17.1.6 to 17.1.11

Competition and Decline From 1580 to 1640, the throne of Portugal was held by the Habsburg kings of Spain. This period marked a phase of decline for the Portuguese Empire. Spain's enemies, such as the Netherlands and England, coveted their overseas wealth, and in many cases found it easier to attack poorly-defended Portuguese outposts than Spanish ones; Spain also pursued a policy of neglect of the Portuguese colonies it now controlled. Although Dutch colonies in Brazil were wiped out, over the 17th century the Dutch were able to occupy Ceylon, the Cape of Good Hope, and the East Indies, and to take over the trade with Japan at Nagasaki. Portugal's Pacific territories were reduced to the bases at Macao and East Timor. In 1661 the Portuguese gave Bombay to England as part of a dowry, and over the next hundred years the British became the dominant power in India, excluding other powers from trade. Portugal retained Goa and several minor bases throughout the colonial period. The 1755 Lisbon earthquake sharply checked Portuguese colonial ambitions in the late 18th century. The quake and subsequent tsunami killed more than 100,000 people in Lisbon (then a city of 275,000). Brazil remained a territory of Portugal for many years, and became the main centre for Portugese colonial ambitions. Voluntary immigration from Europe and the slave trade from Africa increased the population of Brazil immensely (today Brazil is the largest Portuguese-speaking country in the world). By 1822, though, Brazil declared independence with a Portuguese prince, Pedro I, as Emperor. By the height of European colonialism in the 19th century, Portugal had lost its territory in South America and all but a few bases in Asia. During this phase, Portuguese colonialism focused on expanding its outposts in Africa into nation-sized territories to compete with other European powers there. Portuguese territories eventually included the modern nations of Cape Verde, S�o Tom� and Pr�ncipe, Guinea-Bissau, Angola, and Mozambique.