Diogo Fernandes Pereira facts for kids

Diogo Fernandes Pereira, often called just Diogo Fernandes, was a Portuguese explorer and navigator from Setúbal, Portugal. He lived in the 1500s. Diogo Fernandes was the first European captain known to visit the island of Socotra in 1503. He also discovered the Mascarenes archipelago in 1507. This group of islands includes Réunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues. He might also have been the first European to sail east of Madagascar island. This route was known as the 'outer route' to the East Indies.

Who Was Diogo Fernandes?

Diogo Fernandes Pereira is usually known simply as 'Diogo Fernandes'. Sometimes, people called him Diogo Fernandes de Setúbal. This helped tell him apart from another explorer in the Indian Ocean named Diogo Fernandes de Beja. In older history books, his name was also written as Diogo Fernandes 'Piteira' or 'Peteira'.

Diogo Fernandes was a Portuguese sailor. He came from a simple background. A historian named João de Barros said he was "a man much used at sea." He worked as a master on several ships. A master was a skilled navigator. This role was the third officer, after the pilot and captain. He might have also been a pilot sometimes.

Discovering Socotra and the Outer Route (1503)

In 1503, Diogo Fernandes Pereira became both the master and captain of a ship from Setúbal. This ship was heading to India. It was very unusual for a master to become a captain of a large India ship. Usually, this job was for nobles or rich people. His ship might have been a private ship, not owned by the king.

Some stories say his ship was named Setúbal. But this is probably wrong. The records don't give his ship a name. They just call it "the ship from/of Setúbal." This suggests it was privately owned by merchants from Setúbal. If so, it makes sense that the merchants chose Diogo Fernandes as captain. He was their most skilled local sailor.

Diogo Fernandes's ship joined the 5th Portuguese India Armada. This fleet was led by Afonso de Albuquerque. Fernandes was supposed to be in the third group of ships. This group was under Vice-Admiral António de Saldanha. But Saldanha made navigation mistakes. The ships got separated after Cape Verde. Diogo Fernandes had to sail on his own.

A historian named Gaspar Correia wrote that Fernandes sailed around the Cape of Good Hope alone. Instead of turning into the Mozambique Channel, he went east. He sailed under the island of Madagascar. Then he turned north, sailing up the east side of Madagascar. This would make him the first known European to use the 'outer route' to India. (Though Diogo Dias might have done this in 1500 too.)

Other historians don't fully confirm Correia's story. But Diogo Fernandes Pereira almost certainly missed Mozambique Island. This was the usual meeting point for Portuguese ships. One of his squadron's ships was waiting there. Instead, Fernandes was later found near Cape Guardafui. This strongly suggests he took the outer route. If he sailed north by that route, he wouldn't have seen the African coast before the Horn of Africa.

Around Cape Guardafui, Diogo Fernandes found the island of Socotra. This was in late 1503. Eastern traders had known about Socotra for a long time. Socotra aloe was a valuable medicine in Arabia and India. But the Portuguese didn't know about it. Diogo Fernandes was also surprised to find a strong (Syriac) Christian community there. This was unusual because the region was mostly Muslim. Diogo Fernandes stayed in Socotra for the winter. Then he crossed the Indian Ocean alone in early 1504.

Diogo Fernandes arrived in India when the Zamorin of Calicut was attacking Cochin. Cochin was allied with Portugal. During the fierce Battle of Cochin (1504), the Portuguese commander, Duarte Pacheco Pereira, put a 'Diogo Pereira' in charge of the ship Concepção. This ship was protecting the city. This 'Diogo Pereira' might have been Diogo Fernandes.

Discovering the Mascarenes (1507)

Diogo Fernandes went back to Portugal in 1505. His report about Socotra made the Portuguese king very excited. The island was in a perfect spot at the entrance of the Red Sea. It would be a great place for a Portuguese naval base. From there, they could attack Arab ships. This would stop the rival spice trade route through the Red Sea. Finding a Christian community there made it even more appealing. The Portuguese hoped to find Christian allies in the mostly Muslim Indian Ocean. So, they quickly planned a fleet to capture the island. This fleet was led by Afonso de Albuquerque.

The Socotra fleet joined the 8th Armada of 1506. This larger fleet was led by Tristão da Cunha. Diogo Fernandes also sailed on this fleet. But this time, he was only a master on Albuquerque's ship, the Cisne ('the Swan'). This ship is often called Cirné.

In late 1506, the 8th Armada stopped at Mozambique Island. This was a usual stop. The admiral, Tristão da Cunha, decided to pause the trip. He wanted to explore the island of Madagascar. It was then known as the ilha de São Lourenço. During this time, Albuquerque wasn't interested in exploring. So, he probably stayed in Mozambique. He temporarily gave his ship, the Cirné, to the master Diogo Fernandes Pereira.

Detail of Mascarenes islands from a Dutch map of 1689. It shows some of the older names of the islands.

Diogo Fernandes is said to have sailed in a wide arc east of Madagascar. He then found the island of Réunion. He quickly named it ilha de Santa Apollonia. This was in honor of St. Apollonia, whose feast day was February 9, 1507. He then sailed east and discovered Mauritius. He named it ilha do Cirne, after his ship. From there, Fernandes went even further east. He discovered the island now known as Rodrigues. But at the time, maps called it the ilha de Diogo Fernandes. Other names like Domigo Friz or Domingo Frias were also used. These were probably just mistakes or shortened versions of 'Diogo Fernandes' on maps. He stopped for water at Réunion and Rodrigues. Then he returned to Mozambique.

Diogo Fernandes island ('Domigo Friz') was visited by Diogo Lopes de Sequeira in 1509. The name 'Don Galopes' sometimes appeared for that island on some maps. It got its final name, Rodrigues island, much later. This was after another Portuguese explorer, Diogo Rodrigues, visited the area in 1528.

The whole group of islands was named the Mascarenes. This was after D. Pedro Mascarenhas. He visited the islands in 1512, after hearing about them from Sequeira.

What Happened Next?

After his trip to the Mascarenes, Diogo Fernandes Pereira joined Albuquerque. They took part in the conquest of Socotra that summer. We don't have any more records of him after that. If Diogo Fernandes stayed on the Cirne after Socotra, he would have been in the battle of Hormuz in the Fall of 1507. But there is no record of him being there. We also don't know if he was involved in a disagreement against Albuquerque at Hormuz.