A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c2.9

c2.9

¹ Barros was apparently never himself in India, but held an official position in the India Office in Lisbon. His work was completed in four *Decadas*. Couto repeats the fourth *Decada* of Barros, and continues the history in eight more *Decadas*. The first three *Decadas* of Barros were published in A.D. 1552, 1553, and 1563, bringing the history down to 1527, under the title of *Dos feitos que os Portugueses fizeram no descubrimento e conquista dos mares e terras do Oriente*. His fourth *Decada*, published by Couto, dealt with the period A.D. 1527 to 1539, and contained an account of the events that occurred during the governorships of Lopo Vaz de Sampaio and Nuno da Cunha. Couto's own eight *Decadas* covered the subsequent period down to 1600. The combined work is generally called the *Da Asia*. Couto completed his publication in 1614. The fourth *Decada* was published in 1602, the fifth in 1612, the sixth in 1614, the seventh in 1616, the year of his death. Couto spent almost all his life in India, for which country he embarked in 1556.