Cabral's expedition


It is entirely possible that earlier unchronicled Portuguese expeditions had already sighted the coast and that the negotiations at Tordesillas that shifted the line of demarcation between the Spanish and Portuguese hemispheres were a deliberate move to ensure that the coast lay on Portugal's side of the line.

In any case, Cabral carried out the first official exploration of South America's northeast coast, claimed it for Portugal, and then made for India. He lost several ships on the passage around the Cape of Good Hope, landed at Mozambique, and eventually reached  Calicut, where he established the first commercial treaty between Portugal and an Indian ruler. 

After Arab merchants, who saw the treaty as a threat to their monopoly, stirred up a riot that caused many Portuguese casualties and destroyed their newly-established factory, Cabral looted and burnt an Arab fleet, bombarded the city and sailed to the friendlier centre of Cochin. There, Cabral loaded his six remaining ships with the spices that would ensure that the expedition returned a substantial profit. He returned to Portugal in June 1501. 

Disagreements between Manuel I and Cabral, who may have been in line for the position,  saw the command of the next Indies Armada (the Fourth, in 1502—3) went to Vasco da Gama. Cabral then retired from royal service and moved to Santarém, where he died.

Early life and appointment to the 2nd Armada

© Ian Hughes 2017