Duarte Barbosa (c. 14801 May 1521) was a Portuguese writer and officer from Portuguese India (between 1500 and 1516). He was a scrivener in a feitoria in Kochi, and an interpreter of the local language, Malayalam. Barbosa wrote the Book of Duarte Barbosa () c. 1516, making it one of the earliest examples of Portuguese travel literature.
In 1519, Barbosa embarked on the first expedition to circumnavigate the world, led by his brother-in-law Ferdinand Magellan.One theory suggests that there were two people named Duarte Barbosa, on the basis of subsequent reporting of João de Barros in "Decades of Asia", that refers to one clerk named Duarte Barbosa in 1529 in Cannanore Island. The majority of documents confirm, however, that the author of "The Book of Duarte Barbosa" and participant in the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan Island where the same, see the entry for "Duarte Barbosa, Mansel Longworth Dames, The Book of Duarte Barbosa: An account of the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean and their inhabitants ", Asian Educational Services, 1989, . Barbosa was killed in 1521, at a banquet held by Rajah Humabon in the Philippines, a few days after the Battle of Mactan on Cebu.
On 10 August 1519 Duarte Barbosa sailed from Seville on Magellan's voyage of circumnavigation, along with his friend João Serrão. His curiosity led him to leave the expedition for the company of locals several times during the voyage, to Magellan's annoyance. Magellan even came to arrest him. On 2April1520, however, the help of Duarte Barbosa was crucial to facing down a riot in Puerto San Julian (Argentina), and thereafter Barbosa become captain of the Victoria. According to Antonio Pigafetta's account, after Magellan's death on 27April1521 at the Battle of Mactan (Philippines), Barbosa was one of the few survivors of the battle and was made co-commander of the expedition along with João Serrão. Barbosa tried to recover Magellan's body without success. He tried to land Enrique of Malacca, but gave up. Despite the manumission he was entitled to according to Magellan's will made before departure, Duarte Barbosa or João SerrãoPigafetta and Transylvanus differ on who was responsible for the massacre that occurred at Cebu Island in the Philippines. Transylvanus states that it was João Serrão who mistreated Enrique de Malacca, Magellan's former slave, thereby causing Enrique to plot the massacre; Pigafetta, who did not attend the banquet that served as the trap, blames Duarte Barbosa. then threatened to enslave him to Magellan's widow. The fear of Enrique has since been considered an argument for him conspiring with Rajah Humabon. On 1 May1521 all were invited by the rajah to a banquet ashore near Cebu, the Philippines, to receive a gift for the king of Spain. There Barbosa and many others were killed. João Serrão was brought by natives who wanted to exchange him for weapons, but was left behind and was saved by the pilot João Carvalho. Enrique disappeared.
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