Portugal’s Military Impact in the East By Malyn Newitt

The excerpt below comes from a larger work of history on the origins and management of the early modern Portuguese Empire. In this excerpt, the author explores some of the theories historians have offered about how Portugal came to expand its influence across the Indian Ocean in the 1500s.

Portugal’s Military Impact in the East

By Malyn Newitt

Two distinct but linked questions are always asked about the impact that Portugal made in the Indian Ocean between the arrival of Vasco da Gama and the death of Albuquerque. First, how was it possible for Portugal, so poor, small, weak and distant, to capture great cities like Ormuz, Goa and Malacca and to lay the western Indian Ocean under tribute, successfully defying the powerful kingdoms of Asia and the Middle East. The second question, asked in partial answer to the first, is whether Portugal's impact on Asia was really as