Portugal
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Portugal (पुर्तगाल) is a country on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe.
Variants
Purtagala (पुर्तग़ाल)
Location
It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe. To the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain.
History
The territory of modern Portugal has been continuously settled, invaded and fought over since prehistoric times. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Phoenicians, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic and the Suebi Germanic peoples. In 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors and for the following centuries Portugal would be part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as a result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, thus firmly establishing Portuguese independence.[9]
In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the world's major economic, political and military powers.During this time, Portuguese explorers pioneered maritime exploration in the Age of Discovery, notably under royal patronage of Prince Henry the Navigator and King João II, with such notable discoveries as Vasco da Gama's sea route to India (1497–98), the discovery of Brazil (1500), and the reaching of the Cape of Good Hope. Portugal monopolized the spice trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia.
The early history
The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe. The name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. The region was settled by Pre-Celts and Celts, giving origin to peoples like the Gallaeci, Lusitanians, Celtici and Cynetes, visited by Phoenicians and Carthaginians, incorporated in the Roman Republic dominions as Lusitania and part of Gallaecia, after 45 BC until 298 AD, settled again by Suebi, Buri, and Visigoths, and conquered by Moors. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer (old Germanic Alankerk, from Alan+kerk; meaning temple of the Alans), Coimbra and Lisbon.[1]
It is believed by some scholars that early in the first millennium BC, several waves of Celts invaded Portugal from Central Europe and inter-married with the local populations, forming different ethnic groups, with many tribes.
Tribes
Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, and the Cynetes or Conii of the Algarve. Among the lesser tribes or sub-divisions were the Bracari, Coelerni, Equaesi, Grovii, Interamici, Leuni, Luanqui, Limici, Narbasi, Nemetati, Paesuri, Quaquerni, Seurbi, Tamagani, Tapoli, Turduli, Turduli Veteres, Turdulorum Oppida, Turodi, and Zoelae. A few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements (such as Tavira) were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians.
Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC. During the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Rome's adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies.
The Roman conquest of what is now part of modern-day Portugal took almost two hundred years and took many lives of young soldiers and the lives of those who were sentenced to a certain death in the slavery mines when not sold as slaves to other parts of the empire. It suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north. The Lusitanians and other native tribes, under the leadership of Viriathus, wrested control of all of western Iberia.
Rome sent numerous legions and its best generals to Lusitania to quell the rebellion, but to no avail—the Lusitanians kept conquering territory. The Roman leaders decided to change their strategy. They bribed Viriathus's allies to kill him. In 139 BC, Viriathus was assassinated, and Tautalus became leader.
Rome installed a colonial regime. The complete Romanization of Lusitania only took place in the Visigothic era.
In 27 BC, Lusitania gained the status of Roman province. Later, a northern province of Lusitania was formed, known as Gallaecia, with capital in Bracara Augusta, today's Braga. There are still many ruins of castros (hill forts) all over modern Portugal and remains of Castro culture. Numerous Roman sites are scattered around present-day Portugal, some urban remains are quite large, like Conímbriga and Mirobriga. The former, beyond being one of the largest Roman settlements in Portugal, is also classified as a National Monument. Conímbriga lies 16 kilometres from Coimbra which by its turn was the ancient Aeminium). The site also has a museum that displays objects found by archaeologists during their excavations.
Several works of engineering, such as baths, temples, bridges, roads, circus, theatres and layman's homes are preserved throughout the country. Coins, some of which coined in Lusitanian land, as well as numerous pieces of ceramics were also found. Contemporary historians include Paulus Orosius (c. 375–418)[29] and Hydatius (c. 400–469), bishop of Aquae Flaviae, who reported on the final years of the Roman rule and arrival of the Germanic tribes.
In the early 5th century, Germanic tribes, namely the Suebi and the Vandals (Silingi and Hasdingi) together with their allies, the Sarmatians and Alans invaded the Iberian Peninsula where they would form their kingdom. The Kingdom of the Suebi was the Germanic post-Roman kingdom, established in the former Roman provinces of Gallaecia-Lusitania.
About 410 and during the 6th century it became a formally declared kingdom, where king Hermeric made a peace treaty with the Gallaecians before passing his domains to Rechila, his son. In 448 Réchila died, leaving the state in expansion to Rechiar.
