Origins

Vasco da Gama lands inCalicut on May 20th 1498.

In 1139 the Kingdom of Portugal achieved independence from Len, having doubled its area with the Reconquista under Afonso
Henriques.
In 1297 king Denis of Portugal took personal interest in the development of exports, having organized the export of surplus production to
European countries. On May 10, 1293 he instituted a maritime insurance fund for Portuguese traders living in theCounty of Flanders,
which were to pay certain sums according to tonnage, accrued to them when necessary. Wine and dried fruits from Algarve were sold in
Flanders and England, salt from Setbal and Aveiro was a profitable export to northern Europe, and leather and kermes, a scarlet dye,
were also exported. Portuguese imported armors and munitions, fine clothes and several manufactured products from Flanders and
Italy.
[1]

In 1317 king Denis made an agreement with Genoese merchant sailor Manuel Pessanha (Pesagno), appointing him first Admiralwith
trade privileges with his homeland in return for twenty war ships and crews, with the goal of defending the country against (Muslim) pirate
raids, thus laying the basis for the Portuguese Navy and establishment of a Genoese merchant community in Portugal.
[2]
Forced to
reduce their activities in the Black Sea, the Republic of Genoa had turned to north African trade of wheat,olive oil (valued also as energy
source) and a search for gold navigating also into the ports of Bruges (Flanders) and England. Genoese and Florentine communities
established since then in Portugal, who profited from the enterprise and financial experience of these rivals of the Republic of Venice.
In the second half of the fourteenth century outbreaks of bubonic plague led to severe depopulation: the economy was extremely
localized in a few towns, and migration from the country led to land being abandoned to agriculture and resulting in village unemployment
rise. Only the sea offered alternatives, with most people settling in fishing and trading coastal areas.
[3]
Between 13251357 Afonso IV of
Portugal granted public funding to raise a proper commercial fleet and ordered the first maritime explorations, with the help of Genoese,
under command of admiral Manuel Pessanha. In 1341 the Canary Islands, already known to Genoese, were officially discovered under
the patronage of the Portuguese king, but in 1344 Castile disputed them, further propelling the Portuguese navy efforts.
[4]

Atlantic exploration (14151488)


Prince Henry the Navigator, generally credited as the driving force behind Portuguese maritime exploration.
In 1415, Ceuta was occupied by the Portuguese aiming to control navigation of the African coast, moved by expanding Christianity with
the avail of the Pope and a desire of the unemployed nobility for epic acts of war after the reconquista. Young prince Henry the
Navigator was there and became aware of profit possibilities in the Saharan trade routes. Governor of the rich Order of Christ since 1420
and holding valuable monopolies on resources in Algarve, he invested in sponsoring voyages down the coast of Mauritania, gathering a
group of merchants, shipowners, stakeholders and participants interested in the sea lanes. Later his brother Prince Pedro, granted him a
"Royal Flush" of all profits from trading within the areas discovered. Soon the Atlantic islands of Madeira (1420) and Azores (1427) were
reached. There wheat and later sugarcane were cultivated, like in Algarve, by the Genoese, becoming profitable activities. This helped
them become more wealthy.
Henry the Navigator took the lead role in encouraging Portuguese maritime exploration until his death in 1460.
[5]
At the time, Europeans
did not know what lay beyond Cape Bojador on the African coast. Henry wished to know how far the Muslim territories in Africa extended,
and whether it was possible to reach Asia by sea, both to reach the source of the lucrative spice trade and perhaps to join forces with the
long-lost Christian kingdom of Prester John that was rumoured to exist somewhere in the "Indies".
[6][7]

In 1419 two of Henry's captains, Joo Gonalves Zarco and Tristo Vaz Teixeira were driven by a storm to Madeira, an uninhabited
island off the coast of Africa which had probably been known to Europeans since the 14th century. In 1420 Zarco and Teixeira returned
with Bartolomeu Perestreloand began Portuguese settlement of the islands. A Portuguese attempt to capture Grand Canary, one of the
nearby Canary Islands, which had been partially settled by Spaniards in 1402 was unsuccessful and met with protestations from
Castile.
[8]
Although the exact details are uncertain, cartographic evidence suggests theAzores were probably discovered in 1427 by
Portuguese ships sailing under Henry's direction, and settled in 1432, suggesting that the Portuguese were able to navigate at least 745
miles (1,200 km) from the Portuguese coast.
[9]

At around the same time as the unsuccessful attack on the Canary Islands, the Portuguese began to explore the North African coast.
Sailors' feared what lay beyondCape Bojador, and whether it was possible to return once it was passed. In 1434 one of Prince Henry's
captains, Gil Eanes, passed this obstacle. Once this psychological barrier had been crossed, it became easier to probe further along the
coast.
[10]
Westward exploration continued over the same period: Diogo Silves discovered the Azores island of Santa Maria in 1427 and in
the following years Portuguese discovered and settled the rest of the Azores. Within two decades of exploration, Portuguese ships
bypassed the Sahara.


