'theyarenota peopleofwhomwe
haveneed;thepeaceis moreprofitable tothemthanitis tous'.31
It is interesting,however, as we see in theaforementioned example,
thatthePortuguese oftenchosetodispatch an embassy inunisonwithan
27 See, for
example, 'Dos muytose~baixadores que vieräoao governadordos reyscomárcaos de
e conquistada IndiapelosPortugueses
Malaca', Fernäo Lopes de Castanheda,Historiado descobrimento
(Coimbra, iQ2o), voi. Ili, eh. LXIII.
28 Damiào de
Goes, LegatioMagni indorumimperatoris
PresbiteriIoannis,ad EmanuelemLusitanae
Regem,AnnoDominiMDXIIII (Antwerp,1532). There is a rare English translationin Lambeth
Palace Thelegacye orembassate lohn,vntoEmanuellkynge
ofIndePreste
ofthegreatemperour ofPortugal
(M.v.C.xiiii),trans,byJohn More (London: W. Rastell,1533).
9 M.S. Anderson,The
OriginsoftheModernEuropeanStateSystem (London: Longmans, 1998), p.
54-
à The circumstancesof thisembassyare relatedinJoäo de Barros,Da Asia (Lisbon: 1777-88),
Decada II, livroX, cap. II; Correa, Leudas da India, t. II, cap. XLVIII and Braz de Albuquerque,
Comentarios do GrandeAfonsodeAlbuquerque (Coimbra, 1923), pte. IV, cap. XVII, XIX.
3 Letter of
Ruy de Brito to Afonso de Albuquerque, Malacca, January6, 1514, in Cartas
de Affonsode Albuquerque:seguidasde documentos que as elucidam,ed.by Bulhäo Pato (Lisbon:
Academia Real das Sciencias, 1884), t. III.
embassyof theirlocal hosts.DuarteFernandeswas sentto the Kingdom

of Siam in 1511 togetherwith 'Chinese captains'.32It is not always
clear here whethersuch actionswere a diplomaticgestureto presenta
united and greatershow of strength, whetherit was a move to confer
legitimacy in a world where the Portuguesewere mere upstartsand
whereSiam was a tributary of the MiddleKingdom,or whether, as Jorge
in
Floreswouldperhapsremindus, the Portuguese theAge of Discovery
wereoftenwithoutthe means,even theshipsthemselves, to conductthe
embassies.33
Precedencewasa perpetualpotentialdiplomaticthorn.Precedencewas
a featureof the highestpoliticalimportancewithinthe stricthierarchies
of the ancien régime, and subject to complex computations.James
of 1668 had concludedthattherewereten
Howell,in his Proedria-basilike
factorscommonlytakenintoconsiderationbyambassadorsto determine
precedence.34 Buttheseformulaehad been tailoredtoa Europeanschema;
theFarEastwasanotherworld.Joäo Rodriguesdescribedtheetiquetteon
theroad inJapanand advisedall Europeansto dismountfromtheirhorse
fifteenpaces beforepassinga 'noblemanor personof quality'.35On the
narrowimperialcanal thattookforeigntributeembassiesto Peking,the
problemwasunavoidable.On one occasion,thePortugueseencountered
thebrotherof theFeudatoryPrinceofFukien,and itwasnotclearwhich
partyhad precedence. Fortunately, thanksto 'the special workof the
DivineProvidence',stormsofwindand rainblewup, the hawsers(cirgas)
of thePortuguesejunksweresnapped,and theboatsdriftedto theother
side of thecanal whencetheycould proceed.3
32 The
embassyis described in the Commentarios do GrandeAfonsode Albuquerque,
t. Ill, caps.
XXXV-XXXVI;Barros,Da Asia, dec. Ill, liv.II, caps. 4 & 5; Castanheda, descobrimento
e conquista
da India,livroIII, cap. LXII.
33 Flores,Os Portugueses e o Mar do Ceiläo,pp. 123-24.
34These factorswere:(1) Ancientline of royalpredecessors,
(2) Antiquityof the Christian
line,(3) Extentof power,whichshouldbe absoluteand independent and extendoverboth
spheres,(4) Eminenceof theroyaldignity,
secularand spiritual stateand titles,Crownjewels
and coatsof arms,(5) Legendary (6) Absenceof subjectionto another
as ancestors,
figures
power,(7) Precedent-setting
judgements on thematterof precedence,(8) Prestigious orders
ofknighthood, (9) Martialand magnanimous whohad accomplished
progenitors greatdeeds,
suchas fightingfortheHolyLand; (10) Subjectsfitforbothdefensiveand offensive warfare,
militarypower. Howell, Proedria-basilike:
A DiscourseConcerningthePrecedency of Kings: Wherein
theReasonsand Arguments of the ThreeGreatestMonarchsof Christendom., etc.,(London, 1668),
preamble.
35 T.RodriguesTçuzzu, Historiada Igrejado Japäo(Macao: 1954-56), vol. I, 350.
3 FatherFranciscoPimentel,
SJ. BreveRelaçaoda JornadaqueFezà Cortedepekim0 SenhorManiel
deSaldanha,EmbaixadorExtraordinario delReydePortugalao Emperador da China,e Tartaria(1667-
70), ed. C.R.Boxer(Macao,1942),p. 15.
The tasksof Portuguesediplomacyin theAge of Encounters

Embassieswere,to be sure,a delicategame of politicalchess. But it is
to the motivationsbehind Portuguesediplomaticmissionsand their
allottedtasksthatI now wishto turn.Diplomacywas,above all, not the
straightforward functionit assumedin the European state-system of the
firsthalfof the nineteenthcentury, the last resortbeforewar.37On the
contrary, war was not somethingthe Portugueseshied awayfrom,and
grandes feitos,or greatmilitarydeeds, were verymuch the currencyof
politicalachievementin the Estadoda India as a cursoryreadingof any
officialchroniclewould attest.In the Age of Encounters,diplomacy
coveredfora hostof different tasks.Whatfollows,then,is an attemptat
typologising them.
1. To acquire information. In the case ofTome Pires' missionof 1516 to
theCelestialCourt:thechroniclerCastanhedatellsus thathisnomination
wasmade on thebasisthatPireswas 'discreetand eager to learn (curioso),
and because he wouldknowbetterthananyoneelse thedrugstherewere
in China', in otherwords,commercialespionage.38Mendes Pinto was
dispatchedto theBattakto observetheprogressofwaragainsta common
enemy,theAchínese.39The embassyofAntoniode Mirandade Azevedo
was to be accompaniedbyManuel Fragososo as to preparea book upon
the manners,dress,trade,and latitudeof harborsof theKingof Siam.4°
2. To broadcastPortuguesepowerand military successes.The regimentó
whichdispatchedDuarte Fernandezto the Kingdomof Siam explicitly
statedits role as boastingAlbuquerque's success in takingMalacca in
1511, and Antoniode Abreu'smissionto theislandsof the Moluccaswas
to announce to the kingsand lords of the spice islandsthe advantages
of commercewithMalacca (notificar que todosviessem[a Malaca] semreceio
algum; cá Ihessería sua
guardada justice,efeito favoremseusnegocios)
todo A1
3. Oftendiplomaticembassieswereswappedto see whattradecould be
done. The Kingof Lar,forexample,sentan ambassadorto Ormuzwith
a letterof greatoffering'of all thathe had in his land' and senta horse.
Fernäo MartinsEvangelhowas dispatchedin turn'withbetilhas - fine
37
Accordingto the state-system designed by Friedrichvon Gentz at the Congress of Vienna,
the Great Powerswould use diplomacyand collectivemeetingsto avertinternationalcrisis,see
S. LlewellynWoodward,Preludeto ModernEurope,1815-1914 (London: Methuen, 1972), pp.
.51-54-
3 Castanheda, descobrimento e conquistada India,vol. Ill, cap. IIII, r.
39 Mendes Pinto. Pereorinacäo. eh. 16.
40 Brás de
Albuquerque, Comentarios do GrandeAfonsodeAlbuquerque (Lisbon: Publicaçôes Alfa,
1989), pte. IV, cap. XX.
41 Letter of Afonso de
Albuquerque to the King, Cochin, August 20, 1512, Cartasde Affonso
de Albuquerque, t. I, carta X. Abreu's missionis cited in Barros,Da Asia, Dec. II, Liv.V, cap. VI,
584.
PORTUGUESE DIPLOMATIC EMBASSIES IN ASIA AND AFRICA log
muslinand othermerchandiseofYourHighnessto sell and to employin

horsesand in anyotherprofitablemerchandise'.42
4. As Ibrahim Beg (BraymBeça), a captain of Xeque Ismael, told
Fernäo Gomes de Lemos in Persia: 'the friendshipsof Kingswere in
the ambassadors'.43Friendshipwas vitalfor securingsupportfor the
Portuguese,tenuouslyestablishedin the East. The support of the
Kingdomof Siam forthe supplyof Malacca at a timewhen Portuguese
conquestof thatportcityhad antagonizedneighbouringrulerswas the
goal of three successiveembassiesthe Portuguesesent there. Duarte
Coelho was dispatchedin 1518 to 'ask him [the king] to send some of
hissubjectsto people Malacca,as askedpreviously, sincehisintentionwas
to be rid of the MalayanMoors,and peoplingit fromhis,it would be a
means wherebytheycould bettercommunicatewiththe Portuguesein
amityand peace'.44
5. Treatysigningwas an integralpartof the embassy'swork.That signed
withBijapurin 1571 recognisedtherightsofAdiiShah to sixfreecartazes
and theimportation of 25 horsesa year,or to get,forexample,Abdullah
Qutb Shah to restoreSan Thome to the Estado.45But treaties(tratados)
wererarelyof thesame ilkas thosedraftedbetweenstatesin Europe and
we are oftenwarned- hereregardingthepurportedSiamese-Portuguese
treatysigned in 1516 or 1518 - thattheyare to be understoodin a
'informal,non-diplomaticsense', particularly when originalsare not
in
readilylocated thearchives.4
6. Some embassieswere sent to ransom Christianhostages taken in
militarycampaigns.In the Spanishaccount La VidadeJacquesde Contre,
friarFreiJorgeda Mota,a Dominican,comes to Malacca in 1595 to urge
interventionon thisaccount.47But therewas a twist:when the ten or
eleven man strongembassyarrivedin Siam, theywere taken as slaves,
42LetterofAfonsode Albuquerqueto theKingof Ormuz,September
22, 1515,in Cartasde
Affonsode Albuquerque,t. I, Carta CI.
43GilSimöes,'Do caminhoque fizeram e ho que fizeram os embaixadoresque foramao Xeque
Ismaele o presenteque lheleuaram',publishedin CartasdeAffonso deAlbuquerque, t.I, 301-00.
44 'A pedir-lhe
que houvessepor bem mandarque algunsdos seus naturaesviessempovoar
Malaca,como lhe já mandaradizer,porque sua tençâoera desterrar della todolosMouros
Malayos;e povoando-sedos seus,seria hum meio para se melhorcommunicarem com os
Portuguezes em amore paz e as cousasdo commercioandariamem suas mäos e näo dos
Mouros',Barros, Da Asia,Decada III, LivroII, CapituloIV.
45Arquivo Portugués ed. byJ.H. da Cunha Rivara(New Delhi: Asian Educational
Oriental,
Services,1QQ2),vol.V,pp. 825-31.
4 The 1516/18Siamese-Portuguese treatyis mentioned byJohnVilliers('Ayutthaya as a City
of Commercein the Sixteenthand EarlySeventeenth Centuries',Review ofCulture, 13/14,
59-67), and in a reportquotedbyLeonorde Seabra {Relaçoes entreMacau e 0 Siäo (Sécubs
XVIII-XIX),1994,17-18),butI wasunabletolocateitin thearchives.
47 'De como fuial reinode Siam,acompañandouna embaxadaque el capitánde Malaca
embiavaen nombrede Su Magestade',in La VidadeJacquede Coutre (ci 640), publishedas
AndanzasAsiáticas,ed. byEddyStols,B. TeensmaandJ.Verberckmoes (Madrid:Historia16,
1990),eh.VIL.
HO STEFAN HALIKOWSKI-SMITH
which is how Frei Jorge had presentedtheircoming to the Siamese

