Una diferente ‘Plus Ultra’ - the Avís-Trastámara Kings of All Spain and the Indies (Updated 11/7)

[chrnno]

Wouldn't it? Conquistadors vs Samurai
Imagine magnates in New Spain or Spanish India contracting bands of samurai to fight for them... That's it. I've made up my mind. That's gonna happen.

IIRC there were Japanese left outside the country when it closed the borders and some even ended up fighting in Mexico. Given a higher number being willing to travel I would expect to see them all over the world.

 

[SavoyTruffle]

Samurai diaspora would be awesome.

 

[kasumigenx]

Virtually everything north of Manila is going to coalesce into a state much like Sunda or Bali, as you've suggested - I realize now that such is the more realistic option. I imagine Christianity and Islam will slowly percolate into this Luzon state, although Christianity will probably have much better luck and the Luzon government will most likely toy with converting to either Islam or Christianity depending on which serves their relations with their powerful neighbors better (much like pagan Lithuania did with the Catholic Poles and the Orthodox Rus) before eventually settling on Christianity once the Portuguese begin to more comprehensively assert their authority.

Although wouldn't Luzon ITTL be referred to as Luçon (with the inhabitants called Luções) by the Portuguese as it was IOTL?

I think the term Luçon might be still be used since the island is known by the chinese in that name.

Both the Northern Kingdom and Manila will be initially known as Selurong or Saludong in Malay term but the Portuguese will transcribe the term in their way, the term Selurong or Saludong was transcribed by the Spanish as Luzon in OTL by the Spanish which caused its disambiguation with Luçon, the Bruneians named the city of Manila Kota Saludong because the Bruneians established it after warring in Manila bay and seizing territories in Saludong, which is the Majapahit name for the Luzon.

 

[Silver]

I have a few more questions for you Torbald, and they are:

- How much of North Africa will the Iberian Empire control in the end? Will Iberian-controlled North Africa consists of OTL Algeria, OTL Libya, OTL Morocco, OTL Spanish Morocco, and OTL Tunisia (with Egypt and the Sudan becoming client states of the Iberian Empire or just kept in perpetual chaos)?

- With the Iberian Empire revitalizing/re-militarizing the knightly orders- will said knightly orders not only set up chapters/branches in Iberian-controlled North Africa, but also in the Malay Archipelago in order control the Philippines (especially the Muslim Moro-dominated Mindanao as well as the nearby Luzon and Visayas islands) as well as to combat and eventually destroy the Sulu Sultanate in Mindanao as well as the Brunei Sultanate (that controlled northern Borneo like OTL Brunei and OTL west Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak)?

- Speaking of Borneo, will the Iberian Empire control all of aforementioned Borneo (which consists of OTL Brunei, the OTL west Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the OTL Indonesian province of Kalimantan)? If so, will it be totally be controlled by the Iberian Empire-version of the White Rajahs? An Iberian family that rules an entire island that is not wholly part of the Captaincy system of the Iberian Empire and is semi-autonomous/-independent of the Iberian Empire? If so, that would be cool!!!

- Will the Iberian-Empire eventually set up their own Janissaries corps that are inspired by the original Ottoman Turkish version, and that it is (by law) composed of slaves/ex-slaves from all over the Iberian Empire as well as from its numerous client states and allied kingdoms? And, that it eventually morphs into something like that the OTL French Foreign Legion and/or OTL Spanish Foreign Legion/Spanish Legion, especially once slavery is outlawed throughout the Iberian Empire and that it is mostly composed of foreigners from the various client states and allied kingdoms of the Iberian Empire, but are wholly led by officers from the Iberian Imperial Army with some foreigner NCOs that have risen from the ranks?

Again, please let me know your answers to each of my questions. Thank you.

 

[The Merovingian]

I have a few more questions for you Torbald, and they are:

- How much of North Africa will the Iberian Empire control in the end? Will Iberian-controlled North Africa consists of OTL Algeria, OTL Libya, OTL Morocco, OTL Spanish Morocco, and OTL Tunisia (with Egypt and the Sudan becoming client states of the Iberian Empire or just kept in perpetual chaos)?

- With the Iberian Empire revitalizing/re-militarizing the knightly orders- will said knightly orders not only set up chapters/branches in Iberian-controlled North Africa, but also in the Malay Archipelago in order control the Philippines (especially the Muslim Moro-dominated Mindanao as well as the nearby Luzon and Visayas islands) as well as to combat and eventually destroy the Sulu Sultanate in Mindanao as well as the Brunei Sultanate (that controlled northern Borneo like OTL Brunei and OTL west Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak)?

- Speaking of Borneo, will the Iberian Empire control all of aforementioned Borneo (which consists of OTL Brunei, the OTL west Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the OTL Indonesian province of Kalimantan)? If so, will it be totally be controlled by the Iberian Empire-version of the White Rajahs? An Iberian family that rules an entire island that is not wholly part of the Captaincy system of the Iberian Empire and is semi-autonomous/-independent of the Iberian Empire? If so, that would be cool!!!

- Will the Iberian-Empire eventually set up their own Janissaries corps that are inspired by the original Ottoman Turkish version, and that it is (by law) composed of slaves/ex-slaves from all over the Iberian Empire as well as from its numerous client states and allied kingdoms? And, that it eventually morphs into something like that the OTL French Foreign Legion and/or OTL Spanish Foreign Legion/Spanish Legion, especially once slavery is outlawed throughout the Iberian Empire and that it is mostly composed of foreigners from the various client states and allied kingdoms of the Iberian Empire, but are wholly led by officers from the Iberian Imperial Army with some foreigner NCOs that have risen from the ranks?

Again, please let me know your answers to each of my questions. Thank you.

I'm a huge fan of the white rajahs, but I think if any one Spanish family gained so much power in an area the Spanish would simply establish a viceroyalty. It would be cool though a 'Grand Dutchy' of Sarawak.

