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{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Senhor|His Lordship]]
| name = Garcia de Sá
| image = GarciadeSa.gif
| imagesize = 240px
| caption = Portrait of Garcia de Sá.
| order =
| office = Governor of Portuguese India
| term_start = {{Start date|1549|06|13}}
| term_end = {{End date|1550|11}}
| monarch = [[John III of Portugal]]
| predecessor = [[João de Castro]]
| successor = [[Jorge Cabral]]
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1486
| birth_place = [[Porto]]
| death_date = 13 June {{Death year and age|1549|1486}}
| death_place = [[Goa]]
| nationality = [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]]
| citizenship =
| occupation = Soldier (military officer), explorer, [[fidalgo]] of the [[Royal Household]], [[List of colonial heads of Portuguese India|Governor of Portuguese India]]
| known_for = Establishment of Portuguese naval hegemony in the Indian Ocean.
| signature =
}}
'''Garcia de Sá''' ({{lang-pt|Garcia de Sá}}) ([[Porto]], 1486 – [[Goa]], 13 June 1549) was a [[Portugal|Portuguese]] nobleman, soldier (military officer), explorer, [[fidalgo]] of the [[Royal Household]], who was the 14th ruler of [[Portuguese India]] as governor from June 1548 to 13 of June 1549.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=O s Portuguezes em Africa, Asia, America, e Occeania: Resumo historico das descobertas e conquistas dos Portuguezes n' Africa, Asia, America, e Occeania, accompanhada de noções sobre os usos ... dos povos indigenas, e de diversos apontamentos historicos do ... visconde de Santarem, e outros. 1848-1850|date=1850|publisher=Typ. de Borges|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJ8tAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA98|page=98|accessdate=2017-11-22}}</ref>

==Biography==
===Birth and parents===
Garcia de Sá was born in a noble family in [[Porto]], Portugal, around 1486. His father was João Rodrigues de Sá, senhor (lord) of Sever, who was a [[chamberlain (office)|chamberlain]]-in-chief and fidalgo of the Board of [[Dom (title)|Dom]] [[Afonso V of Portugal|Afonso V]]. His mother was [[Dom (title)|Dona]] Joana de Albuquerque.<ref name=PSWi>Translated from the article "Garcia de Sá" of Portuguese Wikipedia.</ref>

His father had titles:
* [[Castellan#Portugal|Alcaide]]-in-chief of [[Porto]] for interest and the heraldry (16 June 1449)
* Senhor (lord) of [[Matosinhos]], [[Sever (Santa Marta de Penaguião)|Sever]], [[Barreiro (city)|Barreiro]], [[Castelo de Paiva Municipality|Paiva]], [[Baltar (Paredes)|Baltar]], [[Gondomar, Portugal|Gondomar]], [[Aguiar de Sousa]] e [[Bouças]] (13 February 1459), etc..

His father had counties:
* Massarelos (15 March 1468),
* São João da Foz (29 December 1469),
[[File:1505-21 bastardo Malaca.jpg|thumb|143px|left]]
[[File:1505-21 Soldo Malaca.jpg|thumb|143px|left|Portuguese Malacca currency that was minted during the reign of Manuel I, between 1505 and 1521. It was called 'bastard' and amounted to 60 real Portuguese. Collection of the Museu do Dinheiro of [[Lisbon]].]]

His father was third time married Joana de Albuquerque with actual confirmation on 21 June 1484 and received her [[dowry]] the landlords of Gondomar and Aguiar de Sousa.

===Career in [[Portuguese India]]===
Dom Garcia de Sá first appeared in India in 1518 together with the new Governor of [[Portuguese India]] [[Diogo Lopes de Sequeira]].<ref name=Vorch>{{cite web|url=http://www.abhoc.com/arc_vr/2015_01/790/|website=abhoc.com|title=Португальцы в Индии. Часть XXVII. Дон Гарсиа де Са и Жоржи Кабрал. Ворчалки от Старого Ворчуна.  |accessdate=2017-11-22}}</ref> In 1519-1521, he first time took the post of governor and [[captain-major]] of [[Portuguese Malacca|Malacca]].<ref>Information from the articles "[[Portuguese Malacca]]" of English Wikipedia.</ref> On 28 of June 1522 he second time took the post of governor and [[captain-major]] of [[Portuguese Malacca|Malacca]].<ref name=PSWi/>

In 1527 he commanded an [[Naval fleet|armada]] which run to S. Miguel Islands.<ref name=PSWi/>
[[File:Map of Bassein from Portuguese Atlas (1630).jpg|thumb|262px|Map of [[Vasai|Bassein]] (c. 1539), drawn by [[Nuno da Cunha]], [[Governor of Portuguese India]] (1528-38).]]

