Insights How the Dutch and British Built New Roads Around Portugal’s — and Inherited the Empire That Came With Them
Portugal held the road for a century. That's the sentence this story starts on, and it's worth taking literally rather than as a figure of speech. For roughly a hundred years after Vasco da Gama's landing at Kappad in 1498, Portugal controlled the sea lane connecting Europe to the spice-producing world — not through better trade relationships or better prices, but through fortresses, patrols, and the Cartaz licensing system that made every ship in the Indian Ocean pay for the …