 

[Torbald]

IIRC there were Japanese left outside the country when it closed the borders and some even ended up fighting in Mexico. Given a higher number being willing to travel I would expect to see them all over the world.

Samurai diaspora would be awesome.

Well that settles it then

I think the term Luçon might be still be used since the island is known by the chinese in that name.

Both the Northern Kingdom and Manila will be initially known as Selurong or Saludong in Malay term but the Portuguese will transcribe the term in their way, the term Selurong or Saludong was transcribed by the Spanish as Luzon in OTL by the Spanish which caused its disambiguation with Luçon, the Bruneians named the city of Manila Kota Saludong because the Bruneians established it after warring in Manila bay and seizing territories in Saludong, which is the Majapahit name for the Luzon.

Would Celudão be appropriate for a Portuguese transliteration? That's what I was planning on using as the name for Manila ITTL.

I have a few more questions for you Torbald, and they are:

- How much of North Africa will the Iberian Empire control in the end? Will Iberian-controlled North Africa consists of OTL Algeria, OTL Libya, OTL Morocco, OTL Spanish Morocco, and OTL Tunisia (with Egypt and the Sudan becoming client states of the Iberian Empire or just kept in perpetual chaos)?

Spanish North Africa will wax and wane in the coming centuries due to varying levels of interest (which will always be lower than the Americas and India/the Orient) and Berber raids (which will be a constant for the Spaniards), with more complete control over the region beginning in the early 19th century. Until then, real, stable Spanish colonization in North Africa will primarily be in OTL Morocco and Algeria - especially in Tingitana, the Rif, Tlemcen/Oran/Mazalquivir, the city of Algiers, and the coastal areas - while the Spanish presence in Tunisia and Libya will be more nebulous and delegated to the Sicilians and Maltese. The Spanish might be interested in Egypt and the Holy Land, but they'll still have the Ottomans to contend with and will ultimately probably avoid a permanent presence in the region so as to not overextend their navy - leave that to the Venetians and Genoans.

- With the Iberian Empire revitalizing/re-militarizing the knightly orders- will said knightly orders not only set up chapters/branches in Iberian-controlled North Africa, but also in the Malay Archipelago in order control the Philippines (especially the Muslim Moro-dominated Mindanao as well as the nearby Luzon and Visayas islands) as well as to combat and eventually destroy the Sulu Sultanate in Mindanao as well as the Brunei Sultanate (that controlled northern Borneo like OTL Brunei and OTL west Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak)?

The Ordenes Militantes will definitely filter into India and the Far East either naturally or by royal decree, but they'll be late in the game and will probably only fulfill an auxiliary/chaplain role militarily. I do think, however, that the Crown will try to imitate the success they had with the Ordenes in the Mediterranean and install some of them in forward position ports, forts, and islands against the Muslims (e.g. Ormus, Perim, Aden, Muscat, Qatar/Bahrain, Basra, etc.)

- Speaking of Borneo, will the Iberian Empire control all of aforementioned Borneo (which consists of OTL Brunei, the OTL west Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the OTL Indonesian province of Kalimantan)? If so, will it be totally be controlled by the Iberian Empire-version of the White Rajahs? An Iberian family that rules an entire island that is not wholly part of the Captaincy system of the Iberian Empire and is semi-autonomous/-independent of the Iberian Empire? If so, that would be cool!!!

I'm a huge fan of the white rajahs, but I think if any one Spanish family gained so much power in an area the Spanish would simply establish a viceroyalty. It would be cool though a 'Grand Dutchy' of Sarawak.

The Portuguese are going to have so much to swallow in the East Indies that entertaining the idea of conquering an island as vast as Borneo won't enter their minds (or at least won't enter the minds of the more sensible among them) for a very long time. Likewise, broad tropical interiors are the bane of pre-malaria medication Europeans and the clout of the Portuguese in the Far East is almost entirely naval-based - so Spain is going to favor controlling islands and straits in the short and long run. But we'll see!

- Will the Iberian-Empire eventually set up their own Janissaries corps that are inspired by the original Ottoman Turkish version, and that it is (by law) composed of slaves/ex-slaves from all over the Iberian Empire as well as from its numerous client states and allied kingdoms? And, that it eventually morphs into something like that the OTL French Foreign Legion and/or OTL Spanish Foreign Legion/Spanish Legion, especially once slavery is outlawed throughout the Iberian Empire and that it is mostly composed of foreigners from the various client states and allied kingdoms of the Iberian Empire, but are wholly led by officers from the Iberian Imperial Army with some foreigner NCOs that have risen from the ranks?

Again, please let me know your answers to each of my questions. Thank you.

A Janissary system would be very beneficial to the Spanish Empire overseas, but such a system hinges on how widespread the acceptance of slavery is. IIRC, janissaries - like most Islamic slave soldiers - were brought up in their master's household from a very early age. This meant that the janissaries' commitment to both Islam and their commanders was not merely a condition of their slavery, but was integral to their very person - made a reality during their developmental years and possessed of a strong family dynamic. The Spanish, on the other hand, cannot take children as slaves and have the same success with such a system because slave-taking for them is mostly limited to adult infidels who are captured on the battlefield. However, in the future I think conversion to Catholicism and military service to the Spanish Crown might become mutually inclusive conditions for manumission in Spanish India, Africa, and the Far East.

 

[Torbald]

Also, the update on the East Indies - which I have been having the damnedest time finishing - should be done soon.

