Garcia de Sá (1486 – 13 June 1549) was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier (military officer), explorer,

fidalgo ''Fidalgo'' (, ), from Galician and Portuguese —equivalent to a nobleman, but sometimes literally translated into English as "nobleman" —is a traditional title of Portuguese nobility and Brazilian nobility that refers to a member of the ...

of the Royal Household, who was the 14th ruler of

Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

as governor from June 1548 to 13 June 1549.

Biography

Birth and parents

Garcia de Sá was born in a noble family in

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, Portugal, around 1486. His father was João Rodrigues de Sá, senhor (lord) of Sever, who was a chamberlain-in-chief and fidalgo of the Board of Dom Afonso V. His mother was Dona Joana de Albuquerque.Translated from the article "Garcia de Sá" of Portuguese Wikipedia. His father had titles: *

Alcaide Alcaide is a Portuguese and Spanish name, meaning 'castle commander'. It is borrowed from the Arabic term , which literally means 'commander'. Etymology From the Arabic 'commander' it becomes the Spanish form alcayde or alcaide, origin of the ...

-in-chief of

for interest and the heraldry (16 June 1449) * Senhor (lord) of

Matosinhos Matosinhos () is a City#Portugal, city and a Concelho, municipality in the district of Porto District, Porto in Portugal. The municipality covers an area of approximately and had 172,557 inhabitants in 2021. It is bordered by the municipalities o ...

, Sever, Barreiro, Paiva, Baltar, Gondomar,

Aguiar de Sousa Aguiar de Sousa is a Portuguese parish of the municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and region ...

e Bouças (13 February 1459), etc.. His father had counties: * Massarelos (15 March 1468), * São João da Foz (29 December 1469), 1505-21 bastardo Malaca

His father was third time married Joana de Albuquerque with actual confirmation on 21 June 1484 and received her

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

the landlords of Gondomar and Aguiar de Sousa.

Career in
Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

Dom Garcia de Sá first appeared in India in 1518 together with the new Governor of

Diogo Lopes de Sequeira Diogo Lopes de Sequeira (1465–1530) was a Portuguese '' fidalgo'', sent to analyze the trade potential in Madagascar and Malacca. He arrived at Malacca on 11 September 1509 and left the next year when he discovered that Sultan Mahmud Shah was ...

. In 1519-1521, he first time took the post of governor and

captain-major A donatary captain was a Portuguese colonial official to whom the Crown granted jurisdiction, rights and revenues over some colonial territory. The recipient of these grants was called a (donatary), because he had been given the grant as a (donat ...

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

.Information from the articles "

Portuguese Malacca Portuguese control of Malaccaa city on the Malay Peninsulaspanned a 130 year period from 1511 to 1641 as a possession of the Portuguese East Indies. It was captured from the Malacca Sultanate as part of Portuguese attempts to gain control of ...

" of English Wikipedia. On 28 June 1522 he second time took the post of governor and

. In 1527 he commanded an armada which run to S. Miguel Islands. Garcia de Sá made a great contribution to the restoration of the Fort of Diu after the siege of Diu by forces of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1538. One of the bastions of the Fort of Diu was even named in his honor, Bastion Garcia de Sá. Garsia de Sá was also a captain of Bassein as mentioned after the

Illegal coinage

Garcia de Sá became famous when he was the captain of the Bassein and ordered to mint a certain amount of copper coins to facilitate local trade. The colony lacked any Portuguese money including local coins minted in

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

. And Garcia de Sá resolved to make such a desperate step, and almost paid with his career for it. Foes immediately denounced to the king

João III John III ( ; 6 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious ( Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarve from 1521 until he died in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of ...

(1502-1557, king from 1521 to 1557) regarding such a blatant violation of the Royal prerogatives as coinage, and order was sent to

to arrest the captain Garcia de Sá, and regarding the confiscation of all his property. The former captain of Bassein had to be deported immediately to

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. However, quite high-rank defenders in Portugal and in Portuguese India took part to protect Garcia de Sá: the order on seizure of Garcia de Sá property was ignored in Portuguese India, and Garcia was able to justify himself in front of the king in Portugal. As result, he had returned to Portuguese India as an honest man.

Church and marriage

Garcia de Sá had married a local woman Catarina Pires, "the flower of Miragaia", portrayed by

Camilo Castelo Branco Camilo Castelo Branco, 1st Viscount of Correia Botelho (; 16 March 1825 – 1 June 1890), was a prolific Portuguese writer of the 19th century, having produced over 260 books (mainly novels, plays and essays). His writing is considered original ...

. They had two daughters. His wife died in

in November 1546, and buried in a rich tomb, of white marble, in the wall of the chancel of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, in Goa. The following inscription is over her tomb: "Here lies Catarina, the wife of Garcia de Sá which asks for whom it read that ask mercy to God for her soul." Ottoman fleet Indian Ocean 16th century

The threat of the Ottoman Empire

Reliable information from Portugal to Portuguese India and back has not received any more when the Portuguese lost their positions in Aden in 1548 due to the Ottoman Empire forces captured Aden in February 1548.

