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Portuguese Colonial Railways: Agents and Subjects of Railway Imperialism (1880–1915)

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Railway Transportation in South Asia

Part of the book series: Contemporary South Asian Studies ((CSAS))

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Abstract

This chapter analyses how Portugal used railways so as to exert imperial dominance over its overseas territories. The chapter encompasses the whole of Portuguese railway enterprise in its colonies; however, it places a special focus on the Mormugão railway in Goa (India). In part, the text is a literature review of Portuguese colonial history under the concept of railway imperialism. We add unpublished sources, namely operational statistics, to highlight the financial and economic outcomes of railway investments—and how they fell short of the expectations touted by both Portuguese and British promoters. We aim to contribute to the academic debate regarding railway imperialism and its role on colonial projects by peripheral European nations that sought to play in the ‘big league’ of imperial dominance.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Besides official compilations (Portugal, 1912, 1917), railway statistics may be found in the Portuguese Overseas Historical Archive (Portugal, 1899), items: 52 1G, 299 1H, 301 1H, 927 1 N, 2526 1B, 2564 1B, 2565 1B, 2673 1B, 2675 1B and 2756 1B.

  2. 2.

    Besides the sources mentioned in note 1, see also Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, Lisbon (Portugal, 1899), items: 743 1I and 2533 1B.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIUHCT – Interuniversity Centre for the History of Science and Technology, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Almada, Portugal

    Hugo Silveira Pereira

  2. Department of History, University of York, York, UK

    Hugo Silveira Pereira

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  1. Hugo Silveira Pereira
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Correspondence to Hugo Silveira Pereira .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Disaster Management, University of Tripura, Agartala, Tripura, India

    Saptarshi Mitra

  2. Department of Geography, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

    Sumana Bandyopadhyay

  3. Department of Geography and Disaster Management, University of Tripura, Agartala, India

    Stabak Roy

  4. Atlantic Applied Economics Studies Centre (CEEAplA), University of the Azores, Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal

    Tomaz Ponce Dentinho

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Pereira, H.S. (2021). Portuguese Colonial Railways: Agents and Subjects of Railway Imperialism (1880–1915). In: Mitra, S., Bandyopadhyay, S., Roy, S., Ponce Dentinho, T. (eds) Railway Transportation in South Asia. Contemporary South Asian Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76878-2_3

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