ABSTRACT
The Portuguese sphere in the East, in the sixteenth century, extended from the east coast of Africa to the Moluccas in the Far East. The first large-sized mustering of Portuguese which went to Asia to remain there temporarily was the fleet of D. Francisco de Almeida. The image that the chroniclers present of the life of the Portuguese in the strange lands has an essentially military countenance. Other exiles were chosen for different tasks, particularly on the Indian west coast, and contributed more to the Portuguese conquest and the consolidation of their presence there, than to the exploration of the land. Both in times of peace and of war, the renegades were also the ideal intermediaries between Portuguese and Asians. As “discoverers of lands”, who adapt rather than impose themselves, as interpreters, messengers and even spies, they were important elements in the interaction between the Portuguese and the others, or, if one prefers, between the others and the Portuguese.