 

[Torbald]

~ Estado del Reino ~
Parte III:
As Índias Orientais
(c. 1500 - 1550)

With Malaca captured in late 1509 by Albuquerque’s lieutenant Diogo Lopes de Sequeira (after a botched attempt by the Malacan sultan to take his visitors by surprise and destroy their fleet) the Portuguese found themselves thrust into an entirely new theatre - but one that, luckily, they had not completely ruined their reputation in as of yet. There were also many other factors in this new theatre that were much more favorable to Portuguese insertion than were found in India. For one, while the sultans of Malaca, Brunei, and Aceh (called Achém by the Portuguese) were most certainly Muslims, and fervent ones too, the rest of the East Indies was at the moment either imperfectly Islamified or completely unconverted. The arrival of the Portuguese east of Malaca thus came at a critical moment when many of the great states of the East Indies were teetering on the brink of Islamic takeover or conversion. In some cases - such as those of the kingdoms of Bali and Sunda - some states in the East Indies had solidified their adherence to their non-Islamic religions (especially Hinduism) and actively opposed their Muslim neighbors. For such states, the sudden entry of the Portuguese was something of a deus ex machina, ultimately propping up states and preserving cultural and religious traditions in the region that would otherwise have been swept away.

However, the Portuguese capture of Malaca had, quite paradoxically, strengthened Islam in the immediate vicinity and even served to accelerate its spread. The sudden expulsion of thousands of Islamic merchants and teachers from the region’s chief entrepot caused waves of them to relocate to previously underdeveloped or un-proselytized areas of Malaya, Sumatra, and Borneo, as well as further afield in Java, the Moluccas, and Celebes. During the decades following the fall of Malaca, the Portuguese essentially had to play catch-up, pushing further east and north in order to prevent cohesive Islamic statelets from taking root. The sultanate of Gowa was one such state. While nominally favoring Islam, Gowa still tolerated a great number of other faiths and also syncretized Islam with the Hindu and animist traditions of Celebes. However, when the sultan of Gowa died and was replaced by a much more hardline son, and with the sultan of nearby Buton requesting imams and Muslim mercenaries, the Portuguese sprung into action and, one the orders of Malaca’s governor Francisco de Almeida, seized Gowa’s chief port and administrative center, Macáçar [1], in 1511 (while also deposing its new sultan in favor of his more subservient, religiously-tolerant brother).

Malaca Portuguesa​

The Portuguese had also learned their lesson from Vasco da Gama’s embarrassing first encounter with the Zamorin of Calicut, and secured in 1517 a loan from the Crown for 400 pounds of American silver - ferried carefully around the Cabo de Boa Esperança and inspected at Goa - to be carried aboard the ships of Francisco de Sá and Lopo Vaz de Sampaio for the sake of wooing the local potentates in the East Indies (as well as the Chinese Emperor, if he was found there). After the gunboat diplomacy of Albuquerque and his comrades, this change in policy could only improve the situation.

The East Indies had been more or less united during the 14th century under the hegemony of Majapahit, a Hindu state, but this unity underwent a precipitous decline in the latter half of the 15th century due to the spread of Islam and the establishment of the Sultanate of Malaca. By the time the Portuguese had captured Malaca, the only cohesive and firmly non-Islamic realms left were those girding the isle of Java, Bali in the east and Sunda in the west. The island of Java formed the most immediate frontline of this conflict. Muslim sultanates had been formed at Demak and Cirebon, leaving Sunda and Bali as the only non-Muslim powers in the neighborhood. Lourenço de Almeida - the son of Francisco and governor of the Portuguese East Indies in the absence of clear orders on a new appointment from Portugal - had established friendly relations with the king of Sunda, Sri Baduga, in 1512, but Almeida’s recall to India in that same year put a halt on their cooperation.

Fortunately, Malaca’s new governor, Duarte Pacheco Pereira, arrived in 1516, and was followed by the shipment of silver (and reinforcements) from Portugal two years later. Pereira brought with him the valuable experience of many years’ service in the Portuguese holdings in India and the Gold Coast of Africa, and he knew all the diplomatic intricacies and measured shows of force necessary to establish a position of predominance in a region riven by tribal and religious differences. Albeit intended by King Miguel for the Chinese emperor (with the long term intention of inducing the emperor to convert), Pereira redirected most of the silver bullion to assist Sri Baduga - both to alleviate the king of Sunda’s expenses and to pay for the construction of a Portuguese fort at Sunda Kelapa. This assistance was timely. By the end of the first half of the 16th century, the Portuguese had not only provided Sunda and Bali enough aid to survive, but to expand: Sunda was able to repulse the sultanate of Cirebon and retain firm control of Galuh and Lampung, while Bali maintained vassalages over Madura, Probolinggo, Taliwang, Blambangan, and Lombok. The Portuguese silver and blood spilled for these two polities were repaid with very lenient concessions for trade, the establishment of forts and embassies, and the free movement and proselytization of Christian missionaries.

However, the Portuguese strategy in the western half of the East Indies did not always follow the usual black-and-white religious gridlock, with Portuguese Malaca often allying with the sultanate of Aceh or declaring a ceasefire with the sultanate of Johor depending on which state they felt needed to be knocked down a few pegs. Ultimately, this approach kept Malaca firmly in Portuguese hands and continuously stymied Johor, but also drove numbers of capable Muslims to Sumatra and Borneo (where they continued to take up arms against the Portuguese) and gave Aceh the advantage it needed to become a serious regional threat - the destruction of which Spain would eventually offer other maritime powers a hefty reward for.

- Os Mouros do Oriente -​

As Portuguese ships began to explore in every which direction, the vastness of the archipelago east of Malaca began to occur to the Portuguese, as well as the apparent primitiveness of the natives and their eagerness for Christianity. It was one Portuguese navigator and veteran of King Miguel’s wars in Morocco, named Fernão de Magalhães, who first drew a comparison between these lands and the virgin territory being explored and conquered by the Castilians in the Americas, prompting him to designate the islands east of Borneo and Java (encompassing, at the time, the “Spice Islands” of Celebes, Mindanão, the Moluccas and the Lesser Sunda Islands) as the “Ilhas Miguelinas,” after his liege. Such a comparison was not an invention of Magalhães, however, as the expansion of the Portuguese into the East Indies beyond Borneo and Java very quickly began to resemble the travails of the Castilian conquistadores.

