page_title: Casa da Índia
section_title: Organization
hierarchical_section_title: Casa da Índia / Organization
caption_attribution_description: Portuguese carracks off a rocky coast.
context_page_description: The Casa da Índia was a Portuguese state-run commercial organization founded during the Age of Discovery, charged with the regulation of international trade and the administration of the Portuguese Empire's territories, colonies, and factories across India, Africa, and the rest of Asia. Central to the Casa da Índia's objectives was the establishment and protection of a Portuguese mare clausum in the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arabian sea, and the Indies. It was founded by King Manuel I of Portugal in 1500 to direct Portugal's monopoly of the spice trade and to manage royal policy for Portuguese India. Following 1503, it absorbed the Casa da Guiné e Mina, an organization founded by Prince Henry the Navigator in 1443, which operated under a similar mandate for Portuguese Africa, thus making the Casa da Índia responsible for the regulation of all Portuguese imperial trade, the administration of Portuguese trade posts and military bases in Asia and Africa, and protection of the Portuguese Crown's commercial interests.
context_section_description: Although initially (c.1500) consolidated in one unit, the Casa da Índia e da Guiné, it was separated again (c. 1506) into two distinct units,  Casa da Índia and the Casa da Mina e da Guiné again.  However, both houses were overseen by the same officers at the higher levels, so it was common to use the joint term, or simply just Casa da Índia, to refer to both.
  The Casas were overseen by the same director and the same three treasurers (tesoreiros) - one for receiving goods, one for the sale of goods, and a third to handle everything else.  There were five secretaries in charge of the administration - three for India, two for Mina and Guinea - and one chief factor (feitor) in charge of schedules and correspondence with all the Portuguese feitorias around the world. One of the most famous people to hold this position was the chronicler João de Barros, who was appointed feitor in 1532.
  The Casa was in charge of monitoring the royal monopoly on the Asian and African trade, i.e. receiving goods, collecting duties on incoming goods, organizing the fleets (notably the yearly Portuguese India Armadas) and shipping schedules, ratifying contracts with private merchants, etc.  
  The Casa had various mesas (departments) focused on specific areas - the spice trade, finances, ship scheduling, maintenance, training, documentation and legal matters.
caption: Vasco da Gama's flagship, the Santa Catarina do Sinai.
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