The caravel ship introduced in the mid-15th century which aided Portuguese exploration
Henry suffered a serious setback in 1437 after the failure of an expedition to capture Tangier, having encouraged his brother,
King Edward, to mount an overland attack from Ceuta. The Portuguese army was defeated and only escaped destruction by surrendering
Prince Ferdinand, the king's youngest brother.
[11]
After the defeat at Tangier, Henry retired toSagres on the southern tip of Portugal where
he continued to direct Portuguese exploration until his death in 1460.
In 1443 Prince Pedro, Henry's brother, granted him the monopoly of navigation, war and trade in the lands south of Cape Bojador. Later
this monopoly would be enforced by the Papal bulls Dum Diversas (1452) and Romanus Pontifex (1455), granting Portugal the trade
monopoly for the newly discovered countries,
[12]
laying the basis for the Portuguese empire.
A major advance which accelerated this project was the introduction of the caravel in the mid-15th century, a ship that could be sailed
closer to the wind than any other in operation in Europe at the time.
[13]
Using this new maritime technology, Portuguese navigators
reached ever more southerly latitudes, advancing at an average rate of one degree a year.
[14]
Senegal and Cape Verde Peninsula were
reached in 1445. The first feitoria trade post overseas was established then under Henry directions, in 1445 on the island of Arguin off
the coast of Mauritania, to attract Muslim traders and monopolize the business in the routes traveled in North Africa, starting the chain of
Portuguese feitorias along the coast. In 1446, lvaro Fernandes pushed on almost as far as present-day Sierra Leone and the Gulf of
Guinea was reached in the 1460s.
Exploration after Prince Henry


An illustration of the padroDiogo Coerected at Cape St. Mary, Angola.
As a result of the first meager returns of the African explorations, in 1469 king Afonso V granted the monopoly of trade in part of the Gulf
of Guinea to merchant Ferno Gomes, for an annual payment of 200,000 reals. Gomes was also required to explore 100 leagues
(480 km) of the coast each year for five years.
[15]
He employed explorers Joo de Santarm, Pedro Escobar, Lopo Gonalves, Ferno do
P, and Pedro de Sintra, and exceeded the requirement. Under his sponsorship, Portuguese explorers crossed the Equator into the
Southern Hemisphere and found the islands of the Gulf of Guinea, including So Tom and Prncipe.
[16]

In 1471, Gomes' explorerers reached Elmina on the Gold Coast (present day Ghana), and discovered a thriving gold trade between the
natives and visiting Arab and Berber traders. Gomes established his own trading post there, which became known as A Mina ("The
Mine"). Trade between Elmina and Portugal grew in the next decade.
[17]
In 1481, the recently crowned Joo II decided to build So Jorge
da Mina fort (Elmina Castle) and factory to protect this trade, which was then held again as a royal monopoly.
In 1482, Diogo Co discovered the Congo River. In 1486, Co continued to Cape Cross, in present-day Namibia, near the Tropic of
Capricorn.
In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa, disproving the view that had existed
since Ptolemy that the Indian Ocean was separate from the Atlantic. Also at this time, Pro da
Covilh reached India via Egypt and Yemen, and visited Madagascar. He recommended further exploration of the southern route.
[18]

As the Portuguese explored the coastlines of Africa, they left behind a series of padres, stone crosses enscribed with the Portuguese
coat of arms marking their claims,
[19]
and built forts and trading posts. From these bases, the Portuguese engaged profitably in the slave
and gold trades. Portugal enjoyed a virtual monopoly of the Atlantic slave trade for over a century, exporting around 800 slaves annually.
Most were brought to the Portuguese capital Lisbon, where it is estimated black Africans came to constitute 10 per cent of the
population.
[20]

Tordesillas division of the world (1492)


The 1494 Tordesilhas Treatymeridian dividing the world between Portugal and Castille/Spain (purple) and the Moluccas antimeridian (green), set at the Treaty
of Zaragoza, 1529
In 1492 Christopher Columbus's discovery for Spain of the New World, which he believed to be Asia, led to disputes between the
Spanish and Portuguese. These were eventually settled by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 which divided the world outside of Europe in
an exclusive duopoly between the Portuguese and the Spanish, along a north-south meridian 370leagues, or 970 miles (1,560 km), west
of the Cape Verde islands. However, as it was not possible at the time to correctly measure longitude, the exact boundary was disputed
by the two countries until 1777.
[21]

The completion of these negotiations with Spain is one of several reasons proposed by historians for why it took nine years for the
Portuguese to follow up on Dias's voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, though it has also been speculated that other voyages were in fact
taking place in secret during this time.
[22][23]
Whether or not this was the case, the long-standing Portuguese goal of finding a sea route to
Asia was finally achieved in a ground-breaking voyage commanded by Vasco da Gama.
Reaching India and Brazil (14971500)


The route followed in Vasco da Gama's first voyage (14971499)
The squadron of Vasco da Gama left Portugal in 1497, rounded the Cape and continued along the coast of East Africa, where a local
pilot was brought on board who guided them across the Indian Ocean, reaching Calicut in western India in May 1498.
[24]
The second
voyage to India was dispatched in 1500 under Pedro lvares Cabral. While following the same south-westerly route as Gama across the
Atlantic Ocean, Cabral made landfall on the Brazilian coast. This was probably an accidental discovery, but it has been speculated that
the Portuguese secretly knew of Brazil's existence and that it lay on their side of the Tordesillas line.
[25]
Cabral recommended to the
Portuguese King that the land be settled, and two follow up voyages were sent in 1501 and 1503. The land was found to be abundant
in pau-brasil, or brazilwood, from which it later inherited its name, but the failure to find gold or silver meant that for the time being
Portuguese efforts were concentrated on India.
[26]

On 8 July 1497 the fleet, consisting of four ships and a crew of 170 men, left Lisbon The travel led by Vasco da Gama to Calicut was the
starting point for deployment of Portuguese in the African east coast and in the Indian Ocean.
[27]
The first contact occurred on 20 May
1498. After some conflict, he got an ambiguous letter for trade with the Zamorin of Calicut, leaving there some men to establish a trading
post. Since then explorations lost the private nature, taking place under the exclusive of the Portuguese Crown. Shortly after, was
established in Lisbon the Casa da ndia to administer the royal monopoly of navigation and trade.
Indian Ocean explorations (14971542)


