João III inherited Goa and its satellite mints from his father Manuel I, but it was under his reign that the Diu mint — seized after the Portuguese victory at the Second Battle of Diu in 1538 — began producing copper bazarucos for local trade circulation. The bazaruco was a denomination with no equivalent back in Lisbon; it existed purely to function within Indian market economies where small copper coinage was the medium of everyday transaction.
Diu mint output from this reign is notably inconsistent in fabric, a consequence of relying on local craftsmen and variable copper supply rather than metropolitan standards.
João III inherited Goa and its satellite mints from his father Manuel I, but it was under his reign that the Diu mint — seized after the Portuguese victory at the Second Battle of Diu in 1538 — began producing copper bazarucos for local trade circulation. The bazaruco was a denomination with no equivalent back in Lisbon; it existed purely to function within Indian market economies where small copper coinage was the medium of everyday transaction.
Diu mint output from this reign is notably inconsistent in fabric, a consequence of relying on local craftsmen and variable copper supply rather than metropolitan standards.