João Cabral, SJ (1599 – ?) was a
Portuguese Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
, who, along with
Estêvão Cacella, were the first
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
ans to enter
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
in 1627.
The following year he became the first European to visit neighboring
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
and the Sikkim region of India.
Cabral was born in Celorico da Beira,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, in 1599. In 1615 he joined the Society of Jesus, and on September 5, 1626 he left for the Tibetan planes in the hopes of finding the mythic Kingdom of Shambala and spreading the Christian faith. After pushing through with both his plans, he returned to India and continued his missionary career in Malaka, Macau and Japan.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabral, Joao
1599 births
People from Celorico da Beira
Year of death unknown
Explorers of the Himalayas
Explorers of Central Asia
Roman Catholic missionaries in Bhutan
17th-century Portuguese Jesuits
1620s in Bhutan
17th-century Portuguese explorers
Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries
Roman Catholic missionaries in Nepal
Roman Catholic missionaries in India
Roman Catholic missionaries in China
Roman Catholic missionaries in Malaysia
Jesuit missionaries in India
Explorers of South Asia