The Cartaz (plural cartazes, in Portuguese) was a naval trade license or pass issued by the Portuguese empire in the Indian Ocean during the sixteenth century (circa 1502–1750). Its name derives from the Portuguese term cartas, meaning letters. The British navicert system of 1939–45 shared similarities with it.
Background
The licensing of vessels by the Portuguese was initiated by Prince Henry the Navigator in 1443,
[In 1443 Prince Pedro, Henry's brother, granted him the monopoly of navigation, war and trade in the lands south of Cape Bojador. Later this law would be enforced by the Bulls Dum Diversas (1452) and Romanus Pontifex (1455)] with the consent of the king and the Pope, when he decreed a monopoly on navigation in the
West Africa, starting a Portuguese
Mare clausum policy in the
Atlantic Ocean. Ships began to be licensed by Portugal, which authorized and supported navigation, in exchange for part of the profits (usually 20%, "the fifth"), encouraging investment in exploration travels by Portuguese and foreigners.
[M. D. D. Newitt, "A history of Portuguese overseas expansion, 1400-1668", Routledge, 2005, , p.24-25, 30.]
The cartazes
The "cartazes" licensing system was created in 1502 to control and enforce the Portuguese trade monopoly over a wide area in the
Indian Ocean, taking advantage of local commerce: the
cartaz was issued by the Portuguese at a low cost, granting
protection against pirates and rival states, which then abounded in these seas. However its main purpose was to ensure that merchants paid the tax in Portuguese trading posts, directing them to the feitorias in
Portuguese Goa, Malacca and
Ormuz, guaranteeing its monopoly on the
spice trade and other products.
Officially, no vessel was permitted to sail in the Indian coast without this document, risking losing their cargo, being attacked and even sunk by the Portuguese - mainly Muslim, Hindu and Malay Merchant vessel. Every year, during the monsoon, Portuguese fleets patrolled the coasts requiring this document.[Bailey Wallys Diffie, Boyd C. Shafer, George Davison Winius, "Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415-1580", p.274, pp.320-323, U of Minnesota Press, 1977, ] Later, as Portuguese lost influence, the issue of cartazes become in itself an important source of income for the crown.
Trivia
The
cartaz system eventually introduced a new word,
kadalaas (
കടലാസ്) to the
Malayalam language of
Kerala which is still used to denote any kind of paper.
["The Infamous Portuguese Cartaz", http://historicalleys.blogspot.sg/2012/05/infamous-portuguese-cartaz.html ] The same applies to the
Thailand word
krà.dàːt (กระดาษ).
