Afonso de Albuquerque facts for kids

Quick facts for kids His Lordship Afonso de Albuquerque
Captain-Major of the Seas of Arabia Governor of Portuguese India
In office 4 November 1509 – September 1515
Monarch	Manuel I
Preceded by	Francisco de Almeida
Succeeded by	Lopo Soares de Albergaria
Personal details
Born	Afonso de Albuquerque c. 1453 Alhandra, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	16 December 1515 (aged c. 62) Goa, Portuguese India
Nationality	Portuguese
Children	Brás de Albuquerque, 2nd Duke of Goa [pt]
Parents	Gonçalo de Albuquerque (father) Leonor de Menezes (mother)
Occupation	Admiral Governor of India
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Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa ( c. 1453 – 16 December 1515) (also spelled Aphonso or Alfonso) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as Governor of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean and built a reputation as a fierce and skilled military commander.

Albuquerque advanced the three-fold Portuguese grand scheme of combating Islam, spreading Christianity, and securing the trade of spices by establishing a Portuguese Asian empire. Among his achievements, Albuquerque managed to conquer Goa and was the first European of the Renaissance to raid the Persian Gulf, and he led the first voyage by a European fleet into the Red Sea. He is generally considered a highly effective military commander, and "probably the greatest naval commander of the age", given his successful strategy—he attempted to close all the Indian Ocean naval passages to the Atlantic, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and to the Pacific, transforming it into a Portuguese mare clausum established over the opposition of the Ottoman Empire and its Muslim and Hindu allies. In the expansion of the Portuguese Empire, Albuquerque initiated a rivalry that would become known as the Ottoman–Portuguese war, which would endure for many years. Many of the Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts in which he was directly involved took place in the Indian Ocean, in the Persian Gulf regions for control of the trade routes, and on the coasts of India. It was his military brilliance in these initial campaigns against the much larger Ottoman Empire and its allies that enabled Portugal to become the first global empire in history. He led the Portuguese forces in numerous battles, including the conquest of Goa in 1510 and the capture of Malacca in 1511. He became admiral of the Indian Ocean, and was appointed head of the "fleet of the Arabian and Persian sea" in 1506.

During the last five years of his life, he turned to administration, where his actions as the second governor of Portuguese India were crucial to the longevity of the Portuguese Empire. He pioneered European sea trade with China during the Ming Dynasty with envoy Rafael Perestrello, Thailand with Duarte Fernandes as envoy, and with Timor, passing through Malaysia and Indonesia in a voyage headed by António de Abreu and Francisco Serrão. He also aided in establishing diplomatic relations with Ethiopia, and established diplomatic ties with Persia during the Safavid dynasty. Over his career, he received the epithets "the Great", "the Terrible", "the Portuguese Mars" and "the Caesar of the East".

Images for kids

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  Map of the Arabian Peninsula showing the Red Sea with Socotra island (red) and the Persian Gulf (blue) with the Strait of Hormuz (Cantino planisphere, 1502)

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  The Fort of Our Lady of the Conception, Hormuz Island, Iran

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  Statue of Afonso de Albuquerque, symbolically standing on a stack of weapons, referencing his reply in Hormuz

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  Afonso de Albuquerque as Governor of India

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  Illustration depicts the aftermath of the Portuguese conquest of Goa, from the forces of Yusuf Adil Shah.

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  Coining of money for d'Albuquerque at Goa (1510)

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  "Conquest of Malacca", study painting by Ernesto Condeixa

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  An illustration of the keep of the fortress of Malacca, which included a stone relief of Afonso de Albuquerque, by Manuel Godinho de Erédia (1613)

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  Malacca, with A Famosa, depicted by Albuquerque's scrivener, Gaspar Correia.

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  Replica of a Portuguese carrack at the Maritime Museum of Malacca, made in reference to the Flor do Mar

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  Depiction of Ternate with São João Baptista Fort, built in 1522

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  Attempted Portuguese scaling of the walls of Aden

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  Portrait of Afonso de Albuquerque, governor of Portuguese Indies (1509-1515), from Pedro Barretto de Resende's Livro de Estado da India Oriental

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  The Portuguese fort at Calicut

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  Christian maidens of Goa, meeting with a Portuguese nobleman seeking a wife (depicted in the Códice Casanatense, circa 1540)

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  Portrait of Afonso de Albuquerque, from the Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu (c. 1565)

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  Dürer's Rhinoceros, woodcut (1515)

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  Albuquerque Monument on Afonso de Albuquerque Square in Lisbon (1902)

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  Allegorical fresco dedicated to Afonso de Albuquerque, present at the Palace of Justice of Vila Franca de Xira, in Portugal. Executed by Jaime Martins Barata

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  Afonso de Albuquerque as governor of India