Portuguese Age of Discovery and Penang

When the Portuguese in the 15th century set forth to reach the Spice Islands, they indirectly start a chain of events that led to the founding of Penang three centuries later. The following chronology traces the Portuguese Age of Discovery and its relationship with the Malay archipelago.

• 1412: Prince Henry the Navigator ordered the first expedition to the African Coast and Canary Islands.
• 1419-20: The Portuguese discovered the islands in the Madeira Group, in northwest Africa.
• 1427: The Portuguese discovered the Azores.
• 1458: The Portuguese discovered Cape Verde islands.
• 1488: Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Indian Ocean.
• 1492: Spain sponsored the First Voyage of Christopher Columbus to find a new route to Asia, in the process discovering the New World.
• 1498: Vasco da Gama arrives in Calicut (now Kozhikode in Kerala), India. / Duarte Pacheco Pereira explored the coast of South America.
• 1500: Diogo Dias discovered Madagascar.
• 1509: Diogo Lopes de Sequeira reached Malacca.
• 1510: Portuguese defeated the Bijapur kings, established their settlement in Goa.
• 1511: Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Malacca. / Duarte Fernandes visited the Kingdom of Siam.
• 1512: Antonio de Abreu discovered Timor. Francisco Serrao arrived at the Moluccas.
• 1513: The Portuguese arrived in China.
• 1517: China formally opened relations with Portugal.
• 1557: Macau given to Portugal.
• 1592: Great Britain: James Lancaster left Devon, 1592 arrived in the Malay Peninsula. Earliest mention of Pulau Pinang and Pulau Rimau.