This is a map of the world's shipping lanes
showcasing the intricate network of maritime routes
that connect our modern world through global trade.
Although some of these routes were established in more recent times
such as the Suez and Panama canals,
most of these oceanic highways were chartered long ago
in an age where there was no reliable way of navigation
other than local knowledge and some rudimentary maps.
However, just over 500 years ago
at the beginning of the 16th century
these international trade routes did not even exist.
Only due to the emergence of the small Iberian nation of Portugal
as a maritime superpower,
were these connections to other parts of the world
made possible through their daring voyages and navigational prowess.
Portugal quickly established an empire for itself,
stretching from Africa, to Asia and South America.
These maritime exploits not only fueled Portugal's wealth.
an astonishing rise to power,
but also laid the foundation for the interconnected global economy
that we benefit from today.
But how did this relatively obscure nation on the edge of Europe emerged
to forge an Empire that would shape the course of History
for centuries to come?
This is the History of the Portuguese Empire.
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The kingdom of Portugal emerged out of the series of events
known to History as the Reconquista
which was the the gradual reconquest of Christian lands
on the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslim Moors
who had invaded the territory far back in the 8th century,
having established itself as a sovereign kingdom
by the middle of the 12th century,
the Portuguese went on to push out the remaining Moors to the South
by capturing the territory of the Algarve in 1249,
effectively setting out the borders of their kingdom
along the same lines to which they exist today.
With their own territory secured from external threats
and the possibility of further expansion on the Iberian Peninsula ruled out
on account of their friendly relations
with the neighboring Christian kingdom of Castile to the east.
Portugal turned its attention towards the sea
and the possibility of exerting its own influence
upon both it and the lands that lay beyond in North Africa.
The year 1415 marked a pivotal moment in Portuguese expansion
for a decision was made to orchestrate an attack on the city of Ceuta,
which was held by the Marinid Sultanate.
Although many at the time considered this
nothing more than a continuation of the hostilities
between Christians and Muslims,
in reality it paved the way for the Portuguese
to expand their dominions and economic interests
beyond the Iberian Peninsula
and marked the beginning of the Portuguese Empire.
Despite capturing the city,
the Portuguese were not able to advance further into North Africa
as they had initially planned,
owing to determined resistance by local Muslim forces.
Nevertheless they continued to guarnison Ceuta
and used its harbor as a base
to explore the Atlantic coastline of Africa.
This policy of maritime exploration
was championed by a prominent figure
in the early days of the Portuguese Empire´:
Prince Henry, the Navigator.
He was curious to know how far the Muslim territories in Africa
extended Southward,
and whether it would be possible to reach Asia by an easterly sea route.
Consequently, scores of Portuguese ships began to set off into the Atlantic Ocean
and around the coast of North Africa
probing further and further into what were at the time uncharted waters.
The islands of Madeira and the Azores
were first cited in 1419 and 1427, respectively,
and were subsequently incorporated
as the latest additions to the expanding Portuguese Empire.
One of the first natural barriers
the Portuguese encountered on their explorations
was Cape Bojador.
The violent waters that surround it had claimed many vessels
that had previously tried to pass through
and it was widely deemed to be a point of no return.
That was until 1434,
when Gil Eanes successfully found the navigable passage
around the cape
and opened up further exploration South
towards subsaharan Africa.
No sooner had this feat been achieved
that the merchants of Lisbon began to search
for newer and more exotic markets
to which they could trade to.
gold, ivory, pepper, cotton and sugar, all from Africa,
soon became more commonplace
amongst the trading stools of Lisbon
as did the practice of selling African slaves
which began the long and dark history of the transatlantic slave trade
that would continue for the next 400 years
Over the subsequent decades of the 15th century,
the Portuguese ventured further and further South
down the coast of Africa.
reaching the Cape Verde Islands in 1456
and the Gulf of Guinea by the 1460s.
As they explored, they left behind a series of "padrões",
stone crosses engraved with the Portuguese coat of arms,
marking out their territorial claims
which were followed up with the construction of forts
and trading posts.
