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 We add unpublished sources, namely operational statistics, to highlight the financial and economic outcomes of railway investments—and how they fell short of the expectations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.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Besides the sources mentioned in note 1, see also Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, Lisbon (Portugal, 1899), items: 743 1I and 2533 1B.
References
Adas, M. (1989). Machines as the measure of men. Science, technology, and ideologies of western dominance. Cornell University Press.
Akita, S. (Ed.). (2002). Gentlemanly capitalism, imperialism and global history. Palgrave Macmillan.
Albuquerque, T. (1990). The Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1878: its impact on the people of Goa. Indica, 27(2), 117–124.
Bouene, F., & Santos, M. (2006). O modus vivendi entre Moçambique e o Transvaal (1901–1909). Um caso de “imperialismo ferroviário” [The modus vivendi between Mozambique and Transvaal (1901–1909). A case of “railway imperialism”]. Africana Studia, 9, 239–269.
Castryck, G. (2015). Introduction—From railway juncture to portal of globalization: Making globalization work in African and South African railway towns. Comparativ, 25(4), 7–16.
Clarence-Smith, G. (1985). The third Portuguese empire, 1825–1975. A study in economic imperialism. Manchester University Press.
Davis, C. B., Wilburn, K. E., & Robinson, R. E. (Eds.). (1991). Railway imperialism. Greenwood Press.
Deloche, J. (1980). La circulation en Inde avant la révolution des transports [Circulation in India before the transport revolution]. École Française d’Extrême Orient.
Diogo, M. P., & Laak, D. v. (2016). Europeans globalizing. Mapping, exploiting, exchanging. Palgrave Macmillan.
Diogo, M. P., & Navarro, B. J. (2018). Re-Designing Africa: Railways and globalization in the era of the new imperialism. In D. Pretel & L. Camprubí (Eds.), Technology and globalisation. Networks of experts in world history (pp. 105–128). Palgrave Macmillan.
Divall, C. (2003). Railway imperialisms, railway nationalisms. In M. Burri, K. T. Elsasser & D. Gugerli (Eds.), Die Internationalität der Eisenbahn 1850–1970 [The internationality of railways] (pp. 195–209). Chronos.
Duarte, A. P., & Andrade, J. S. (2012). How the Gold Standard functioned in Portugal: An analysis of some macroeconomic aspects. Applied Economics, 44(5), 617–629. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2010.513675
Fowler, C. S., & McMurdo, E. (1887). Views of Lourenço Marques (Delagoa Bay) and Transvaal Railway. S. N.
Headrick, D. R. (1981). The tools of empire. Technology and European imperialism in the nineteenth century. Oxford University Press.
Hughes, H. (1992). Indian locomotives: Metre gauge 1872–1940. The Continental Railway Circle.
Jerónimo, M. B. (2015). The ‘civilising mission’ of Portuguese colonialism, 1879–1930. Palgrave Macmillan.
Kärrholm, M. (2012). Retailising space. Architecture, retail and the territorialisation of public space. Ashgate.
Kerr, I. J. (2007). Engines of change. The railroads that made India. Praeger.
Kerr, I. J., & Pereira, H. S. (2012). India and Portugal: The Mormugão and the Tua railway compared. In A. McCants, E. Beira, J. M. L. Cordeiro, & P. B. Lourenço (Eds.), Railroads in historical context: Construction, costs and consequences (pp. 167–196). MIT Portugal Program, Universidade do Minho & EDP.
Lee, R. (1989). France and the exploitation of China 1885–1901: A study in economic imperialism. Oxford University Press.
Lopes, T. S., & Simões, V. C. (2017). Foreign investment in Portugal and knowledge spillovers: From the Methuen Treaty to the 21st century. Business History, 62(7), 1079–1106. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2017.1386177
Matos, A. C. (2009). Asserting the Portuguese civil engineering identity: The role played by the École des Ponts et Chaussées, 1825–1866. In A. C. Matos, M. P. Diogo, I. Gouzévitch, & A. Grelon (Eds.), The quest for a professional identity: Engineers between training and action (177–208). Colibri.
