Albuquerque advanced the three-fold

Albuquerque advanced the three-fold Portuguese grand scheme of combating Islam, spreading Christianity and securing the trade of spices and the establishment of a Portuguese Asian empire.

Among his achievements, Alfonso was the first European to enter the Persian Gulf and led the first voyage by a European fleet into the Red Sea.

His military and administrative works are generally regarded as among the most vital to building and securing the Portuguese Empire in the Orient, the Middle East, and the spice routes of the Eastern Oceania.