With the Conquest of Ceuta in 1415 in North Africa, by Infante D. Henrique, Portugal's golden age began, with great expansion and the Portuguese Discoveries.
In 1487 Bartolomeu Dias, commanding an expedition with three Caravels, reached the Cape of Good Hope. This established the nautical connection between the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean.
With the discovery of the sea route to India, via the Indian Ocean, in 1498, Portuguese expansion across Asia began. The capture of Cochin in 1503, Goa in 1510, Malacca in 1511, the sending of embassies to several kingdoms and the discovery of the Moluccan spice islands in 1512, consolidated Portugal as a global military and commercial power, creating the Portuguese Empire, the first empire on a global scale.
The Portuguese arrived in Japan in 1543, almost 100 years before any other European presence. Based on the book Tanegashima, the Island of the Portuguese Weapon, written by Avelino Rodrigues and TANEGASHIMA: THE ISLAND WHERE MYTH AND REALITY COME TOGETHER IN THE PORTUGUESE SHOTGUN by Isabel Correia Pinto CEI – Center for Intercultural Studies. Music by : StudioKolomna Corsairs