Albuquerque, Afonso De
(1453–1515), Portuguese viceroy. Born in Alhandra, south of Lisbon, Afonso de Albuquerque was the architect of the Portuguese maritime empire in the Indian Ocean. His strategy of securing key points along major trade routes and establishing fortresses with permanent settlers achieved the dual objective of carrying the crusade against the Muslims in Asia and capturing the lucrative spice trade, then under the control of Arab and Indian Muslims in the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean region, and Southeast Asia. Albuquerque himself gained his early military experience in North Africa fighting the Berbers or Moors, before traveling to the East in 1503.
Following Vasco da Gama's pioneering voyage in 1498 around the Cape of Good Hope and to India, Cochin was captured by the Portuguese in 1503. Dom Francisco de Almeida, the first viceroy of Portuguese India (1505–1509), defeated a confederation of Muslim powers (Egypt, ruled by a Mameluke sultan; Gujerat, ruled by Bahadur Shah; Calicut, ruled by Samorin [Zamorin]) at the Battle of Diu off the northwest coast of India in 1509.
Albuquerque succeeded as viceroy in 1509 and set out to conquer the Gulf of Aden, for control of the Red Sea; Ormuz (today's Hormuz) Strait on the Persian Gulf; Goa state in India; and Melaka, the spice-trade emporium on the Malay Peninsula. Attempts to capture Aden failed, but Albuquerque conquered Socotra Island in 1507, before becoming the second viceroy of Portuguese India. He seized Goa in 1510 and Melaka in 1511. At Melaka, Albuquerque constructed an imposing fortress, A Famosa, which withstood all attacks for 130 years. Ormuz fell to the Portuguese in 1515. Following the Ormuz campaign, Albuquerque was taken ill and died en route to Goa.
Further Reading
Birch, W. de G. ([1875–1884] 1970) The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque. 4 vols. Reprint ed. London: Hakluyt Society.
Boxer, C. R. (1969) The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415– 1825. London: Hutchinson.
Cortesao, A., ed. (1944) The 'suma Oriental' of Tome Pires. 2 vols. London: Hakluyt Society.
Meilink-Roelofsz, M. A. P. (1962) Asian Trade and European Influence in the Indonesian Archipelago between 1500 and About 1630. The Hague, Netherlands: Nijhoff.
This is the complete article, containing 346 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
