page_title: Portuguese India
section_title: Afonso de Albuquerque and later governors
hierarchical_section_title: Portuguese India / Early history / Afonso de Albuquerque and later governors
caption_attribution_description: English: A Portuguese nobleman in a palanquin, with his retinue, from "Itinerario, voyage, ofte Schipvaert van Jan Huygen van Linschoten naer Oost ofte Portugaels Indien," Amsterdam, 1596; also: A Portuguese nobleman riding on a horse* A Portuguese nobleman riding in a palanquin* (shown above) A palanquin for Portuguese ladies* A Portuguese couple with servants* Goan and other boats* Social types, including a soldier and a bayadere* Merchants and a Brahmin* Forms of Portuguese attire* An idol-temple and a mosque* Source: ebay, May 2015
context_page_description: The State of India, also referred as the Portuguese State of India or simply Portuguese India, was a colonial state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a sea route to the Indian Subcontinent by the Kingdom of Portugal, the capital of Portuguese India served as the governing centre of a string of Portuguese fortresses and settlements scattered along the Indian Ocean.
  The first viceroy, Francisco de Almeida, established his headquarters at what was then Cochim, the present-day Cochin, subsequent Portuguese governors were not always of viceroy rank. After 1510, the capital of the Portuguese viceroyalty was transferred to Velhas Conquistas of present-day Goa and Damaon. Present-day Mumbai was part of Portuguese India as Bom Baim until it was ceded to the British Crown in 1661, who in turn leased Bombay to the East India Company. Until the 18th century, the Portuguese governor in Goa had authority over all Portuguese possessions in the Indian Ocean, from southern Africa to southeast Asia.
context_section_description: In the year 1509, Afonso de Albuquerque was appointed the second governor of the Portuguese possessions in the East. A new fleet under Marshal Fernão Coutinho arrived with specific instructions to destroy the power of Zamorin's of Calicut. The Zamorin's palace was captured and destroyed and the city was set on fire. The king's forces rallied, killing Coutinho and wounding Albuquerque. Albuquerque relented and entered into a treaty with the Zamorin in 1513 to protect Portuguese interests in Malabar. Hostilities were renewed when the Portuguese attempted to assassinate the Zamorin sometime between 1515 and 1518. In 1510, Afonso de Albuquerque defeated the Bijapur sultans with the help of Timayya, on behalf of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire, leading to the establishment of a permanent settlement in Velha Goa (or Old Goa). The Southern Province, also known simply as Goa, was the headquarters of Portuguese India, and seat of the Portuguese viceroy who governed the Portuguese possessions in Asia.
  There were Portuguese settlements in and around Mylapore. The Luz Church in Mylapore, Madras (Chennai) was the first church that the Portuguese built in Madras in 1516. Later in 1522, the São Tomé church was built by the Portuguese. They had also looted the treasures and destroyed the original Kapaleeswarar Temple.
  The Portuguese acquired several territories from the Sultans of Gujarat: Damaon (occupied in 1531, formally ceded 1539); Salsette, Bombay, Baçaim (Bassein) (occupied in 1534); and Diu (ceded 1535).
  These possessions became the Northern Province of Portuguese India, which extended almost 100 km (62 mi) along the coast from Damaon to Chaul, and in places 30–50 km (19–31 mi) inland. The province was ruled from the fortress-town of Baçaim (Fort Bassein).
  In 1526, under the viceroyship of Lopo Vaz de Sampaio, the Portuguese took possession of Mangalore. The territory included parts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in Karnataka state, and Kasaragod in Kerala state (South Canara). Mangalore was named the islands of O Padrão de Santa Maria; later came to be known as St. Mary's Islands. In 1640, the Keladi Nayaka Kingdom defeated the Portuguese. Shivappa Nayaka destroyed the Portuguese political power in the Kanara region by capturing all the Portuguese forts of the coastal region.
  In 1546, Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier set up the controversial Goa Inquisition for the "New Christians" in a letter dated 16 May 1546 to King John III of Portugal. Various non-Christian communities, including Hindus, Muslims, and Bene Israelis were officially persecuted by the Portuguese colonisers and the Padroado Jesuit clergy well before the Inquisition was set up. New Christians and Nasranis (Eastern Christians) often wrongly accused of "crypto-Hinduism" and "Judaising" were the primary targets of the 250 years of persecution and punishment for their faith by the Padroado Jesuit prosecutors.
  Bombay (present-day Mumbai) was given to Britain in 1661 as part of the Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza's dowry to Charles II of England. Most of the Northern Province was lost to the Maratha Confederacy in 1739 when the Maratha General Chimaji Appa attacked and plundered Fort Bassein in the Battle of Bassein. Later on Portugal acquired Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 1779.
  Goa was briefly occupied by the British from 1799 to 1813.
  In 1843 the capital was shifted to Panjim, then renamed Nova Goa, when it officially became the administrative seat of Portuguese India, replacing the city of Velha Goa (now Old Goa), although the Viceroys lived there already since 1 December 1759. Before moving to the city, the viceroy remodelled the fortress of Adil Khan, transforming it into a palace.
  The Portuguese also shipped over many Órfãs d'El-Rei to Portuguese colonies in the Indian peninsula, Goa in particular. Órfãs d'El-Rei literally translates to Orphans of the King, and they were Portuguese girl orphans sent to overseas colonies to marry either Portuguese settlers or natives with high status.
  Thus there are Portuguese footprints all over the western and eastern coasts
caption: A Portuguese nobleman riding on a horse from "Itinerario, voyage, ofte Schipvaert van Jan Huygen van Linschoten naer Oost ofte Portugaels Indien", Amsterdam, 1596
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