Afonso de Albuquerque

Portuguese explorer

• Born: 1453
• Birthplace: Alhandra, near Lisbon, Portugal
• Died: December 15, 1515
• Place of death: At sea, near Goa Harbor, India

Albuquerque’s most lasting contribution was the foundation of the Portuguese colonial empire in the East. He conquered Goa in India and Malacca on the Malay Peninsula, ended the Arabian trade monopoly in Asia, made Goa a center of the Portuguese colonial government and commerce, and developed colonial administration using indigenous officials.

Early Life

Afonso de Albuquerque (uh-FOHN-sew dee ahl-bew-KUR-kuh) was born the second son of Gonzalvo de Albuquerque, lord of Villaverde. Through his father, he was related to the royal house of Portugal (through illegitimate descent), the males in the family having for several generations been confidential secretaries to Portuguese kings. On the maternal side, his grandfather had served as high admiral of Portugal. With these connections, it is not surprising that Afonso’s early education was at the court of King Afonso V. He served in the army of Portugal in North Africa, gaining military experience crusading against the Muslims. He fought in the conquest of Arzila and Tangier(1471), participated in the invasion of Spain (1476), and served in the expedition led by King Afonso against the Turks and in the Battle of Otranto (1480-1481).

On the death of King Afonso, Albuquerque returned to Lisbon and the court, where he was appointed chief equerry (master of the horse) under John II. He served again in military expeditions against the Muslims in North Africa (at the defense of Graciosa) and under King Manuel I in Morocco. During this period of Portuguese history, the court was continually concerned at home with the struggle of the king for dominance over the nobles. Albuquerque was little engaged in these affairs but did seemingly arouse jealousy and make enemies among the nobles at court. He later fell victim to court intrigues.

Life’s Work

While his education had been at the Portuguese court and his military service for the most part crusading against the Muslims in Northern Africa and Europe, Albuquerque’s fame was made in the East during the reign of Manuel. Here, again, he was engaged in battles against the Muslims, this time for trade dominance and empire. In a relatively short period of time (1503-1515), he secured Portuguese hegemony of the Deccan in India, Portuguese control of the spice trade through conquest and fortification of the Malay Peninsula and Sunda Isles, and dominance of the waters through the Malaccan Strait. He governed the eastern empire of Portugal (though he never received the title of viceroy).

After the history-making voyage of Vasco da Gama, who rounded the Cape of Good Hope to India in 1499, the way was opened for the Portuguese to challenge the monopoly held by the Venetians and Muslims of the spice-trade routes between Europe and the East. In 1503, Albuquerque, with his kinsman, Francisco de Albuquerque, sailed under Pedro Álvars Cabral to open relations and trade with India. During this first of his voyages to Asia, Albuquerque assisted the Hindu ruler of Cochin in a bid for power against the provincial ruler at Calicut, who was friendly to the Arabs. In return, the Portuguese were able to build a fortress at Cochin and establish a trading post at Quilon; thus began the Portuguese empire in the East.

In July, 1504, Albuquerque returned to Lisbon, where Manuel received him with honor. For a time, Albuquerque assisted in the formulation of policy at court. When Tristão da Cunha sailed from Portugal in April, 1506, with a fleet of sixteen ships, Albuquerque sailed with him as an officer in command of five of the ships. The object of the voyage was to explore the east coast of Africa and to build a fortress at the mouth of the Red Sea to block Arab trade with India. Admiral da Cunha’s fleet successfully attacked several Arab cities on the African east coast, explored the coasts of Madagascar and Mozambique, and built a fortress on Socotra Island, effectively blocking the mouth of the Red Sea. On September 27, 1507, Albuquerque led his squadron in a successful siege of the island of Hormuz, which commands the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Hormuz was one of the trade centers of the Arab monopoly. The captains of his ships wanted to ply their trade on the seas more than to be engaged in fortifying Hormuz, however, and Albuquerque temporarily was forced to abandon the project.

In 1505, Dom Francisco de Almeida was appointed the first governor in India with the rank of viceroy. In 1508, Manuel appointed Albuquerque to succeed Almeida at the end of his term. This commission did not, however, include the rank of viceroy, though the distinction seems never to have been made in the colonies or by Albuquerque.

Albuquerque proceeded to the Malabar Coast and arrived in December, 1508, at Cannanore, India, where Almeida refused to honor the commission and jailed Albuquerque. In previous skirmishes that Almeida had had with Arab forces from Egypt, his son had been killed, and Almeida was determined to remain in command in India until he had avenged his son’s death. Almeida defeated the Muslims near Diu in February, 1509, and the Portuguese fleet arrived in November, 1509, confirming Albuquerque’s commission. Albuquerque was then released from jail and subsequently assumed his position as governor. Almeida returned to Lisbon.

Albuquerque set out to control all the major sea trade routes to the East and to establish permanent colonial posts with fortresses and settled populations. He destroyed part of Calicut, which he had been unable to seize control of, in January, 1510. He moved next to secure a permanent center for commerce and government on the Indian coast. Rather than moving to displace the Hindu rulers to the south, he attacked and captured Goa from the Muslims in March, 1510, with a fleet of twenty-three ships. He was driven back by the Muslim army two months later but regained the city permanently for the Portuguese in November. He executed the Muslim defenders of the city. This hard-won victory also persuaded Hindu rulers on the eastern coast of India to accept the Portuguese presence.

Albuquerque was able then for a short time to turn his attention to administration. Using the government of Lisbon as a model, he established a senate for Goa, the first such senate in Asia, and gave financial and judicial responsibilities to native officials. He encouraged the intermarriage of his men with the population of Goa. He also developed a network of supply from interior villages for the coastal city.

