SEMINAR 630 – February 2012 2 From Christianization of Karma to Luso-Tropicalism and Lusosphere TEOTÒNIO R. DE SOUZA THE Portuguese arrival in India marked the beginning of the age of modern globalization that has been sus- tained until very recently in conditions that were favourable for the western domination of the globe. Adam Smith analyzed the origin of the wealth of na- tions in pre-Gamic and post-Gamic eras. It is presently experiencing trem- ors that were predicted by Andre Gunder Frank in his ReOrient, which the bulk of the western sociologists and economists sought to ignore. For Gunder Frank the past five centuries saw an ephemeral rise of the West, ex- ploring and exploiting the pre-existent markets of China and India. He saw these making a comeback. The initial Portuguese motivation to seek entry into the Asian markets was a mix of economic and religious strategy. The messianism of King Manuel of Portugal wished to deprive the Turks holding the Holy Land from their financial means of sustaining it with control of Asian trade. The reli- gious motivation got diluted after his death and was replaced with Tridentine fanaticism that saw the Estado da Índia infected by the spirit of Counter-Reformation, implemented with the missionary zeal of the Soci-