The carrack Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai and other Portuguese Navy' ships in the 16th century.
The aim of Portugal in the Indian Ocean was to ensure the monopoly of the spice trade. Taking advantage of the rivalries that pitted
Hindus and Muslims, the Portuguese established several forts and trading posts between 1500 and 1510. In East Africa,
small Islamic states along the coast ofMozambique, Kilwa, Brava, Sofala and Mombasa were destroyed, or became either subjects or
allies of Portugal. Pro da Covilh had reached Ethiopia, traveling secretly overland, as early as 1490;
[28]
a diplomatic mission reached
the ruler of that nation on October 19, 1520.
In 1500 the second fleet to India who came to discover Brazil explored the East African coast, whereDiogo Dias discovered the island
that he named St. Lawrence, later known as Madagascar. This fleet, commanded by Pedro lvares Cabral, arrived at Calicut in
September, where was signed the first trade agreement in India. For a short time a Portuguese factory was installed there, but was
attacked by Muslims on December 16 and several Portuguese, including the scribe Pro Vaz de Caminha, died. After bombarding
Calicut as a retaliation, Cabral went to rival Kochi.
Profiting from the rivalry between the Maharaja of Kochi and the Zamorin of Calicut, the Portuguese were well received and seen as
allies, getting a permit to build afort (Fort Manuel) and a trading post that were the first European settlement in India. There in 1503 they
built the St. Francis Church.
[29][30]
In 1502 Vasco da Gama took the island of Kilwa on the coast of Tanzania, where in 1505 was built the
first fort of Portuguese East Africa to protect ships from the East Indian trade.
In 1505 king Manuel I of Portugal appointed Francisco de Almeida first Viceroy of Portuguese India for a three-year period, starting the
Portuguese government in the east, headquartered at Kochi. That year the Portuguese conquered Kannur where they founded St.
Angelo Fort. Loureno de Almeida arrived in Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), where he discovered the source of cinnamon. Finding it divided
into seven rival kingdoms, he established a defense pact with the kingdom of Kotte and extended the control in coastal areas, where in
1517 was founded the fortress of Colombo.
[31]

In 1506 a Portuguese fleet under the command of Tristo da Cunha and Afonso de Albuquerque, conquered Socotra at the entrance of
the Red Sea and Muscat in 1507, having failed to conquer Ormuz, following a strategy intended to close the entrances to the Indian
Ocean. That same year were built fortresses in the Island of Mozambique and Mombasa on the Kenyan coast. Madagascar was partly
explored by Tristo da Cunha and in the same year Mauritius was discovered.
In 1509, the Portuguese won the sea Battle of Diu against the combined forces of the Ottoman Sultan Beyazid II, Sultan of
Gujarat, Mamlk Sultan of Cairo, Samoothiri Raja of Kozhikode, Venetian Republic, and Ragusan Republic (Dubrovnik). The Portuguese
victory was critical for its strategy of control of the Indian Sea: Turks and Egyptians withdraw their navies from India, leaving the seas to
the Portuguese, setting its trade dominance for almost a century, and greatly assisting the growth of the Portuguese Empire. It marked
also the beginning of the European colonial dominance in the Asia. A second Battle of Diu in 1538 finally ended Ottoman ambitions in
India and confirmed Portuguese hegemony in the Indian Ocean.
Under the government of Albuquerque, Goa was taken from the Bijapur sultanate in 1510 with the help of Hindu privateer Timoji.
Coveted for being the best port in the region, mainly for the commerce of Arabian horses for the Deccan sultanates, it allowed to move on
from the initial guest stay in Cochin. Despite constant attacks, Goa became the seat of the Portuguese government, under the name
of Estado da India (State of India), with the conquest triggering compliance of neighbour kingdoms: Gujarat and Calicut sent embassies,
offering alliances and grants to fortify. Albuquerque began that year in Goa the first Portuguese mint in India, taking the opportunity to
announce the achievement.
[32][33]

Southeast Asia expeditions


Map c.1550 of Eastern Africa, Asia and Western Oceania
In April 1511 Albuquerque sailed to Malacca in Malaysia,
[34]
the most important eastern point in the trade network, where Malay met
Gujarati, Chinese, Japanese, Javanese, Bengali, Persian and Arabic traders, described by Tom Pires as invaluable. The port of
Malacca became then the strategic base for Portuguese trade expansion with China and Southeast Asia, under the Portuguese rule in
India with its capital at Goa. To defend the city a strong fort was erected, called the "A Famosa", where one of its gate still remains today.
Knowing of Siamese ambitions over Malacca, Albuquerque sent immediately Duarte Fernandes on a diplomatic mission to the kingdom
of Siam (modern Thailand), where he was the first European to arrive, establishing amicable relations between both kingdoms.
[35]
In
November that year, getting to know the location of the so-called "Spice Islands" in the Moluccas, he sent an expedition led by Antnio
de Abreu to find them, arriving in early 1512. Abreu went by Ambon while deputy commander Francisco Serro came forward to Ternate,
were a Portuguese fort was allowed. That same year, in Indonesia, the Portuguese took Makassar, reaching Timor in 1514. Departing
from Malacca, Jorge lvares came to southernChina in 1513. This visit was followed the arrival in Guangzhou, where trade was
established. Later a trade post at Macau would be established.


