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A new book explores the events leading up to the liberation of Goa in 1961 and its integration into the Indian Union in 1962 Portugal, although puny with a population of just over a million and nothing noteworthy about her ocean-going traditions, was the first European nation to chart a sea route to Asia. The fall of Constantinople (now Istanbul) to the Ottoman Turks on May 29, 1453 made Portugal feel the need to open a new battlefront with the Ottoman Empire by joining forces with the mythical Rei Preste João (King Prester John of Abyssinia, today's Ethiopia), for which naval power was a prerequisite.
Until then, Portugal only had half-decked sailboats and sailors who were unable to navigate out of sight.
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