Garcia de Sá made a great contribution to the restoration of the Fort of Diu after the [[siege of Diu]] by forces of the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1538. One of the bastions of the Fort of Diu was even named in his honor, Bastion Garcia de Sá.<ref name=Vorch/>

Garsia de Sá was also a captain of [[Fort Bassein|Bassein]] as mentioned after the [[Portuguese Malacca]].<ref name=Vorch/><ref name=PSWi/>

===Illegal coinage===
[[File:Vieux-Goa, N.D.du Rosaire3 (info).JPG|thumb|236px|left|[[Church of Our Lady of the Rosary (Goa)|The church of Our Lady of the Rosary]] is the oldest church in [[Goa]].]]

Garcia de Sá became famous when he was the captain of the [[Fort Bassein|Bassein]] and ordered to mint a certain amount of copper coins to facilitate local trade. The colony lacked any Portuguese money including local coins minted in [[Goa]]. And Garcia de Sá resolved to make such a desperate step, and almost paid with his career for it. Foes immediately denounced to the king [[João III]] (1502-1557, king from 1521 to 1557) regarding such a blatant violation of the Royal prerogatives as coinage, and order was sent to [[Portuguese India]] to arrest the captain Garcia de Sá, and regarding the confiscation of all his property. The former captain of [[Fort Bassein|Bassein]] had to be deported immediately to [[Lisbon]]. However, quite high-rank defenders in Portugal and in Portuguese India took part to protect Garcia de Sá: the order on seizure of Garcia de Sá property was ignored in Portuguese India, and Garcia was able to justify himself in front of the king in Portugal. As result, he had return to Portuguese India as an honest man.<ref name=Vorch/>
[[File:Epitaph commemorating Dona Catarina, wife of the viceroy Garcia de Sa.jpg|thumb|262px|The epitaph ceremonial on the rich tomb, of white marble, in the wall of the chancel of the [[Church of Our Lady of the Rosary (Goa)|church of Our Lady of the Rosary]], with the following inscription: "Here lies Catherine, the wife of Garcia de Sá which asks for whom it read that ask mercy to God for her soul."]]

===Church and marriage===
Garcia de Sá had married a local woman Catarina Pires, "the flower of Miragaia", portrayed by [[Camilo Castelo Branco]]. They had two daughters. His wife died in [[Goa]] in November 1546, and buried in a rich tomb, of white marble, in the wall of the chancel of the [[Church of Our Lady of the Rosary (Goa)|Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, in Goa]]. The following inscription is over her tomb: "Here lies Catarina, the wife of Garcia de Sá which asks for whom it read that ask mercy to God for her soul."<ref name=Vorch/><ref name=PSWi/>
[[File:Ottoman fleet Indian Ocean 16th century.jpg|thumb|236px|left|Ottoman fleet in the Indian Ocean in the 16th century]]

===The threat of the Ottoman Empire===
Reliable information from Portugal to Portuguese India and back has not received any more when the Portuguese lost their positions in Aden in 1548 due to [[1548 capture of Aden|the Ottoman Empire forces captured Aden in February 1548]].

===Governor of Portuguese India===
After the death of the Viceroy of Portuguese India [[João de Castro]] in [[Goa]] on 6 of June 1548, Garcia de Sá became the new Governor of [[Portuguese India]] in accordance with the administrative paperwork that was sent with the last ship from Portugal. He was largely supportive of many of the recommendations that were given to him at every opportunity, the previous ruler of [[Portuguese India]] [[João de Castro]]. So, Garcia de Sá was appointed as governor of Portuguese India in June, 1548.<ref name=Vorch/>

Garcia de Sá did not embark on military adventures due to his advanced age, but he achieved significant successes through peaceful negotiations. The ruler of [[Bijapur]] [[Ibrahim Adil Shah I]] made peace with the Portuguese at the end of August 1548, he recognized all the commercial privileges and rights of the Portuguese to the districts of [[Bardez]] and [[Salcete]], and Adil Shah freed also the Portuguese ambassador. On the contrary, the Portuguese pledged to inform [[Ibrahim Adil Shah I]] if [[Mir Ali Bey|Mir Ali]] left the territory of [[Goa]].<ref name=Vorch/>

In January 1549, Garcia de Sá concluded a peace treaty with [[Gujarat]]. This treaty was an exact copy of the previous treaty, but now the Portuguese pledged not to demolish the wall which separated their possessions in [[Diu district|Diu]] from the rest of the city.<ref name=Vorch/>