Monument to the Portuguese Discoveriesin Belm, Lisbon, Portugal.
The Portuguese empire expanded into the Persian Gulf as Portugal contested control of the spice trade with theOttoman Empire. In
1515, Afonso de Albuquerque conquered the Huwala state of Hormuz at the head of the Persian Gulf, establishing it as a vassal
state. Aden, however, resisted Albuquerque's expedition in that same year, and another attempt by Albuquerque's successor Lopo
Soares de Albergaria in 1516, before capturing Bahrain in 1521, when a force led by Antnio Correia defeated the Jabrid King, Muqrin
ibn Zamil.
[36]
In a shifting series of alliances, the Portuguese dominated much of the southern Persian Gulf for the next hundred years.
With the regular maritime route linking Lisbon to Goa since 1497, the island of Mozambique become a strategic port, and there was
built Fort So Sebastio and an hospital. In the Azores, the Islands Armada protected the ships en route to Lisbon.
In 1525, after Ferno de Magalhes's expedition (15191522), Spain under Charles V sent an expedition to colonize the Moluccas
islands, claiming that they were in his zone of the Treaty of Tordesillas, since there was not a set limit to the east. Garca Jofre de Loasa
expedition reached the Moluccas, docking at Tidore. The conflict with the Portuguese already established in nearby Ternate was
inevitable, starting nearly a decade of skirmishes. An agreement was reached only with the Treaty of Zaragoza (1529), atributting the
Moluccas to Portugal and the Philippines to Spain.
In 1530, John III organized the colonization of Brazil around 15 capitanias hereditrias ("hereditary captainships"), that were given to
anyone who wanted to administer and explore them, to overcome the need to defend the territory, since an expedition under the
command of Gonalo Coelho in 1503, found the French making incursions on the land. That same year, there was a new expedition
from Martim Afonso de Sousa with orders to patrol the whole Brazilian coast, banish the French, and create the first colonial towns: So
Vicente on the coast, and So Paulo on the border of the altiplane. From the 15 original captainships, only two, Pernambuco and So
Vicente, prospered. With permanent settlement came the establishment of the sugar cane industry and its intensive labor demands which
were met with Native American and later African slaves.
In 1534 Gujarat was occupied by the Mughals and the Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat was forced to sign the Treaty of Bassein
(1534) with the Portuguese, establishing an alliance to regain the country, giving in exchange Daman, Diu, Mumbai and Bassein.
[37]
In
1538 the fortress of Diu is again surrounded by Ottoman ships. Another siege failed in 1547 putting an end to the Ottoman ambitions,
confirming the Portuguese hegemony.
In 1542 Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier arrived in Goa at the service of king John III of Portugal, in charge of an Apostolic Nunciature.
At the same time Francisco Zeimoto and other traders arrived in Japan for the first time. According Ferno Mendes Pinto, who claimed to
be in this journey, they arrived at Tanegashima, where the locals were impressed by firearms, that would be immediately made by the
Japanese on a large scale.
[38]
In 1557 the Chinese authorities allowed the Portuguese to settle in Macau through an annual payment,
creating a warehouse in the triangular trade between China, Japan and Europe. In 1570 the Portuguese bought a Japanese port where
they founded the city of Nagasaki,
[39]
thus creating a trading center for many years was the port from Japan to the world.
Portugal established trading ports at far-flung locations like Goa, Ormuz, Malacca, Kochi, the Maluku Islands, Macau, and Nagasaki.
Guarding its trade from both European and Asian competitors, Portugal dominated not only the trade between Asia and Europe, but also
much of the trade between different regions of Asia, such as India, Indonesia, China, and Japan. Jesuit missionaries, such as the
Basque Francis Xavier, followed the Portuguese to spread Roman Catholic Christianityto Asia with mixed success.
Map of Portuguese discoveries and explorations
(14151543)


Portuguese discoveries and explorations: first arrival places and dates; main Portuguese spice trade routes in the Indian Ocean (blue);territories
claimed during King John III rule (c. 1536) (green)
Portuguese nautical science
See also: Iberian ship development, 14001600, Iberian nautical sciences, 14001600 and Iberian cartography, 14001600
The successive expeditions and experience of the pilots led to a fairly rapid evolution of Portuguese nautical science, creating an elite
of astronomers, navigators,mathematicians and cartographers, among them stood Pedro Nunes with studies on how to determine the
latitudes by the stars and Joo de Castro.
Ships


Portuguese "Armada" fleet in 1507, Lisuarte de Abreu
Until the 15th century, the Portuguese were limited to coastal cabotage navigation using barques and barinels (ancient cargo vessels
used in the Mediterranean). These boats were small and fragile, with only one mast with a fixed quadrangular sail and did not have the
capabilities to overcome the navigational difficulties associated with Southward oceanic exploration, as the strong winds, shoals and
strong ocean currents easily overwhelmed their abilities. They are associated with the earliest discoveries, such as the Madeira Islands,
the Azores, the Canaries, and to the early exploration of the north west African coast as far south as Arguim in the current Mauritania.
The ship that truly launched the first phase of the Portuguese discoveries along the African coast was the caravel, a development based
on existing fishing boats. They were agile and easier to navigate, with a tonnage of 50 to 160 tons and 1 to 3 masts, with lateen triangular
sails allowing luffing. The caravel benefited from a greater capacity to tack. The limited capacity for cargo and crew were their main
drawbacks, but have not hindered its success. Among the famous caravels are Berrio and Anunciao.
With the start of long oceanic sailing also large ships developed. "Nau" was the Portuguese archaic synonym for any large ship,
primarilymerchant ships. Due to the piracy that plagued the coasts, they began to be used in the navy and were provided with canon
windows, which led to the classification of "naus" according to the power of its artillery. They were also adapted to the increasing
maritime trade: from 200 tons capacity in the 15th century to 500, they become impressive in the 16th century, having usually
two decks, stern castles fore and aft, two to four masts with overlapping sails. In India travels in the sixteenth century there were also
used carracks, large merchant ships with a high edge and three masts with square sails, that reached 2000 tons.
Celestial navigation


