In the early modern period, the city of Nagasaki, located on the northwest coast of Kyushu Island, served as Japan’s primary port for international trade. Throughout the Edo period (1603-1868), foreign trade and diplomatic relations were also conducted through three other regions, each administered by a local domain: the
Middle East
Socotra (pt. Socotorá, ar. Suquṭrā) is the largest of the 258 islands dispersed throughout the Arab Middle East. It is located at the easternmost point of the Horn of Africa, at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. With its arid climate, hilly terrain, limited natural resources and, as a
Japan
At the beginning of 1614, Tokugawa Hidetada (1581-1632) – the second Tokugawa shogun – promulgated the edict called Hai Kirishitan bun with the sanction of his father Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616). The edict officially banned Christianity from the whole Japanese archipelago. At that point in history, the order did not surprise Catholic missionaries
Japan
Carreira da Índia is the name given to the state-controlled ships from Portugal that dominated the passage from Europe to India during the beginning of the early modern period. In the 16th century, the Portuguese crown sought to monopolise the traffic of goods from the Asian continent to Europe through
During the 1780s the ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, commissioned his lieutenants to open up a string of “factories,” or trading posts. These factories were earmarked for construction at several points inside and outside of India (Official Documents, Relative to the Negotiations Carried on by Tippoo Sultaun, 43). In establishing