Martim Afonso de Sousa

Martim Afonso de Sousa ( – 21 July 1564) was a Portuguese fidalgo, explorer and colonial administrator.

Early life, family and education Martim Afonso de Sousa was born in Vila Viçosa, and had been raised in the Duke of Bragança household and was a cousin and personal friend since childhood of King John III of Portugal. He justified the decision by saying: "The duke can make me mayor, but the king can make me duke", but that never happened.

Upon his return to São Vicente and Santos, in 1532 he led troops guided by the native inhabitants and by earlier Portuguese settlers such as João Ramalho up the Serra do Mar mountains to the area near the future village of São Paulo. On the high plateau, he founded the town of Santo André. He also established a sugar mill near the coast at São Vicente, with sugarcane brought from the Portuguese Cape Verde islands. In both activities, Afonso de Sousa established a pattern followed by Portuguese colonizers and Brazilians for long afterward: the "entradas" and "bandeiras" – or explorations and raids into the interior – and the production of sugar along the coast for export.

He fought French privateers on the coast and was honored by the Portuguese crown, under the reign of King John III, as Donatary captain of two tracts of land in Brazil: the two tracts of the Captaincy of São Vicente. After he left Portugal, he received communication from the king that the immense territory would be divided into extensive strips of land: hereditary captaincies. On that occasion, he was given one hundred leagues on the coast and he was authorized to return to Lisbon. He was authorized to choose another eighty leagues for his younger brother Pero Lopes de Sousa.

Back to the Kingdom In 1533 he was already back in Portugal. Then on December 19, 1533, four months after he had returned from his tiring journey, King John III sent him to serve in India with the post of Captain-Major of the Indian Sea. To this end, he was entrusted with the leadership of five ships. According to chronicler Gaspar Correia, in Legends of India, "Martim Afonso was very disgusted by the decision, because he felt that it was coming from D. António".

Governor of Portuguese India He was tasked with protecting Portugal's possessions in the East. He defended the trading post of Diu against Moors and Hindus, defeated the Zamorin of Calicut and fought the corsairs who plundered Portuguese vessels in the region. He agreed to build the Fortress of Diu, obtained through negotiations by Martim Afonso de Sousa when he was in Chaul in 1535. Victorious, he was appointed by the King as Viceroy of the Indies. These and other situations earned him respect and fear in Asia and returning to the Kingdom.

Later life and demise There is controversy regarding the end of his career. Some historians claim that he returned to Portugal in 1545 or 1546, becoming one of the members of the Council of State. Others maintain that he was recalled on charges of embezzlement of Crown money and illicit enrichment, remaining away from public life until his death.

He was Lord of Alcoentre, which he bought from the Marquis of Vila Real and Mayor of Rio Maior. He established a morgue, was a donatary captain of the captaincies of São Vicente and Rio de Janeiro, Commendator of Mascarenhas in the Order of Christ and Nobleman of the Council of King John III. At the end of his life, he regained the landlordship of the town of Prado that he had sold as a young man.

He died on July 21, 1564 and lies in the Convent of São Francisco da Cidade, in Lisbon.