Ephemeris byAbraham Zacutoin Almanach Perpetuum, 1496
In the thirteenth century celestial navigation was already known, guided by the sun position. For celestial navigation the Portuguese, like
other Europeans, used Arab navigation tools, like the astrolabe and quadrant, which they made easier and simpler. They also created
the cross-staff, or cane of Jacob, for measuring at sea the height of the sun and other stars. The Southern Cross become a reference
upon arrival at the Southern hemisphere by Joo de Santarm and Pedro Escobar in 1471, starting the celestial navigation on this
constellation. But the results varied throughout the year, which required corrections.
To this the Portuguese used the astronomical tables (Ephemeris), precious tools for oceanic navigation, which have experienced a
remarkable diffusion in the fifteenth century. These tables revolutionized navigation, allowing to calculate latitude. The tables of the
Almanach Perpetuum, by astronomer Abraham Zacuto, published in Leiria in 1496, were used along with its improved astrolabe,
by Vasco da Gama and Pedro lvares Cabral.
Sailing techniques


Map of the five majoroceanic gyres
Besides coastal exploration, Portuguese also made trips off in the ocean to gather meteorological and oceanographic information (in
these were discovered the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores, and Sargasso Sea). The knowledge of wind patterns and currents
the trade winds and the oceanic gyres in the Atlantic, and the determination of latitude led to the discovery of the best ocean route back
from Africa: crossing the Central Atlantic to the latitude of the Azores, using the permanent favorable winds and currents that spin
clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere because of atmospheric circulation and the effect of Coriolis, facilitating the way to Lisbon and
thus enabling the Portuguese venturing increasingly farther from shore, the maneuver that became known as "Volta do mar". In 1565, the
application of this principle in the Pacific Ocean led the Spanish discovering the Manila Galleon trade route.
Cartography


Pre-mercator navigation chart of the Coast of Africa (1571), by Ferno Vaz Dourado (Torre do Tombo, Lisbon)
It is thought that Jehuda Cresques, son of the Catalan cartographer Abraham Cresques have been one of the notable cartographers at
the service of Prince Henry. However the oldest signed Portuguese sea chart is a Portolan made by Pedro Reinel in 1485 representing
the Western Europe and parts of Africa, reflecting the explorations made by Diogo Co. Reinel was also author of the first nautical chart
known with an indication of latitudes in 1504 and the first representation of an Wind rose.
With his son, cartographer Jorge Reinel and Lopo Homem, they participated in the making of the atlas known as "Lopo Homem-Reins
Atlas" or "Miller Atlas", in 1519. They were considered the best cartographers of their time, with Emperor Charles V wanting them to work
for him. In 1517 King Manuel I of Portugal handed Lopo Homem a charter gaving him the privilege to certify and amend
all compassneedles in vessels.
In the third phase of the former Portuguese nautical cartography, characterized by the abandonment of the influence of Ptolemy's
representation of the East and more accuracy in the representation of lands and continents, stands out Ferno Vaz Dourado (Goa ~
1520 ~ 1580), giving him a reputation as one of the best cartographers of the time. Many of his charts are large scale.
Chronology
1147Voyage of the Adventurers. Soon before the siege of Lisbon by Afonso I of Portugal, a Muslim expedition left in search of
legendary Islands offshore. They were not heard of again.
1336Possible first expedition to the Canary Islands with additional expeditions in 1340 and 1341, though this is disputed.
[40]

1412Prince Henry, the Navigator, orders the first expeditions to the African Coast and Canary Islands.
1415- Conquest of Ceuta (North Africa)
1419Joo Gonalves Zarco and Tristo Vaz Teixeira discovered Porto Santo island, in the Madeira group.
1420The same sailors and Bartolomeu Perestrelo discovered the island of Madeira, which at once began to be colonized.
1422Cape Nao, the limit of Moorish navigation is passed as the African Coast is mapped.
1427Diogo de Silves discovered the Azores, which was colonized in 1431 by Gonalo Velho Cabral.
1434Gil Eanes sailed round Cape Bojador, thus destroying the legends of the Dark Sea.
1434the 32 point compass-card replaces the 12 points used until then.
1435Gil Eanes and Afonso Gonalves Baldaia discovered Garnet Bay (Angra dos Ruivos) and the latter reached the Gold River
(Rio de Ouro).
1441Nuno Tristo reached Cape White.
1443Nuno Tristo penetrated the Arguim Gulf. Prince Pedro granted Henry the Navigator the monopoly of navigation, war and
trade in the lands south of Cape Bojador.
1444Dinis Dias reached Cape Green (Cabo Verde).
1445lvaro Fernandes sailed beyond Cabo Verde and reached Cabo dos Mastros (Cape Red)
1446lvaro Fernandes reached the northern Part of Portuguese Guinea
1452Diogo de Teive discovers the Islands of Flores and Corvo.
1455Papal bull Romanus Pontifex confirmed the Portuguese explorations and declares that all lands and waters south of
Bojador and cape Non (Cape Chaunar) belong to the kings of Portugal.
1458Luis Cadamosto discovers the first Cape Verde Islands.
1458Three capes discovered and named along the Grain Coast:(Grand Cape Mount, Cape Mesurado and Cape Palmas).
1460Death of Prince Henry, the Navigator. His systematic mapping of the Atlantic, reached 8 N on the African Coast and 40
W in the Atlantic ( Sargasso Sea) in his lifetime.
1461Diogo Gomes and Antnio de Noli discovered more of the Cape Verde Islands.
1461Diogo Afonso discovered the western islands of the Cabo Verde group.
1471Joo de Santarm and Pedro Escobar crossed the Equator. The southern hemisphere was discovered and the sailors
began to be guided by a new constellation, the Southern Cross. The discovery of the islands of So Tome and Principe is also
attributed to these same sailors.
1472Joo Vaz Corte-Real and lvaro Martins Homem reached the Land of Cod, now called Newfoundland.
[citation needed]