As Índias Orientais, c. 1520
(Green = Muslim states, Blue = Hindu/Animist/non-Islamic states, Teal = Portuguese control/dominance, Orange = Buddhist/non-aligned Indochinese states, White = disputed or not organized)
(1 = Sultanate of Johor, 2 = Portuguese Malaca, 3 = Sultanate of Aceh, 4 = Kingdom of Sunda, 5 = Sultanate of Cirebon, 6 = Sultanate of Demak, 7 = Kingdom of Bali, 8 = Macáçar, 9 = Sultanate of Buton, 10 = Flores & Timor, 11 = Sultanates of Ternate and Tidore, 12 = Davão, 13 = Bruneian dependencies, 13a = Maynila/Seuldong, 14 = Sultanate of Brunei)​

Magalhães and his cousin Francisco Serrão had been the first to lead substantial expeditions into the Spice Islands. During the years 1517 to 1520, Serrão married a Javanese woman and established a Portuguese presence on the islands of Ceram, Ambon, and of Banda, and had taken up residence on the isle of Ternate - where he was made the Sultan’s personal advisor - while Magalhães continued north, eventually charting the southern coast of “Maluku Besar” (which he named Mindanão after the locals) and setting up shop on the isle of Samal in the gulf of Davão. However, jealous courtiers in Ternate caused a falling out between the sultan and Serrão, who was poisoned on the sultan’s orders in 1521 - a deed which Magalhães then began to coordinate with Serrão’s brother João to avenge. The two were in luck, as the sultan of Johor (and former sultan of Malaca), Mahmud Shah had been captured by Lopo Vaz de Sampaio on the island of Belitung, and the ceasefire that followed allowed Portuguese sailors to percolate east of Malaca in greater numbers - with roughly 250 going to Sunda Kelapa, 400 going to Bali, Nusa Tengara, and Timor, and 200 going to the Moluccas (almost all of whom joined Magalhães’ expedition).

Portuguese ships wandering eastward were gradually scooped up by Magalhães with promises of removing the only obstacle to complete Portuguese dominance of the Spice Islands, and, by late 1522, a significant enough force had been accumulated at Ambon - now the center of Portuguese operations in the area - to assault Ternate. The sultanate of Ternate was rich and capable of defending itself, but crumbled quickly against the shock and awe tactics of the heavily armed Portuguese and their superfluous ordnance. The fall and sack of Ternate left the Portuguese as the virtually unopposed masters of the Moluccas, and initiated a rapid colonization of the archipelago and its surrounding islands: the Tidore and Buton sultanates fell in 1525 and 1536, respectively; north of the Moluccas, trade posts, forts, missions, and ports were established at Menado in 1530, Cebu in 1532, Dumaguete in 1536, Minajouro [2] in 1537, Gorontalo in 1542, and Palauan [3] in 1545; and by the turn of the half-century, there were merchant communities of Tamils and Christian Malays (known as “Kristangs,” from the Portuguese “cristãos”) imported by the Portuguese living as far away as Mindanão. News of wealth and easy conquest, as well as the attraction of Eastern exoticism, pulled at first hundreds, then thousands, of Portuguese into the East Indies over the course of the first half of the 16th century (many to avoid mandatory service in King Miguel’s African wars, in which the Portuguese had to pull an almost disproportionate amount of weight) - even more so than settled in the much closer colony of Brasil [4]. However, the victory in the Moluccas and consequent northward expansion left the Portuguese entangled in another, less terminable war.

Ternate​

The sultanate of Brunei had been one of the few Islamic states in the East Indies to prosper from the fall of Malaca - an event which brought it a wealth of refugee imams, merchants, and soldiers, all of whom were used to further Brunei’s growing maritime empire. In the early 16th century, Brunei was a realm in its prime, with a hegemonic system of vassals encompassing not only the the northern half of the isle of Bornéu [5], but also the a multitude of footholds on the isles of Luçon [6], Palauan, Sulu, and Minajouro. The Bruneian vassal state in Luçon, known as Maynila (also known as Seludong/Selurong), was the most important of these overseas possessions and had been founded in 1500 along the Pasig River. Nonetheless, just like the Aztecs so far away, the Bruneian empire would see its golden age snuffed out before any real solidification could be accomplished.

After he and Serrão were pardoned for the sack of Ternate by Pereira in 1524, Magalhães was awarded with a captaincy over the isle of Mindanão - something which he began to enforce vigorously. This brought him into open conflict with the recently Islamified natives that lived on the western coast of the island and in the basin of the island’s great river (later named the Rio Grande de Mindanão). When Magalhães sent Cristóvão de Távora to capture Cotabato, the primary port and center of power for the Islamic Mindanãoans (located at the mouth of the Rio Grande), he believed he was merely removing a regional nuisance. However, the capture of Cotabato (and the consequent scattering to the wind of most of Mindanão’s cohesive Islamic society) brought the nascent Portuguese presence in the upper Miguelinas into the crosshairs of the powerful Bruneian sultan Bolkiah, who was quick to denounce these transgressors who had wiped out his trading partners and persecuted his missionaries. Magalhães, quick of temper and hardened by his years in North Africa, refused to apologize or back down in any shape or form, and began conscripting native Mindanãoans to construct fortifications at Davão and Cotabato.

These fortifications would largely be unnecessary (for at least the first few years), as Magalhães could rely on Portuguese naval power. As was the case when the Portuguese burst into the Indian Ocean in their sturdy carracks profusely armed with their pulverizing, high quality bronze cannons, the navies of the states of the East Indies simply could not compete. While not necessarily the best for the transport of troops and supplies, the Portuguese carrack turned virtually every assault made against it into a debacle, with the weaker, smaller boats of their enemies almost always dispelled or simply blown out of the water. The Bruneians, so long the masters of the seas in their vicinity, now suddenly found themselves incapable of dislodging an uppity captain, his four ships, and his ragtag contingent of Portuguese sailors (who at the time numbered no more than 300) and their foreign complement of Moluccans, Javans, and Tamils. Magalhães’ aggression and naval acumen had left his position so secure, in fact, that he was able to personally found a settlement at Samboanga [7] in 1527 as a forward position against the Bruneians, and from there intimidate the sultan’s vassals in the Sulu archipelago into paying tribute.

