The first empire

Considers an account of how the Portuguese came to rule the world’s oceans in the 15th and 16th centuries

FRANCOIS SOYER Conquerors: How Portugal Seized the Indian Ocean and Forged the First Global Empire by Roger Crowley The establishment of the Portuguese empire in the Indian Ocean between 1497 and 1516 has been overshadowed by the contemporaneous rise of the Spanish empire in the Americas, yet its implications for world history are no less significant.

Portugal’s kings financed voyages of exploration along the African coast, with mixed commercial and crusading goals. The first aim was to find a direct trade route between Europe and Asia that would bypass the Islamic world, and thus deprive it of revenue it gained from the spice trade. The second was to establish contact with a mythical Christian king in Asia with whom, it was fondly hoped, an anti-Muslim alliance could be forged.

Drawing from Portuguese and Arabic sources, Crowley’s fast-paced and vivid narrative relates how, in little more than two decades, the Portuguese rounded the Cape of Good Hope and gained naval military supremacy in the Indian Ocean in spite of resistance from both Muslims and Hindu powers. Unlike the vast territorial Spanish empire, the Portuguese empire was based on trading outposts and strategically situated fortresses. Yet, as Crowley makes clear, its establishment was no less bloody.

While the names of Columbus, Cortes and Pizarro have become (in)famous,

“Crowley relates how, in little more than 20 years, the Portuguese gained supremacy”