monarch.Whereupon the Siamese monarchordered the preparation
of a hugejunk, again withtwinambassadorsand rich presentsforthe
Portugueseking.There were,of course,plentyof benefitsforFreiJorge
who took creditforengineeringthe 'donation'. Though,we mightbe
pleased to note,the rusedidn'tworkout.
7. Religiousmissionsas embassies.The most renownedof these were
probablythe repeatedmissionsto the courtof the MughalrulersAkbar
and Jahangir,sent aftera diplomaticletterwas receivedrequestingtwo
Catholic missionariestogetherwith 'the chief books of the Law and
the Gospel', and which,wrote Matteo Ricci, entertainedhigh hopes
for 'nothingless than the conversionof all India'.48 The voluminous
correspondenceofJerónimoXavier,hislettersto hissuperiorsand to his
family,as well as his Tratadoda Cortee Casa de IamguirPacha reydos Mogores
constitutes a marvelof social and culturalobservation,especiallyon the
themesthatmostfascinatedwesternEuropeans,namelythe haremand
the imperialtreasury,but ultimately, Xavier'spresencewas motivatedby
his hope thatboth emperorswould be drawntowardsChristianity and
it was the temporary conversionofJahangir 's nephewswhichdelighted
him.
8. Diplomacyas threat.Demands voiced by Portugueseembassieswith
threatsinclude those made by FranciscoCutrimde Magalhäes in 1646
thattheKingofSiam PrasatThong expel 'enemiesofEurope', European
rivalsof the Portuguese,fromhis portsand thathe encouragehis own
directcommercebetweenSiam and Japan so thatJapanesesilvercould
stillbe obtained regardlessof the 'sakoku rei' edict.49Or the demand
made of the SultanAhmed of Gujuratto turnover the Ottomannaval
commanderSidi Ali to the Portugueseon the groundsthathe was an
enemyagent.50
4 JohnCorreia-Afonso, SJ. 'More aboutAkbarand theJesuits',Indica14:1, March1977,

58; M.S Renick,'Akbar'sFirstEmbassy to Goa: ItsDiplomaticand ReligiousAspects',Indica7
(1970), 35,43. M. Ricci,Opere
Stanche, voi.2, 1913,pp. 4-6, letterofJan.18,
ed. TacchiVenturi,
1580.
49 'Regimentó paraFrancisco da GamaCutrim de Magalhâesque vaiporembaixador ao Reido
Siâo,Goa,3 de Agostode 1646',FilmotecaPortuguesa Ultramarina,Livrodos Segredos,Book
No. i,ff.83-84.
50See SidiReis,Mir'atül-Memalik (Istanbul,1897),p. 33.
A questionof form:thetheatricality
of power
Embassies,as alreadynoted,werea matterof delicatepoliticaletiquette.
But whoseetiquette,European or Asian?An analysisof the elementsof
the protocolobservedby Portugueseembassiesin the East willserveto
clarifythisquestion.Diplomaticform,needless to say,was dictatedby
a delicatepoliticalcalculus.The Portuguesecould, forexample,afford
to openlyrejectthe practiceof the Kingof Demak,whose ambassadors
were elderlyor widowedwomen,due to a customthat held that the
gentlesex was endowed (as Mendes Pintoexplains)with'more affability
thatmen,bycontrast,
and authority';
(afabilidade) weretoo bluntand less
likelyto meetwithfavor.51 But themissionsto the courtof theEmperors
in Peking,in the pre-Macartney era, representedthe otherend of the
politicalspectrum,whereEuropeanswerewithoutexceptionobliged to
submitto Chineseprescription. Ruleson howtheembassywasto proceed
had been establishedbya Board ofCeremony, rightdownto thenumber
ofbanquetsthatwouldbe held and the numberofkow-tows thatneeded
to be made to the imperialparty.The Portuguesehad no choice but to
comply,or theirembassieswouldsimplybe rejected.
Etiquette,whetherAsian or European was, however,of the essence.
The tribulationsof an ad-hocembassylikeFr FrancisXavier's'Voyageto
Meaco' [Kyoto],whichfailedto adopt appropriateetiquette,are a good
An embassyunannounced,if it did not incur out of hand
illustration.
rejection, the veryleast sufferedlack of assistance.Xavier's'Voyage
at
to Meaco' was made at a time of yearwhen people - his biographer
pointsout - 'do not have any communicationwitheach other,but by
cover'dwalksand Galleries'and the ice was such that'the Travellersfell
at everystep;withoutmentioningthoseprodigiousIcicles,hangingover
theirhead, fromthe highTrees,and threatening the Passengersat every
momentwiththeirfall'.52Luckyto have survivedthe ordeal,Xavierran
51 Mendes Pinto, vol. 2, p. 595. Catz citesGeorgesLe Gentil,LesPortugaisenExtreme
Peregrinaçào,
Orient.FernäoMendesPinto,un précurseur de l'exotismeau XVIe siècle(Paris, 1947) and Antoine
Cabaton,Java, Sumatraand theotherislandsof theDutchEast Indies (London, T. Fisher Unwin,
1911) to endorsePinto'saccounton thispoint,thoughCabatonis datedand simply wrongon
a numberof important issues,suchas assumingthatIslamtookrootin Indonesiaalongside
Arabisation.PeterCarey& VincentHouben,in theiranalysis offemalerolesinJavanesecourt
societyconcentrateratheron thefemalefightingunits(prajurit and businessrelationships,
èstri)
'Spirited andslySumbadras.
Srikandhis The social,politicalandeconomicroleofwomenat the
centralJavanesecourtsin theearly18thand early19thcenturies', in ElsbethLocher-Scholten,
notions(Dordrecht:Foris, 1987), pp. 12-43.
Indonesianwomenin focus:pastand present
52 D. Bouhours,La viedeSaintFrançoisXavierde la CampagniedeJesus,apostre
desIndesetduJapon,
trans,byJohnDryden, as TheLifeofSt.Francis wasoriginally
Xavier(London,1688). The story
in LuísFróis,Historia dejapam(written 1549-64),thoughdespiteJamesBrodrick's approvalof
Fróisas a 'carefulwriter'{SaintFrancis (1506-1552),(London:Burns& Oates,1952),p.
Xavier
410),JuanG. Ruizde Medinahas foundquitea lotoffactualinaccuracy in theaccount,'Un
Viajede XavierdesdeHiradoa Yamaguchi. Retoquesa un antiguorelato,ArchivumHistoricum
Iesu,52: 104 (1983), 209-32.
Societatis
112 STEFAN HALIKOWSKI-SMITH
Fig. i . The missionary FrancisXavier.

embassy.
Fromthefrontispiece toJoäode Lucena's,Historia
da vida do PadreFranciscoXavier,Lisbon: Pedro
Crasbeek,1600
intootherproblems.His humbleattire- thepenitentialgarbofhisorder

- evokedthe strongestreactionsinJapan,wherehe was condemnedas
'a wretchforsakenand accurstbyall theworld;thattheverminwhichare
swarmingall overhim are too nice to feed on his infectiousflesh'.52As
a mendicantfriar,he was used to traveling withoutmoney,claimingthe
rightsof his station as he went along (though,as he himselfconfessed,
while in Japan he 'received in alms more than a thousand cruzados,
not to mentionthe proceedsfromthe 'thirty bars of the finestpepper'
the Captain of Malacca Dom Pedro da Silva had contributedtowards
the mission).53Confrontedwithtoll-gateson hisjourneyto Kyoto,and
dismissedas a vagrant,the saintlyfatherwas forcedto 'act as footmanto
noblemenwhom he could approach along the road' to thusget a free
ride.54
Hitch-hiking,rags and vagabondagewas not, however,the norm for
thevastmajority of Portugueseembassies,and Xavier'swas consequently
an unsuccessfulone. Xavier may have had his personal reasons for
travelingas he did: Ines Zupanovis temptedto see in thesejourneysthe
dramaturgic challengeof transcendenceof self,or as Robertode Nobile
explained 'occasions forOur LordJesusChrist'.55
to suffer Butsuccessful
52 D. Bouhours,La viede SaintFrançoisXavier,483.
53
Georg Schurhammer,EpistolaeS. FrancisaXaveriialiaque eiusscripta(Rome: 1944-45), vol. II,
117-19.
54 Torque näo levavacomque o pagasse,passavaporhörnern
a pé de algumhörnern nobreque
peloque lheeranecessario,
no caminhose lheoferecia, parapoderpassera salvo,aturaro andar
daquelea quemacompanhava',
da valgadura MendesPinto,Peregrinaçao,
chap.208,730.
55 Ines and brahmanical in seventeenth
Zupanov,DisputedMission.Jesuitexperiments knowledge century
India(NewDelhi:OxfordUniversity
Press,1999),pp. 204-06.
PORTUGUESE DIPLOMATIC EMBASSIES IN ASIA AND AFRICA II3
embassiesdemanded protocol and establishedprocedure,pomp and