In the year 500, the Visigothic Kingdom was installed in Iberia, centred on Toledo. The Visigoths eventually conquered the Suebi and its capital city Bracara (modern day Portugal's Braga) in 584–585, following the consecutive defeats of the two last Suebi kings Audeca and Malaric. The former Kingdom of the Suebi then became the sixth province of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania.
For the next 300 years and by the year 700, the entire Iberian Peninsula was ruled by the Visigoths. This period lasted until 711, when King Roderic (Rodrigo) was killed while opposing a Moorish invasion from the south. From the various Germanic groups who settled in Western Iberia, the Suebi left the strongest lasting cultural legacy in what is today Portugal, Galicia and Asturias.[2][3][4]
Islamic period and the Reconquista: Today's modern day continental Portugal, along with most of modern Spain, was part of the Umayyad Caliphate. This occupation lasted one century in the North (effectively for some decades and later only as a mainly military and administrative claimed region) to approximately four and five centuries in most of the Center and in the South, respectively (711 AD – 1249 AD), following the Umayyad Caliphate conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 711 AD.
After defeating the Visigoths in only a few months, the Umayyad Caliphate started expanding rapidly in the peninsula. Beginning in 711, the land that is now Portugal became part of the vast Umayyad Caliphate's empire of Damascus, which stretched from the Indus river in the Indian sub-continent (now Pakistan) up to the South of France, until its collapse in 750. That year the west of the empire gained its independence under Abd-ar-Rahman I with the establishment of the Emirate of Córdoba. After almost two centuries, the Emirate became the Caliphate of Córdoba in 929, until its dissolution a century later in 1031 into no less than 23 small kingdoms, called Taifa kingdoms.
The governors of the taifas each proclaimed themselves Emir of their provinces and established diplomatic relations with the Christian kingdoms of the north. Most of Portugal fell into the hands of the Taifa of Badajoz of the Aftasid Dynasty, and after a short spell of an ephemeral Taifa of Lisbon in 1022, fell under the dominion of the Taifa of Seville of the Abbadids poets. The Taifa period ended with the conquest of the Almoravids who came from Morocco in 1086 winning a decisive victory at the Battle of Sagrajas, followed a century later in 1147, after the second period of Taifa, by the Almohads, also from Marrakesh.[5]
Al-Andalus was divided into different districts called Kura. Gharb Al-Andalus at its largest was constituted of ten kuras,[34] each with a distinct capital and governor. The main cities of the period in Portugal were Beja, Silves, Alcácer do Sal, Santarém and Lisbon.
The Muslim population of the region consisted mainly of native Iberian converts to Islam (the so-called Muwallad or Muladi) and berbers. The Arabs were principally noblemen from Oman; and though few in numbers, they constituted the elite of the population. The Berbers were originally from the Atlas mountains and Rif mountains of North Africa and were essentially nomads. The territory which is now Portugal was part of various Muslim states, including the Emirate of Cordoba, the Taifa of Badajoz and the Almohade and Almoravid empires.
An Asturian Visigothic noble named Pelagius of Asturias in 718 AD was elected leader by many of the ousted Visigoth nobles. Pelagius called for the remnant of the Christian Visigothic armies to rebel against the Moors and regroup in the unconquered northern Asturian highlands, better known today as the Cantabrian Mountains, in what is today the small mountain region in North-western Spain, adjacent to the Bay of Biscay.[6]
Pelagius' plan was to use the Cantabrian mountains as a place of refuge and protection from the invading Moors. He then aimed to regroup the Iberian Peninsula's Christian armies and use the Cantabrian mountains as a springboard from which to regain their lands. In the process, after defeating the Moors in the Battle of Covadonga in 722 AD, Pelagius was proclaimed king, thus founding the Christian Kingdom of Asturias and starting the war of Christian reconquest known in Portuguese as the Reconquista Cristã.