1479Treaty of Alcovas establishes Portuguese control of the Azores, Guinea, ElMina, Madeira and Cape Verde Islands and
Castilian control of the Canary Islands.
1482Diogo Co reached the estuary of the Zaire (Congo) and placed a landmark there. Explored 150 km upriver to the Ielala
Falls.
1484Diogo Co reached Walvis Bay, south of Namibia.
1487Afonso de Paiva and Pero da Covilh traveled overland from Lisbon in search of the Kingdom of Prester John. (Ethiopia)
1488Bartolomeu Dias, crowning 50 years of effort and methodical expeditions, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and entered
the Indian Ocean. They had found the "Flat Mountain" of Ptolemy's Geography.
1489/92South Atlantic Voyages to map the winds
1490Columbus leaves for Spain after his father-in-law's death.
1492First exploration of the Indian Ocean.
1494The Treaty of Tordesillas between Portugal and Spain divided the world into two parts, Spain claiming all non-Christian
lands west of a north-south line 370 leagues west of the Azores, Portugal claiming all non-Christian lands east of that line.
1495Voyage of Joo Fernandes, the Farmer, and Pedro Barcelos to Greenland. During their voyage they discovered the land to
which they gave the name ofLabrador (lavrador, farmer)
1494First boats fitted with cannon doors and topsails.
1498Vasco da Gama led the first fleet around Africa to India, arriving in Calicut.
1498Duarte Pacheco Pereira explores the South Atlantic and the South American Coast North of the Amazon River.
1500Pedro lvares Cabral discovered Brazil on his way to India.
1500Gaspar Corte-Real made his first voyage to Newfoundland, formerly known as Terras Corte-Real.
[citation needed]

1500Diogo Dias discovered an island they named after St Lawrence after the saint on whose feast day they had first sighted the
island later known asMadagascar
1502 Returning from India, Vasco da Gama discovers the Amirante Islands (Seychelles).
1502Miguel Corte-Real set out for New England in search of his brother, Gaspar. Joo da Nova discovered Ascension
Island. Ferno de Noronha discovered the island which still bears his name.
1503On his return from the East, Estvo da Gama discovered Saint Helena Island.
1505Gonalo lvares in the fleet of the first viceroy sailed south in the Atlantic to were "water and even wine froze" discovering
an island named after him, modern Gough Island
1505Loureno de Almeida made the first Portuguese voyage to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and established a settlement there.
[41]

1506Tristo da Cunha discovered the island that bears his name. Portuguese sailors landed on Madagascar.
1509The Bay of Bengal crossed by Diogo Lopes de Sequeira. On the crossing he also reached Malacca.
1511 Duarte Fernandes is the first European to visit the Kingdom of Siam (Thailand), sent by Afonso de Albuquerque after the
conquest of Malaca.
[35]

1511-12 - Joo de Lisboa and Estevo de Fris discovered the "Cape of Santa Maria" (Punta Del Este) in the River Plate,
exploring its estuary (in present-dayUruguay and Argentina), and traveled as far south as the Gulf of San Matias at 42S
(penetrating 300 km (186 mi) "around the Gulf"). Christopher de Haro, the financier of the expedition along with D. Nuno Manuel,
bears witness of the news of the "White King" and "people of the mountains", the Inca empire - and the "axe of silver" (rio do
"machado de prata") obtained from the Charra Indians and offered to king Manuel I.
[42][43]

