Origins
The forerunners of Casa da Índia arose with the Portuguese exploration of the African coast, to manage new trade opportunities.
Casa de Ceuta
As early as 1434 the Casa de Ceuta was founded in Lisbon, but it was not very successful because the Muslim merchants diverted the trade routes from Ceuta to other places.
Casa de Arguim and Casa da Guiné
Around 1443 in Lagos, Algarve, the Casa de Arguim and Casa da Guiné, were established to administer Prince Henry the Navigator's monopoly on African trade - essentially a set of sheds, warehouses and customs offices, dedicated to outfitting ships, hiring captains and crews, handing out trading licenses, receiving and selling goods and collecting dues.
After the death of Henry the Navigator in 1460, both houses were moved by King Afonso V of Portugal from Lagos to Lisbon.
The ascension of King John II of Portugal in 1481 revived the royal interest in African trade. In 1482, upon erecting the fortress of São Jorge da Mina to access the Akan goldfields and markets,[1] John II overhauled the old houses and organized the system into two new institutions in Lisbon - the royal trading house, the Casa da Mina e Tratos de Guiné, focused on commercial aspects of African trade (goods, licenses, dues), and the separate royal naval arsenal, the Armazém da Guiné, to handle nautical matters (ship construction, nautical supplies, hiring of crews, etc.)
In 1486, after the opening of contact with Benin, John II established the Casa de Escravos, as a distinct slave-trading department of the Casa da Mina.
Casa de Ceuta
As early as 1434 the Casa de Ceuta was founded in Lisbon, but it was not very successful because the Muslim merchants diverted the trade routes from Ceuta to other places.
Casa de Arguim and Casa da Guiné
Around 1443 in Lagos, Algarve, the Casa de Arguim and Casa da Guiné, were established to administer Prince Henry the Navigator's monopoly on African trade - essentially a set of sheds, warehouses and customs offices, dedicated to outfitting ships, hiring captains and crews, handing out trading licenses, receiving and selling goods and collecting dues.
After the death of Henry the Navigator in 1460, both houses were moved by King Afonso V of Portugal from Lagos to Lisbon.
The ascension of King John II of Portugal in 1481 revived the royal interest in African trade. In 1482, upon erecting the fortress of São Jorge da Mina to access the Akan goldfields and markets,[1] John II overhauled the old houses and organized the system into two new institutions in Lisbon - the royal trading house, the Casa da Mina e Tratos de Guiné, focused on commercial aspects of African trade (goods, licenses, dues), and the separate royal naval arsenal, the Armazém da Guiné, to handle nautical matters (ship construction, nautical supplies, hiring of crews, etc.)
In 1486, after the opening of contact with Benin, John II established the Casa de Escravos, as a distinct slave-trading department of the Casa da Mina.
Golden age
With the discovery of a sea route to India by Vasco da Gama in 1497-99, the spice trade became a new and important activity of the royal trading house, and the old Casa was reorganized into the Casa da Índia e da Guiné (the first written reference to a Casa da Índia was in a royal letter dated 1501). From 1511, offices of the Casa da Índia were located on the ground floor of the royal Ribeira Palace on Terreiro do Paço in Lisbon, with the Armazém just next to it.[2]
The Portuguese India Armadas (Armadas da Índia) were the fleets of ships, organized by the Casa da Índia in name of the Portuguese Crown, and dispatched on an annual basis from Portugal to India, principally Goa. These armadas undertook the Carreira da Índia ("India Run"), following the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope first opened up by Vasco da Gama in 1497–1499.
For about thirty years, from 1503 to 1535, the Portuguese cut into the Venetian spice trade in the Mediterranean. By 1510, the Portuguese throne was pocketing a million cruzados yearly from the spice trade alone, and it was this which led Francis I of France to dub King Manuel I of Portugal "le roi épicier", that is, "the grocer king."
Income started to decline mid-century because of costs of maintaining a presence in Morocco and domestic waste. Also, Portugal did not develop a substantial domestic infrastructure to support this activity, but relied on foreigners for many services supporting their trading enterprises, and therefore a lot of the income was consumed in this way.
Decline
In 1709 at the Casa da Índia, the Jesuit priest Father Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrated the principles of hot air ballooning. He managed to levitate a ball indoors at the Casa da Índia in Lisbon. He later fled from Portugal to Spain, for fear of being accused of performing magic by the Inquisition
The Great Earthquake of 1755 destroyed much of Lisbon, including Ribeira Palace, where the headquarters and naval yards of the Casa da Índia were located.
The final era of the Casa da Índia began in 1822, during the reign of King John VI of Portugal, when a large number of its responsibilities were transferred to different ministries of the Portuguese Government. In 1833, the Casa da Índia was finally dissolved, by King Miguel I of Portugal, and its functions were absorbed by the Alfândega de Lisboa (Customs Agency of Lisbon).