Union with the [[Raja]] of [[Kingdom of Tanur|Tanur]], who from time to time rebelled against [[Samorin]], was less successful. Raja of Tanur wanted to enlist the support of the Portuguese in the war against the Samorin and even arrived in [[Goa]] in 1548 to be baptized. He also promised that all his subjects would convert to [[Christianity]], but all this turned out to be just camouflage. But when Samorin began to collect an army for another war with the Portuguese in 1549, the Raja of Tanur provided all his troops at his disposal.<ref name=Vorch/>

Garcia de Sá continued his financial policy when he became governor of [[Portuguese India]]. The local mint in [[Goa]] minted only copper and silver coins under a royal license. However, Garcia decided to improve a little the financial atmosphere in the Portuguese colonies and began the first gold European coins chasing in [[Portuguese India]].<ref name=Vorch/>

===Death and afterword===
Garcia de Sá died in [[Goa]] on June 13, 1549. After his death, the colony council offered [[Jorge Cabral]] the post of [[governor of Portuguese India]], since his name was on the list of applicants for this position in an emergency situation.<ref name=Vorch/>

It is obvious that Don Garcia initiative to mint the gold coins in [[Goa]] would have found his detractors, but Garcia de Sá premature death in 1549 stopped all such coin's initiatives and denunciations.<ref name=Vorch/>

Several letters and orders has remained from Garcia de Sá, as governor and captain-general of Portuguese India, including the letters to the King and Secretary of State Pedro de Alcáçova Carneiro.<ref name=PSWi/>

===Descendants===
Dom Garcia de Sá was married to a woman Catherine Pires, "the flower of Miragaia". They had two daughters, Dona Joana de Albuquerque and Dona Leonor de Sá. But Garcia de Sá managed to marry them successfully only during his governorship. Both daughters married the same day, at the Sé de [[Goa]]:
* Dona Joana married Dom [[António de Noronha]] (1517-1550), chief captain of the naval fleet of Portuguese India, son of the Viceroy Dom [[Garcia de Noronha]]. They had generation.
* Dona Leonor (Leonora) married Manuel de Sousa de Sepúlveda, one of the heroes of [[siege of Diu|the defense of Diu]], with an extinct generation. [[Luís de Camões]] chanted her in his poems.<ref name=PSWi/><ref name=Vorch/>

García de Sá was lord of the [[Quinta (agriculture)|Quinta]] da Quintã in [[Sardoura]] ([[Castelo de Paiva]]), term of the monastery of [[Vila Boa do Bispo]], and it was given to his daughter Dona Leonor (Leonora) in dowry as per proxy made in Portuguese India to Diogo Brandão Sanches on October 24 of 1549, registered in the term in 1552. Since Dona Leonor did not have a generation, she Had to remain it for her only sister Donna Joana de Albuquerque.<ref name=PSWi/>

His daughter Dona Lianora de Sá entered even the legendary history of Portugal due to she was married Dom Manuel de Sousa de Sepúlveda, one of the heroes of [[Siege of Diu|the defense of Diu]] and both, she and her husband, died during a shipwreck at the southern coasts of Africa in 1552.<ref name=Vorch/>
[[File:Map of Portuguese Carreira da India.gif|thumb|center|720px|Outward and return voyages of the [[Portuguese India Armadas|Portuguese India run]] (Carreira da Índia).]]

== External link ==

On Sá government see: O Vice-Reinado de D. Afonso de Noronha (1550-1554): Perspectivas Políticas da Ásia Portuguesa em meados de Quinhentos. [https://www.academia.edu/13650574/O_Vice_Reinado_de_D_Afonso_de_Noronha_1550_1554_Perspectivas_Pol%C3%ADticas_da_%C3%81sia_Portuguesa_em_meados_de_Quinhentos]

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{start box}}
{{succession box|
before=[[João de Castro]]<br/>(1545 – 6 June 1548)|
title=[[Governor of Portuguese India]]<br/>Garcia de Sá|years=(June, [[1548]] - 13 June, [[1549]])|
after=[[Jorge Cabral]]<br/>(13 June 1549 – November, 1550)
}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sá, Garsia}}
[[Category:1486 births]]
[[Category:Portuguese soldiers]]
[[Category:Portuguese explorers]]
[[Category:Explorers of Asia]]
[[Category:Governors-General of Portuguese India]]
[[Category:16th-century explorers]]
[[Category:16th-century Portuguese people]]
[[Category:Maritime history of Portugal]]
[[Category:People from Porto]]
[[Category:1549 deaths]]

Garcia de Sá - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 19:50, 14 August 2023