Diogo Rodrigues
| Diogo de Azevedo Rodrigues (Diogo Roiz) | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Salsette, Captain of Rachol Fortress | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
c. 1490-1496 Lagos, Kingdom of Portugal |
| Died | 21 April 1577 Colvá - Gôa, Portuguese Empire |
| Nationality | Portuguese |
| Occupation | Helmsman, Explorer, Governor of Salsette, Captain |
D. Diogo Rodrigues, D. Diogo Roiz (c. 1490-1496; Lagos, Portugal – 21 April 1577; Colvá, Gôa) was a Portuguese explorer of the Indian Ocean who sailed as an ordinary helmsman under the command of D. Pedro Mascarenhas around Goa. They sailed from the Cape of Good Hope eastward into little-known waters of the newly discovered route to Gôa. It was after him that the island of Rodrigues was\is named between 4 and 9 February 1528 after discovering it during his only return journey from Gôa via Cochin (left on 15 January 1528) to Portugal, following which he rose to the rank of a knight (cavaleiro). He then returned to Gôa and made a mark in the history of the Portuguese empire in the subcontinent around the mid 16th century.
In the early 16th century, D.Diogo Fernandes Pereira was appointed captain of a Setúbal ship bound for Goa. He is said to have struck a wide arc east of Madagascar and stumbled upon the island of Réunion, which he promptly named ilha de Santa Apolónia (in honor of the St. Apollonia whose day it was, February 9, 1507). He then proceeded east to discover the island of Mauritius, which he named ilha do Cirne (the name of his ship). From there Fernandes went further east and discovered the island he named as ilha de Diogo Fernandes, Domigo Friz or Domingo Frias (the latter two probably are cartographic transcriptions or abbreviations of 'Diogo Fernandes'). He is also said to have stopped for water at the first and third islands, before returning to Mozambique. Diogo Fernandes island ('Domigo Friz') was visited by D. Diogo Lopes de Sequeira in 1509 and the name 'Dom Galopes' (another transcribed abbreviation) sometimes appears for that island in some maps. It went through its final permanent name change to Rodrigues island a few years later, after another Portuguese explorer in 1528 when making their way back across the Indian Ocean from Goa navigated via the islands of Réunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues, naming this entire archipelago the Mascarenes Island, Mascarene or Mascarenhas Islands, after his countryman and commander D. Pedro Mascarenhas, who had been around before in 1512. It was around February 1528 itself that D. Diogo Rodrigues saw Rodrigues with such a drive along the group of Mascarene islands that bears his family name Rodrigues.
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