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Albuquerque, Afonso de (1453-1515), Portuguese navigator, statesman, and founder of the Portuguese Empire in the Orient. He was born in Alhandra, near Lisbon, and called Afonso the Great. He spent his youth at the court of King Alfonso V of Portugal; he later took part in the expedition against the Turks that culminated in a Christian victory at Otranto, Italy, in 1481.
In 1503 he made his first trip to the East, traveling with a Portuguese fleet around the Cape of Good Hope to India. Three years later King Emanuel of Portugal appointed him viceroy of all Portuguese possessions in Asia. His predecessor, Francisco de Almeida, at first refused to give up his office and imprisoned Albuquerque from 1508 to 1509. The new viceroy was eventually released to assume office when a fleet arrived from Portugal to free him. As viceroy, Albuquerque captured the Indian district of Goa in 1510. He went on to complete the conquests of Malabar, Sri Lanka, the Sunda Islands, the peninsula of Malacca, and the island of Hormuz at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. He maintained strict military discipline in the territories under his control but was respected and beloved by his subjects.
In spite of his valuable services, Albuquerque was the victim of intrigue at the Portuguese court. In 1515 King Emanuel, who had become suspicious of him, appointed one of Albuquerque's enemies as his successor. Although he was offered assistance to help him resist Emanuel's arbitrary decree, Albuquerque would not violate his allegiance. A few days after receiving notice that he had been superseded, he died at sea off the Malabar coast near Goa. A biography containing his collected papers was written by his son Braz Albuquerque in 1557.
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