circumstance. ManyofthecivilizationsoftheEast,and particularly China
and Japan, sufferedfroma particularlypowerfulform of omphalos
syndrome,thatis, the naturaltendencyto consideroneselfthe center
of theworld.As a consequence,theycould not imaginethatthe reason
Europeanembassieswerearriving on theirshoreswasa resultofanything
otherthan theirbeing,in theJesuitVisitorAndreaValignano'swords,
'poor people and people of lowlycondition'.5 The Portugueseimperial
administrationwas keen thatmissionssuch as Xavier'swould not prove
themright,and muchof thepomp and circumstance detailedbelowwas
to
designed dispell thispreconception. To the same end, theycalled for
Asianembassiesto be sentto Europewheretheycould be dulyimpressed,
as Valignanoexplained,by 'the greatnessand wealthof our cities'and
'the gloryand grandeurof the Christianreligion.57
Protocolin formalPortugueseembassies
We turnnowto an overview oftheprotocolfollowedin theconductofthe
Portugueseembassies, and how it differedat thevariousAsiancourts.By
thenatureof theexercise,whatfollowsis somewhatdescriptive, butfrom
itmaybe discernedthe degree of acculturation of Portuguesediplomatic
practice,the keymomentsin the passageof an embassyand some of the
salientand oftentrickyissueswhichemerged.
and personnel
(a) Officialdeparture
The embassywould depart aftera sounding of many trumpets.The
embassies carried mandadosor lettersof command, and there were
some notebooks of remembrances(cadernos)made, often kept by a
scribe(thoughmanyof theseweredestroyedin the Lisbonfireof 1755,
chroniclerslike Gaspar Correia had made use of them).5 The size of
the Portugueseembassiesin the East was alwaysa fractionof thatof the
embassiesdispatchedin the West.The Polish embassythat arrivedin
France to offerthe Polish throneto Henryof Anjou in August 1573,
for example, included 12 ambassadors,both Protestantand Catholic,
56 Andrea
Valignano,Historiadelprincipio
yprogressode la CompañíadeJesúsen las Indias orientales
(1542-64), ed. JosefWicki,Rome, 1943, 395-
57 'Fazer
capaces os Japöes da Gloriaygrandeza da leyChristiana,yda magestadedos Principes
ySenhoresq~ abraçarâo esta ley,yda grandezayriqueza dos nossos Reynosycidades', Regimentó e
instruiçao do q~ ha di/azeroPadreNunoRoizq~ agoravayporprocuradora Roma,no. 13,12 December
1f;8 il, Collegio de Goa.
5 For a mandadoof Afonso de
Albuquerque to one of his ambassadors,see BritishLibrary,
AdditionalMS. 20901, cap. 95; othersare included in the publishedvolume, CartasdeAffonso de
Albuquerque.
°
accompaniedby 250 Polishgentryin exoticattire. In the East,on the
otherhand,therewasa firstand second ambassador(sincethefirstcould
easilydie, as happened to Saldanha in China), a lingua,or interpreter,a
chaplain(whooftendoubled as a scribeand servedas a prominentfigure
for solemn occasions, particularlyimportantin societieswhere High
Priestswere called upon to officiate)and a musketeer.The partyalso
includedsome who taggedalong forpersonalreasons:'to see theworld'
(vermundo),as was the case withAntonioTenreiro,who has leftus anl
interesting accountof hisjourney,or to escape some troubleat home.
Then therewasa locally-employed guide (shauterin theArabworld),and
invariably a congregationof 4-5 slaves (criados)whose names are rarely
listed.Iftheydid nottravelon camelsas theydid in Persia,or horseswith
protective awnings,thentheirjob wasporterage.Here theysubstituted the
who had servedto carrythe richgiftsto,forexample,
moçosde estribeira,
theKingofGranadain 1370, or missivesto thepapal court.2 Otherwise,
theycarriedtheambassador,in a palanquimor,as wasthecase in Africa,a
machila, a simplerand altogetherlessshowyconstruction thana palanquim
(see figs.2, 3 and 4).
In the absence of theseconveyances, the slaveswereat leastto protect
the ambassadorwitha parasol, as we see fromthe Japanese namban
screen(fig.5) depictingthepassageofa Portugueseembassy.InJapan,as
capturedon thenambanscreens,embassiesattracted enormousattention.
This attention,however, was not alwayswelcome.There was the problem
of youngboys runningalongside throwingstones and shouting'Coré,
Coré, Cocoré,Ware'. 3 For a long time,followingEngelbertKaempfer's
The history ofJapan of 1727, this was misunderstoodby historiansas
some kind of curse,untilRonald Tobyshowed thatthiswas a cultural
misunderstanding: the Portugueseweretakento be Koreancaptiveswho
had passed throughHokkien as captivesduringtheJapaneseinvasions
between1592-98. 4
0 See the Arras

tapestryheld in the Uffìzi,Florence, made in the embassy'shonour. Frances
Yates, TheValoisTapestry,
London 1Q5Q.
Tenreiro'sjourney was published as the Itinerario Coimbra 1565 and is
de AntonioTenrreyro,
reproduced in Antonio Baiäo, Itinerarios da India a Portugalpor terra(Coimbra: Imprensa da
Universidade,102^). The quotation is frompage 7 of the latter.
62 Rita Costa
Gomes, A cortedosReis,p. 199.
3 From the
diaryofJohn Saris, in SamuelPurchas,Purchas,His Pilgrimes inJapan,ed. by Cyril
Wild (Kobe: T.L.Thompson, 1030), pp. 148-40.
4 Ronald
Toby,'The Indianness of Iberia and changingJapanese iconographyof the Other',
in StuartSchwartz,ImplicitUnderstanding: observing,reporting on theencounters
and reflecting between
Europeansand other peoplesin theearlymodern era (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press, 1994),
P- 339-
Fig. 2 (top). Portuguesenoble ladyin India being carriedin a palanquinand

accompaniedbyherslaves,Codex Casanatense, MS 1889,ImprensaNacionalCasa
da Moeda,Lisbon.
Fig. 3 (middle).A Europeansedan-chair

in Kyoto,Japan.Detail fromnamban-ga
screen.CourtesyofKodanshaInternational.
Fig. 4 (bottom).An Africanlitteror machila,P. Latham,P. Van de Ruit,fromS.

TheStory
Sinclair, ofMelsetter
(Salisbury,Rhodesia:M.O. Collins,1971).
Il6 STEFAN HALIKOWSKI-SMITH
Fig. 5 (above).A Portugueseembassy

movingthrough Japan,froma sixteenth
century nambanscreen,Museude Arte
Antiga,Lisbon.The use oftheparasol
to shieldtheambassador servedas a
markofdistinction in thetropicsof
Portuguese India,butwasnotstrictly
necessary giventheJapaneseclimate.
Fig. 6 (left).HangingscrollofChinese
EmperorChien-Lung in dragon-drawn
celestialcarriageawaitingtribute
fromPortuguese ambassadors.Palace
Museum,Beijing.
PORTUGUESE DIPLOMATIC EMBASSIES IN ASIA AND AFRICA 1 17
Althoughanalysisof the Monsoon Books (Livrosdas Mongóes)shows

thatViceroysand Governorsdevotedparticularattentionto mattersof
stateamongstthe Reis Vizinhos, the neighbouringkingdoms,embassies
commonlyvoyaged over great distancesto far-flung potentates.The
embassy of Fernäo Gomes de Lemos to Persia journeyed 285 'great
leagues' and spent'threemonthsand so manydaysin coming'and 'the
majorityof thejourneyswere conductedat nightbecause of the great
heat'. 5 The embassyofBalthasarPessoa wasobligedto winter(invernar):
theychose the cityof Caixäo (Kashan) by reason of the comparative
mildnessof the climate (jorque esta terrahe mais temperada'). To
avoidthethreatofraidersattackingtheirconvoys,embassiesoftenjoined
muleteersand camel caravans (cáfilas)as a safetyprecaution,though
theywere oftenobliged to 'purchasethe leadership'of these caravans
fora sum,typically 200 bags of musk.The ambassadorscould thenhope
to recoup thatmoneythroughbribesfrommerchantsdesperateto be
includedin the cáfila.7
By the rulesof diplomacyin the East,foreignembassieswereobliged
to be fed and housed at the charge of the hosts, and even given
expense money. Even when some embassiescame unannounced,the
caravanserais in CentralAsia had been institutedand givenfundsso that
foreign embassies would not pay.
There the guestswere served bread withhoney and then meat in
proportionto their standing.Governorsalong the route in Persia
commonlyissued convites, or invitationsto parties.At theseinstruments
wereplayed,drinkswereservedfrombeautifulbottles,and guestswere
invitedto pass overthefota,whichwas a long piece of silkor otherrich
cloth.A greatdeal ofwinewas drunk,and whenhis guestsbecame tipsy,
the hostundressedthemand girdedthemin local dresscompletewith
swordas a meansofingratiating them.69
65 Bibliotecada Ajuda, Lisbon: Codice pso-V-2

i.
Tenreiro,Itinerario,
cap. X, pp. 23-24..
7 See, for
example, Pedro Teixeira, Relaciones.. de un viagehechopor el mismoautor,cap. IIII
'Cómomepartíde Basoraporel desierto..' (Madrid:MiragnanoEdiciones,1994),p. 380. The
originalwaspublishedat AntwerpbyH. Verdussen in 1610.For the'purchaseof leadership'
seeFatherFernäoGuerreiro's
arrangements, accountofthevoyageofBentode Góis(1603-07).
Unableto accesshisaccountin theextremely rarecompletefive-volumeeditionoftheRelaçao
annual das cousasquefizeramos padresda CompanhiadeJesusna India e Iapäo (Évora / Lisbon,
1603-11), I havereliedon a translation
inJahangir
andthe ed. byC.H. Payne(London:
Jesuits,
Routledere,iqso), p. 144..
It wasnotclearin theEuropeancase whether diplomatsshouldbe supportedbythehost
state.
9 Thishappened,forexample,to Ambassador Balthasar
Perreirain 1523/4,as describedby
Tenreiro,cap.VI.
Il8 STEFAN HALIKOWSKI-SMITH
(b) Gifts
This was a veryimportantfeatureof protocoland officiallistsof gifts
were made in advance.70It was easy to cause offense.Apparentlythe
Portuguese had not learntthe lesson of Vasco da Gama,whose original
*twelve fourscarlethoods,six hats,four
giftof pieces of lambel (lambéis),
strings of coral, a case containing six wash-hand basins,a case of sugar,
twocasksof oil and twoof honey'had turnedhimintoa laughingstock
at theSamorin'scourtin Calicut.71Evenbeforetheoutsetofhisembassy,
AmbassadorSaldanha cringedat the embarrassing meannessof the gifts
as
(known sagoate) he had been able to purchase: 'the benzoin a few
miserablegrains,the amber like gravel,the coral verysmall.,the rose
wateris springwater'.72But thelargelyimprovisednatureofmanyof the
embassiesmade it hard to alwaysfindsuitablegifts.Luis Fróisbrought
a large glassmirror,a hat,a cane, some amberand a littlemusk'as he
had littleelse available' for the Kubo Sama, the 'supremeemperorof
Miyako',ShogunYoshiteru.73 Saldanha pulled it off,but otherembassies
such as thatof BalthasarPessoa wereturnedback ifthe presentswereof
too littlevalue.74
Offencecould be caused in otherways.Dom Lima forexample,when
askedbytheBahrnagasforhisbestsword,turnedinsteadto a companion
to offerthemhis. That nightthe embassy'sstoreswerebrokeninto and
munitionsstolento revengetheslight.75
So whatwere the presentsPortugueseembassiesordinarilytook?To
startwith,embassiesoftenbroughta pictureof theirkingor viceroy,as
wasthecase withSaldanha'sembassyto Bejing,or Don Luis de Navarrete
Fajardo'sembassyto Osaka in 1597, wherethe governorin questionwas
Filippino.76Or else, polyglotbibles made a good gift:the eight-volume
70See, forexample,thelistofpresents carriedbyFernamGomesde Lemosto Xeque Ismael