Fernão Magalhães​

While Magalhães could hold his own against the Bruneians, the weaknesses in his defense became more apparent with time: his sailors were growing exasperated with the constant maneuvering in these strange, uncharted seas, with the lack of the substantial riches they were promised, and with the constant harassment from the locals; many Mindanãoans found Magalhães an overbearing presence and conspired against him; and, to top it all off, the governor, Pereira, had revoked Magalhães’ pardon and requested his presence in Malaca, effectively cutting Magalhães off from any further resupply by his countrymen. Magalhães and his fellow Portuguese had become restricted to the interiors of Samboanga, Cotabato, Davão, and the sea lanes between the three cities by 1528, but two developments rescued his enterprise.

Firstly, and most importantly, was the arrival of João da Silveira and Sancho de Tovar. The two had spent a number of years in East Africa, India, and Java, but had been pushed onward by both some unsavory rumors and by their desire to carve out bona fide personal fiefdoms - something difficult, if not impossible, to do in regions in which the intricate political situation of the Portuguese had already been solidified. Upon hearing of what was essentially a gold rush for spices in the Moluccas after the fall of Ternate, Silveira and Tovar acquired two ships and 119 men to form an expedition in mid 1528. This small flotilla quickly became lost in the maze of islands, and possibly would have disappeared if not for a chance encounter with Cristóvão de Távora, who just happened to be heading a brief reconnoiter of the gulf of Davão. Magalhães offered these welcome arrivals a lion’s share of the treasure if they accompanied him in seizing the port of Brunei, but Silveira and Tovar had other plans; the two had already agreed on a strict contract between themselves and were also un-enthused by the idea of striking at the heart of a hostile Muslim empire. Silveira and Tovar continued sailing after deciding to investigate rumors they had heard from a number of seafaring Luções of a spacious, temperate harbor with a rich, bustling port frequented by the Chinese to the north. What they found - the port of Maynila (the region and harbor eventually Lusitanized to Mainila) - might not have been as bustling or as free from the conflict with Brunei as they had hoped, but the harbor was indeed good and there was also a large Chinese merchant community. While these Portuguese were at first received amiably by the rajah, Sulaiman I, this reception quickly went south once their origins were ascertained.

Having left without ample victuals, Silveira and Tovar’s only options were either death by scurvy, starvation, or worse in the harbor, or an assault on the town. After several hours of bombardment, this paltry force mustered together what they still had and disembarked on shore, blocking the town’s only southerly road. Fearful of their opponent’s numerical superiority, Silveira and two of his comrades were able to slip over the walls by night, setting fires (it being the dry season) and opening gates. Before the garrison had time to organize a response, the Portuguese had engaged them in street to street fighting, resulting in a massacre of the defendants and the death of Sulaiman I. The city, taken on January 21st of 1529 and promptly renamed São Lourenço de Celudão [8], went to Silveira, with Tovar moving south to survey the land before eventually taking the isle of Majas [9] as his own. Mainila would very quickly surpass Davão as the most frequented port in the northern Miguelinas, although Magalhães and his successors would retain a cut of the profits by their control of Samboanga and the Sulu archipelago. While Magalhães’ captaincy may have been run like a pirate kingdom with little regard for the wellbeing or evangelization of the natives, Silveira and Tovar perhaps went a step further, organizing their self-named captaincies of Mainila and Majas in a fashion resembling that of a Castilian encomienda in the Americas. This unauthorized conquest and virtual enslavement of populaces not properly assessed or deemed a threat by Portuguese authorities earned Silveira and Tovar summons for court-martial identical to those received by Magalhães. Later arrivals, such as Galeote Pereira (who would become the captain of Portuguese Tamão on the Pearl River Delta) or the Castilians Juan de Ayolas and Juan de Fustes, would be instrumental in consolidating these conquests - especially in terms of subduing the outer Visaías and exploring the interior of Mindanão.

The second development was the appointment of a new governor. The proliferation of Portuguese adventurers into the Miguelinas may have been a godsend to the spice-deprived markets of Europe, but to the immediate Portuguese authorities it was a significant headache. Pereira, during his governorate, had to scramble incessantly to assemble sufficient soldiery and funds in his defensive campaigns against the sultanates surrounding Malaca - especially against the endlessly hostile sultanate of Johor - as well as to protect the heavily endangered kingdoms of Sunda and Bali (all of which yielded better returns than anything that had come back from the Miguelinas). Consequently, he did not at all like the idea of able-bodied Portuguese - much needed manpower in such a manpower-starved theatre - fleeing the struggle with the Muslims and running off to the eastern isles for the easy sexual favors of pagan women and promises of personal aggrandizement based on mere hearsay. While Pereira and his predecessors focused Portuguese efforts on the Straits of Malaca and the Greater Sunda Islands (specifically Java), he had authorized António de Abreu’s expedition to strengthen the Portuguese presence on the isle of Timor as well as Fernão de Magalhães’ port at Davão.

The first to officially shift the focus of Portuguese colonization in the East Indies was a certain Mem de Sá, who had arrived in Sunda Kelapa in 1525 and given the captaincy of Java a year later. De Sá spent only half his captaincy in Java, however, with most of his more active work taking place at São André de Selão in Nusa Tengara and being oriented northeastward. When de Sá was elevated to the governorate in 1532 after Pereira was recalled to India, he gave Malaca and its environs the necessary attention, but primarily worked to consolidate the Portuguese presence in the Miguelinas, with official pardon being granted to João Serrão, Fernão de Magalhães, João da Silveira, and Sancho de Tovar. The recognition of the captaincies illegally acquired in the Miguelinas not only eased the flow of goods through the Portuguese East Indies and provided these remote holdings a much needed military lifeline against the powerful enemies they had accumulated (which would allow Magalhães to ravage the Sulu archipelago, Palauan, and the coast of Sabah from 1542 to 1546), but it also accelerated the colonial process: King Miguel, frustrated by the occurrence of poor governance and brutality in the East Indies while simultaneously working to reverse similar developments in the West Indies, ordered the Portuguese Cortes to fund the passage to Malaca and the subsistence of 30 Dominicans, Franciscans, and Hieronymites each by 1525.

