Afonso de Albuquerque | Lisbon | Portugal
In 1510 Afonso de
Albuquerque colonized the city of Goa in India, which remained under
the power of the Portuguese for 451 years, until December 1961. With
the aim of creating a pluri-continental, after the takeover of Goa,
he promoted the marriage of his men to women he had captured, taking
the first step towards the formation of a mixed-race society.
Albuquerque understood that the State of India could only have
significant human resources if it were able to generate them in Asia
itself, instead of being dependent on the men who arrived each year
in the Indian armed forces. Thus, from 1510 onward, Portuguese India
started to count on the married, these Luso-Asians, with some
Portuguese blood in their veins, and with a Christian culture, but
that had an oriental aspect (which facilitated their circulation
through Asian ports. ), who were at least bilingual since birth, and
who were familiar with the culture of their ancestors through their
mothering.