At the end of the 9th century, the region of Portugal, between the rivers Minho and Douro, was freed or reconquered from the Moors by Vimara Peres on the orders of King Alfonso III of Asturias. Finding that the region had previously had two major cities—Portus Cale in the coast and Braga in the interior, with many towns that were now deserted—he decided to repopulate and rebuild them with Portuguese and Galician refugees and other Christians.[7]
Vimara Peres organized the region he freed from the Moors, and elevated it to the status of County, naming it the County of Portugal after the region's major port city—Portus Cale' or modern Porto. One of the first cities Vimara Peres founded at this time is Vimaranes, known today as Guimarães – the "birthplace of the Portuguese nation" or the "cradle city" (Cidade Berço in Portuguese).[8]
After annexing the County of Portugal into one of the several counties that made up the Kingdom of Asturias, King Alfonso III of Asturias knighted Vimara Peres, in 868 AD, as the First Count of Portus Cale (Portugal). The region became known as Portucale, Portugale, and simultaneously Portugália — the County of Portugal.[9]
Later the Kingdom of Asturias was divided into a number of Christian Kingdoms in Northern Spain due to dynastic divisions of inheritance among the king's offspring. With the forced abdication of Alfonso III "the Great" of Asturias by his sons in 910, the Kingdom of Asturias split into three separate kingdoms of León, Galicia and Asturias. The three kingdoms were eventually reunited in 924 (León and Galicia in 914, Asturias later) under the crown of León.
During the century of internecine struggles for dominance among the Northern Christians kingdoms, the County of Portugal formed the southern portion of the Kingdom of Galicia. At times the Kingdom of Galicia existed independently for short periods, but usually formed an important part of the Kingdom of Leon. Throughout this period, the people of County of Portugal as Galicians found themselves struggling to maintain the autonomy of Galicia with its distinct language and culture (Galician-Portuguese) from the Leonese culture, whenever the status of the Kingdom of Galicia changed in relation to the Kingdom of Leon. As a result of political division, Galician-Portuguese lost its unity when the County of Portugal separated from the Kingdom of Galicia (a dependent kingdom of Leon) to establish the Kingdom of Portugal.
In 1093, Alfonso VI of León and Castile bestowed the county to Henry of Burgundy and married him to his daughter, Teresa of León, for his role in reconquering the land from Moors. Henry based his newly formed county in Bracara Augusta (modern Braga), capital city of the ancient Roman province, and also previous capital of several kingdoms over the first millennia.
Jat History
Ram Sarup Joon[10] writes that .... In 500 BC, Jats took part in the civil war in Italy. When the hunters invaded Italy, the Jats defeated them on the battlefield of Nester. As a reward the ruler of Italy permitted them to occupy the Danube basin called Balkans now. After four years, differences arose between the Jats and king Theodius of Italy,
History of the Jats, End of Page-41
who attacked the Jats. The Jats were victorious and occupied Asia Minor. Then they attacked Rome and after defeating the famous military commander Allers, occupied the south Eastern portion of Italy. Theodius gave his daughter in marriage to the Jat leader. The Jats vacated Italy, advanced into and settled in Spain and Portugal.
In 490 BC, there was another battle after which Jats occupied the whole of Italy and ruled there for 65 years upto 425 BC. During this period Italy made a great measure of progress.
After the death of the great Jat leader Totila, the Jat power declined and they were driven out of Italy. Soon after, the Arabs drove the Jats out of Spain and Portugal. Consequently Jats were so weakened and scattered that they ceased to exist as a recognised group in this area.
References
- ↑ Milhazes, José. Os antepassados caucasianos dos portugueses – Rádio e Televisão de Portugal in Portuguese.
- ↑ "Fim do Império Romano e Chegada dos Suevos". notapositiva.com (in Portuguese)
- ↑ "Suevos". infoescola.com (in Portuguese).
- ↑ "Vestígios da presença sueva no noroeste da península ibérica: na etnologia, na arqueologia e na língua". scielo.mec.pt (in Portuguese)
- ↑ Portugal musulman (Le) – VIIIe-XIIIe siècles par Christophe Picard – Maisonneuve et Larose – Collection Occident Musulman – 2001, 500 p., 34 euros. ISBN 2706813989
- ↑ H. V. Livermore, A New History of Portugal (Cambridge University Press: London, 1969) pp. 32–33.
- ↑ Ribeiro, Ângelo; Hermano, José (2004). História de Portugal I — A Formação do Território [History of Portugal: The Formation of the Territory] (in Portuguese). QuidNovi. ISBN 989-554-106-6.
- ↑ Ribeiro, Ângelo; Hermano, José (2004). História de Portugal I — A Formação do Território [History of Portugal: The Formation of the Territory] (in Portuguese). QuidNovi. ISBN 989-554-106-6.
- ↑ Ribeiro, Ângelo; Hermano, José (2004). História de Portugal I — A Formação do Território [History of Portugal: The Formation of the Territory] (in Portuguese). QuidNovi. ISBN 989-554-106-6.
- ↑ Ram Sarup Joon: History of the Jats/Chapter III, p.41-42