Slaves on the Return Voyage from the Carreira Da India (1504-1610): From the Limited Permission to the Uncontrolled Transportation and Diffusion Across the Atlantic

Abstract

From an early stage of carreira da Índia route, slaves embarked in the ships which performed the return voyage. It remains to be determined an exact figure, as well as how often did the slaves went on this voyage. They usually came from China, India and other parts of Asia, Mozambique, Angola and Cape Verde. Most of them did not make it to Lisbon, as they were used in several illegal acts of trafficking and smuggling along the way, thus being mostly traded in the Azores, off the Portuguese coast, or even in Brazil and Galicia. Since mid-sixteenth century, at least, hundreds had been shipped: the sources record a single ship in which the total number of slaves amounted to 300. Despite Crown’s policies aimed at putting a stop to illegal activities and slaves’ mass transportation, the problem resurfaced throughout this period, even if it seems to have caused greater concern in early-seventeenth century.