Q. With reference to the practices of the Portuguese that strained relations with the Mughal Empire, consider the following statements:
1.The Portuguese practice of kidnapping children, especially Hindu and Muslim women, from the areas around their trading settlements for sale as slaves was a major cause for Mughal intervention.
2.Mughal Emperors, particularly Akbar, strongly objected to the establishment of the Inquisition in Portuguese territories and used this religious repression as a pretext for the first military conflict against the Portuguese.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: A
Notes:
Explanation:
- Statement 1 is correct. The rampant practice of slave trade and piracy (selling kidnapped people from Bengal as slaves in other Portuguese possessions) was the immediate and primary provocation that led Emperor Shah Jahan to launch an attack and expel the Portuguese from Hooghly in 1632.
- Statement 2 is incorrect. While Akbar was critical of the forced conversions and the rigid policies of the Portuguese, he never used the Goan Inquisition as a pretext for war. Akbar, in fact, initially had relatively amicable relations with the Portuguese and invited Jesuits to his court at Fatehpur Sikri. The major military clashes happened much later, primarily under Shah Jahan, and were provoked by piracy and the slave trade.
