Portugal, which had already established its dominance as a maritime power in the Atlantic, is exploring new waters by the late fifteenth century.

In 1497 Vasco da Gama sails around the Cape of Good Hope and discovers an ocean route connecting Europe with India, thus inaugurating a new era of maritime supremacy for Portugal.

The Portuguese are consumed by two objectives in their empire-building efforts: to convert followers of non-Christian religions to Roman Catholicism and to capture the major share of the spice trade for the European market.

To carry out their goals, the Portuguese do not seek territorial conquest, which would be difficult given their small numbers.

Instead, they try to dominate strategic points through which trade passes.

By virtue of their supremacy on the seas, their knowledge of firearms, and by what has been called their "desperate soldiering" on land, the Portuguese gain an influence in South Asia that is far out of proportion to their numerical strength.

Don Lourenço de Almeida, son of the Portuguese viceroy in India, is sailing off the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka in 1505 looking for Moorish ships to attack when stormy weather forces his fleet to dock at Galle.

Word of these strangers who "eat hunks of white stone and drink blood (presumably wine)...and have guns with a noise louder than thunder ..." spreads quickly and reach King Parakramabahu VIII of Kotte (1484-1508), who offers gifts of cinnamon and elephants to the Portuguese to take back to their home port at Cochin on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India.

The king also gives the Portuguese permission to build a residence in Colombo for trade purposes.

Within a short time, however, Portuguese militaristic and monopolistic intentions become apparent.

Their heavily fortified "trading post" at Colombo and open hostility toward the island's Muslim traders arouses Sinhalese suspicions.

Muslim trading communities in South Asia, following the decline of the Chola as a maritime power in the twelfth century, had claimed a major share of commerce in the Indian Ocean and developed extensive east-west, as well as Indo-Sri Lankan, commercial trade routes.

As the Portuguese expand into the region, this flourishing Muslim trade becomes an irresistible target for European interlopers.

The sixteenth-century Roman Catholic Church is intolerant of Islam and encourages the Portuguese to take over the profitable shipping trade monopolized by the Moors.

In addition, the Portuguese will later have another strong motive for hostility toward the Moors because the latter play an important role in the Kandyan economy, one that enables the kingdom successfully to resist the Portuguese.

The Portuguese soon decide that the island, which they call Cilao, conveys a strategic advantage that is necessary for protecting their coastal establishments in India and increasing Lisbon's potential for dominating Indian Ocean trade.

These incentives prove irresistible, and, the Portuguese, with only a limited number of personnel, seek to extend their power over the island.

They have not long to wait.

Palace intrigue, then revolution in Kotte threatens the survival of the kingdom.

The Portuguese skillfully exploit these developments.

In 1521 Bhuvanekabahu, the ruler of Kotte, requests Portuguese aid against his brother, Mayadunne, the more able rival king who has established his independence from the Portuguese at Sitawake, a domain in the Kotte kingdom.

Powerless on his own, King Bhuvanekabahu becomes a puppet of the Portuguese, but shortly before his death in 1551, the king will successfully obtain Portuguese recognition of his grandson, Dharmapala, as his successor.

There are three native centers of political power at the onset of the European period in Sri Lanka in the sixteenth century: the two Sinhalese kingdoms of Kotte and Kandy and the Tamil kingdom at Jaffna.

Kotte is the principal seat of Sinhalese power, and it claims a largely imaginary overlordship not only over Kandy but also over the entire island.

None of the three kingdoms, however, has the strength to assert itself over the other two and reunify the island.

Atlantic Southwest Europe (1396–1539 CE): Estuaries, Shipyards, and the First Oceanic Empires

Geographic & Environmental Context

The subregion of Atlantic Southwest Europe includes continental Portugal and Spain’s Atlantic façade from the Gulf of Cádiz to the Bay of Biscay—the Tagus, Sado, Mondego, Douro, and Minho estuaries; Portugal’s Alentejo and Algarve coasts; Spain’s Guadalquivir–Cádiz seaboard; and the Cantabrian–Galician rías (A Coruña, Vigo, Gijón, Santander) and Basque capes (Bilbao–San Sebastián). These shorelines and river corridors bound maritime towns to grain-and-vine interiors and iron-rich uplands.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

The Little Ice Age brought cooler winters, stormier seas, and variable rains:

• Iberian west & south coasts: more frequent Atlantic gales and bar shifts at estuary mouths (Douro, Tagus, Guadalquivir), alternately silting and scouring channels.