in 1515,accordingto an Instrumento ofAfonsode Albuquerque, Ormuz,5 May1515,in Cartas
deAffonso deAlbuquerque,t. Il, 149 & 150; 'Listado sagoateq foyem companhiado senhor
Embaixador pasedarao Emperador da China,emaismandarins do Governode Cantào',Father
FranciscoPimentel,SJ. BreveRelaçaodaJornadaqueFezà Cortedepekim0 SenhorManteldeSaldanha,
Embaixador delReydePortugalao Emperador
Extraordinario da China,e Tartaria(i66j-i6jo), ed. by
C.R.Boxer(Macau:ImprensaNacional),1942,15.Appendix5.
71AlvaroVelho,Relaçaoda Viagem da Gama(Lisbon:CNCDP,1990),p. 62.
deVasco
72'Cartado Embaixador de
ao PadreManueldos Reisescritade Cantàoem 16 de Fevereiro
Breve
1669',in Pimentel, RelaçaodaJornada,
pp. 63-64.
73 Luis Frois, S.J.Cartasque ospadrese irmäosda CompanhiadeJesusescreveräo de Iapäo e
dosreynos
China,2 vols.(Evora,1598),I, ff.178V-179.
74Thereare considerable divergences in theaccountsof Castanhedaand AntonioTenreiro
on thispoint,butitwasclearthat'do reyda terranäo foymuitobemagazalhado',Tenreiro,
p. 11.
Itineràrio,
75 VerdaderaInformaçào, ed. byAugustReis Machado (Lisbon:AgenciaGeraldas Colonias
1043),cap. 30, pp. 73-74.
7 'Listado sagoateq foyem companhiado SenhorEmbaxadorpa sedarao Emperadorda
China. .', BreveRelaçaoda JornadaqueFez à Cortedepekim0 SenhorManielde Saldanha,App. 5.
Fig. 7. Indo-Portuguese
four-poster
bed fromthehouseofCostaFrías,
Candolin.Courtesy ofEditions
Chandeigne, Paris.
Plantinedition presentedto Akbar,for example,whichwas elegantly

produced(porsermuibemencadernada e dourada)thoughMatteoRicciwas
ahead in its practicalapplication:'In
evidentlyaware of the difficulties
sayingthatthese are MuslimsI am also sayingwhatdifficulties we can
expect the devilto put in our as
way, he has in the past'.77Da Lima took
it upon himselfto bringa huge four-poster bed withyellowand blue
tafettacurtains,blanketsembroideredwiththe Portuguesecoat of arms,
and a canopythatshowedan emperorcrowninga queen whilefourmen
sounded trumpets. Obviouslyitwas impossiblethatsuch an objectcould
survivethejourney,as GasparBocarrowas also disappointedto conclude
withrespectto his own weightybed (tamanhacama) 'whichincluded a
carpet,a damaskbolsterand sheets'whenreturning fromhis postingto
theEastAfricaninterior.7Thus da Lima foundhimselfwithfourlengths
the originalmusicalorgan,a golden swordwithrichhilt,two
of tapestry,
old shortcannonwithpowderand shot,some pieces ofarmorand a map
of theworld.79
Organs (horgäos)and clavichords(crauospera tanger),it seems,were
generally
good gifts, oftheportablevariety,butsometimesthefullchurch-
77'porquedeixoque estessäo Mouros,deixotambemos impedimentos que em semelhantes

obraspoemo demonio',MatteoRicci,Opere ed. TacchiVenturi,
Stanche, vol.2, 1913,letterof
Tan.18, if;8otoPadreEmanuelede Goes,S.I.,6.
7 'Do caminhoque GasparBocarrofezporterrada Cafraria, de Teteaté Quiloa,coma prata
que Diogo SimöesMadeiramandavaa Sua Magestade',AntonioBocarro,Historiada India,
Década 13 (Lisbon:Typ.da AcademiaRealdas Sciencias,1876),pt.II, cap. CXLV,p. 599.
79 Verdadeira 'Das peçasque O Capitäomandouao Preste
Informaçao, Joäo',Cap.V,pp. 17-19.
12O STEFAN HALIKOWSKI-SMITH
Fig. 8. Woodprint ofa lionfromBuglio'sShih-tzu shuo,1678

Courtesy oftheIstitutoItalianoperl'Africa
e l'Oriente,Rome
scale instrument, to be assembledon arrival.80

Christoväode Figueiredo
brought 'certainorgans' togetherwith a varietyof 'otherthings'(peças)
on hisjourneyto thecourtoftheKingofDaquem. 1Anotherremarkable
giftthattraveledoverlandwiththePortuguesewas a lion broughtforthe
sake of the Chinese courtby the AmbassadorBento Pereirade Faria in
1678. Like Da Lima'sfour-poster bed, thelionwasdestinednotto survive
thejourneydespite the tendercare of a Papango(Filipino) lion-tamer.
However,its mere arrivalin Pekingwas enough to ensure its burial in
a magnificent marblemonumentwithan epitaph 'as is done forhighly
esteemedmandarins'.82UnlikeDa Lima's expedition,Pereirade Faria's
diplomaticmissionsucceededin itsgoals,and resultedin thelegalisation
ofMacao's maritimetradefrom1681.
(c) Food
By the rulesof diplomacyin the East,embassieswere obliged to be fed
at thechargeof thehosts.But thistoo could presentproblems.Pimentel
was disgustedby the banquetingfood the Chinese laid on forhis party:
'the meats that are offeredare so underdone and badly cooked (täo
e malcozidas)thattheyseemraw,so thatone cannoteat without
engroladas,
80TomásPereira
(1645-1708),forexample,assembledan organduringhismissionin Peking,
T. Borbaand F.LopesGraça,DicionáriodeMúsica,2 vols.(Lisbon,iqk8), p. 362.
Paes'saccountis translated
and reproducedinRobertSewell,AForgotten Empire (Vijayanagar):
A Contribution
totheHistoryofIndia,repr.1982,p. 251. The originalms.is in theBibliothèque
Nationale,Paris.
'A Lionin Peking:LudovicoBuglioand theEmbassy
GiulianoBertuccioli, toChinaofBento
Pereirade Fariain 1678',EastandWest,26 (1-2) (1976), 223-40.
losingone's composure,graspingwiththehandsand tearingoffwiththe

teeth,like some gluttonor sheepdog'. But worsewas to come. Pimentel
wasat subsequentbanquetspresentedwithsheeps' heads 'withtwohorns
so largethattheyfrightened me. . the head was so littlecleaned thatby
itswool I knewthatthe sheep had been black.'83Pimentel'saccount is
corroboratedby the sensibilitiesof laterEuropean embassies,like that
of Isaac Titsinghand Braam Houckgeest,where the Emperorsent 'a
dishwithpieces of game,lookingas iftheywereremnantsof gnawed-off
bones. Theyweredumped on the table'. 4 Galeote Pereira,by contrast,
forwhateverreasonoverlooksthe qualityof Chinesecuisinein favourof
thegenerosity withwhichhe and his partywas received.5
ofhospitality
Eating withthe Japanese provideda major testfor the Portuguese
whichtheyfailed,eatingwiththeirhands ratherthanwithsticks.They
weretreatedat the Daimyoof Bungo's table to a farceacted out by the
King'sdaughter,in whicha largenumberofwooden armswerebrought
out proposingto 'remedythegreatphysicaldefectfromwhichtheysuffer
all the time',namelyeatingwiththeirhands so thatby necessity'they
wouldbe smellingall the timeof fish,or meat,or whateverelse we [sic]
ate withthem'.86
(d) Dress
If food was problematic,dress was another extremelyimportantand
sensitiveissue.We havewitnessedthereactionsto FatherFrancisXavier's
humbleattire.Later membersof the religiousestablishment on official
visitslearned fromthese mistakes:none more so than the Portuguese
embassysentto negotiatewithkampaku Hideyoshiin 1590 and desperate
to overturnthe anti-Christianedict of 25 July1587. Understandingthe
need to be on best appearances,Luís Fróisdescribeshow FatherVilela
managedto fangle4awidecassockwithlong sleeves'from'a cope witha
veryold brocade hood and a worncambletcounterpane'.Fróishimself
went in a 'mantle withaccompanyingcostume,and some high-soled
half-boots (hunschapins)ofspun silk,as the Chinesemandarinswearand
otherpeople ofauthority'.87The Shogunwasquiteimpressed,and called
83 Pimentel,BreveRelacäoda Jornada. 22-23.

4
Titsingh's MS. Report,
f. 32-34, summarisedinJ.J.L.Duvyendak,'The Last Dutch Embassyto
the Chinese Court', in TounePao. vol. XXXIV. Leiden: Brill. io*8. m.
5 Galeote Pereira,
Algumascousassabidasda China,in Archivum HistoricumSocietatis
Jesu,1953,
pp. 67-68.
Mendes Pinto,Peresrinacäo, eh. 223, vol. 2, 801-02.
7 [Vilela] ievava huma loba
aperta de chamelote, e huma capa d'asperges con Sabastos de
borcado de Ormus,ainda que velha, e seo barrete',Luís Fróis,Historiadejapam, ed. José Wicki
(Lisbon, 1976-84), vol. 2, chap. 57, 13. The JesuitJean CrassetsaysthatVilela 'made a new sort
of robe withlarge sleeveslined withLinseyWoolseyand edg'd witha golden fringe'and praises
him,adding thatall missionariesshould imitateSt Paul, forthe apostle 'made himselfall to all,
12 2 STEFAN HALIKOWSKI-SMITH
Froísback to inspectthe cope, callingit mezurashiii.e. somethingnovel.

