Jorge Álvares (died 8 July 1521) was a

Portuguese explorer Portuguese maritime exploration resulted in the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of Eu ...

. He is credited as the first European to have reached China by sea during the

Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafa ...

. His starting of settlements on an island in what is now

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

is still considered a significant achievement, "for establishing commercial agreements with the Chinese nd formaintaining the peace".

Exploration

In May 1513, Álvares sailed under the

Portuguese Malacca Portuguese control of Malacca, a city on the Malay Peninsula, refers to the 130 year period (1511–1641) when it was a possession of the Portuguese East Indies. It was conquered from the Malacca Sultanate as part of Portuguese attempts to ...

captain Rui de Brito Patalim in a junk from

Pegu Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon langua ...

. The expedition was accompanied by five other junks. Álvares himself was accompanied by two other Portuguese mariners.Porter, Jonathan.

996 Year 996 ( CMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * February - Chotoku Incident: Fujiwara no Korechika and Takaie shoot an arrow at Retired Emp ...

(1996). Macau, the Imaginary City: Culture and Society, 1557 to the Present. Westview Press. Álvares made first contact on Chinese soil on an island near the historic city of

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

in southern China in May 1513. The location of the island, which the Portuguese called Tamão, is not exactly known except that it is in the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region (PRD; ; pt, Delta do Rio das Pérolas (DRP)) is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Ma ...

, and scholarship has suggested islands such as

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

and

Lintin Island Nei or Inner Lingding Island, formerly romanized as Lintin or is an island in the Pearl River estuary in the southeastern Chinese province of Guangdong. Although it is located closer to the eastern (Hong Kong and Shenzhen) shore of the estua ...

as potential candidates. Upon landing on Tamão, Álvares raised a '' padrão'' from the king of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

. Based on information from their captain, they hoped to find a trade. Soon after this,

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

, the Viceroy of the

Estado da Índia The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

dispatched Rafael Perestrello—a cousin of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

—to seek trade relations with the Chinese. In a ship from Malacca, Rafael Perestrello landed on the southern shores of

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

later that year in 1513.Brook, 124. According to a 1955 book by J.M. Braga, Álvares "learned about China’s culture, religion, finances, and military, valuable information for King Manuel I".

Death and legacy

He died on 8 July 1521 in Tamão in the arms of his friend

Duarte Coelho Duarte Coelho Pereira (c. 1485 – c. 1553) was a nobleman, military leader, and colonial administrator in the Portuguese colony of Brazil. He was the first Donatario (Lord Proprietor) of the captaincy of Pernambuco and founder of Olinda. Biog ...

. Aside from questions as to the location of the place, historians also have no evidence as to the cause of death. Although the manner of his death was not recorded, Tamão was attacked in 1521 by the Chinese navy; it was abandoned and the Portuguese fled to

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...

, in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. Over the subsequent years, the memories of the significance of his explorations and settlement faded. "Álvares’ role was reduced to a footnote." According to

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

, "Macau may never have existed if not for Tamão" where the Portuguese learned "how China, the Pearl River Delta, and the South China Sea worked". The settlement and Jorge Álvares "kickstarted a chain of events that ultimately spawned Macau".

Notes

References

* Brook, Timothy. (1998). '' The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China''. Berkeley: University of California Press. (Paperback).

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20130202134043/http://english.sohu.com/20050203/n224228767.shtml
The Jorge Álvares Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvares, Jorge 15th-century births 1521 deaths Portuguese explorers Explorers of Asia Portuguese expatriates in China Ming dynasty 16th-century Portuguese people 16th-century explorers Year of birth unknown Maritime history of Portugal People from Freixo de Espada à Cinta

Exploration

Death and legacy

See also

Notes

References

External links