From these bases they engaged profitably in the gold and slave trades
which they held a virtual monopoly on
for well over a century.
The real prize for the portuguese merchants however
was a supposed, but as yet unconfirmed, sea route to Asia .
They hoped that the discovery of such a route
would allow them direct access to the spice markets of the Indies
and bypass the expensive arab and venetian merchants
who controlled the overland trade routes through the Middle East
and across the Mediterranean into Europe.
Then, in 1488 news reached the ears of the Portuguese authorities
that Bartholomew Dias had rounded the southern tip of Africa
and reached the Indian Ocean,
proving that such an easterly passage did indeed exist.
However, this revelation would soon be eclipsed in magnitude,
just four years later,
when Christopher Columbus sailed westwards across the Atlantic Ocean
in search of his own theoretical route to the Indies
and in the process inadvertently discovered an entirely New World.
The discovery of the Americas
which Columbus claimed in the name of Spain
and initially believed to be part of Eastern Asia
quickly created a problem for the two Iberian Nations.
Not knowing where one set of recently discovered lands ended
and another began,
they consequently agreed to divide the world in two spheres of influence,
between themselves, marked by a north/south line of Meridian
roughly halfway
between the Cape Verde Islands controlled by Portugal
and the Caribbean Islands of the Americas
which Columbus had recently discovered and claimed for Spain.
The Treaty of Tordesilhas ratified this agreement in 1494
and effectively carved the world in two.
with the lands to the East of this line to be claimed solely by Portugal
and the lands to the West claimed solely by Spain.
With the dispute settled, Portugal could finally begin to undertake
its long-standing ambition of charting a sea route to Asia
and so, on the 8th of July 1497,
the explorer Vasco de Gama left Lisbon
with a fleet of four ships and a crew of 170 men
bound for the Indian Ocean in search of Asia.
After a voyage of some 10 months Vasco da Gama's expedition
finally made landfall on the Malibar coast of India
in May 1498
and subsequently met with the Zamorin, or king of Calicut
to establish the trade relations
that they they had long hoped for.
Whilst the Portuguese's arrival was greeted with hospitality,
the local indian traders found little value
in the trinkets and commodities
the Europeans had brought with them to exchange
and so, da Gama's expedition largely left empty-handed.
Their return journey back to Portugal took an agonizing amount of time
owing to the monsoon conditions they had to face up at sea
which took an immense toll on both the crew and the ships
Nevertheless the survivors arrived back in Lisbon during the summer of 1499
and were given a hero's welcome.
Despite the meager quantities of spices and other goods
they had brought back.
Although the expedition itself may not have been profitable,
it demonstrated that maritime trade to Asia was possible
and had huge potential .
The second expedition to India set sail in 1500
under the command of Pedro Alvares Cabral.
Although while traversing
across the Atlantic Ocean sailed too far West
and unexpectedly, reached the coast of what is now Brazi.
Although this discovery may have been unintentional
some speculation suggests
the Portuguese may have already been aware of Brazil's existence
and secretly knew that this part of South America
fell within their designated territory according to the Treaty of Tordesilhas.
Cabral recommended to the Portuguese King, Manuel I,
that the land be settled
and two follow-up voyages were sent in 1501 and 1503.
The land was found to be abundant in brazilwood
from which it later inherited its name
but the failure to find gold or silver meant that for the time being
the Portuguese instead decided to concentrate their efforts
on the invaluable trade out of India.
As the first decade of the 16th century progressed,
the Portuguese ventured further into other parts of Asia
such as Sri Lanka and Indonesia,
where they discovered the sources of cinnamon and nutmeg.
So valuable were these commodities that Alfonso de Albuquerque.
the first appointed Vice-Roy of Portuguese India
ordered the construction of trading posts and fortifications
along the 14,000 miles long route,
stretching from Portugal to the East Indies.
These served as basis of operations for conducting trade
and ensured the safeguarding of their valuable cargos
that were to be transported on the long arduous journey
back to the markets of Europe.