• Northwest (Galicia–Asturias–Cantabria): heavy rainfall and rough seas; rich upwelling sustained fisheries.

• Interior hinterlands: periodic droughts hit Alentejo and Andalusian cereal zones; frosts checked vines and olives in bad years; good years yielded ample wheat, wine, and oil.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Rural belts: Wheat, rye, barley, olives, and vines; cork oak montado in Alentejo; gardens and orchards along river terraces.

• Fisheries: Sardine and tunny on the Portuguese and Andalusian shelves; cod and whale began to matter for Basque fleets in the early 16th century. Saltworks (Aveiro, Setúbal, Cádiz) underwrote fish preservation and trade.

• Ports & river towns: Lisbon (Tagus) and Porto (Douro); Seville and Cádiz (Guadalquivir–Cádiz); A Coruña–Vigo (rías), Santander, Bilbao and San Sebastián on the Bay of Biscay; Viana do Castelo, Figueira da Foz, Setúbal along Portugal’s coast. Urban workshops produced sails, rope, barrels, and victuals for ocean-going fleets.

Technology & Material Culture

• Shipbuilding & navigation: The caravel (lateen rig, shoal-draft) matured on Portugal’s south coast; rounder naos carried freight across oceans. Magnetic compass, sternpost rudder, astrolabe, cross-staff, portolan charts, and toleta de marteloio tables improved blue-water navigation.

• Maritime institutions: In Portugal, the Order of Christ’s revenues (successor to the Templars) and the crown’s Casa da Guiné and later Casa da Índia in Lisbon centralized Atlantic/Indian trade. Basque iron and timber supported Biscayan yards.

• Urban & courtly arts: Manueline architecture (rope, coral, armillary motifs) crowned Lisbon/Belém; Mudéjar–Plateresque blended in Andalusia; guild crafts (textiles, leather, ceramics) supplied ships and cities.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Estuary arteries: The Tagus, Douro, and Guadalquivir funneled grain, wine, oil, salt fish, and hides from interior plains to oceanic convoys; return flows brought spices, gold, and slaves by the early 1500s.

• Atlantic lanes: Portugal’s Volta do Mar looped down the African coast and home via mid-ocean westerlies; Andalusian–Cantabrian coasting linked Biscay iron and salt fish to southern shipyards and markets.

• Pilgrimage & fairs: Santiago de Compostela drew pilgrims through Galician ports; Lisbon and Seville fairs knit merchants from Italy, Flanders, and the Maghreb.

• Imperial routes (first phase): After 1498, spice fleets sailed India–Lisbon; after 1492, Castilian fleets used the Guadalquivir–Seville corridor to the Caribbean.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

• Religious life: Cathedrals and confraternities structured urban devotion; seafarers’ brotherhoods honored Our Lady of Good Voyage; shrines dotted headlands and capes (e.g., Cape St. Vincent).

• Court and chronicle: Portuguese chronicles (Gomes Eanes de Zurara) celebrated exploration; Iberian courts patronized cartography and cosmography.

• Communal identities: Fisher guilds, ship carpenters, ropewalkers, coopers, and salt-pan communities developed strong customs and saints’ days; Basque whalers forged distinctive sea rituals.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

• Risk-spreading portfolios: Mixed farming (cereal–vine–olive), stock-raising, and salt-fish curing buffered bad harvests; riverine mills and terraces stabilized yields.

• Harbor works: Jetties and dredging (Lisbon, Porto, Seville) fought bar siltation; salt granaries and fish warehouses bridged lean seasons.

• Maritime provisioning: Biscayan and Portuguese fleets salted fish and whale meat; victualing yards stockpiled biscuit, wine, oil, and salted pork for oceanic voyages.

Technology & Power Shifts (Conflict Dynamics)

• Iberian realignments: The Conquest of Ceuta (1415) opened Portugal’s North African gateway and Atlantic thrust; the War of the Castilian Succession (1475–1479)—including the Battle of Toro (1476)—ended with the Treaty of Alcáçovas (1479), fixing early Atlantic spheres between Castile and Portugal. The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) divided extra-European worlds meridionally.

