Portuguese Expedition Merchant Ship (Nau)

Type Object Region Portugal Time 1497–1650

The Portuguese nau was a large ocean-going dual-purpose merchant-war sailing vessel used by the Portuguese Empire on the Indian Ocean, African, and B…

Timeline

1497–1500Lisbon · PortugalVasco da Gama led a nau fleet around the Cape of Good Hope to Calicut, establishing the ocean-going merchant ship model for Portuguese Indian Ocean trade.
1571–1580Goa · IndiaIn the 1570s, Goa as the capital of Portuguese India saw annual nau fleets carry pepper, cinnamon, and other spices back to Lisbon via the Cape of Good Hope, with trade reaching the empire's zenith.
1578–1580Casablanca · MoroccoIn 1578, King Sebastian led naus on an expedition to Morocco, where he was defeated and killed at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir; in 1580 Spain annexed Portugal, and the Eastern nau trade system faced reorganization.

Sources

Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 1500-1700 — Sanjay Subrahmanyam (1993)