Teive, Diogo de:

$45,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

COMENTARIUS DE REBUS IN INDIA APUD DIUM GESTIS ANNO SALUTIS NOSTRAE M.D.XLVI. From the collection of R. David Parsons. The extremely rare first edition of this account of Portuguese conquests in western India, focussing on the furious seven-month second siege of the stronghold at Diu in 1546. This is one of two contemporary celebrations of the Portuguese victory; the other was by Damião de Góis. It was commissioned from the humanist Diogo de Teive (ca. 1513-1565) by King João III. "To fulfill its objective of monopolizing the East Indian spice trade, Portugal had to wrest control of the Arabian Sea from Egyptian Muslims. In addition to establishing forts and equipping trading posts in India, the Portuguese began a military offensive against the Muslims by attacking and sinking an Egyptian fleet off the island of Diu, a possession of India's Muslim state of Gujarat, in 1509" - Kohn. The earlier siege of Diu in 1538 reflected its strategic importance: along with Damman and Goa it became part of what Kohn describes as "a triumvirate of fortified Portuguese trade centers dominating the eastern end of the Arabian Sea." The second siege of Diu (April 20 - November 10, 1546) was conducted by the forces of the Sultanate of Gujarat under Khadjar Safar, the Portuguese defenders being led by João de Mascarenhas. The siege was lifted after intervention from a fleet commanded by João de Castro. Included are laudatory epigrams by the humanist João da Costa and the Scottish writer and histo

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