“Asia Lusitana” aims is to promote an intelligent discussion on the socio-cultural, economic, political, and religious interactions that took place between the peoples of Europe and the peoples of Asia and Eastern Africa within the framework of the Portuguese empire, from the Ethiopian and the Monomotapa empires up to Japan.
Our point of view is primarily historical, but is also related to the other human and social sciences such as linguistics, anthropology and religious studies.
We are eager to interact with scholars from related fields, such as historians working on Ethiopia, East and South Africa, the VOC, the Spanish Philippines, the Mughal Empire, Maritime Asia, Ming-Qing China, Sengoku and Togukawa Japan, just to name a few. While we have a special interest for the early modern period, we are also concerned in a scholarly way with the late modern times and the post-colonial legacy of the Portuguese presence in Asia.
Our group does not pursue or promote any political, religious or caste agenda.