• Oceanic breakout: Vasco da Gama’s voyage (1497–1499) linked the Tagus to India; Pedro Álvares Cabral (1500) reached Brazil; Portugal’s Estado da Índia took shape after the Battle of Diu (1509) and the Capture of Malacca (1511), routing Eastern spices to Lisbon.

• Castile’s Atlantic: From 1492, Columbus’s voyages (out of Palos/Cádiz) opened Caribbean routes; Seville’s Casa de la Contratación (from 1503) regulated fleets.

• Privateering & defense: Biscay–Galician coasts armed against English, Breton, and Norman raiders; corsair warfare flickered in the Bay of Biscay and off the Algarve.

Transition

By 1539 CE, Atlantic Southwest Europe had transformed from a cluster of estuarine towns into the launchpad of two oceanic empires. Lisbon and Seville–Cádiz rose as global entrepôts; Biscayan and Galician ports provisioned fleets and pioneered whaling and Atlantic cod. Inland cereals, vines, and olives still fed the system, but caravel and nao had redrawn horizons—binding Iberian estuaries to Africa, Asia, and the Americas, and setting the stage for a sixteenth century of maritime hegemony and imperial rivalry.

Ragusan consuls are in France in the first decade of the sixteenth century, while their French counterparts are sent to Ragusa.

The fate of Ragusa continues to be linked to that of the Ottoman Empire.

Ragusa and Venice both lend technical assistance to the Ottoman–Egyptian–Calicut–Gujarati alliance that is defeated by the Portuguese in the Battle of Diu in the Indian Ocean.

Atlantic Southwest Europe: Imperial Rivalry, Cultural Flourishing, and the Consolidation of Power (1504–1515)

Between 1504 and 1515, Atlantic Southwest Europe entered a pivotal period marked by imperial rivalry, political consolidation, maritime expansion, and rich cultural developments. Spain transitioned from the reign of the Catholic Monarchs to that of the Habsburg heir, Charles I (later Emperor Charles V). Portugal, under the prosperous rule of King Manuel I, solidified its global maritime and commercial dominance. Navarre, increasingly vulnerable, found itself the target of aggressive Spanish ambitions.

Political and Military Developments

• Spain (Castile, León, and Northern Provinces):

  • Following Queen Isabella I's death (1504), Castile entered a period of instability as her daughter Juana "the Mad" and husband Philip I ("the Handsome") briefly ruled, until Philip’s early death (1506) plunged Castile into further uncertainty under Ferdinand’s regency.
  • Ferdinand II of Aragon, until his death (1516), skillfully managed political tensions and consolidated royal power, laying foundations for Spain’s imperial expansion.
  • Ferdinand annexed Navarre (1512), taking advantage of political instability and fears of French alliance. This significantly expanded Spanish influence northwards, incorporating Basque territories and northern Rioja more firmly into Castile.

• Portugal:

  • Under King Manuel I ("the Fortunate"), Portugal reached the zenith of its economic and political power, further consolidating royal authority and pursuing aggressive maritime exploration and expansion.
  • Manuel’s diplomatic marriages strategically connected Portugal to major European royal houses, including Spain and the Habsburgs, securing Portugal’s position in European politics.

• Navarre:

  • King John III of Navarre and Queen Catherine of Foix attempted to preserve independence through diplomatic channels. However, Navarre’s political fragility culminated in its invasion and annexation by Ferdinand II in 1512, effectively ending its independent kingdom status south of the Pyrenees, although the northern part retained independence, allied with France.

Economic and Maritime Expansion

• Spanish Economic and Maritime Growth:

  • Spain expanded its colonial enterprise in the Americas significantly, particularly with early expeditions that explored the Caribbean and initiated colonization efforts, bringing substantial wealth from gold and emerging transatlantic trade networks.
  • Northern Spanish ports such as Bilbao, Santander, and La Coruña experienced notable growth, thriving on new Atlantic trade routes and fisheries.

