ALMEIDA, DOM FRANCISCO DE (c. the first viceroy of Portuguese India, was born in Lisbon about the middle of the 5th century. In March i5o5, having received from Emmanuel I. the appointment of viceroy of the newly conquered territory in India, he set sail from Lisbon in command of a large and powerful fleet, and arrived in July at Quiloa (Kilwa), which yielded to him almost without a struggle. Mombasa was taken and destroyed, and its large treasures went to strengthen the resources of Almeida. At the island of Angediva, near Goa, and Cannanore, he built forts, and adopted measures to secure the Portuguese supremacy. Upon his arrival in India, he took up his residence in Cochin, where a Portuguese fort had been built by Alphonso d'Albuquerque in 15o3.
The most important events of Almeida's brief but vigorous administration were the conclusion of a commercial treaty with Malacca, and the discoveries made by his son Lorenzo, who acted as his lieutenant. Lorenzo was probably the first Portuguese who visited Ceylon, where he established a settlement, and Fernando Soarez, a captain commanding a squadron of his fleet, appears to have been the first European to sight Madagascar. In i5o8 he was killed at Dabul in a naval engagement with the Egyptians, who at this time endeavoured to dispute Portuguese supremacy in the Indian Ocean. His father was preparing to avenge his death when Albuquerque (q.v.) arrived in Cochin, and presented a commission empowering him to supersede Almeida in the government. He refused to recognize Albuquerque's commission, and cast him into prison.
The punishment he inflicted on the Arabs and their Egyptian allies was speedy and terrible. Sailing along the coast, he pillaged and burned various ports, including Goa and Dabul, and finally, encountering the enemy's combined fleet off Diu in Feb. i5og, he completely destroyed it. Returning immediately to Cochin, he held out for a few months against the claims of Albuquerque, but in Nov. 1509 he was compelled to yield.
On Dec. he set sail for Europe with an escort of three vessels. On the voyage the fleet called at Table bay, then known as Sal danha bay, to procure water, and here Almeida was killed (March 1, 151o) in an attack upon the Hottentot natives, during which he showed great personal courage. In this fight, which took place on the site of Cape Town, 65 Portuguese perished, including 12 cap tains. Almeida's body was recovered on the following day and buried on the spot where he fell.
See Franz Hilmmerich, Die erste deutsche Handelsfahrt nach Indien, 15o5–o6, Historische Bibliothek, Bd. 49 (1922).