Navarro, B. J. (2018). Um império projectado pelo “silvo da locomotiva”: O papel da engenharia portuguesa na apropriação do espaço colonial africano. Angola e Moçambique (1869–1930) [An empire projected by the “whistle of the locomotive”: The role of Portuguese engineering in the appropriation of the African colonial space]. Colibri.
Officer, L. H., & Williamson, S. (2020, July 27). Computing ‘real value’ Over time with a conversion between U.K. pounds and U.S. dollars, 1791 to present. http://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/exchange/result_exchange.php
Pereira, H. S. (2018a). O caminho de ferro de Moçâmedes: entre projeto militar, instrumento tecnodiplomático e ferramenta de apropriação colonial (1881–1914) [The Moçâmedes railway: Between militar project, technodiplomatic tool and instrument of colonial appropriation]. Revista de História da Sociedade e da Cultura, 18, 157–183. https://doi.org/10.14195/1645-2259_18_8
Pereira, H. S. (2018b). Railways as portals of globalisation: The case of the Portuguese mainland and colonial rail networks (1850–1915). Comparativ, 28(5), 121–138.
Pereira H. S. (2019a). O caminho de ferro da Beira em Moçambique (1890–1914): entre antagonismo tecnodiplomático e simbiose económica [The Beira railway in Mozambique (1890–1914): Between technodiplomatic antagonism and economic symbiosis]. Análise Social, 233(4), 694–724.
Pereira, H. S. (2019b). The Ambaca railway in Angola: history of a failed public-private partnership (1885–1914 and briefly onwards). Revista de Historia Industrial, 28(77), 52–91. https://doi.org/10.1344/rhi.v28i77.28537
Pereira, H. S. (2021). Railway imperialism revisited: The failed line from Macao to Guangzhou. Technology and Culture, 62(1), 82–104. https://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2021.0003.
Pinheiro M. (1988). A construção dos caminhos-de-ferro e a encomenda de produtos industriais em Portugal (1855–90) [Railway construction and the orders of industrial products in Portugal (1855–90)]. Análise Social 24(101–102), 745–767.
Portugal, Ministério da Marinha e Ultramar. (1899). Album de estatistica graphica dos caminhos de ferro portuguezes das provincias ultramarinas 1898 [Album of graphical statistics of Portuguese railways in the overseas provinces]. Companhia Nacional.
Portugal, Ministério das Colónias. (1912). Estatística dos Caminhos de Ferro das Colonias portuguesas de 1888 a 1910. Documentos principais e gráficos [Statistics of railways of the Portuguese colonies from 1888 to 1910. Main documents and charts]. Imprensa Nacional.
Portugal, Ministério das Colónias. (1917). Estatística dos Caminhos de Ferro das Colonias portuguesas de 1888 a 1915. Documentos principais e gráficos [Statistics of railways of the Portuguese colonies from 1888 to 1915. Main documents and charts]. Imprensa Nacional.
Ryan, J. R. (1997). Picturing Empire. Photography and the visualization of the British Empire. The University of Chicago Press.
Srivastava, H. C. (1990). Demographic history and human resources. In T. R. d. Souza (Ed.), Goa through the ages (pp. 55–77). Concept Publishing Company.
Teixeira, C. (1950). Notas sobre a Geologia da Índia Portugueza [Notes regarding the geology of Portuguese India]. Imprensa Moderna.
Valério, N. (2001). Estatísticas Históricas Portuguesas [Portuguese historical statistics]. Instituto Nacional de Estatística.
Vleuten, E. v. d. (2006). Understanding network societies. Two decades of large technical system studies. In E. v. d. Vleuten, & A. Kaisjer (Eds.), Networking Europe. Transnational infrastructures and the shaping of Europe, 1850–2000 (pp. 279–314). Science History Publications.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
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
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76878-2_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-76877-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-76878-2
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)