Governor of Portuguese India, 1509-1515
Albuquerque was released after three months' confinement, on the arrival at Cannanore of the marshal of Portugal with a large fleet. He was the most important Portuguese noble ever to visit India and he brought an armada of fifteen ships and 3,000 men sent by the king to defend the rights of Albuquerque and take Calicut.
In 4 November 1509 Albuquerque became the second Governor of the State of India, a position he would hold until his death. Almeida having returned home in 1510, he speedily showed the energy and determination of his character.
Albuquerque intended to dominate the Muslim world and control the Spice trade. Initially king Manuel I and his council in Lisbon tried to distribute the power, outlining three areas of jurisdiction in the Indian Ocean: in 1509 the nobleman Diogo Lopes de Sequeira was fitted with a fleet and sent to Southeast Asia, with the task of seeking an agreement with Sultan Mahmud Shah of Malacca, but failed and returned to the kingdom. To Jorge de Aguiar was given the area between the Cape of Good Hope and Gujarat, he was succeeded by Duarte de Lemos but left to Cochin and then for the kingdom, leaving his fleet to Albuquerque.
Read more about this topic: Afonso De Albuquerque
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