It wastakento himand returnedimmediately. As Fróisreports,theeffect
of appearing'so illustriousand well-attired,
as no otherpeople had ever
been in Japan' enabled theirhost 'to remainwitha greatconception
of our things,whichgave the greatestand best creditto our Holy Law,
because theJapanesesaid thatsuch clean and honourablepeople could
not but help have theverybestthings'.88
Portugueseenvoysto China were similarlycarefulto dress in the
finestclothes,ifonlyto impressthe CelestialCourtwiththeirgravity and
importance.Thus AmbassadorManoel de Saldanha leftCanton dressed
withcrimsonsatinadornedwithsilvertrimmings. His quartersin thelead
boathe occupiedwererichly decoratedwithcarpets,furniture upholstered
in velvet,and damaskcurtainsand he ordered 'the accompanimentof
flagsand trumpets'.9
(e) Meetingtheembassies
As theywerenotifiedof theembassy'simminentarrival,local rulersliked
to send out theirofficialsand escortsto neighbouringvillages,often
witha suitablemeans of conveyance.These officials
wereshahbandars in
the Malaytradition, whilethe Kingdomof Pegu sentout itsViceroyand
ChiefPriest.The Kingof Siam had bamboo pavilionserectedalong the
routetheambassadorswereto follow,whileMughalEmperorAkbarsent
twomulesto Goa in 1579 so thatthe missionariesmighttravelin greater
comfort.Fernâo Mendes Pinto didn'tlike theseescorts:he complained
of the noisiness,'the timbáisand bells and crewmenshoutingall the
way'.9°InJapan,thetraditionstipulatedthattheembassypresentitselfon
disembarkationat theofficeoftheQuansio-andano,theAdmiraloftheSea,
who mightthenprovidehorsesand men to lead the embassy.The idea
was prettymuch the same in China - thoughat times,the bureaucratic
and was not asham'd.. to workwithhis own Hands fora Livelyhood',Thehistory ofthechurchin
Japan. Written originally in FrenchbyMonsieurL'Abbede T. And nowtranslated intoEnglishbyN.N.
(London: 170K-07), vol. 1, d. 2kr.
'Táo ricamenteornada, táo lustrozamentevestidae bem consertada de maneira que diziâo
que cada hum délies parecia que era hum fotoque, id est hum pagode que vinha do ceu'. .
'quando virâoentrarpelo Miaco gente tarnlustroza,que nunca desde o principiodo Miaco athé
entáo virâo outra tal, ficarâo todos metendo dedo na boca sem poder fallar'. Fróis,Historiade
Japam, vol. £,pp. 2Qp;-q6.
9
Domingo Fernández Navarrete, Tratados/ históricos, de la
/ políticos,ethicos,/ y religiosos
monarchia/ de China : / descripción breve/ de aquel imperio, y exemplos raros/ de emperadores, y
magistrados del./ connarracióndifusade variossvcessos,/y cosassingulares de otrosreynos,
/y diferentes
navegaciones :/ anadenselos decretos calificadasen Romapara la Mission/
/ y proposiciones
pontificios,
Chinica,y vna bula deN.M.S.P. Clemente X. enfauordélos/ missionarios / PorelP. maestroFr.Domingo
FernandezNavarrete [...] MissionarioApostolico
de la gran China,Preladode los de su Mission[...], I,
Trat.6, cap. XIV, dd. ^1-^2.
90 'E me levou com
grande estrondo de atabaques e sinos e grita da chusma', vol. 1,
eh. 15,57.
arrangements wereso complicatedthatthe resultwas inactivity.Manoel

de Saldanha'sembassyto the Celestialcourtwas keptwaitingin Canton
fromNovember21, 1667 untilJanuary1670, thatis overtwoyears!
The formadopted by the embassieswas fairlystandardised:afterthe
presentswerehanded over,the officialbusinesscould begin at the court
or royalpalace. Here therewere alwaysplentyof ante-chambers, where
theembassywaskeptwaiting;themillingaroundofarmedmen reported
inVascoda Gama'saccountfindsitsmatchin MiguelFerreira'swhere'the
patiowasfullof armedpeople who appeared to be ten thousand',whilst
in Bungo,'thousandsofarquebusiers'throngedthepassageways.91
(f) Audienceswithlocal rulers

The foreigners weredisarmedas a safetyprecautionthe Chineseofficials
fromtheBoard ofCeremoniesinsistedon, following attempts byChinese
feudatoriesto assassinatetheEmperorduringaudiences,thoughdespite
the ambassador'sdispleasureit was a common practicein Europe as
well,as O. Krauskehas shown.92Then theywere broughtin by court
officialslike the porteyro
moor(Chief Doorkeeper), in Abyssiniaby the
or
betudeti, ChiefJustices, on otheroccasionsthevedar(Inspectorofthe
or
Revenues) Campalatorin Sumatraitwasan elderlywomanwho acted
. At
as usherinto the throneroom- she welcomedthe men fromMalacca
withthe followinglittlespeech: Tour cominghere into thisland of the
kingmylord is as gratifying to him as the raindropsfallingon our rice
fieldsin a timeof drought.Enterand have no fear,sincebythe graceof
God we are all people likeyou,and we trustin Him thatitwillalwaysbe
so, foreverand ever,untiltheend of time'.93
Nobleswouldbe oftensittingon theflooras wasthecase at Hideyoshi's
court;oftenotherforeignambassadorswerealso present.In some Asian
societies,or as withthe Negus in Abyssinia,monarchswere secluded in
roomsnormalmortalswerenotwelcome.Decorationsheld an important
function:that of inspiringawe. Some, for example, were covered in
gold, whilstin Bungo,Japan,the thronewas 'speciallyconstructedfor
the occasion'. The Persianmonarchswere oftenoffcampaigningand
werethusencounteredin theirarrayal, or encampment,wherethe chief
tentwas entirely arrayedin colored satinsand withmanyflourishes, and
carpetedwithluxuriouscarpetsand withmanysilkcushions.
91 'O pateoestauacheo de gentearmada,
que pareciâodez mil',G. Correia,Lendas,t. II, cap.
XLVIII.
92
JohnWillsJr.,Embassiesand Illusions,1 19; O. Krauske,Die Entwicklung
derständigen
Diplomatie
vom15 zu denBeschlüssen
von 181 5 und 18 18 (Leipzig, i88r).
93 'Tuavinda,hörnernde Malaca,a estaterrade el-reimeusenhor,
é táoagradável
à suavontade
cornoa chuvaem temposeco na lavourados nossosarrozes.Entrasegurocomovósoutrose
assimesperamos neleque seja atéao derradeirohocejodo mundo'.
Fig. 9. Negotiations
at the
King'stentin a Persian
arrayal
Fromthe'Houghton'
Shähnämeh, Tabriz
c. 1520-30, f. 53V
Courtesiesand kow-tows followed.While the Ambassadorof Narsinga

remainedstandingat theViceroy'scourtin Goa, MiguelFerreirakneeled,
Lemos kissedthe Sheik'shand and foot,whilePintotouchedhis knee to
thefloorthreetimesas he handed overhis letterand giftto the Kingof
the Battak.94Placingthe letterdirectlyin the King'shandswas,in Siam
however, a directaffront to custom,so thattheambassadorhad ratherto
place it in a gold cup which was thenhanded overbya rod of the same
materialthrougha windowto the King.95In Japan, it was simplythe
secretary(QuansioGritan)who did the honours.
The questionof who was subsequentlyentrustedto act as translator
(lingua)was a difficultand veryimportantone as proverbialwisdom
'traduttore, traditore'has long recognized,and as Dejanirah Couto has
recently demonstrated.9 K'ang-hsi,the Emperorof China,fosteredthe
community ofwesterners at hiscourtso as toavoidrecoursetointerpreters
when dealingwithpapal legates,forto him theywere a shorthandfor
distrustand awkwardness.97 However,the Portugueseclearlypreferred
to bringtheirowninterpreters, in thecase ofPaulo Rodriguesda Costa's
94 Comentarios do GrandeAfonsodeAlbuquerque (1923), ch. 27; Mendes Pinto,Peregrinaçao,vol. I,

58.
y5A. Petitot and L.
Monnerqué eds., Mémoires du comte de Forbin , in Collection des mémoires
deFrance(Paris: 1829), vol. 74, pp. 329-45.
à l'histoire
relatifs
9
Dejanirah Couto, 'The Linguas in the PortugueseEmpires- 16 Century',Electronic Journal
ofPortuguese vol. 1, no. 2. Portugueselinguasseem laterto have foundreadyemployment
History,
withthe Dutch in the East as accounts demonstrate, J.J.L. Duvyendak,'The Last Dutch Embassy
to the Chinese Court', in T'oungPao, %a.(iq^8), 57.
97
JonathanSpence, Emperor ofChina.SelfPortrait ofK'ang-hsi(London: Cape, 1994), p. 78.
expeditionto the Kingdomof Sada in Madagascar in 1613, so as to

'facilitateconversation
withthe King' and help the expeditionto obtain
provisionsand sought-afterinformation.9
But it was not alwaysenough for the Portugueseto bringtheirown
interpreter. We mightliketo considertheembassysentto Bengalin 1521
as Correiarecounts."A renegade,Joäo de Borba (knownforhislinguistic
gifts)servedas an interpreter in a dissensionbetweenAntoniode Brito
and, a Turk,AliAga. Duringthecourseof thediscussion,he "translated"
one of the answersin an entirelydifferent way,forhis own convenience.
There is also the example of Duarte Barbosa, arrestedby Afonsode
Albuquerque,'because he is an interpreter and cause ofall theserevolts'
{porqueelehe lymguoae causa de todasestasrévoltas).100
As interpreterswere
oftenaccomplishedintermediaries withno fixedloyalties,renegadesas
we haveseen,orJewslikeAntoniode Noronhaand Gasparda Gama,the
problemwasan endemicone.101
Specific constraintswere consequentlyimposed on the lingua to
ensure his loyaltyand correctdeportment.In 1510 Albuquerque sent
the delegationof Ruy Gomes de Carvalhosato Shah Isma'il at Gaur
withinteresting,well specifiedinstructions:
the linguashould not add a
singleword beyond those of the ambassadorduringtheaudience,always
remainingby his side, and should be lodged in isolatedaccommodation
forthedurationof his mission.102
(g) Ritualisedspeechesor introductions

