Portuguese Empire · 1505-1641

Portugal's sea empire in Asia

Portugal builds an empire of forts and sea lanes rather than land, from Mozambique to Goa, Malacca and Macau. Students map the chain of bases, meet the Asian rulers and merchants who already ran Indian Ocean trade, and ask how a small kingdom held it.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1490 to AD 1600
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Portugal builds an empire of forts and sea lanes rather than land, from Mozambique to Goa, Malacca and Macau. Students map the chain of bases, meet the Asian rulers and merchants who already ran Indian Ocean trade, and ask how a small kingdom held it.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain how the Portuguese tried to control trade with a chain of forts rather than large territories.
  • Locate Goa, Malacca, Hormuz and Macau and explain why each place mattered.
  • Describe how Asian rulers and merchants responded to the Portuguese.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1490

An ocean of traders

Open the map in 1490 and turn on Trade Routes. Follow the Maritime Spice Route across the Indian Ocean. Who traded on it before any Portuguese ship arrived?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1550

The Cape Route

Jump to 1550 and find the Cape Route to the Indies. Follow it from Lisbon around Africa to India. Why did Portugal need ports all along this route?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1600

Footholds, not provinces

Jump to 1600 and zoom in on India. Compare the huge Mughal Empire with the tiny coastal ports that Europeans held. What does that tell you about European power in Asia at this time?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Why did the Portuguese want to control the spice trade instead of simply joining it?
  2. Asian ships had to buy a Portuguese pass, the cartaz, or risk being seized. How would merchants feel about that?
  3. How could a kingdom of little more than a million people hold forts from Africa to Japan?
  4. In Macau the Portuguese stayed only with the permission of Chinese officials. What does that show about the balance of power?
  5. Why did the Dutch and English take over many Portuguese bases in the 1600s?
4

Game round

10 min

Play a round of Rule History as Akbar, the Mughal emperor, who ruled a vast land empire while Portugal held small ports on his coasts. Discuss: why might a mighty land empire leave the sea to others?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.