1512 Antnio de Abreu discovered Timor island and reached Banda Islands, Ambon Island and Seram. Francisco
Serro reached the Moluccas.
1512Pedro Mascarenhas discover the island of Diego Garcia, he also encountered the Mauritius, although he may not have
been the first to do so; expeditions by Diogo Dias and Afonso de Albuquerque in 1507 may have encountered the islands. In
1528 Diogo Rodrigues named the islands of Runion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues the Mascarene Islands, after Mascarenhas.
1513The first European trading ship to touch the coasts of China, under Jorge lvares and Rafael Perestrello later in the same
year.
1514-1531 Antnio Fernandes`s voyage and discoveries in 1514-1515,
[44]
Sancho de Tovar from 1515 onwards, and Vicente
Pegado (1531), among others, in several expeditions and contacts, are the first Europeans ever to contemplate and to describe the
ruins of Great Zimbabwe and those regions (then referred to by the Portuguese as Monomotapa).
1517Ferno Pires de Andrade and Tom Pires were chosen by Manuel I of Portugal to sail to China to formally open relations
between the Portuguese Empire and the Ming Dynasty during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor.
1519-1521Ferno de Magalhes's expedition at the service of the King Charles I of Spain and German "Holy Roman" Emperor,
in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" (Maluku Islands) became the first known expedition to sail from the Atlantic
Ocean into the Pacific Ocean (then named "peaceful sea" by Magellan; the passage being made via the Strait of Magellan), and
the first to cross the Pacific. Besides Magellan, also participated in the trip Diogo and Duarte Barbosa, Joo Serro, lvaro de
Mesquita (Magellan`s nephew), the pilots Joo Rodrigues de Carvalho and Estvo Gomes, Henrique of Malacca, among others.
Many of them cross almost all longitudes or all longitudes reaching the Philippines, Borneo and the Moluccas, because they had
previously visited India, Mallacca, the Indonesian Archipelago or the Moluccas (1511-1512), like Ferdinand Magellan in the 7th
Portuguese India Armada under the command ofFrancisco de Almeida and on the expeditions of Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, Afonso
de Albuquerque and his other voyages, sailing eastward from Lisbon (as Magellan in 1505), and then later, in 1521, sailing
westward from Seville, reaching that longitude and region once again and then proceeding still further west.
1525Aleixo Garcia explored the Rio de la Plata in service to Spain as a member of the expedition of Juan Daz de Sols in 1516.
Sols had left Portugal towards Castile (Spain) in 1506 and would be financed by Christopher de Haro, who had served Manuel I of
Portugal until 1516. Serving Charles I of Spain after 1516, Haro believed that Lisboa and Frois had discovered a major route in the
Southern New World to west or a strait to Asia two years earlier. Later (when returning and after a shipwreck on the coast of
Brazil), from Santa Catarina, Brazil, and leading an expedition of some European and 2,000 Guaran Indians, Aleixo Garcia
explored Paraguay and Bolivia using the trail network Peabiru. Aleixo Garcia was the first European to cross the Chaco and even
managed to penetrate the outer defenses of the Inca Empire on the hills of the Andes (near Sucre), in present-day Bolivia. He was
the first European to do so, accomplishing this eight years before Francisco Pizarro.
1525Diogo da Rocha and his pilot Gomes de Sequeira reached Celebes and were blown off course and driven three hundred
leagues in a direction constantly towards the east and to Ilhas de Gomes de Sequeira - most probably the Palau Island or Yap,
(Caroline Islands) according to the geographical notes, distance traveled and physical description of the natives in Dcadas da
sia of Joo de Barros, or, according to the alleged existence of gold mentioned by the natives, other descriptions of the people
and if they were to south and east in one or two voyages made by Gomes de Sequeira (According to the different interpretations of
the Chronicles of Barros, Castanheda and Galvo), raises also the hypothesis of Cape York Peninsula in Australia, maybe one of
the Prince of Wales Islands. In Gastald`s map a group of islands named Insul de gomes des queria lie in about 8 degrees of south
latitude and in the longitude of the Northern Territory of Australia. In the same map the Apem insul seems to correspond with
either Adi Island or the Aru Islands. The Ins des hobres blancos (Islands of the White Men) correspond, as far as locality is
concerned, to the Arru (Aru) Islands. It would appear then that Gomes de Sequeira's Islands, which are the south-easternmost of
those represented, must correspond with the Timor Laut group. In the same year, according to the voyages to the Banda Islands
mencioned on Decadas and according to contemporaneous cartographers, Martim Afonso de Melo (Jusarte) and Garcia Henriques
explored the Tanimbar Islands (the archipelago labelled "aqui invernou Martim Afonso de Melo" and "Aqui in bernon Martin Afonso
de melo" [Here wintered Martin Afonso de Melo]) and probably the Aru Islands (the two archipelagos and the navigator mentioned
in the maps of Lzaro Lus, 1563, Bartolomeu Velho, c. 1560, Sebastio Lopes, c. 1565 and also in the 1594 map of the East
Indies entitled Insulce Molucoe by the Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius and in the map of Nova Guinea of 1600).
1526Discovery of New Guinea by Jorge de Meneses
1528Diogo Rodrigues explores the Mascarene islands, that he names after his countryman Pedro Mascarenhas, he explored
and named the islands ofRunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues
[45]

1529Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal, stipulating that the dividing line should lie
297.5 leagues or 17 east of the Moluccas.
1542Ferno Mendes Pinto, Diogo Zeimoto and Cristovo Borralho reached Japan.
1542The coast of California explored by Joo Rodrigues Cabrilho on behalf of Spain.
1557Macau given to Portugal by the Emperor of China as a reward for services rendered against the pirates who infested
the South China Sea.
1559 The Nau So Paulo commanded by Rui Melo da Cmara (was part of the Portuguese India Armada commanded by Jorge
de Sousa) discovered le Saint-Paul in the South Indian Ocean. The island was mapped, described and painted by members of the
crew, among them the Father Manuel lvares and the chemist Henrique Dias (lvares and Dias calculated the correct latitude 38
South at the time of discovery). The Nau So Paulo, who also carried women and had sailed from Europe and had scale in Brazil,
would be the protagonist of a dramatic and moving story of survival after sinking south of Sumatra.
1560Gonalo da Silveira, Jesuit missionary, travalled up the Zambezi River, on his expedition to the capital of
the Monomotapa which appears to have been theN'Pande kraal, close by the M'Zingesi River, a southern tributary of the Zambezi.
He arrived there on 26 December 1560.
1586Antnio da Madalena, a Capuchin friar, was one of the first Western visitors to Angkor (now Cambodja).
16021606Bento de Gis, a Jesuit missionary, was the first known European to travel overland from India to China,
via Afghanistan and the Pamirs.
1606Pedro Fernandes de Queirs discovered Henderson Island, the Ducie Island and the islands later called the New
Hebrides and now the nation of Vanuatu. Queirs landed on a large island which he took to be part of the southern continent, and
named it La Austrialia del Espiritu Santo (The Austrian Land of the Holy Spirit), for King Philip III(II), or Australia of the Holy Spirit
(Australia do Esprito Santo) of the southern continent.
1626Estvo Cacella, Jesuit missionary, traveled through the Himalayas and was the first European to enter Bhutan.
[46]

