![]() | Europe’s India: Words, People, Empires, 1500 - 1800 Subjects: Europe -- Civilization -- Indic influences; India -- Civilization -- European influences; India -- Foreign public opinion European -- History; Europeans -- Attitudes -- History; Orientalism -- History; When Portuguese explorers first rounded the Cape of Good Hope and arrived in the subcontinent in the late fifteenth century, Europeans had little direct knowledge of India. The maritime passage opened new opportunities for exchange of goods as well as ideas. Traders were joined by ambassadors, missionaries, soldiers, and scholars from Portugal, England, Holland, France, Italy, and Germany, all hoping to learn about India for reasons as varied as their particular nationalities and professions. In the following centuries they produced a body of knowledge about India that significantly shaped European thought. |
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