Paper short abstract:

This paper aims at discussing the ways in which Portuguese India was portrayed in the Florentine documentation of the second half of the 17th century. The focus is on the economic and commercial conditions of Portuguese India.

Paper long abstract:

The paper aims at discussing the ways in which Portuguese India was portrayed in the Florentine documentation of the second half of the 17th century. The focus is on the economic and commercial conditions of Portuguese India as they were perceived and described by Florentine merchants involved in the Portuguese colonial trade. In the documentation analyzed the economy of the Portuguese empire in general, and that of the Estado da Índia in particular, was often portrayed in a contradictory way. Such contradiction reflected, on the one hand, the different perceptions that Florentine economic operators and on the other, the multiple interests that linked Tuscany to Portuguese overseas trade. "Sterile land" according to some merchants and a "land of opportunities" according to others, Portuguese India was depicted through a set of ideas often contradictory, diverging and overlapping which mirrored subjective experiences, individual and group interests, and commercial opportunism. The result was a composite and stratified picture which deserves to be illustrated, discussed and compared to other visions. By mostly relying on merchant letters, consular correspondence and a wide range of documents related to the project of a Luso-Florentine trading company, this paper tackles the vision of Portuguese India as it was forged within and outside the Florentine court.