Shortly thereafter, the Portuguese trading network
stretched to cover an area surrounding the coastlines of Africa,
Arabia, India, Indonesia and even as far as China and Japan.
Although the Portuguese were primarily motivated
to establish trade relations through peaceful means
their arrival into Asia was often met with a fair degree of suspicion
from local merchants who saw them
as nothing more than foreign interlopers on their territory.
Consequently as tensions grew,
the Portuguese took to enforcing their trading activity
with the use of force
Throughout the 16th century numerous conflicts broke out
across the wider indopacific region,
as the Portuguese engaged in warfare
against the numerous sultanates and empires of Asia.
Often possessing superior military technology
over their adversaries,
the Portuguese were largely successful at defending their commercial enterprises
as well as going on the offensive to capture strategic targets
that they wish to take for themselves.
However, it was not just trade and conquest
that advanced the realms of the Portuguese Empire.
Religion also had its part to play
Accompanying the officials, merchants, mariners and soldiers,
on board the ships leaving Lisbon
were small numbers of priests and missionaries
typically belonging to the Jesuit order.
They had been ordered by the Portuguese monarchy
to spread the Catholic faith
amongst the native peoples of Asia and Africa
who they had come into contact with.
this policy had mixed successes
for, though their efforts help towards establishing relations
and new settlements, such as the port of Nagasaki in Japan, in 1571,
Elsewhere the priests and missionaries
spread the word of God through violence and coercion.
In the case of the Goa, Inquisition for example,
they heavily persecuted the Hindu population of Portuguese India
in a bid to convert them to Christianity.
The early period of the Portuguese Empire
was concentrated on developing trade across Asia and Africa,
which were much more lucrative and easily accessible compared to Brazil.
attitudes towards this quickly changed.
However, when other European explorers, particularly the French,
began to develop interests of their own in the territory
and established a trading post there, in 1531,
the Portuguese response,
as decreed by King John III on the 28th of September 1532
was to deter further French incursions to the region
by initiating a large-scale colonization program
that would see the land divided up and ruled by 15 separate captaincies
with instructions to build settlements,
grant allotments and administer Justice.
Each Captain was responsible for developing and absorbing
the costs of colonization,
although they were not allowed to own the land outright.
Despite their best efforts, however,
only two of the captaincies reached any stage of significant development,
owing principally to their dedication
in growing the highly profitable crop of sugar cane.
This required an enormous amount of labor to produce
and over time it became exclusively reliant on enslaved Africans
to work in its fields.
Such was the scale and importance of the sugar industry
that of the estimated 4 million Africans
who were sold into slavery in the Americas
between the 16th and 19th centuries,
up to 40% ended up in Brazil.
The Portuguese presence in South Americ
began to slowly develop, as time passed,
with the cities of Bahia, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro,
all being founded in the mid-6th century.
However, a significant change in the progress of the Portuguese Empire
occurred in 1580, when a succession crisis
triggered by the untimely death of King Sebastian, two years earlier,
saw Philip II of Spain invade Portugal and take the throne for himself.
With that, the two crowns and overseas empires of Spain and Portugal
were united under the Iberian Union
although they would continue to be ruled separately and distinctly
from one another.
During this time, however, in the late 16th century,
Spain was at war with England, France and the Netherlands
and as a result of the union with its Iberian neighbor,
Portugal quickly found itself embroiled in the wider conflict
with European rivals
who were all competing to establish overseas empires of their own.
The Dutch, in particular, posed the most comprehensive threat to Portugal
at this time,
for they had just gained their independence
from the Spanish Habsbourg monarchy in 1581
and being adept merchants and maritime explorers
were keen to participate in the lucrative trade to Asia for themselves.
These ambitions were also shared by the English
and both soon learned of the navigational routes
established by the Portuguese
that would take them to the spice markets
of India and Indonesia.
So much so, by the turn of the 17th century,
Dutch and English mercantile interests had been established in Asian ports
such as Surat, Madras, Bantam and Sri Lanka
much to the dislike of the Portuguese traders in the region.