• Portuguese Dominance in Global Trade:

  • Portugal solidified dominance over the spice trade routes to India and the East Indies. Manuel I’s policies secured commercial monopolies, establishing Lisbon as the premier European hub for spices, precious metals, and luxury goods.
  • Economic prosperity allowed extensive architectural and urban development throughout northern and central Portugal.

• Navarre’s Economic Realignment:

  • With the annexation of southern Navarre, its economy became increasingly tied to Castile’s, while northern Navarre sought alignment with France, marking a significant shift in regional economic dynamics.

Cultural and Social Developments

• Spanish Cultural Expansion:

  • Spain experienced significant artistic and literary developments, notably with the early rise of Spanish humanism and the production of key scholarly works influenced by Italian Renaissance thought.
  • The period saw increased centralization of religious institutions, laying foundations for intensified religious orthodoxy and future inquisitorial practices.

• Portuguese Manueline Renaissance:

  • Portugal experienced the cultural zenith of the Manueline style, exemplified by architectural masterpieces such as the Tower of Belém and the continued construction of the Jerónimos Monastery, celebrating maritime achievements and imperial prestige.
  • Lisbon became an intellectual center, attracting scholars, navigators, and merchants from across Europe.

• Navarre’s Cultural Preservation:

  • Even amid political turmoil, Navarre continued to preserve its unique cultural identity, particularly in the Basque-speaking territories. However, cultural expressions increasingly reflected the pressures of Spanish and French political influence.

Significance and Legacy

The era 1504–1515 profoundly reshaped Atlantic Southwest Europe, solidifying the region's status as a hub of imperial ambition and global maritime dominance. Spain and Portugal’s imperial expansions laid crucial foundations for their future global empires, significantly impacting world history. The annexation of Navarre dramatically altered regional geopolitics, reshaping cultural identities and political allegiances. These developments marked a clear transition from medieval structures toward the emergence of early modern Europe.

Soon after the failed attack, Albuquerque quickly assembles a powerful fleet of twenty-three ships and twelve hundred men.

Contemporary reports state that he wanted to fight the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate fleet in the Red Sea or return to Hormuz.

However, he had been informed by Timoji (a privateer in the service of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire) that it would be easier to fight them in Goa, where they had sheltered after the Battle of Diu, and also of the illness of the Sultan Yusuf Adil Shah and the war between the Deccan sultanates.

Portugal wants not to be seen as an eternal "guest" of Kochi and has been coveting Goa as the best trading port in the region.

A first assault takes place in Goa from March 4 to May 20, 1510.

After initial occupation, feeling unable to hold the city given the poor condition of its fortifications, the cooling of Hindu residents' support and insubordination among his ranks following a severe attack by Ismail Adil Shah, Albuquerque refuses a truce offered by the Sultan and abandons the city in August.

His fleet is scattered, and a palace revolt in Kochi hinders his recovery, so he heads to Fort Anjediva.

New ships arrive from Portugal, which are intended for the nobleman Diogo Mendes de Vasconcelos at Malacca, who has been given a rival command of the region.

Albuquerque reappears at Goa only three months later, on November 25, with a renovated fleet, Diogo Mendes de Vasconcelos compelled to accompany him with the reinforcements for Malacca, and about three hundred Malabari reinforcements from Cannanore.

In less than a day, they take Goa from Ismail Adil Shah and his Ottoman allies, who surrender on December 10.

It is estimated that six thousand of the nine thousand Muslim defenders of the city died, either in the fierce battle in the streets or by drowning while trying to escape.

Albuquerque regains the support of the Hindu population, although he frustrates the initial expectations of Timoja, who aspires to become governor.

Albuquerque rewards him by appointing him chief "Aguazil" of the city, an administrator and representative of the Hindu and Muslim people, as a knowledgeable interpreter of the local customs.

He then makes an agreement to lower the yearly dues.

In Goa, Albuquerque starts the first Portuguese mint in the East, after complaints from merchants and Timoja about the scarcity of currency, taking it as an opportunity to announce the territorial conquest.

The new coin, based on the existing local coins, shows a cross on one side and the design of an armillary sphere (or "esfera"), King Manuel's badge, on the other.

Gold, silver and bronze coins are issued, respectively gold cruzados or manueis, esferas and alf-esferas, and "leais".