Once a passage from the Americas was discovered in 1535 by Sebastián Caboto, Castilians began to percolate into Luçon and the Visaías - primarily to work for the Portuguese - and eventually brought with them Bernardino de Sahagún’s Gregorians, whose strategy of developing native clergy worked wonders for the evangelization (and assimilation) of the multitudes that now found themselves under Portuguese hegemony. The Luções, Visaíans, Mindanãoans, and Moluccans proved to be so receptive to Christianity, in fact, that the Miguelinas received their own episcopate in 1556 (with Bartolomé de Las Casas himself as auxiliary bishop). This sudden circumnavigational connection allowed the Crown a comprehensive grip on affairs in the East Indies that it had not had when first establishing its domain in India or the Americas. Likewise, while the Treaty of Tordesillas heavily restricted Castilian involvement in the Portuguese Orient, the need for soldiers, sailors, clerks, and the like whose Catholicism and loyalty to the interests of Spain could be trusted - in this case, Castilians and Aragonese - necessitated a rather liberal immigration policy from the Americas and Iberia. The Miguelinas thus became the first most fully realized microcosm of Spain’s developing global empire - with Castilians, Portuguese, Indians, Chinese, and mestizos of every stripe working in tandem to exploit the riches of the spice trade.

Uma família mestiça portuguesa​

While a great number of Portuguese flooded into the East Indies in the 16th century, their numbers in the region were always insufficient. The East Indies, for all their wealth, were not ideal for the average Portuguese lifespan. Apart from the obviously deleterious effect of tropical weather and disease, the bombastic successes the Portuguese had at Malaca, Sunda Kelapa, Ternate, or Mainila were also matched with copious accounts of failure - such as whole companies of armed men disappearing in the interior of Bornéu or overweening conquistadors being slaughtered by their native hosts in the Visaías. What bridged the gap for the Portuguese were the locals. Apart from the natives of the Miguelinas being particularly responsive to Christianity, the Portuguese found their womenfolk none too hard to look at, and virtually every European in the isles took one as their bride. The overwhelming diversity of languages in the Miguelinas also played into the hands of their colonial masters, with Portuguese easily becoming the lingua franca and a Portuguese-Malay-Min Chinese pidgin language becoming dominant amongst the denizens of the isles’ ports and urban centers.

As Índias Orientais, c. 1550
(1 = Sumbawa/Sumbava, 2 = Menado & Gorontalo, 3 = Capitania de Mindanão, 3a = Davão, 3b = Cotabato, 3c = Samboanga, 4 = Capitanias de Mainila e Majas, 4a = Mainila/Celudão, 4b = Majas, 5 = Sabah)​

___________________________________________________________________________​

[1] OTL Makassar
[2] OTL Mindoro
[3] OTL Palawan
[4] ITTL, from 1500-1550, ~7,500 Portuguese migrated to India and the Orient, while only ~7,000 migrated to Brasil.
[5] OTL Borneo
[6] OTL Luzon
[7] OTL Zamboanga
[8] OTL's city of Manila
[9] OTL Panay

 

[ramones1986]

Portuguese-Malay-Yue Chinese pidgin?

Well, I honestly thought of a Portuguese-Malay-Min Nan pidgin/creole since the Hokkien/Min Nan people were the predominant Chinese community in Southeast Asia.

 

[Sceonn]

Woo-Hoo! Felt like two whole chapters in one!

 

[Earl Marshal]

Well that was quite the lengthy update! The Portuguese are certainly doing extremely well for themselves in the Indies but I'm surprised they didn't finish the job while they still held the advantage. Obviously they have manpower issues on the far side of the world but the continued independence and belligerence of Brunei, Aceh, and Johor could be problematic later on.

Also I may have missed it in an earlier update but are the Americas still called the Americas in this timeline?

Nonetheless, great update.

 

[Torbald]

Portuguese-Malay-Yue Chinese pidgin?

Well, I honestly thought of a Portuguese-Malay-Min Nan pidgin/creole since the Hokkien/Min Nan people were the predominant Chinese community in Southeast Asia.

I hadn't thought about that. I'll adjust it appropriately...

Woo-Hoo! Felt like two whole chapters in one!

Writing it felt like four!

Well that was quite the lengthy update! The Portuguese are certainly doing extremely well for themselves in the Indies but I'm surprised they didn't finish the job while they still held the advantage. Obviously they have manpower issues on the far side of the world but the continued independence and belligerence of Brunei, Aceh, and Johor could be problematic later on.

Also I may have missed it in an earlier update but are the Americas still called the Americas in this timeline?

Nonetheless, great update.

As with OTL, the Portuguese here are still coming to grips with the alien seas they've entered, and consequently have a yet insufficient grasp of what their regional priorities should be. The only real reason they've had so much success in cornering the market in the Moluccas and much of TTL's Philippines and not in conquering Malaya or Sumatra (which would serve Malacca - the lynchpin of their whole operation in the Far East - much better) is because the latter regions are already mostly in the hands of organized states with plenty of external outlets and a coherent official religion that puts them at irreconcilable odds with the Portuguese. The Moluccas and the Philippines, on the other hand, are much less unified linguistically and politically, have little to no reason to be so adverse to Christianity, and in many cases are simply not as developed. For this reason, the maps included in the last update show Portugal's sphere of influence/effective control of trade, rather than their actual, on-the-ground presence or administrative control.

As for the Americas - they're still the Americas. Amerigo Vespucci was already born before the PoD and there wasn't enough butterflying to prevent him from taking the same path as he did IOTL.

