Page:A History of the Indian Medical Service, 1600-1913 Vol 1.djvu/30

4 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE 23rd Aug.. 1617; John Neve, in the Globe, in Oct., 1617; William Wiley, in the Peppercorn, in Oct., 1617 ; Ralph Harries, in the Anne, in Oct., 1619, in the Hart, in Feb., 1620, and subsequently in the Mary, in 1627 ; and — EUis, in the Unity, in March, 1620.

It may be as well to give a few dates about the settlement of other European nations in India.

The Portuguese were the first European nation to visit and settle in India. On 8th Jan., 1454, Pope Nicholas V. granted to King Alfonso V. of Portugal an exclusive right to all countries which might be discovered in Africa and eastwards, including India. Bartholomeo Diaz doubled the Cape for the first time early in 1487. The first explorer to reach India was Vasco da Gama, who arrived at Calicut on 26th Aug., 1498. Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovered Brazil on 21st April, 1500, hadng been driven far out of his course to the west, when on the way to India, via the Cape. Much about the same time the Spaniards began to push their discoveries westwards. Columbus sailed on his voyage of discovery on 3rd Aug., 1492, and discovered Hispaniola, now Haiti, before the end of the year. On 4th May, 1493, Pope Alex- ander VI. issued a bull granting to Spain all countries discovered more than a hundred leagues west of the Cape Verde islands ; in 1494 the hne between the Spanish and Portuguese claims was changed to one drawn 370 leagues west of those islands. The Spaniards exploring westwards, and the Portuguese going east, came into collision before long, the actual meeting taking place in the Moluccas, in 1527. Each claimed that their own side was witliin its rights, and certainly there was a good deal to be said in favour of each side. Goa was captured by the Portuguese in 1510.

The first Portuguese explorer to visit Bengal was Joao da Silveira, in 1518. The first Portuguese fort at Hugh is said to have been built about 1537 or 1538, but it was not till about 1575 that they made a regular settlement there. Their fort at Hugli was captm-ed in 1632, in the reign of Shah Jahan, and the survivors taken as prisoners to Agra. They were aUowed to return, but from that time on had no pretension to independence in Bengal. When the other European nations began to trade with India, the only Portuguese possessions with which they came into contact, and conflict, were those on the west coast, where to this day Portugal still holds Goa. and a few minor setticments.