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Evolution of the Portuguese Empire

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Cantino planisphere, 1502

This article is a comprehensive list of all the actual possessions of the Portuguese Empire.[1][2][3][4]

Europe

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Portuguese founded factories in various places in Europe, with a purely commerce-focused strategy, different from the other continents.

Africa

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Portuguese presence in Africa started in 1415 with the conquest of Ceuta and is generally viewed as ending in 1975, with the independence of its later colonies, although the present autonomous region of Madeira is located in the African Plate, some 650 km (360 mi) off the North African coast, Madeira belongs and has always belonged ethnically, culturally, economically and politically to Europe, some 955 km (583 mi) from the European mainland.[8]

  • Angola/Portuguese West Africa: colony (1575–1589); crown colony (1589–1951); overseas province (1951–1971); state (1971–1975). Independence in 1975.
  • Arguin/Arguim: (1455–1633)
  • Cabinda: protectorate (1883–1887); Congo district (1887–1921); intendancy subordinate to Maquela (1921–1922); dependency of Zaire district (1922–1930); Intendacy of Zaire and Cabinda (1930–1932); intendancy under Portuguese Angola (1932–1934); dependency under Angola (1934–1945); restored as District (1946–1975). Controlled by Frente Nacional para a Libertação de Angola (National Liberation Front of Angola) as part of independent Angola in 1975. Declared Cabinda a republic in 1975, but not recognized by Portugal nor Angola.
  • Cabo Verde/Cape Verde: settlements (1462–1495); dominion of crown colonies (1495–1587); crown colony (1587–1951); overseas province (1951–1974); autonomous republic (1974–1975). Independence in 1975.
From Cantino planisphere of 1502.

Asia-Pacific

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India was reached by the Portuguese in 1498 by Vasco da Gama. Macau was the last possession in Asia and was handed over to the People's Republic of China in 1999.

  • Aden: Attempted conquest by Albuquerque (1513) and Albergaria (1516). Occupied for a few months in 1547–1548 before being recaptured by Piri Reis[10]
  • Bahrain: possession (1521–1602). Driven out by a native revolt and occupied by Persian troops.
  • Basra (1550–1668): Portuguese vassal (1550–1595). Occupation (1595–1624). Integral part of the Portuguese Empire (1624–1668). Lost to the Ottomans.
  • Bushehr (1506–1622): Lost to the Safavids.
  • Comorão/Bandar Abbas: possession (1506–1615). Conquered by Persian forces.
  • Chabahar (1508–1621): Lost to the British.[citation needed]
  • Ceylon: colony (1597–1658). Dutch took control in 1656, Jaffna taken in 1658.
  • Chinese concessions: Territories gained through the Unequal Treaties of the 19th and 20th century.
  • Portuguese East Indies (1511–1975/2002). Colonial dependency of Goa (1522–1844); Subordinated to Macao (1844–1850); Independent colony (1850–1851); Subordinated to Macao (1851–1856); Subordinated to Goa (1856–1863); Overseas province (1863–1866); Subordinate to Macao (1866–1896); Independent colony (1896–1950); Overseas province (1950–1975); Unilateral Independence and Indonesian Occupation (1975–1999); UN Administration (1999–2002).
    • Calapa (1522–1619): Port granted to the Portuguese by the Hindu Sunda Kingdom in return for military support against their Muslim neighbors. Lost to the Dutch.[citation needed]
    • Keling Fort (1613–1645): Destroyed by the Dutch.[citation needed]
    • Malacca: settlement (1511–1641); lost to the Dutch.
    • Maluku Islands
      • Amboina/Ambon: settlement (1576–1605).
      • Bacan: Trading post (1513–1575). Conquered by Ternate.
      • Ternate: settlement (1522–1575). Portuguese forced out by the Sultan of Ternate.
      • Tidore: colony (1578–1605). Seized by Dutch in 1605.
    • Celebes: Possessions on the island between 1512 and 1658.
    • Muar Fortress (1604–1641): Built to defend Malacca against Dutch and Acehnese attacks. Seized by the Dutch after the loss of Malacca.
    • Pacem (1521–1524): Occupied, then quickly abandoned.
    • Timor: claimed and partially possessed from 1520 to 1640.
      • Cupão/Kupang: Trading post. Taken by the Dutch in 1613
      • Flores Island: possession (16th–19th century). Sold the island to the Dutch East Indies.
        • Solor: possession (1520–1636).
      • West Timor: part of Timor lost to the Dutch in 1640.
      • Portuguese Timor: colony subordinate to Portuguese India (1642–1844); subordinate to Macau (1844–1896); separate colony (1896–1951); overseas territory (1951–1975); republic and unilateral independence proclaimed, annexed by Indonesia (1975–1999, UN recognition as Portuguese territory). UN administration from 1999 until independence in 2002.[11]
        • Ilha de Ataúro (1859–1975): Granted to the Portuguese by the Dutch in 1859.
  • Faifo/Hội An: Jesuit residency.
  • Japanese Voyages (1550–1639): Portuguese arrive and begin to settle in 1543. Officially established by the government in Goa in 1550. Ended in 1639 by decree of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
    • Deshima (1570–1639): Constructed by the Portuguese. Forced out by the Shōgun and granted to the Dutch in 1641.
    • Fukuda (1565–1571): Portuguese invited into the port in 1565. Abandoned in 1571 due to bad weather conditions.
    • Funai/Ōita (16th century): Port of call.
    • Hirado (1543–1571): Abandoned in favor of Nagasaki.
    • Kagoshima (1543–1639): center of Jesuit activity. Anti-Christian bans forced out the Jesuits in 1639.
    • Nagasáqui/Nagasaki (1543–1639): Unofficial settlement (1543–1570). Leased territory (1570–1580). Administrative control (1580–1587). Trading post and settlement (1587–1639). Pottuguese forced out as a part of the Shōgun's policy of Sakoku.
    • Vocoxiura/Yokoseura (1562–1571): Initial base for Jesuit activities in Japan. Abandoned in favor of Nagasaki.
  • Liampó/Ningbo (1522–1548): Heavy Portuguese presence in the city itself and settlement in nearby Shuangyu. Settlement destroyed by Ming authorities in 1548 as a part of an anti-piracy campaign.[citation needed]
  • Maçuá/Massawa (1513–1557). Driven out by the Ottomans[citation needed]
  • Maldives: possession (1518–1521, 1558–1573)
From an anonymous atlas c.1550

