CASTRO, João de - Freire de Andrade, Jacinto.

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Vida de Dom João de Castro quarto viso-rey da India. First edition of Freire de Andrade's classic life of João de Castro, "one of the most popular books to ever appear in the Portuguese language" (Lach III, 1, p. 350) and a vital source-book for the history of Portuguese expansion in India, especially Goa, and the battles at Hormuz between the Turks and the Arabs.Soldier, administrator, navigator and scientist, Castro was in India 1538-42, returning to Goa as the Governor in 1545. In 1546 he led the armada that relieved Diu after its second siege. "He achieved such popularity by the overthrow of Mahmud king of Gujarat, by the relief of Diu, and by the defeat of the great army of the Adil Khan, that he was able to negotiate with the Goa merchants for a large loan for the rehabilitation of Diu on the simple security of his moustache. These great deeds were followed by the capture of Broach, by the complete subjugation of Malacca, and by the passage of Antonio Moniz into Ceylon" (Ency. Brit.). He was rewarded with the title of fourth Viceroy in 1547, and died the following year in the arms of his friend and pioneering Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier. Andrade also reports of the renewal of war between the Ottomans and the Savafids in the Arabian Gulf in the 1530s, which interfered with the Portuguese commercial activities in the area and particularly in Hormuz, a crucial stopover point for ships travelling to India. Castro was informed of the conquest of Basra, the major p

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