Aires de Saldanha (

Santarém, Portugal Santarém () is a Portugal, Portuguese city and municipality located in the district of Santarém District, Santarém. The population of the historic Ribatejo capital in 2021 was 58,671,excluding the parish Pombalinho, that changed from the munic ...

, 10 May 1542 -

Terceira Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, about a third of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean at a similar latitude to Portugal's capital Lisbon, with the island group forming an insular part of Portugal. It is one of the ...

, 19 August 1605) was a Portuguese soldier. He was the son of António de Saldanha, military and navigator who discovered the bay of Saldanha. He went to

Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

in 1558, with the viceroy

Constantino of Braganza D. Constantino of Braganza (; 1528–1575) was a Portuguese nobleman, ''conquistador'', and administrator of the Portuguese Empire. Born a member of the powerful House of Braganza, he is best known for having served as Viceroy of India and for ...

, this time serving for twelve years in the region.

Captain and Governor

He returned to Portugal in 1570, where he married Joana de Albuquerque, soon after he returned to India, this time with the Viceroy Rui Lourenço de Távora. He was appointed captain of

Portuguese Malacca Portuguese control of Malaccaa city on the Malay Peninsulaspanned a 130 year period from 1511 to 1641 as a possession of the Portuguese East Indies. It was captured from the Malacca Sultanate as part of Portuguese attempts to gain control of ...

, where he built the fort of Tidor. Returning to Portugal, he was appointed governor of

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

, a position he held for 9 years.

Viceroy

In 1600, he was named 17th

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

and 34th Governor of India. During his viceroyalty, in addition to financial difficulties, had to struggle against the Dutch on several fronts, defending Cochim and

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

, and repel them in the Moluccas.

Death

He died during his return to Portugal, near the island of

, being first buried in

Angra do Heroísmo Angra do Heroísmo (), or simply Angra, is a city and municipality on Terceira Island, Portugal, and one of the three capital cities of the Azores. Founded in 1478, Angra was historically the most important city in the Azores, as seat of the Roma ...

, after his body was moved to Santarém.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saldanha, Aires de Viceroys of Portuguese India Portuguese nobility 16th-century Portuguese people 1542 births 1605 deaths People from Santarém, Portugal Governors of Tangier