Goa Becomes the Capital of the Eastern Portuguese Empire

Part of present-day Goa becomes the capital of the Estado da India, an overseas territory of the Portuguese empire. Its importance to the Portuguese crown as a major port in the East is evident from the fact that it has nearly the same charter of privileges as Lisbon. 

In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, with Portuguese influence on trade in the Indian Ocean dominant, Goa becomes a major port for trade in spices, herbs, diamonds, textiles, musk and enslaved people, brought to the region via changing Indian Ocean trade routes. Although Portuguese dominance over the historical trade networks is yet to be complete, it sets the template for other European enterprises centred around maritime commerce to emerge in Asia.