ABSTRACT
ALMOST FIVE HUNDRED years after the first voyage of Vasco da Gama to India (1497-98), the debate on the nature and extent of the Portuguese impact on Asian trade continues unabated. On the one hand, there are those historians who emphasise how the Portuguese modified the pattern of Asian trade particularly during the sixteenth century.1 On the other hand, there are others who have emphasised the strands of continuity in Asian trade and indeed have alleged that the Portuguese impact was negligible.2 In the past few decades South Asian historians in particular have also become interested in the extent to which modifications in Asian commerce have had an impact on the daily life of the people of the area.3 This study merely seeks to clarify certain issues relating to the Portuguese impact in connection with just one product — Sri Lankan cinnamon.