Not only did this posed a commercial threat
to the Portuguese Empire
with other European merchants now competing for the same trade
but it also led to colonial conflict
as the Dutch began to attack Portuguese trading posts and colonies..
The Dutch-Portuguese War which was fought from 1598 to 1663
saw battles rage across the globe
wherever the colonial interests of the two European powers
came into contact.
Although the Portuguese were able to successfully repel the Dutch,
some areas such as the Second Battle of Guararapes in northeastern Brazil,
many of their territories in Asia,
such as Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the Gold Coast of Africa
were lost.
The wider fallout from this conflict
also resulted in further losses for the Portuguese Empire
around the Persian Gulf and in Japan,
where local rulers sought to capitalize on the weakened position of the Portuguese
and expel them from their respective regions.
The loss of these colonial territories spurred the Portuguese to end
the personal union with the Spanish monarchy,
believing they had largely been abandoned by their Iberian neighbor
who had prioritized their own colonial interests
at the expense of Portugal's.
The resulting Portuguese Restoration War which broke out in 1640
saw John the 4th proclaimed as king
and the establishment of the Overseas Council
which was to govern all aspects of the Portuguese Empire
from that point onward.
However, as the second half of the 17th century progressed,
Portugal's colonial might continue to decline
and other European nations began to fill the power vacuum
which had had once occupied
with the English becoming the most dominant power in India
and the Dutch cementing their control over what is now Indonesia.
This, for the most part, left only Brazil
as the remaining territory of significance within the Empire
and consequently became viewed with increasing importance.
The interest in developing Brazil was quickly helped in 1693
by the discoveries of gold and later diamonds
in the Minas Gerais region,
which led to a gold rush
and a large influx of migrants to the territory.
within four decades, the population of Minas Gerais
had reached somewhere between 200,000 and 250,000 people
as migrants from Portugal arrived as prospectors
and African slaves were brought in to work in the mines.
The Gold Rush considerably increased the revenue of the Portuguese Crown
and, by the middle of the 18th century,
it constituted for some 46% of the exports from Brazil,
although the sugar industry remained the primary source of wealth.
Although the Portuguese Empire had regained
some of its former prestige and wealth by this time,
a devastating earthquake,
which struck the capital of Lisbon in 1755
marked what would ultimately become
the beginning of the end for Portuguese colonial ambitions-
The natural disaster not only put a huge financial strain on the Empire,
but the loss of life, estimated to be somewhere in the region
of 40 to 60,000 people,
also significantly diminished the ability of the Portuguese
to fully recover.
As the 18th century progressed,
a wave of Revolution began to sweep across the wider Atlantic region,
first starting in North America with the 13 colonies
declaring their independence from Britain in 1775,
which in turn inspired the French Revolution of 1789.
The Portuguese Empire soon began to experience this phenomenon for itself
with the air of dissension finding its way to their largest colony of Brazil.
Despite being initially confined to localized slave revolts
that were quickly suppressed
there was a growing sentiment within the South American territory
that it should embark on its own journey
towards self-determination outside of colonial rule.
The year 1808 would mark a significant step in this direction
when the Portuguese royal family led by the prince regent John VI
decided to flee Lisbon
in response to Napoleon Bonaparte invasion of Portugal
and relocate the Royal Court to Brazil .
Seven years later, in 1815,
Brazil itself was elevated to the state of a kingdom
within the wider United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves,
and witnessed to the unprecedented honor
of having the capital moved from Lisbon
to its own city of Rio de Janeiro.
This further emboldened sentiment within Brazil for independence
and within a year of the royal family returning to Portugal,
the fourth son of John VI, Don Pedro I,
who had remained behind in Rio,
saw the chance to capitalize upon the opportunity
to declare himself as emperor
of a newly independent Empire of Brazil in 1822.
19:58 2 this left the Portuguese Empire as 20:01 shadow of its former self now comprising 20:03 only of a few outposts in Asia and the 20:05 territories of Angola and mosambique in 20:08 Africa for the remainder of the 19th