Ritualisedspeeched or introductionsbegan, the Japanese Emperor
Hideyoshiannouncinghimselfin termsofdivinefavourand descendance
9 See theaccountof theJesuitLuis Mariano,'Relaçâoda
Jornadae Descobrimento da Ilha
de Säo Lourençoque o Vice-Reida India D. Jeronymo de AzevedoMandouFazerpor Paulo
Rodriguesda Costa,Capitàoe Descobridor', in, Os DoisDescobrimentosda Ilha de Säo Lourenço
mandados fazerpelovicereiD.JerónimodeAzevedo nosanosde1613a 1616,ed. byHumberto Leitáo
(Lisbon:Centrode EstudosHistóricos Ultramarinos. iQ7oì. d. 210.
99G. Correia,'Lenda do QuartoGouernadorda India,
Diogo Lopes de Sequeira',Lendasda
India,Lisbon:AcademiaRealdas Scienciasde Lisboa,i860, t. II, cap. XIII, 624-25.A further
anonymous accountentitled'Lembrançadalgumascoussasque se passaramquandoAntonio
de Bryto e DyogoPereyra forama Bengallaasyem BengalacornoemTanaçaiym em Peguonde
tambemfomos'waspublishedbyRonaldBishopSmith,TheFirst AgeofthePortuguese embassies,
navigationsandperegrinationstotheancientkingdoms ofCambay andBengal,1500-1521 (Bethesda:
DecaturPress,1960),ch.II, sec.6.
100G. en Indeau débutdu XVIesiècle',Simpòsio
Bouchon,'L'interprète portugais Interdisciplinar
deEstudos AsDimensöes
Portugueses. da Alteridadeñas Culturas deLinguaPortuguesa - o Outro, II
(Lisbon, 1085), p. 20R.
101For
Noronha,see Tenreiro inBaiäo,Itinerarios,
cap. II, 7; forGasparda Gama,Stefania Elena
Carnemolla,'Un certoGasparda Gama: la sfuggente figuradi un interprete dei viaggatori
portoghesi del cinquecento',L'Erasmo,16, (lulv-August 200^).
102
GasparCorreia,LendasdaIndia,II/I,cap.X:71/72.Fortheembassy toGaur,see G. Bouchon
and L. FilipeThomaz,Voyage dansleDeltadu GangeetdeVlrraouady, 1521 (Paris:CentreCulturel
Portugais, 1988),p. 241.
fromtheSun Goddess,AmaterasuÖnikami,ratherthanthelegitimacy of
his lineage as a European monarchmighthave done: <WhenI was born
a sunbeam fell on my chest,and when the divinerswere asked about
this,theytold me thatI was to be rulerof all thatlies betweeneast and
west'.103Many Asian rulerssimilarlyannounced themselvesin terms
of a grandiloquentand loosely defined set of territories theylorded
over.Krishnaray(Pg. Crisnaraó),a Maharajah in centralIndia, liked to
announcehimself'KingofKings,Lord ofthegreaterlordsofIndia,Lord
of theThree Seas and of the Land'.104
The termsbywhichthePortugueseaddressednativerulersis matter-of-
factand altogetherpredictable,as a letterofAfonsode Albuquerqueto
theKingofPersiacarriedbyRuyGomesattests:'Verygreatand powerful
lord amongstthe Moors Xeque Ismael [of Persia]'.105Reciprocalletters
or addressesfromAsian rulerswere alwaysmuch more colorfuland
reflect,for example, the heightenedneed for flattery and displaysof
deferencein a hierarchalisedcourtsociety,such as thatof theJavanese
Kratonor the OttomanPorte.A letterfromSüleymanthe Magnificent
afterthe epithet'he who is grantedvictory[always]'went:
To theparagonof thegreatChristian Princes, in
themodelof thedignitaries
thenationof theMessiah,thepromoter of improvementswiththepeopleof
ChristianCommunity, trainsofmajesty
trailing themasteroffame
and dignity,
and glory, the Kingof Portugal, may his ultimate be
results terminated
with
success,as soonas thisexaltedImperialletter]reachesyourhand.106
The Sultanof TernateAbu Hayatcoloured his hyperbolewitha tone of
filialdevotionwhenhe referredto theKingofPortugal'the greatkingof
thewholeworld,the greatlord' as his uncle.107Mendes Pinto,however,
is almostcertainly guiltyoffabrication whenhe putsthe following words
intothe mouthofAngeesiry Timorraja,King of the Battak:
I .. desirousaboveall othersto be ofserviceto theCrownLion,whosethrone
of awesomesplendorspans the ocean waves,over whichhe reignswith
103Letterof
January7, 1594, broughtby PortuguesemerchantPero Gonçales Caruajal to the
Governorof the Philippines,repr.in Archivo Ibero-Americano, 4 (1915), 407.
104Narrativeof
Domingo Paes (probablywritt.1520-22), in The VijayanagarEmpire.Domingos
Paes and FernäoNuniz,ed. byVasundharaFilliozat,trans,byRobertSewell (New Delhi: National
Book Trust,1Q77), p. 20.
1O5'Muitogrande, e poderoso senhor antre os mouros Xeque Ismael', Additional MS 20901,
BritishMuseum, cap. 95. There is also a copy of thisletterpublished in Comentarios do Grande
AfonsodeAlbuaueraue(102^), d. ^kf;.
1
Copy of an imperiallettersent to Domjoäo III, dated the firstdecade of A.H. Shahban (AD
18-27 October 1544), published in Portuguese Studies,6, (1990). Süleymanliked reciprocallyto
be addressed as 'the excellent padishah, refugeof the world' (alempenah),see Sidi Reis, Mir'at
ül-Memalik (Istanbul, 1897), p. 34.
107CO.
Blagden, Two Malay LettersfromTernatein the Moluccas, writtenin 1521 and 1522',
BulletinoftheSchoolofOrientalStudies,6 ( 1) (1 930) ,87-101.
Fig. 10 (left).Copyofan imperial

lettersentto DomJoäoIII bySüleyman
theMagnificent. Reproducedcourtesy
of Portuguese
Studies.
Fig. 11 (below). Formalletterof

greetings,datedApril1588,from
Portuguese ViceroyDom Duartede
MenesestoToyotomi Hideyoshi,
presented byAlessandro Valignano,
SJ.
in March1591.Reproducedcourtesy
oftheMoho-inTemple,Kyoto
incrediblepowerwhereverthefourwindsblow,thatmagnificent
princeof great
Portugal.10*
it has been establishedthattheBattakiack thecomplexetiquette
Firstly,
and social hierarchyof the Hinduizedpeople of Indonesia'.109Secondly
the cosmographicalconstructof the 'four winds' was very much a
European inventionand far-removed fromthe dichotomydividingthe
landsabovefromthelandsbelow'thewinds',heremeaningthemonsoon,
whichcharacterizedthe cosmologyand morewidelythe identitiesof the
peoples ofSouth-EastAsia.110Thirdly,the 'CrownLion' ofPortugaldoes
not correspondto anyofficialsymbolof state,Portugueseor Battak,but
appears to have appealed to Mendes Pintowho employsit again in the
contextof a speech made by the 'King of Bungo', Otomo Yoshishige,
in Japan (leäo cornadono tronodo mundo).111The lion was a symbol
employedratherin theTurkishworldto representsovereignty,
power,sun
and light.112
( h) Officialbusiness
The ambassadorstatedhisbusiness.Oftenthiswouldseem quiteinvasive,
such as the desire to take soundingsof the riverto determine'if it was
deep enoughforour largenaos and galleonsto enter'(quebracasdefundo
tinhao rio).11^The nativerulerwould then respond.The king of the
Battakprayedout aloud in frontof a shrine,kneelingin frontof a shelf
or mantelpiecewheretherewasa skullofa cow.Whileall anthropologists
who haveworkedon the Battakwouldpointto the highlyevolvednature
of ancestorworshipamongstthose people and the elaborateattention
to genealogies,the Dutch ethnologistRoo de la Faille explainsthe cow's
head as a symbolicreferenceto the ancientkingdomof Menangkabow,
held in deep reverencebyall statesof Sumatra.114
10
'Cobiçoso mas que todos os homens do service do leäo coroado no trono espantoso das
aguas do mar,assentado por poderío incrívelno assopro de todos os ventos,Príncipe rico do
grande Portugalteu senhor e meu.. eu, AngeesiryTimorraja,rei dos Batas. .', Peregrinaçào, vol.
I, 58. For the court societyof the Kraton,see J.M. Gullick,IndigenousPoliticalSystems
of Western
Malaya (London: AthlonePress, 1958) and BenedictAnderson,The Idea of PowerinJavanese
Culture', in Cultureand Politicsin Indonesia,ed. Claire Holt (Ithaca: Cornell UniversityPress,
1972),PP. 5-22.
109
Joel C. Kuipers,'Batak', in Indonesia:a Country ed. byW. H. Frederick,in R. L. Worden
Study,
(WashingtonD.C.: Federal Research Division,iqqs).
110See
Reid, 'The Land Below the Winds'.
11* eh. 15.
Peregrinaçào,
112From a
panel in Turks.A Journey ofa ThousandYears,600-1600, an exhibitionat the Royal
Academy,London, 22 lanuary- 12 April 200R.
113Mendes Pinto,
Peregrinaçao(Mem Martins: Publicaçoes Europa-América, 1995), vol. 1,
P-53-
4 See for
example Robert Kribb, HistoricalDictionaryof Indonesia (Metuchen, N.J., 1992),
p. 48; P. Roo de la Faille, 'Méndez Pinto op Sumatra'. In Historische
curiositeiten
uit Malajve en
Java,7-12 (1954).
This was followedby implorationsthatthe friendshipbe preserved,

accompaniedbya participative audienceraisingtheirhandsand repeating
thewordspachyparau 'Oh butto liveto see itcome trueand gladly
tinacorl
audiences (on Alvarez'svisitin 1520, as manyas
die'. Large participative
20,000!) werealso used as a politicaltool at the courtof the Negus,who
were solicitedby the Masterof Ceremoniesto scrutinizethe presents
broughtby the foreignambassadorbut also to thankGod forbringing
the Christianstogether.115
(i) Theswearingoffriendship,
and writingup ofCapitulations
Amityand peace was then sworn.As Soares Martinezpoints out, the

culminationof a diplomaticmissionin the East oftenremaineda merely
verbal accord, in accordance with indigenous rites and uses.11 The
capitulations withPegu,however, werewritten downwitha leafofbeaten
gold, then read twicein a highvoice in the tworespectivelanguages.An
oath was made ('read froma book of theirreligion')and at the end of
theirreadingtheKingtooksomeyellowpaper,thecolourofdivinecults,
and burnedit.And he placed the hands of the High Priestbetweenhis,
and putthemupon theashessayingsomewords,towhichthe Samibeleyam
responded.The PortugueseambassadorAntonioCorreafeelingobliged
to respondsworea similaroath on his song-bookas it was in a rather
betterstatethanhisbatteredprayer-book, fromwhichthechaplainofthe
ship 'in his whitesurplice'commencedto read certaintrovasor ballads
fromtheEcclesasticsof Solomon.117
Some oaths took on physicalmanifestions. The Kingof Siam raiseda
greatcrossofwood withthearmsof thiskingdomat thefoot,18 and buried
a servantof theDuke ofBragançawho had died ofsickness.1
(j) Entertainments
Afterthe formalitieshad been dispensedwith,chit-chatcould follow.
Some of it was personal.The nativerulersasked forthe names of the
ambassadorand all hisretinue.Otherwise,theauthorities
he represented
becamethefocusofdiscussion.WasthePope alive?How manykingswere
therein Hispania?Whatwas theage of theking?How manychildrendid
he have?
115MendesPinto, Peregrinaçao, vol. 1, 54; Francisco Alvarez, Verdadeira das terrasdo