But thank you very much

 

[kasumigenx]

Well that settles it then



Would Celudão be appropriate for a Portuguese transliteration? That's what I was planning on using as the name for Manila ITTL.

Yes.

Celudão would be the name for the City and the Northern Kingdom...Reino de Celudão and Ciudad de Celudão..

The Northern Kingdom will be close to the Christianized Sunda and Bali..due to their elite and nobility being related and allied to them.

 

[The Merovingian]

So this basically butterflies away Indonesia, or an Indonesia that becomes far more catholic, and is unified under Portugal/Spain.

 

[Earl Marshal]

As with OTL, the Portuguese here are still coming to grips with the alien seas they've entered, and consequently have a yet insufficient grasp of what their regional priorities should be. The only real reason they've had so much success in cornering the market in the Moluccas and much of TTL's Philippines and not in conquering Malaya or Sumatra (which would serve Malacca - the lynchpin of their whole operation in the Far East - much better) is because the latter regions are already mostly in the hands of organized states with plenty of external outlets and a coherent official religion that puts them at irreconcilable odds with the Portuguese. The Moluccas and the Philippines, on the other hand, are much less unified linguistically and politically, have little to no reason to be so adverse to Christianity, and in many cases are simply not as developed. For this reason, the maps included in the last update show Portugal's sphere of influence/effective control of trade, rather than their actual, on-the-ground presence or administrative control.

I had been under the impression that all the states in the Indies were roughly the same in terms of organization, so it makes sense that the Portuguese would go after the easier targets and leave the stronger ones alone for now.

As for the Americas - they're still the Americas. Amerigo Vespucci was already born before the PoD and there wasn't enough butterflying to prevent him from taking the same path as he did IOTL.

Also thanks for the clarification on the Americas and Amerigo Vespucci. With a POD in 1498 there is only so much that can change I guess in regards to his expeditions.

But thank you very much

You are certainly welcome and thank you for a great read.

 

[joelee77]

Miguel is going to continue his grandparents' policy of clerical reform in Spain, and is also going to push for vernacular bibles (ITTL Cisneros is also going to encourage use of the vernacular in his later years) both as a means of disseminating the Gospel in Spanish society (and thereby prevent individual, errant translations) and as a means of facilitating the evangelization process. Likewise, with powerful Catholic nation states emerging - two of whom now more or less border the Papal States - the Papacy will have less room to push for ultramontanism.

As for the Jesuits, I imagine their counterpart ITTL will emerge on its own, given both the opening of the wider world to evangelization on an unprecedented scale and also the need for a religious order that is dedicated to a catechization that is not only thorough but also accessible/adaptable (something long overdue).

Very late reply here, but I think Matteo Ricci, if he hasn't been butterflied away, would be an important figure in this. (For those who haven't heard of him, Matteo Ricci was a Jesuit missionary to China who was the first European to enter the Forbidden City. He was a man of extraordinary intelligence and personability; he worked hard to make Catholicism more understandable for the Chinese, only for this to be undercut by others who thought was too unorthodox). Hopefully he still makes his way to China and is more successful and supported than OTL.

>>>

Edit: also, would it be possible to have a single post with a running list of all the places that are named differently from OTL? That would make it easier to understand each update while reading them.

 

[Silver]

Liked reading the new chapter, Torbald. Once again, I have a few questions in regards to your wonderful ATL, and they are:

- Is the tiny Iberian nation of OTL Andorra - part of the ATL Iberian Empire and that they (the Spanish/Iberians) are not sharing it with the French like in the OTL? if so that does that mean the Iberian Empire has total control of the entire Pyrenees, which makes it very difficult for France to invade the Iberian Empire?

- Will St. Francis Xavier be more successful in his preaching, evangelization, and conversion efforts in India, the East Indies (including in Malacca), in Indochina, as well as in China and Japan unlike in the OTL, especially with a much earlier and more stronger/firmer Iberian colonial presence in those regions?

- Since the Portuguese captured Malacca, I'm guessing they still built the fort A Famosa like in the OTL, though in your ATL I'm assuming it was continuously being rebuilt, modified. and expanded over the following centuries?

- With a much earlier and a much more stronger/firmer Portuguese presence in India, the East Indies, and China - does this mean that Japan's Nanban Trade Period lasts much longer, and/or never ends unlike in the OTL? Does this mean that many aspects of Iberian culture, language, food, religion (i.e. Roman Catholicism Christianity), science and technology, etc. permeates even deeper and more permanently in every aspect of Japanese culture? Does it also mean that Japanese Red Seal Ships have a much more permanent fixture in not only Southeast Asia, but throughout the world, especially where the Iberian Empire has a colonial presence?

- Will Japan's Sengoku Jidai (Period) be characterized by those daimyo who have Iberian firearms, weapons, warships, mercenaries, and military expertise (due to being Christian converts and/or Christian-friendly via the Iberians) - and those daimyo who don't?

- With a much greater Portuguese/Iberian presence in Japan, does this mean that in the Imjin War in the Korean Peninsula that there will large numbers of Iberian mercenaries in the Japanese invasion armies as well as large numbers of Iberian sailors/privateers and most importantly Iberian ships working alongside the Japanese invasion forces? If so, will the Iberian warships (and their Japanese Atakebune counterparts) have regular hostile contacts/skirmishes with the more superior (at that time) Korean Panokseon Ships - or even worse - the Korean Turtle Ships, which are iron-clad vessels? Will such disastrous naval battles force the Iberian Empire to drastically improve their ship-building efforts (especially in building better warships) in order to counter such ships during this particular war - perhaps even going so far as to adopt building turtle ships? If so, will this make the Iberian Empire a much more powerful maritime/naval power for much longer than the OTL, especially among other European naval powers such as the British, the French, and the Dutch? Moreover, will the Imjin War cause the Iberian Empire to adapt the Singijeon as well as the more developed Hwacha - as terror weapons (along the lines of the OTL Katyusha Rocket Launchers) , especially when used in conjunction with the Tercio formation and Spanish cannons - against rival European armies as well in its various colonial wars in North Africa (as well as other parts of Africa near the Red Sea and the Straits of Hormuz), India, and the East Indies? How will Koreans and even the Chinese (under the Ming Dynasty) view Iberian involvement in the Imjin War as well as the Iberians taking numerous Koreans as slaves during this particular war? What will the relationship between the Iberian and Japanese empires be like during this war and after this war?

