Afonso de Albuquerque Conquers Goa
In November 1510 Afonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur after an initial failed attempt earlier in the year. Albuquerque conducted a massacre of the city's Muslim population while sparing Hindus, a pattern of calculated sectarian alliance that marked Portuguese strategy in India. Goa became the capital of the Estado da India and Portugal's most important Asian possession, held continuously until 1961. Albuquerque's conquest initiated a strategy of controlling key Indian Ocean chokepoints that would define the Portuguese commercial empire for decades.
- Year: 1510 CE
- Category: Military