In 1511, Albuquerque resumed his attempts to break the trade monopoly of the Muslims by journeying to the Spice Islands (Moluccas). He established the Portuguese in Ceylon and the Sunda Isles. He attacked and sacked Malacca in July, 1511. He built a Portuguese fortress there, established control of the straits between the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Sumatra, and by these means guaranteed for Portugal the domination of the maritime route to the Spice Islands. While in Malacca, he established a colonial government with native officials (as in Goa) and developed trade relations with Pegu, Cochin (in what is now South Vietnam), China, Siam (modern Thailand), and Java.

Once more, in February, 1515, Albuquerque undertook a military expedition, this time with twenty-six ships, to the Red Sea. This early commission, from his first coming to the East, to establish Portuguese trade over the Persian Gulf region was yet unaccomplished. He laid siege to Aden (1513) unsuccessfully, led what was probably the first modern European voyage in the Red Sea, and retook Hormuz (1515). The retaking of Hormuz effectively established Portuguese dominance over the Persian Gulf trade. In September, 1515, Albuquerque became ill and set sail for Goa.

Whether his enemies at court succeeded in their jealous intrigues against him or whether Manuel was concerned about the state of Albuquerque’s health, a successor to Albuquerque was appointed to govern the Portuguese holdings in the East. Albuquerque met the vessel from Europe carrying news of the appointment and learned, as he approached the harbor of Goa, that the post had been given to his enemy, Lope Soares. Manuel had recommended that Soares pay special deference to Albuquerque; weakened by illness and embittered by what he considered betrayal, Albuquerque died on December 15, 1515, while still at sea. Before his death, he wrote to the king giving an account of his service in the East and claiming for his natural son, Brás (later called Afonso the Younger), the reward and honor that he claimed as his own.

Albuquerque was buried in Goa in the Church of Our Lady, which he had built. For many years, Muslims and Hindus visited his grave to solicit his intercession against the injustices of their later rulers. A superstition held that the Portuguese dominion would be safe as long as Albuquerque’s bones lay in Goa. These were, however, moved to Portugal in 1566. His son was later honored by Manuel as befitted the accomplishments of his father.

Significance

Albuquerque was one of those men distinguished in leadership, military achievements, and administration of which southern Europe seemed to have a bounteous supply at the end of the fifteenth century and through the mid-sixteenth. Facing long lines of supply and communication around the Cape of Good Hope, facing enemies by sea and by land who were often as accomplished as the Europeans of the time in military organization and technology, Albuquerque was able to establish the basis for a Portuguese empire in the East. He was able to organize in the area colonial administration and trade practices that endured to times past Portuguese domination. He did not amass vast fortunes (that which he did have he lost through shipwreck early in his adventures in the East). He did not obtain enormous land holdings or accrue glorious titles. A loyal son of Portugal, his ambition was tied to its glory, wealth, and position; in Portugal’s name, he gained control of all the main sea trade routes of the East and built permanent fortresses that, with their settled populations, were the foundation of Portugal’s eastern hegemony.

Bibliography

Albuquerque, Afonso de. The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, Second Viceroy of India. Edited and translated by Walter de Gray Birch. 4 vols. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 2000. This resource includes Albuquerque’s reports and letters compiled originally by his son Brás. It was first published by the Lisbon Academy of Sciences in 1576.

Armstrong, Richard. Discoverers. Vol. 2 in A History of Seafaring. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1969. The work is general in scope, designed for the general reader, and well illustrated with diagrams, maps, and reproductions. The short and vivid sketch of Albuquerque presents the major accomplishments of his career within the context of the history of discovery. Includes a good index and bibliography.

Boxer, C. R. The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415-1825. London: Hutchinson, 1969. A social history by one of Great Britain’s leading Portuguese scholars. These tales of Portuguese sailing and trading and the transplantation of their social institutions to India are easy to read. Basing his research on original sources, Boxer contradicts the Portuguese myth of “no color bar” as the secret of successful governing of an empire vaster than its base. Good maps are included.

Neilson, J. B. Great Men of the East. London: Longmans, Green, 1947. Neilson gives a glowing portrait of Albuquerque and his achievements.

Russell-Wood, A. J. R. The Portuguese Empire, 1415-1808: A World on the Move. Reprint. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. Organized thematically rather than strictly chronologically, this account of Portuguese colonial expansion includes discussions of Albuquerque as a conqueror, intelligence gatherer, diplomat, reformer, and merchant. Illustrations, maps, bibliographic references, and index.

Sanceau, Elaine. Indies Adventure. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1938. Albuquerque’s voyages and achievements in the East are vividly chronicled with emphasis on what made them remarkable.

Shastry, B. S. Goa-Kanara Portuguese Relations, 1498-1763. Edited by Charles J. Borges. New Delhi, India: Concept, 2000. History of Portuguese trade and colonization of India beginning with the arrival of the Portuguese in 1498. Focuses particularly on Goa and on Albuquerque’s actions and legacy in the area. Includes bibliographic references and index.

Stephens, Henry Morse. Albuquerque. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1892. Part of the Rulers of India series. This is a standard biography of Albuquerque and is one of the most complete available in English. It is found in most libraries of the United States and is a scholarly chronicle of and commentary on Albuquerque’s achievements.

Subrahmanyam, Sanjay, ed. Sinners and Saints: The Successors of Vasco da Gama. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Anthology of essays by international scholars detailing the history of Portuguese trade and missionary work in India from the beginning of the sixteenth century. Includes illustrations, map, bibliographic references.