Known to Europeans as the Spice Islands, the Moluccas were the chief source of he spices that had originally attracted the Portuguese to the Indian Ocean.

Christopher Columbus

Why did Columbus think he had reached Asia in October, 1492? he believed the circumference of the world was much smaller than it is. He had no idea what land masses were between Europe and Asia to the west.

Cards

– The power shift began in the early 1600s when the Dutch seized a Portuguese fort in the Moluccas and then gradually pushed the Portuguese out of the spice trade.

By 1810 the Kingdom of Holland was a vassal of Napoleonic France and Great Britain along with the East India Company sought to control the rich Dutch spice islands in the East Indies….Invasion of the Spice Islands.

Indonesia

The fabled Spice Islands were originally explored by Ferdinand Magellan in the early 16th century, and later settled by the Portuguese. The Dutch took the islands in the 17th century and monopolized the spice trade. After Indonesian independence, the s Moluccas were the focus of secessionist forces.

The islands were known as the Spice Islands because of the nutmeg, mace and cloves that were exclusively found there, the presence of which sparked colonial interest from Europe in the sixteenth century.

Grenada

Background: the Moluccas issue In 1494 Castile and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, dividing the world into two areas of exploration and colonisation: the Castilian and the Portuguese.

Moluccas

The Spice Islands (Malaku, or the Moluccas) are a small group of islands to the north-east of Indonesia, between Celebes and New Guinea. They include Halmahera (the largest), Seram, Buru, Ambon, Ternate, and Tidore and the Aru and Kai island groups.

The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) had only yielded a temporary agreement. The treaty granted sovereignty over the Moluccas to Portugal, including rights of navigation and trade. Portugal agreed to pay 350,000 ducats as purchase for the Spanish rights.

Spanish–Portuguese War (1762–63), known as the Fantastic War. Spanish–Portuguese War (1776–77), fought over the border between Spanish and Portuguese South America. War of the Oranges in 1801, when Spain and France defeated Portugal in the Iberian Peninsula, while Portugal defeated Spain in South America.

On June 7, 1494, the governments of Spain and Portugal agreed to the Treaty of Tordesillas, named for the city in Spain in which it was created. The Treaty of Tordesillas neatly divided the “New World” of the Americas between the two superpowers. All lands west of that line were claimed by Spain.

To establish their early claims, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain called on Pope Alexander VI to decide on which country could explore and lay claim to certain areas. to ship goods or services to other countries or places for sale, exchange, etc.

Map showing the line of demarcation between Spanish and Portuguese territory, as first defined by Pope Alexander VI (1493) and later revised by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494). Spain won control of lands discovered west of the line, while Portugal gained rights to new lands to the east. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The Treaty of Tordesillas, June 7, 1494. On June 7, 1494, Spain and Portugal agreed to fix the boundary between their respective domains along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands. They established two areas in which they would have a monopoly over discovery, navigation, and trade.

The rivalry between Spain and Portugal in the “Age of Discovery” caused Spain, a rising power, to seek a new route to Asia like the one Portugal had found around the southern tip of Africa. This led Spain to be receptive to the claims of Christoper Columbus that he could get to India by sailing west.

After spending more than a week in Portugal, Columbus set sail for Spain. Returning on 15 March 1493, he was given a warm welcome by the monarchs. Columbus’s letter on the first voyage, was instrumental in spreading the news throughout Europe about his voyage.