Founded with the intent of protecting Portugal's monopoly of the spice trade, the Casa da Índia in 1497 began financing and organizing the Portuguese India Armadas, annual armadas of galleons, carracks, and caravels transporting commodities such as gold, ivory, and spices to Lisbon from Portuguese trading posts and colonies across Africa and Asia.

The Casa da Índia also played an important role in the development of modern cartography, patronizing the Padrão Real, one of the first early world maps.

Around 1443 in Lagos, Algarve, the Casa de Arguim and Casa da Guiné, were established to administer Prince Henry the Navigator's monopoly on African trade - essentially a set of sheds, warehouses and customs offices, dedicated to outfitting ships, hiring captains and crews, handing out trading licenses, receiving and selling goods and collecting dues.

From 1511, offices of the Casa da Índia were located on the ground floor of the royal Ribeira Palace on Terreiro do Paço in Lisbon, with the Armazém just next to it.

"[This quote needs a citation] In 1709 at the Casa da Índia, the Jesuit priest Father Bartolomeu de Gusmão demonstrated the principles of hot air ballooning.

He later fled from Portugal to Spain, for fear of being accused of performing magic by the Inquisition The Great Earthquake of 1755 destroyed much of Lisbon, including Ribeira Palace, where the headquarters and naval yards of the Casa da Índia were located.

The final era of the Casa da Índia began in 1822, during the reign of King John VI of Portugal, when a large number of its responsibilities were transferred to different ministries of the Portuguese Government.

In 1833, the Casa da Índia was finally dissolved, by King Miguel I of Portugal, and its functions were absorbed by the Alfândega de Lisboa (Customs Agency of Lisbon).

The Casa had various mesas (departments) focused on specific areas - the spice trade, finances, ship scheduling, maintenance, training, documentation and legal matters.

The Piloto-Mor of the Armazém, a position held between 1503 and 1526 by Pero Anes, Gonçalo Álvares and João de Lisboa, was probably responsible for the training of pilot-navigators and the drafting of navigational charts.

Under the supervision of the Vedor da Fazenda (chief royal treasurer) all products had to be handed over to the Casa, taxed and sold at an agreed price with the proceeds paid to the owners.

Between 1506 and 1570, Casa da Índia enforced the royal monopoly on all imports and sales of spices - pepper, cloves, and cinnamon - silk and shellac, as well as on the export of gold, silver, copper and coral, and levied a 30 percent tax on the profits of other articles.

[4] From 1495 to 1521 the Portuguese Crown bought in Antwerp, then the center of international trade, approximately 5,200 tonnes copper mainly from the Fugger of Hungary (Thurzo-Fugger company), which was shipped mostly to India.