Albuquerque, Afonso de

(1462?-1515)

   One of the greatest conquistadores of Portugal's Asian empire in its early phase and, in effect, the founder of the nation's Asian empire. Initially serving the king in Portugal's Moroccan conquests, Albuquerque first went to India in 1503, and during the period 1503-15 he extended Portugal's maritime empire from the west coast of India to Malacca and made efforts to take various port cities in Arabia including Aden and Or-muz. Among his ambitious schemes was the plan to carry a crusade to the Muslims in Arabia and capture the holy city of Mecca. Known as the most capable of Portugal's early empire builders, Albuquerque was a man of many talents: soldier, sailor, administrator, statesman, diplomat, and strategist. Poorly rewarded for his Herculean efforts on behalf of King Manuel I, Albuquerque was humiliated when he witnessed the arrival of a new governor, appointed without his knowledge by the king. Exhausted and mortally ill from his campaigns, he died in Goa, Portuguese India, on 16 December 1515.