IOTL, Brazil was somewhat neglected for a long time as a Portuguese colony, with the Portuguese chipping away at its coast enough to import slaves and grow sugarcane but otherwise not doing much to conquer the interior, focusing instead on controlling trade in India and Indonesia.
What if Brazil was not just a backwater, but entirely abandoned, with the Portuguese deciding not to put any colonies down and focus on the lucrative spice trade to the east?
Would this see more Portuguese sail to Asia, and therefore conquer more territory and explore further than they did IOTL?
Or, would more Portuguese competing for glory result in their colonies overstepping, pissing off Muslims and Hindus from forced conversions and piracy and driving the creation of large anti-Portuguese alliances stronger than what the Portuguese faced IOTL, making them lose territory that they kept IOTL?
Or, was Portuguese policy a little more thought out than "sail east, smash and grab the choke points, tax everyone to hell" and the loss of Brazil would not change much as Portuguese policy would not change?
What if Brazil was not just a backwater, but entirely abandoned, with the Portuguese deciding not to put any colonies down and focus on the lucrative spice trade to the east?
Would this see more Portuguese sail to Asia, and therefore conquer more territory and explore further than they did IOTL?
Or, would more Portuguese competing for glory result in their colonies overstepping, pissing off Muslims and Hindus from forced conversions and piracy and driving the creation of large anti-Portuguese alliances stronger than what the Portuguese faced IOTL, making them lose territory that they kept IOTL?
Or, was Portuguese policy a little more thought out than "sail east, smash and grab the choke points, tax everyone to hell" and the loss of Brazil would not change much as Portuguese policy would not change?