page_title: Afonso de Albuquerque
section_title: First conquest of Socotra and Ormuz, 1507
hierarchical_section_title: Afonso de Albuquerque / Early military service / Second expedition to India, 1506 / First conquest of Socotra and Ormuz, 1507
caption_attribution_description: Estátua de Afonso de Albuquerque que se encontra na Praça Afonso de Albuquerque em Lisboa. Foto digitalizada
context_page_description: Afonso de Albuquerque, Duke of Goa was a Portuguese general, a conqueror, a statesman and an empire builder.
  Afonso 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, Afonso 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. His military and administrative works are generally regarded as among the most vital to building and securing the Portuguese Empire in the Orient, the Middle East, and the spice routes of eastern Oceania.
  Afonso is generally considered a military genius, 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.
context_section_description: The fleet left Lisbon on 6 April 1506. Afonso piloted his ship himself, having lost his appointed pilot on departure. In Mozambique Channel, they rescued Captain João da Nova, who had encountered difficulties on his return from India; da Nova and his ship, the Frol de la mar, joined da Cunha's fleet. From Malindi, da Cunha sent envoys to Ethiopia, which at the time was thought to be closer than it actually is. Those included the priest João Gomes, João Sanches and Tunisian Sid Mohammed who, having failed to cross the region, headed for Socotra; from there, Afonso managed to land them in Filuk.
  After successful attacks on Arab cities on the east Africa coast, they conquered Socotra and built a fortress at Suq, hoping to establish a base to stop the Red Sea commerce to the Indian Ocean. However, Socotra was abandoned four years later, as it was not advantageous as a base.
  At Socotra, they parted ways: Tristão da Cunha sailed for India, where he would relieve the Portuguese besieged at Cannanore, while Afonso took seven ships and 500 men to Ormuz in the Persian Gulf, one of the chief eastern centers of commerce. On his way, he conquered the cities of Curiati (Kuryat), Muscat in July 1507, and Khor Fakkan, accepting the submission of the cities of Kalhat and Sohar. He arrived at Ormuz on 25 September and soon captured the city, which agreed to become a tributary state of the Portuguese king. 
  Hormuz was then a tributary state of Shah Ismail of Persia. In a famous episode, shortly after its conquest Albuquerque was confronted by Persian envoys, who demanded the payment of the due tribute from him instead. He ordered them to be given a stock of cannonballs, arrows and weapons, retorting that "such was the currency struck in Portugal to pay the tribute demanded from the dominions of King Manuel"
  According to Brás de Albuquerque, it was Shah Ismael who coined the term "Lion of the seas", addressing Albuquerque as such. Afonso began building the Fort of Our Lady of Victory (later renamed Fort of Our Lady of the Conception), engaging his men of all ranks in the work.
  However, some of his officers revolted against the heavy work and climate and, claiming that Afonso was exceeding his orders, departed for India. With the fleet reduced to two ships and left without supplies, he was unable to maintain this position for long. Forced to abandon Ormuz in January 1508, he raided coastal villages to resupply the settlement of Socotra, returned to Ormuz, and then headed to India.
caption: Statue of Afonso de Albuquerque, symbolically standing on a stack of weapons, referencing his reply in Hormuz
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