Afonso de Albuquerque
Soldier and statesman Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (c. 1453 – 1515), participated in Afonso l’s North African crusade in 1471 and served at court or in North Africa during the reigns of João Ii and Manuel I before Manuel sent him east with the 5th Portuguese India Armada, which left Lisbon on 6 April 1503. On his first voyage to India, Albuquerque engaged in several battles against the Zamorin of Calicut's forces, secured the king of Cochin's throne and laid the foundation for Portugal's eastern empire, building a fort in Cochin and establishing trade relations with Quilon.
After his return to Lisbon, Albuquerque helped formulate Portugal's policy in the East. In April 1506, he sailed east with Tristão da Cunha's eighth India Armada on a mission to explore Africa's east coast, build a fortress on Socotra to cut off Arab trade with India through the Red Sea and capture Hormuz to open Persian trade with Europe. After that, he was to succeed to succeed Francisco de Almeida at the end of his term as Viceroy. However, Almeida had unfinished business when Albuquerque reached India in December 1508. Intent on avenging his son's death at the Battle of Chaul, he refused to recognise Albuquerque's credentials and had him confined to the Portuguese trading post at Cannanore.
Although Almeida defeated a combined Ottoman-Egyptian-Gujarati fleet off Diu in February 1509, he refused to relinquish his post until Fernando Coutinho, Count of Marialva and marshal of Portugal, arrived in Cannanore with Portugal's 11th Armada, which took Albuquerque back to Cochin and Coutinho had enough authority to force Almeida to hand over the reins. So Albuquerque took over as Governor and Captain-General rather than Viceroy in November 1509. Almeida died, along with around fifty others, in a skirmish at the Cape of Good Hope on the return voyage.
Albuquerque pursued an aggressive policy to control the passages to the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Far East, transforming the Indian Ocean into a Portuguese mare clausum. First, he needed a permanent stronghold and acquired it by seizing Goa in 1510. His conquest of Malacca the following year gave him control of the easiest route to the Far East and China and opened the way to the Spice Islands. Controlling access to the Red Sea proved more difficult. Socotra was unsuitable as a base, and Aden was too strongly defended. An incursion into the Red Sea in April 1513 failed to encounter the Ottoman/Egyptian fleet. He enjoyed more success with Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, but illness forced him to return to Goa. He was still at sea when news of his replacement reached him. Political intrigue at home saw Albuquerque's enemy, Lope Soares, appointed to the post. An embittered Albuquerque died before reaching his destination.
In his later years, Aaecame increasingly involved in crusading projects, planning to destroy Mecca, reconquer Jerusalem, and divert the waters of the Nile. His program to control the Indian Ocean's maritime trade routes and build permanent fortresses with settled populations laid the foundations of Portuguese hegemony in the region for the rest of the 16th century.
