19 Facts About Portuguese discoveries

Portuguese discoveries sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration, chronicling and mapping the coasts of Africa and Asia, then known as the East Indies, and Canada and Brazil, in what came to be known as the Age of Discovery.

In 1415, the Portuguese discoveries occupied the North African city of Ceuta, aiming to gain a foothold on Morocco, to control navigation through the Strait of Gibraltar, expand Christianity with the backing of the Pope, and by pressure of the nobility for epic and profitable acts of war, now that Portugal had finished the Reconquista on the Iberian Peninsula.

Portuguese discoveries invested in sponsoring voyages down the coast of Mauritania, gathering a group of merchants, shipowners, stakeholders and participants interested in the sea lanes.

Westward exploration continued over the same period: Diogo de Silves discovered the Azores island of Santa Maria in 1427 and in the following years Portuguese discoveries mariners discovered and settled the rest of the Azores.

The Portuguese discoveries army was defeated and only escaped destruction by surrendering Prince Ferdinand, the king's youngest brother.

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Portuguese discoveries employed explorers Joao de Santarem, Pedro Escobar, Lopo Goncalves, Fernao do Po, and Pedro de Sintra, and exceeded the requirement.

Under his sponsorship, Portuguese discoveries explorers crossed the Equator into the Southern Hemisphere and found the islands in the Gulf of Guinea, including Sao Tome and Principe.

Completion of these negotiations with Spain is one of several reasons proposed by historians for why it took nine years for the Portuguese discoveries to follow up on Dias's voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, though it has been speculated that other voyages were, in fact, taking place in secret during this time.

That year the Portuguese discoveries conquered Kannur where they founded St Angelo Fort.

In 1509, the Portuguese discoveries won the sea Battle of Diu against the combined forces of the Ottoman Sultan Beyazid II, the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamluk Sultan of Cairo, the Samoothiri Raja of Kozhikode, the Venetian Republic, and the Ragusan Republic .

Portuguese discoveries empire expanded into the Persian Gulf as Portugal contested control of the spice trade with the Ottoman Empire.

Conflict with the Portuguese discoveries already established in nearby Ternate was inevitable, starting nearly a decade of skirmishes.

In 1534, Gujarat was occupied by the Mughals and the Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat was forced to sign the Treaty of Bassein with the Portuguese discoveries, establishing an alliance to regain the country, giving in exchange Daman, Diu, Mumbai, and Bassein.

In 1557 the Chinese authorities allowed the Portuguese discoveries to settle in Macau through an annual payment, creating a warehouse in the triangular trade between China, Japan and Europe.

In 1570 the Portuguese discoveries bought a Japanese port where they founded the city of Nagasaki, thus creating a trading center that for many years was the port from Japan to the world.

Jesuit missionaries, such as the Basque Francis Xavier, followed the Portuguese discoveries to spread Catholic Christianity to Asia with mixed success.

Until the 15th century, the Portuguese discoveries were limited to cabotage navigation using barques and .

Besides coastal exploration, Portuguese discoveries made trips off in the ocean to gather meteorological and oceanographic information .

However, the oldest signed Portuguese discoveries sea chart is a Portolan made by Pedro Reinel in 1485 representing Western Europe and parts of Africa, reflecting the explorations made by Diogo Cao.