- With a much more pronounced/stronger presence in the Indian subcontinent, will the Iberian Empire eventually encounter the followers of Sikhism, who are being persecuted by the Mughal Empire? Will the Iberians support and/or ally themselves with the Sikhs against the Mughals, which in turn leads to the creation of the Khalsa as well as the founding of the Sikh Empire much, much earlier than in the OTL? In fact, will the establishment of the Sikh Khalsa be due to the existence/presence and the knowledge/influence of the Iberian Empire's various knightly military orders? Does this mean that there will be Sikh communities living alongside their Japanese/Japanese Christian samurai counterparts throughout the Iberian Empire, especially in the Asia-Pacific region? Will the Sikhs primarily serve as soldiers and law enforcers throughout the Iberian Empire? what are relations going to be like with the Sikhs and Iberian Roman Catholic Christians? Do the latter (the Iberians) trust them (the Sikhs) more than their Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and pagan subjects?

Speaking of Indonesian Hindiusm, will Hinduism in Bali as well as in Java, and other Indonesian islands still exist in the ATL, and even become much more stronger/prevalent in spite of the presence of the Iberian Empire in the Indonesian Archipelago as Iberian authorities are allowed (with permission from the Iberian kings/central government) to rule such places with a light hand (and thus little to no Roman Catholic Christian proselytization in those lands) due to the Iberian authorities in the East Indies not wanting to make more enemies as they already have the various hostile Muslim states in the Malay Archipelago to deal with?

- Will the murder of Yamada Nagamasa and/or the execution/expulsion of the members of the Japanese community (many of whom are Roman Catholic Christians) result in the Iberian Empire getting involved in Siam (Thailand) by attacking the capital of Ayutthaya and razing it to the ground as well as killing Prasat Thong? Does this mean that the Kingdom of Ayutthaya is forced to become a client state or protectorate of the Iberian Empire? If so, how will this event affect its neighbors such as Myanmar under the Taungoo (especially when the Portuguese set up a presence in Thanlyin under Filipe de Brito e Nicote; I'm guessing that in this ATL, Myanmar will suffer the same fate as the Kingdom of Ayutthaya if Thanlyin is recaptured and Filipe is executed; I'm also guessing that the Iberian Empire will seek to avenge him and thus turn Myanmar into a client state of the Iberian Empire?), Cambodia during its Dark Ages/Middle Period of the Khmer Empire (I'm guessing that a much more powerful Iberian Empire in the East Indies means that the Cambodian-Spanish War conducted by Luis Perez Dasmarinas will end in a total Iberian military victory, and the complete conquest and annexation and Christianization of Cambodia thus enabling the Iberian Empire to establish a very permanent and strong foothold in the Indochina region as opposed to the OTL?), and Laos during the Lan Xang Kingdom Period? What about the parts of southern Thailand that have Muslims in it such as Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla, and Yala? What happens to these particular areas, especially in relation to the Iberian Empire and its action/policies in Indochina and the Malay Peninsula? What about the northern Malay kingdoms in the Malay Peninsula such as Perlis, the Kedah Sultanate, Perak, Kelantan, Penang, and Terengganu? What will happen to them due to the Iberian Empire's actions in Indochina as well as its permanent presence in Malacca in the Malay Peninsula, especially since these aforementioned areas usually tend to give tribute to their Thai overlords in the form of Bunga Mas? If so, will these northern Malay tributary states give their tribute (which will include bunga mas) to their new Iberian overlords?

- Also, will Iberian presence/influence in Dai Viet, especially during the Mac Dynasty (especially when Europeans began entering the kingdom), and the Champa Kingdom - be a point of contention between the Iberian Empire and Chinese Empire during the Ming and Qing dynasties?

- Moreover, will Japanese adventurer and travel writer Tenjiku Tokubei write several books of not only his travels in Southeast Asia and Indian subcontinent like in the OTL, but also his travels to the lands of the far-flung Iberian Empire in the Indian subcontinent, the East Indies, Indochina, the Americas, Africa (especially Iberian North Africa), and Europe (especially the European heartland(s) of the Iberian empire - as well as recording how the various Japanese overseas communities outside of the Japanese Home Islands (especially those located within the lands of the Iberian Empire) are faring?

- Lastly, will the Iberian Empire (or at least some of its private citizens) somehow help the Japanese in their efforts to colonize Ezo aka Hokkaido as well as Karafuto aka Sakhalin and the Nemuro aka the Kuril Islands, especially prior to the Russian conquest of Siberia?

Please let me know your answers to each of my questions. Thank you.

 

[Torbald]

Sorry everybody for dropping off on the updates again - I work 10 hours a day, and every other Saturday too, so it's become really difficult to find time to sit down and write. I'm also engaged, so what little free time I have is often spent with my fiancée. However, I got another 3 pages done yesterday, and I have a good deal of down time every now and then at my job, so the updates/replies are still coming

 

[Fernando III]

I think Portuguese can eclipse castillan if Portuguese becomes the linguafranca of the iberian peninsula and portuguese immigrants go to new spain..

I think Castile would be contained in the americas..

Don't be silly. Castile has 5 times the population of Portugal and a way more solid merchant class. Spanish would have become the language of the Peninsula as it was happening irl and the capital would have been set in Toledo as something symbolic.

 

[Fernando III]

Don't forget that in Aragon he would be named in Catalan, he would be Juan III of Castile, Joan III of Aragon and João III of Portugal.

Since the compromiso de Caspe Castillian was used as the official language of the Aragonese cortes.Only the principat of Catalunya used Catalan in their institutions