Casablanca (Anfa) - Azemmour (Azamor) - Diu - Old Goa (Velha Goa)

Four fine coastal views of these harbors cities which were important to Portuguese trade. Goa and Diu on the western coast of India, together with Anfa (Casablanc) and Azaamurum on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. This is one of the earliest views of Goa, the main Portuguese trading post in India, and one of only a few Asian views included in the Civitates Orbis Terrarum

CAPTION: Anfa, called Anafa by some.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): "Anfa is a large city that was built by the Romans on the shores of the sea and whose location was as good as any city in all Africa. It was razed to the ground for two reasons, however, firstly because it strove too vigorously for freedom and secondly because it caused both Cadiz and the Portuguese much trouble with its pirate ships. The King of Portugal therefore sent 50 well-armed ships to the city, from which the inhabitants fled with all that they could carry. The captain led his forces into the city and in one day laid waste to it and burned the houses to ashes and razed the walls to such an extent that it has remained uninhabited right up to the present."

The engraving shows the ravaged city after 1486. The Berbers arrived in the area as early as the 7th century; their settlement subsequently evolved into the small independent Kingdom of Anfa, which in the 14th century became a major port. In 1486 Anfa was destroyed by the Portuguese, who in 1515 used its ruins to build a fort, called Casablanca, after the nearby burgeoning town of the same name.

AZEMMOUR (AZAMOR)
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): "Sufficient cereals and vegetables of all kinds grow there, although the gardens produce almost nothing but figs. There is much fish here, however, with which some 6,000-7,000 ducats are generated a year. Fishing lasts from October till the end of April. The fish is commonly fried in a little oil in a pan."

Azemmour, or Azamor, lies on the left bank of the Oum Rabie River, some 72 km south of Casablanca. In 1486 the small town started paying a tribute to the Portuguese and in 1508 was conquered by them. In 1513, however, when the local governor Moulay Zayam refused to pay the tribute, the town was destroyed.

DIU

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): "Diu is an island and also the name of a lovely town that formerly lay under the rule of the city and district of Khambat. Diu lies at the entrance to the Gulf of Cambaia in the Indian Ocean and was fought for and eventually won by the Christians with 23 ships with particular trouble and effort, because Diu had the king of Cambaia, Aden and Calicut on its side."
The engraving shows Diu in cavalier perspective from the sea. The town is encircled by secure ramparts, from which three jetties lead out into the water. Rising above its severely geometric skyline are a number of tall towers that served as look-out posts. The fort at the eastern end of the island, on the right-hand of the picture, was built in 1535. Diu is a small town situated on an island measuring 15 square miles in western India. In the naval battle of Diu, waged in 1509 against a combined fleet of Egyptian, Arab and India forces, it was conquered by the Portuguese. This victory secured Portugal's supremacy in the Indian Ocean.

OLD GOA (VELHA GOA)

CAPTION: Goa, the fortified city in India, came into the power of the Christians in 1509.