Latin America

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From Vaz Dourado atlas of c. 1576

Brazil was explored and claimed in 1500, and become independent in 1822. Unlike the Spanish, the Portuguese did not divide their possession in South America in several vice-royalties.

  • Barbados: Possession known as Os Barbados, discovered by Pedro Campos between 1532 and 1536. The only Caribbean possession the Portuguese ever held, until Portugal abandoned the island in 1620 to continue exploring nearby Brazil.
  • Brazil: possession known as Ilha de Vera Cruz, later Terra de Santa Cruz (1500–1530); colony (1530–1714); vice-kingdom (1714–1815); kingdom united with the Kingdom of Portugal (1815–1822), independence in 1822.
  • Cisplatina (Uruguay): occupation (1808–1822). Captaincy in 1817 (of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves). Adhered as a province of the new Empire of Brazil in 1822. Became independent 1827, changing its name to Uruguay.
  • French Guiana: occupation (1809–1817). Restored to France in 1817.
  • Nova Colónia do Sacramento: colony in present Uruguay (1680; 1683–1705; 1715–1777). Ceded to the Spanish Empire in 1777.

North Atlantic and Northern America

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From Reinel-Lopo Homem Atlantic chart of 1519.

The Azores were discovered early in the Discovery Ages. Labrador and Corte-Real brothers later explored and claimed Greenland and eastern modern Canada from 1499 to 1502.

See also

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Portuguese Empire.
  1. ^ A. J. R. Russell-Wood, The Portuguese empire, 1415–1808: a world on the move (JHU Press, 1998).
  2. ^ W. G. Clarence-Smith, The Third Portuguese Empire, 1825–1975: a study in economic imperialism (Manchester University Press, 1985).
  3. ^ Timothy J. Coates, "The Early Modern Portuguese empire: A commentary on recent studies." Sixteenth Century Journal 37.1 (2006): 83–90 online.
  4. ^ Norrie MacQueen, The Decolonization of Portuguese Africa: Metropolitan Revolution and the Dissolution of Empire (1997).
  5. ^ a b Montenegro, António (2001). "A feitoria portuguesa na Flandres e Manuel Cirne". Público. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  6. ^ Lopes, Paulo (2019). Portugal e a Europa nos séculos XV e XVI: Olhares, Relações, Identidade(s) (in Portuguese). Lisbon: Instituto de Estudos Medievais (IEM). p. 353. ISBN 978-989-99567-3-5.
  7. ^ Rau, Virgínia (1966). Feitores e feitorias, "instrumentos" do comércio internacional português no século XVI: comunicação apresentada, em francês, no 3o. Congresso Internacional de História Económica que se realizou em Munique, de 25 a 27 de agosto de 1965 (in Portuguese). Edições Brotéria. p. 10.
  8. ^ Filipe Ribeiro De Meneses and Robert McNamara, eds. The White Redoubt, the Great Powers and the Struggle for Southern Africa, 1960–1980 (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2017.)
  9. ^ Hair, P.E.H. (2000). "Franciscan Missionaries and the 1752 «Donation of Sierra Leone»". Journal of Religion in Africa. 30 (4): 408–432. doi:10.2307/1581582. JSTOR 1581582 – via JSTOR.
  10. ^ F. M. Hunter, An Account of the British Settlement of Aden in Arabia, Trübner & Co., London, 1877, p. 162–163.
  11. ^ James Cotton, East Timor, Australia and regional order: intervention and its aftermath in Southeast Asia. (Routledge, 2004).

Further reading

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  • Cotton, James. East Timor, Australia and regional order: intervention and its aftermath in Southeast Asia (Routledge, 2004).
  • De Meneses, Filipe Ribeiro, and Robert McNamara, eds. The White Redoubt, the Great Powers and the Struggle for Southern Africa, 1960–1980 (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2017).
  • James, W. Martin. Historical dictionary of Angola (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018).
  • Lloyd-Jones, Stewart, and António Costa Pinto, eds. The last Empire: thirty years of Portuguese decolonization (Intellect Books, 2003).
  • MacQueen, Norrie. The Decolonization of Portuguese Africa: Metropolitan Revolution and the Dissolution of Empire (1997).
  • MacQueen, Norrie. "Belated Decolonization and UN Politics against the Backdrop of the Cold War: Portugal, Britain, and Guinea-Bissau's Proclamation of Independence, 1973–1974." Journal of Cold War Studies 8.4 (2006): 29–56.
  • Springhall, John. Decolonization since 1945: the collapse of European overseas empires (Palgrave Macmillan, 2001).
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