Informacäo
Presteïoào das Indias,facs.edition of thatof 1zao (Lisboa: ImDrensaNacional. i88oì. 6o- 8a
Soares Martínez,HistoriaDiplomáticadePortugal,p. 102.
117Barros,Da Asia, Decada III, liv.Ill,
cap. 1, III & IV; Castanheda, descobrimento
e conquistada
India,liv.V, cap. Ill, X, XII, XXXV.
118
Barros,Da Asia,Decada III, LivroII, Capitulo IV.
It seemsthatoftenAsian rulerswereled into thinkingthe Portuguese

monarchwas more powerfulthan he reallywas. The Daimyoof Bùngo,
for example, refersto 'the land at the end of the world known as
Chenchicogim,where reigns,by the power of greatfleetsand armies
comprisedof people fromdifferent nationalities,the crownedlion of
greatPortugal'.119There werequestionsabout the governorof India (or
ifit turnedout,Malacca), ifhe was a king,and thestateof affairs
there.
In earlymodernJapan,consumedas itwas by'the age ofwar' priorto
the entrenchment of the Tokugawadynasty, questionsinvariablyhinged
on military and specifically
affairs, Portugal'smilitarycapabilities.How
manyarmedmen did the Kingdomsupport,and of whichtypeof arms?
The Presteof Abyssinia,threatenedby the encroachmentsof the Moors
fromthe coastal areas, fieldedsimilarconcerns.Were the Portuguese
frightened of the Moors?Could theysend weapons fromPortugaland
buildfortressesin Massaua,Suakinand Zeila, furnishcaptainsto defend
themand freethe road toJerusalem?120 This typeof questioningwent
on forhalfan hour,withtheKingenjoying'grandiosereplies'(grandiosas
respostas).121
Afterthisdétente,more personal businesswas attendedto, such as
arrangements forthesale ofprivatemerchandisebroughton theembassy.
In the Kingdomof MiyakoinJapan,the embassywas obligedto visitthe
'emperor's'motherand father, butothercourtesiessuchas a chiefofficial
of thecourt(vedordefazenda)takingtheambassador(here Ferreira)on a
guided tourof the city,or the monarchinvitingto accompanyhim on a
hunt,oftenwiththepresentation ofa suitablepersonalizedweapon,were
commonplace. The embassy of DuarteFernandezin 1511 to RamaTibodi
of
II, King Siam, was receivedwiththe greatesthonours:he was takenby
the King on a tourof the cityand shownthe King'swhiteelephant,an
objectof especialvenerationacrossSouth-EastAsia.122
In Africa,it alwaysprovedverydifficult forthe embassyto be allowed
to leave,and wereoftencoercedintoremaining.Africanpotentatesoften
insistedon detainingmissionaries'so as to increasethe worldlygloryof
His Majesty.'123 This was the upshot of Covilhä'smissionin search of
PrésterJohn: Covilhä chanced upon the Emperorsof Ethiopia,Na'od
11Q'Da terrado cabo do mundo,de nome onde porpoderíode armasgrossase
Chenchicogim,
exércitosde gentesde diversas naçôes,reinao leáo coroadodo grandePortugal',MendesPinto,
vol.2, eh. 22fí,810.
Peregrinacäo,
12OFrancisco Verdadeira
Alvarez, Informaçao,74-79.
121MendesPinto,Pereerinacäo, vol.2, 806.
122 vol.II (Lisbon:Typ.da Academia
GasparCorreia,Leudasda Ìndia,ed. byRJ.de LimaFeiner,
Realdas Sciencas,1850),p. 262.
123'Ofthejourneyoffather BalthasarBarreiratothisprovince,
andparticularlytotheKingdom
ofSierraLeone
accountoftheprovince
of Bena', in ManuelAlvares,EthiopiaMinorand a geographical
(ca. 1615), (Liverpool1990),Onlineversion
athttp://digital.library.wisc.edu/171
l.dl/Africana.
Alvareso 1.
refusedto let him leave, and he was stilltherewhen Dom Rodrigoda

Lima,leaderofthePortugueseembassy, arrivedin 1520.124The da Lima
expeditionitselfwas detainedforat leastfiveyears,and onlyreturnedin
1526. It is a phenomenonTimothySeverincalls 'gildedcaptivity',though
conditionswerenot bad: mostwereofferedpensionsand wivesand not
treatedbadly.125 In Asia,we can findtracesofthesame.The Kingdesired
MiguelFerreirato sleep witha woman 'so thathe would leave a son or
daughterbehind'.126
(k) Departure
Finally,the King distributedhis presentsto the embassypartyand
consigned lettersto be sent to both the Viceroyin Goa or Captain
of Malacca, and the King of Portugal.One wayto be sure that one's
diplomaticmissionhad succeeded was to be offeredcertain giftsin
return.FranciscoCabrai,a keystoneof theJesuitpresencein theFar East
at theend ofthesixteenthcentury, wasofferedbytheLimsitao,or prefect
in the cityof Chao ch'ing,'a piece of whitesilkcloth,six fans,and four
of thosemaps byFatherMatteo [Ricci]'. He realizedthe importanceof
thisgesturewhen 'thiswas quicklyknownthroughoutthe city,and some
oftheprincipalscame to congratulateus forthehonorand compliments
thatthe limsitaogave us'.127Domingo Paes' narrativeof southernIndia
is markedby a deep respectforthe elusivecharacterof Christoväode
Figueiredo,whoseembassieswereinvariably showeredwithpresents.Paes
witnessedFigueiredo'sreceiving'a tunicofbrocade (cobaya)witha cap of
the same fashionas the kingwore',while'to each of the accompanying
Portuguesehe offereda clothembroideredwithmanypretty figures'.1
It was ironicthata cap be offeredto the Portugueseambassador:these
caps (barretos)were the standardpettyitem thatboth Portugueseand
Spanishdiscoverers distributedamongst
J
thetribesmentheyencountered
duringtheVoyagesof Discovery.29
124The bestaccountofCovilhä'smissionis stillthatoftheCondede Ficalho, dePedroda
Viagens
Covilhan (Lisbon:A. M. Pereira,180,8).
125T.Severin,'In Searchof Préster John',Horizon1973, 15(3), 12-25; c^-RobertKnox,An
historical
relation
oftheislandCe'lon.in theEast-Indies... London 1fiSi.
1 j j ,--.__ _7
'EIRey,desejosoque MiguelFerreira dormissecommolherde que lhe podiaficarfilhoou

filha',Correia,Lendas,t.II, cap. XLVIII,Lisbon:i860, 41*.
127'Froma Letterof FrancescoCabrai, fromMacao on December8, 1584', M.
Portuguese,
HowardRienstra, Letters
Jesuit fromChina,1583-4,Minneapolis: Univ.ofMinnesota
Press,1986,
26.
12
Domingo Paes in RobertSewell,A Forgotten
Empire(Vijayanagar):A Contribution
to theHistory
ofIndia,New Delhi:AsianEducationalServices,1982 ed., 252. The originalMS. is in the
Bibliothèque Paris.
Nationale,
129See, forexample,theletterof PeroVaz da Caminha
repr.in WilliamB. Greenleeed., The
voyageofPedroAlvaresCabraitoBraziland India (London: Hakluyt,1938), p.9; see also the caps
FernäoPeresde Andradedistributed
on hisembassy
toAnnan,Barros,
Da Asia,DecadaIII, Livro
II, CapituloVI.
The Daimyoof Bungo concludedbymakinga littlespeech beseeching

the Viceroynot to forgetthe homage paid and employs,like we saw in
theannouncementbyhiscompatriotHideyoshi,thethemeofsunlightto
suggestthatthe friendshiplasta long time:Tor as long as the sun does
notfailto produce the effectforwhichGod createdit,nor thewatersof
theocean cease to riseand falloverthe shoresof the earth'.13°
How muchdid Portugueseembassiesaccomplish

