Fernão Lopes de Castanheda
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Fernão Lopes de Castanheda was a Portuguese historian in the early Renaissance. His "History of the discovery and conquest of India", full of geographic and ethnographic objective information, was wid
Fernão Lopes de Castanheda in the Camões Monument
Battle of Diu
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The Battle of Diu was a naval battle fought on 3 February 1509 in the Arabian Sea, in the port of Diu, India, between the Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamluk Sulta
Notable victory achieved by the Viceroy D. Francisco de Almeida against the navies of the Sultan of Egypt and the Kings of Cambay and Calicut. Lithograph by Maurício José do Carmo Sendim, 1840
16th-century Mamluks
Portuguese nau. With fore and aft castles integrated in the hull and a deeper draught meant to withstand long trans-oceanic voyages, Portuguese carracks were some of the most seaworthy ships of their time.
Before the heavy galleon, the Portuguese square-rigged caravel was the first fully rigged dedicated warship. It performed mainly as a heavy escort.