<P> In 1506 a Portuguese fleet under the command of Tristão da Cunha and Afonso de Albuquerque, conquered Socotra at the entrance of the Red Sea and Muscat in 1507, having failed to conquer Ormuz, following a strategy intended to close the entrances to the Indian Ocean . That same year were built fortresses in the Island of Mozambique and Mombasa on the Kenyan coast . Madagascar was partly explored by Tristão da Cunha and in the same year Mauritius was discovered . </P> <P> In 1509, the Portuguese won the sea Battle of Diu against the combined forces of the Ottoman Sultan Beyazid II, Sultan of Gujarat, Mamlûk Sultan of Cairo, Samoothiri Raja of Kozhikode, Venetian Republic, and Ragusan Republic (Dubrovnik). The Portuguese victory was critical for its strategy of control of the Indian Sea: Turks and Egyptians withdraw their navies from India, leaving the seas to the Portuguese, setting its trade dominance for almost a century, and greatly assisting the growth of the Portuguese Empire . It marked also the beginning of the European colonial dominance in the Asia . A second Battle of Diu in 1538 finally ended Ottoman ambitions in India and confirmed Portuguese hegemony in the Indian Ocean . </P> <P> Under the government of Albuquerque, Goa was taken from the Bijapur sultanate in 1510 with the help of Hindu privateer Timoji . Coveted for being the best port in the region, mainly for the commerce of Arabian horses for the Deccan sultanates, it allowed to move on from the initial guest stay in Cochin . Despite constant attacks, Goa became the seat of the Portuguese government, under the name of Estado da India (State of India), with the conquest triggering compliance of neighbour kingdoms: Gujarat and Calicut sent embassies, offering alliances and grants to fortify . Albuquerque began that year in Goa the first Portuguese mint in India, taking the opportunity to announce the achievement . </P> <P> In April 1511 Albuquerque sailed to Malacca in modern - day Malaysia, the most important eastern point in the trade network, where Malay met Gujarati, Chinese, Japanese, Javanese, Bengali, Persian and Arabic traders, described by Tomé Pires as invaluable . The port of Malacca became then the strategic base for Portuguese trade expansion with China and Southeast Asia, under the Portuguese rule in India with its capital at Goa . To defend the city a strong fort was erected, called the "A Famosa", where one of its gate still remains today . Knowing of Siamese ambitions over Malacca, Albuquerque sent immediately Duarte Fernandes on a diplomatic mission to the kingdom of Siam (modern Thailand), where he was the first European to arrive, establishing amicable relations between both kingdoms . In November that year, getting to know the location of the so - called "Spice Islands" in the Moluccas, he sent an expedition led by António de Abreu to find them, arriving in early 1512 . Abreu went by Ambon while deputy commander Francisco Serrão came forward to Ternate, were a Portuguese fort was allowed . That same year, in Indonesia, the Portuguese took Makassar, reaching Timor in 1514 . Departing from Malacca, Jorge Álvares came to southern China in 1513 . This visit was followed the arrival in Guangzhou, where trade was established . Later a trade post at Macau would be established . </P>

Technologies that made european exploration possible and their origins