?
In theprecedingsection,I havesketchedthe protocolforembassiesthat
ran smoothly.Manyof course,like FrancisXavier's'Voyageof Meaco'
did not,but in largepartbecause it tookplace outsidethe framework of
protocol thatI have The
established. four embassies sentto Pekingfrom
Macau to redressthe crisiswhichbeset thatcolonyfromthe 1640s also
failed,forpoliticalreasonsratherthan any greatlapses in protocol.131
AmbassadorGonçalo de Siqueirade Sousa was turnedback on arrivalin
Japan in 1644, thoughadmittedly did fairlywell to survivewithhis and
his companions'livesgiventhe 1640 sakoku-rei edict,whichthreatened
that any Portuguesevessel coming into a Japanese harbor would be
put to death to the lastman.132Otherincidentssuggestthatone of the
fundaments of moderndiplomacy,namelythe personalimmunity of the
membersof the embassy,was totallylacking.A quick rosterof episodes
thatbefellPortugueseembassiesin the East is enough to demonstrate
thatthe riskswereof a completelydifferent orderto diplomaticrealities
in Europe at the time,wherethe principaldangersoccurredin 'third'
countriesthat were neithersending,nor receivingthe embassies.133
AmbassadorAnriqueLernewas chased offfromPantaniand his ship set
on fireand otherincidentsattestto Portugueseembassiesbeingsetupon
by'a bodyofMoors'wieldingironclubsand assistedbylocal people who
threwstones,dartsand arrowsfromnearbyhouses.134Problemswith
Muslimsdominateincidentsof thiskind.
130'Que enquantoo sol nao discrepardo efeitopara que Deus o criou,nema agua do mar
vol. II, eh. 225,
deixarde subire descerpelas praiasda terra',MendesPinto,Peregrinaçào,
p. 810.
131SeeJorgeManueldosSantosAlves,'Naturezado Primeiro Ciclode DiplomaciaLuso-Chinesa
SéculosXW-XIX,ed. by
Luso-Chines.
(séculos XVI-XVIII)', in Estudosde Historiado Relacionamento
A.V.de Saldanhaand Ï.M.dos SantosAlves(Macau,Instituto do Oriente,iqq6).
Portugués
132FrançoisValentijn,
'Byzondere Amsterdam:
ZaakenoverJapan',in OudenNieuwOost-Indien,
1862, Deel V, 88-89; more generallyC.R. Boxer,A Portuguese
EmbassytoJapan(1644-47)
(London:KeganPaul,1928).
133B. Picard, Das in derfrühenZeit(Graz/Wien/Köln,1967),
ostmitteleuropas
Gesandschaftswesen
107.
34Castanheda, da India,LivroVI,cap. XLVII.In narrow
e conquista
descobrimento closeto
streets
theKingofLar'spalace'sayolhehumcorpode mourosao encötro, & hummourolhedeu com
hüaporrade ferrona cabeçacö que o deitoumuytou fendodo caualoabaixo.E nistoforäoas
& zagüehadas,
pedradastantasdasgánelas& as frechadas que porpoucoque os nossosnao foräo
There are instances,too, where the ambassadorswere murderedby

theirhosts.This was the case withRuyGomes,poisoned by his Persian
hostCogeatar(KhwajaAtar),and theambassadorwho,togetherwiththe
King of Ternate,fellvictimto the King of Tidor.135In similarfashion,
AmbassadorTomé Pireswasnotonlyill-received at theChinesecourtand
refusedan audiencewiththeEmperoron accountofthemisbehaviour of
Portuguesetradersand sailorslikeSimäo de Andradein southernChina,
denunciationsofthePortugueseseizureofMalacca in 1511 byone ofthe
Chinesetributary rulers,theoustedsultanofMalacca,breachesofprotocol
in the lettersPiresbore, and reportsof unscrupulousbusinesspractice.
Returningto Canton, he was imprisonedtogetherwiththree or four
compatriotsand, fromthe letterof Pires'sprisoncompanionCristóvao
Vieira,itseemshe died in 1524 afterprolongedsuffering, privationsand
probably torture.13 Others ambassadors - more disturbingly,
perhaps
- werepoisonednotbytheirhosts,but bytheirownslaves.137
Finally,ifbywayof conclusionwe wereto tryto weighup the balance
sheet of how much diplomaticmissionsaccomplished,BraymBeça's
declarationthat'thefriendship ofKingswasin theambassadors'suggests
thatratherthan effortsto avertcrisis,diplomacyplayed an important
role in establishingcontact. Diplomacy,then, was not so much the
preventionof war as the makingof friendships, thoughdiplomacytoo
had on occasionto bear threats.Specificpoliticalgambitsdepended very
much on the widercircumstances and the behaviourof the individual
embassy, but on the whole if
helped onlyto facilitatedialogue. It can be
consideredremarkablethattheOttomanscould threatenthePortuguese
frankly withseizureof theirlands in the eventthatan embassythathad
been dispatchedcould not resolvepointsof tension.138
Otherwise,trade was certainlythe pre-eminentsuccess story of
diplomaticinteraction, but perhapsthiswas the mostuniversallanguage
mortos& todosfugiráoporòde melhopoderäo',descobrimento e conquista

da India,Liv.VI, cap.
XLVI,XLVII.
135D. de Góis,Cronica doFelicissimoReiD. Manuel(Coimbra:Imp.Da Universidade, 1926),pte.
Ill, cap. IIII; pte.IV,cap. IX; 'Informaçâodas Cousasde Maluco',in Colleccäo
deNoticiasparaa
Historiae Geografìa
das NamesUltramarinas,
t. VI (Lisbon, i8f;6).
13 Pleasenotethatothercircumstantial accountssuchas a reportgivenbythetraveler Fernäo
MendesPintosuggesthe wasliberated(as thePortuguese historian
Luís de Albuquerquehas
maintained) . Someaccountsholdthathe remainedinChinauntilhisdeathin 1540 ratherthan
thedateof 1524.Fora briefsurvey ofthesedevelopments,see StefanHalikowskiSmith,Tomé
Pires',GreatLivesfromHistory.
14.^1-1600(Pasadena:SalemPress.200KÌ.
137JavaneseslaveskilledSimäoMartins, as relatedbyCastanheda,descobrimento
e conquistada
India.Liv.III. can.LXXVIII.
13 SalihÓzbaran,'TwoLettersof Dom Alvarode NoronhafromHormuz.Turkish Activities
alongthecoastofArabia,1550-1552',TheOttoman toEuropean
Response Expansion(Istanbul:Isis
Press,1994),pp. 159-78.
that inter-culturalcontact could make.139This would serve then to

reinforcethe notionof an 'Age of Commerce'.
Religiousmissionswereclearlythe leastsuccessfulof the genre.Here
as theJapanese Daimyo of Bungo explained to FatherBelchior,if his
subjectswere to see anychange in him theywould turnto the 'bonzes'
even if he the King personally
thatis the priestlyauthority,
(Pg. bonzos),
enjoyedtalkingabout 'the grandeurof god and the perfectionof the
Law' withthe Christianmissionaries.140 Religionand culturaltradition
was the issue thatAsiansocietieswereleasthappyto compromiseon.141
Strangely,however,the personalreligiousconscienceof the ambassador
was far more freelytoleratedin Asia than it was in Europe, where,
forexample,Philip II could in 1568 flatlyrefuseto allow the English
ambassadorin Madridto hold Anglicanservicesin his house, or where
foreignProtestants on Madeirawererefusedthe rightof burialuntilthe
year1770.142
University of Wales Swansea
139R.P.Mathee would concur fromhis recent ThePoliticsof Tradein SafavidIran: SilkforSilver,

1600-m^o (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press,iqqq).
140'porquegostavamuitode falardas grandezasde Deus e da perfeiçâoda sua lei', Mendes
■v s ■ *-r +-r %s •
i *S U KJ
chs.225,358.
Pinto,Peregrinaçao,
141See,forexample,CharlesE Keyes,'WhytheThaiare notChristians:
Buddhist and Christian
Historicaland Anthropological
toChristianity:
conversionin Thailand', in Conversion on a
Perspectives
Great editedbyRobertW.Hefner(Berkeley:
Transformation, ofCalifornia
University Press,1993),
pp. 259-85.
142Asmentioned
byWilliamCombe,A History
ofMadeira(London:Ackerman, 1821),46.

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'The Friendship of Kings was in the Ambassadors': Portuguese Diplomatic Embassies in Asia

and Africa during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

inevitablyconstitutesrelationsbetweenlarge groupsof people brought

5 Pedro Soares Martínez,HistoriaDiplomáticadePortugal(Lisbon: Verbo, iq86), 102.

intermediaries'), butitwaspreciselythelackofanyformality thatenabled

If the termembassyis problematicin the Portugueseoverseasworld,

Then there is the question of individualmotivation.Some mouths

22'Senhor- em cousasdacreçemtamento de vosso

orviceroys in Goa,theneighbouring kingdoms sentambassadors to call

embassyof theirlocal hosts.DuarteFernandeswas sentto the Kingdom

The tasksof Portuguesediplomacyin theAge of Encounters

muslinand othermerchandiseofYourHighnessto sell and to employin

which is how Frei Jorge had presentedtheircoming to the Siamese

4 JohnCorreia-Afonso, SJ. 'More aboutAkbarand theJesuits',Indica14:1, March1977,

Fig. i . The missionary FrancisXavier.

intootherproblems.His humbleattire- thepenitentialgarbofhisorder

embassiesdemanded protocol and establishedprocedure,pomp and

0 See the Arras

Fig. 2 (top). Portuguesenoble ladyin India being carriedin a palanquinand

Fig. 3 (middle).A Europeansedan-chair

Fig. 4 (bottom).An Africanlitteror machila,P. Latham,P. Van de Ruit,fromS.

Fig. 5 (above).A Portugueseembassy

Althoughanalysisof the Monsoon Books (Livrosdas Mongóes)shows

65 Bibliotecada Ajuda, Lisbon: Codice pso-V-2

70See, forexample,thelistofpresents carriedbyFernamGomesde Lemosto Xeque Ismael

Plantinedition presentedto Akbar,for example,whichwas elegantly

77'porquedeixoque estessäo Mouros,deixotambemos impedimentos que em semelhantes

Fig. 8. Woodprint ofa lionfromBuglio'sShih-tzu shuo,1678

scale instrument, to be assembledon arrival.80

losingone's composure,graspingwiththehandsand tearingoffwiththe

83 Pimentel,BreveRelacäoda Jornada. 22-23.

Froísback to inspectthe cope, callingit mezurashiii.e. somethingnovel.

arrangements wereso complicatedthatthe resultwas inactivity.Manoel

(f) Audienceswithlocal rulers

Courtesiesand kow-tows followed.While the Ambassadorof Narsinga

94 Comentarios do GrandeAfonsodeAlbuquerque (1923), ch. 27; Mendes Pinto,Peregrinaçao,vol. I,

expeditionto the Kingdomof Sada in Madagascar in 1613, so as to

(g) Ritualisedspeechesor introductions

Fig. 10 (left).Copyofan imperial

Fig. 11 (below). Formalletterof

This was followedby implorationsthatthe friendshipbe preserved,

Amityand peace was then sworn.As Soares Martinezpoints out, the

115MendesPinto, Peregrinaçao, vol. 1, 54; Francisco Alvarez, Verdadeira das terrasdo

It seemsthatoftenAsian rulerswereled into thinkingthe Portuguese

refusedto let him leave, and he was stilltherewhen Dom Rodrigoda

'EIRey,desejosoque MiguelFerreira dormissecommolherde que lhe podiaficarfilhoou

The Daimyoof Bungo concludedbymakinga littlespeech beseeching

How muchdid Portugueseembassiesaccomplish

There are instances,too, where the ambassadorswere murderedby

mortos& todosfugiráoporòde melhopoderäo',descobrimento e conquista

that inter-culturalcontact could make.139This would serve then to

139R.P.Mathee would concur fromhis recent ThePoliticsof Tradein SafavidIran: SilkforSilver,

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