1636-1638Pedro Teixeira went from Belm do Par up the Amazon River and reached Quito, Ecuador, in an expedition of over a
thousand men. So Teixeiras expedition became the first simultaneously to travel up and down the Amazon River.
1648-1651Antnio Raposo Tavares with 200 whites from So Paulo and over a thousand Indians travelled for over 10,000
kilometres (6,200 mi), in the biggest expedition ever made in the Americas, following the courses of the rivers, most notably
the Paraguay River, to the Andes, the Grande River, the Mamor River, the Madeira River and the Amazon River. Only Tavares,
59 whites and some Indians reached Belm at the mouth of the Amazon River.
Notes
1. Jump up^ A. R. de Oliveira Marques, Vitor Andre, "Daily Life in Portugal in the Late Middle Ages", p.9, Univ of Wisconsin Press,
1971, ISBN 0-299-05584-1
2. Jump up^ Diffie, Bailey (1977), Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 14151580, p. 210, University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-
8166-0782-6
3. Jump up^ M. D. D. Newitt, "A history of Portuguese overseas expansion, 14001668", p.9, Routledge, 2005, ISBN 0-415-23979-6
4. Jump up^ Butel, Paul, "The Atlantic", p. 36, Seas in history, Routledge, 1999 ISBN 0-415-10690-7
5. Jump up^ Diffie, p. 56
6. Jump up^ Rafiuddin Shirazi, Tazkiratul Mulk.
7. Jump up^ Anderson, p. 50
8. Jump up^ Diffie, p. 5758
9. Jump up^ Diffie, p. 60
10. Jump up^ Diffie, p. 68
11. Jump up^ Anderson, p. 44
12. Jump up^ Daus, Ronald (1983). Die Erfindung des Kolonialismus. Wuppertal/Germany: Peter Hammer Verlag. p. 33. ISBN 3-87294-
202-6.
13. Jump up^ Boxer, p. 29
14. Jump up^ Russell-Wood, p. 9
15. Jump up^ Thorn, Rob. "Discoveries After Prince Henry". Retrieved 2006-12-24.
16. Jump up^ Semedo, J. de Matos. "O Contrato de Ferno Gomes" (in Portugus). Retrieved 2006-12-24.
17. Jump up^ "Castelo de Elmina". Governo de Gana. Retrieved 2006-12-24.
18. Jump up^ Anderson, p. 59
19. Jump up^ Newitt, p. 47
20. Jump up^ Anderson, p. 55
21. Jump up^ Diffie, p. 174
22. Jump up^ Diffie, p. 176
23. Jump up^ Boxer, p. 36
24. Jump up^ Scammell, p. 13
25. Jump up^ McAlister, p. 75
26. Jump up^ McAlister, p. 76
27. Jump up^ Scammell, G.V. (1997). The First Imperial Age, European Overseas Expansion c. 14001715. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-
09085-7.
28. Jump up^ Bethencourt, Francisco. Curto, Diogo Ramada. (2007). Portuguese Overseas Expansion, 1400-1800. Cambridge
University Press. p.142.
29. Jump up^ "St. Francis Church". Wonderful Kerala. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
30. Jump up^ Ayub, Akber (ed), Kerala: Maps & More, Fort Kochi, 2006 edition 2007 reprint, pp. 2024, Stark World Publishing,
Bangalore, ISBN 81-902505-2-3
31. Jump up^ "European Encroachment and Dominance:The Portuguese". Sri Lanka: A Country Study. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
32. Jump up^ Teotonio R. De Souza, "Goa Through the Ages: An economic history" p.220, Issue 6 of Goa University publication
series, ISBN 81-7022-226-5,
33. Jump up^ Indo-Portuguese Issues Indo-Portuguese Issues
34. Jump up^ Ricklefs, M.C. (1991). A History of Modern Indonesia Since c. 1300, 2nd Edition. London: MacMillan, p.23. ISBN 0-333-
57689-6.
35. ^ Jump up to:
a

b
Donald Frederick Lach, Edwin J. Van Kley, "Asia in the making of Europe", p.520521, University of Chicago Press,
1994, ISBN 978-0-226-46731-3
36. Jump up^ Juan Cole, Sacred Space and Holy War, IB Tauris, 2007 p37
37. Jump up^ Sarina Singh, India, Lonely Planet, 2003, 726 pp. ISBN 1-74059-421-5.
38. Jump up^ Arnold Pacey, "Technology in world civilization: a thousand-year history", ISBN 0-262-66072-5
39. Jump up^ Yosabur Takekoshi, "The Economic Aspects of the History of the Civilization of Japan", ISBN 0-415-32379-7.
40. Jump up^ B. W. Diffie, Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 1415 -1580, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, p. 28.
41. Jump up^ This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). "
article name needed
". The
Nuttall Encyclopdia. London and New York: Frederick Warne.
42. Jump up^ Newen Zeytung auss Presillg Landt
43. Jump up^ Bethell, Leslie (1984). The Cambridge History of Latin America, Volume 1, Colonial Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. p. 257.[1]
44. Jump up^ [2] Rhodesiana: The Pionneer Head
45. Jump up^ Jos Nicolau da Fonseca,Historical and Archaeological Sketch of the City of Goa, Bombay : Thacker, 1878, pp. 4748.
Reprinted 1986, Asian Educational Services, ISBN 81-206-0207-2.
46. Jump up^ [3] FATHER ESTEVAO CACELLA'S REPORT ON BHUTAN IN 1627.