The Unseen Ocean: India's Profound Misunderstanding of Maritime Power and the Rise of European Dominance When Vasco da Gama landed in Calicut in 1498, he inaugurated an era that fundamentally altered the Indian subcontinent’s destiny. For over four centuries, European powers—beginning with the Portuguese and culminating with the British—established impregnable coastal strongholds, from Goa to Bombay, enduring until India’s liberation of Goa, Daman, and Diu in 1961. This prolonged European presence raises a critical question: Why did the mighty land-based Indian empires, particularly the Mughals, who ruled for over three centuries, fail to challenge these maritime interlopers, allowing them to entrench an insurmountable foothold? The answer lies in a profound and persistent failure to comprehend the strategic importance of maritime power. Across the entire span of the Mughal Empire and beyond, Indian rulers exhibited a near-total disregard for naval strategy, viewing the sea a...