Yep, 1580 or 1600 or so might make some sense...
Yep, 1580 or 1600 or so might make some sense...but what's the motivation for the "Iberians" in any real economic sense, considering they could (presumably) get what they wanted from Indian through trade in this period.
Awful lot of European history to come in the next century, however - especially for the Hapsburgs generally, and those involved in the 30 Years War in particular...
The Iberian Empire (for lack of a better term) would seem fairly secure in the Western Hemisphere after 1600 (with the caveats of the real and potential conflicts with the English, Dutch, and French), but then there's the question of whether Iberia in a position to launch what would amount to a decades-long effort in India akin to what they have "just" finished with in the Americas?
Going around the Cape is not simple, and maintaining an expeditionary force in India going west from the Pacific would be close to impossible, I'd think - and the question is why? The EIC and the other European trading companies were able to get what they wanted (more or less) by trade in the 1600s, and the Indian states were able to play them off against each other, and get played off in return...
In the chapter on the Hapsburgs in Rise and Fall, Kennedy says the following:
What other fate was due to a nation which, although providing formidable fighters, was directed by governments which consistently spent two or three times more than the ordinary revenues provided?....the Habsburgs simply had too much to do, too many enemies to fight, too many fronts to defend...
Best,