Governor of Portuguese India

After the death of the Viceroy of Portuguese India

João de Castro D. João de Castro (27 February 1500 – 6 June 1548) was a Portuguese nobleman, scientist, writer and colonial administrator, being the fourth Portuguese Viceroy of India from 1545 to 1548. He was called Strong Castro () by the poet Luís de C ...

on 6 June 1548, Garcia de Sá became the new Governor of

in accordance with the administrative paperwork that was sent with the last ship from Portugal. He was largely supportive of many of the recommendations that were given to him at every opportunity, the previous ruler of

. So, Garcia de Sá was appointed as governor of Portuguese India in June, 1548. Garcia de Sá did not embark on military adventures due to his advanced age, but he achieved significant successes through peaceful negotiations. The ruler of

Bijapur Bijapur (officially Vijayapura) is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural importa ...

Ibrahim Adil Shah I Ibrahim Adil Shah I (; ) was sultan of the Indian Sultanate of Bijapur. He succeeded his elder brother, Mallu Adil Shah, through the machinations of the Afaqi faction at the court. He was the first Adil Shahi ruler to assume the royal title ...

made peace with the Portuguese at the end of August 1548, he recognized all the commercial privileges and rights of the Portuguese to the districts of

Bardez ''Bardez'' or ''Bardes'' ( IPA: ) is a ''taluka'' of the North Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. Etymology The name is credited to the Saraswat Brahmin immigrants who emigrated to the Konkan via Magadha plains in northern India. B ...

and

Salcete Salcete or Salcette (Konkani: ''Saxtti''/''Xaxtti'') is a subdivision of the district of South Goa, in the state of Goa, situated by the west coast of India. The Sal River and its backwaters dominate the landscape of Salcete. Historically, ...

, and Adil Shah freed also the Portuguese ambassador. On the contrary, the Portuguese pledged to inform

if Mir Ali left the territory of

. In January 1549, Garcia de Sá concluded a peace treaty with

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. This treaty was an exact copy of the previous treaty, but now the Portuguese pledged not to demolish the wall which separated their possessions in Diu from the rest of the city. Union with the

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

of Tanur, who from time to time rebelled against Samorin, was less successful. Raja of Tanur wanted to enlist the support of the Portuguese in the war against the Samorin and even arrived in

in 1548 to be baptized. He also promised that all his subjects would convert to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, but all this turned out to be just camouflage. But when Samorin began to collect an army for another war with the Portuguese in 1549, the Raja of Tanur provided all his troops at his disposal. Garcia de Sá continued his financial policy when he became governor of

. The local mint in

minted only copper and silver coins under a royal license. However, Garcia decided to improve a little the financial atmosphere in the Portuguese colonies and began the first gold European coins chasing in

Death and afterword

Garcia de Sá died in

on June 13, 1549. After his death, the colony council offered Jorge Cabral the post of governor of Portuguese India, since his name was on the list of applicants for this position in an emergency situation. It is obvious that Don Garcia initiative to mint the gold coins in

would have found his detractors, but Garcia de Sá premature death in 1549 stopped all such coin's initiatives and denunciations. Several letters and orders has remained from Garcia de Sá, as governor and captain-general of Portuguese India, including the letters to the King and Secretary of State Pedro de Alcáçova Carneiro.

Descendants

Dom Garcia de Sá was married to a woman Catherine Pires, "the flower of Miragaia". They had two daughters, Dona Joana de Albuquerque and Dona Leonor de Sá. But Garcia de Sá managed to marry them successfully only during his governorship. Both daughters married the same day, at the Sé de

: * Dona Joana married Dom António de Noronha (1517-1550), chief captain of the naval fleet of Portuguese India, son of the Viceroy Dom

Garcia de Noronha Dom (honorific), D. Garcia de Noronha (1479 in Lisbon – 3 April 1540 in Cochin) was a Portuguese nobleman. He was great-great-grandson of Ferdinand I of Portugal, King Ferdinand I of Portugal, was the third Governor-General of India, vicero ...

and had issue. * Dona Leonor (Leonora) married Manuel de Sousa de Sepúlveda. Both died during a shipwreck at the southern coasts of Africa in 1552, which was written about in

História trágico-marítima The ''História trágico-marítima'' (trans. ''Tragic History of the Sea'') is a famous 18th-century collection of narrative accounts of the travails and wrecks of several Kingdom of Portugal, Portuguese ships, principally carracks (''naus'') on ...

and in poetry by

Luís de Camões Luís Vaz de Camões (; or 1525 – 10 June 1580), sometimes rendered in English as Camoens or Camoëns ( ), is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of William Shakes ...

. García de Sá was lord of the Quinta da Quintã in Sardoura (

Castelo de Paiva Castelo de Paiva (), officially the Borough of Castelo de Paiva (), is a town and a borough of the Aveiro District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 16,733, in an area of 115.01 km2. On 4 March 2001 at 9 pm, a 116-year-old metal bridge ...

), term of the monastery of

Vila Boa do Bispo Vila Boa do Bispo is a civil parish in the municipality of Marco de Canaveses, in the northern district of Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, ...

, and it was given to his daughter Dona Leonor (Leonora) in dowry as per proxy made in Portuguese India to Diogo Brandão Sanches on 24 October 1549, registered in the term in 1552. Map of Portuguese Carreira da India

References

External links

On Sá government see: O Vice-Reinado de D. Afonso de Noronha (1550-1554): Perspectivas Políticas da Ásia Portuguesa em meados de Quinhentos

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sá, Garsia 1486 births Portuguese soldiers Explorers of Asia Governors-general of Portuguese India 16th-century Portuguese explorers People from Porto 1549 deaths