Portuguese Feitoria Network

Timeline

1. 1445–1497Elmina · Central RegionIn the 15th century Portugal set up a series of feitorias along the West African coast, centered on fortified warehouses, tariff collection, and the gold–slave trade, forming a chain of trading posts remotely controlled from Lisbon and accumulating experience and capital for rounding the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean.
2. 1498–1570Goa · GoaAfter Vasco da Gama's eastern voyage, Portugal established feitorias and forts at Goa, Cochin, Malacca, Hormuz, and elsewhere; the Casa da Índia centrally coordinated the spice, silk, and precious metals trade, upgrading the trading post network into a colonial-commercial complex spanning three oceans.
3. 1571–1580Malacca · MalaccaAfter the founding of Manila in 1571, Pacific routes linked up with the Indian Ocean network; between 1570 and 1580 Portuguese feitorias still controlled key nodes such as Malacca, but the Ottoman-backed Red Sea–Egypt route and emerging European competitors raised trading post profits and defense costs, placing the organization under structural pressure.
4. 1580–1640Lisbon · LisbonAfter Philip II of Spain annexed Portugal in 1580, the feitoria network was incorporated into the Spanish Habsburg global empire's coordination; the Goa–Malacca–Macau chain continued to operate but with diminished autonomy, and under the impact of the Dutch East India Company in the late 16th century multiple trading posts were lost as the network gradually declined.