Note 15 — Chapter VI · PORTUGAL AND ABYSSINIA

Algarve is simply a Portuguese softening of the Arabic words Al Gharb, the Extreme West or place of sun-setting. At that time Morocco, across the Straits, was also called Al Gharb for the same reason. Therefore, after these conquests, the kings of Portugal styled themselves “Kings of the Algarves, on this side and on the other side of the sea.” The after-triumphs of the Portuguese in the path of exploration, conquest, and colonisation were finally summed up in the grandiose titles of their monarchs, which endure to the present day, and which may well be allowed to endure with respect, seeing what the world’s knowledge owes to the Portuguese navigators and conquistadores. The titles run, “Rey de Portugal e dos Algarves, alem e aquem do Mar na Africa; Senhor da Guiné e da conquista e da navegaçao d’Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia e India” (King of Portugal and of the Algarves, on this side and on the other side of the Sea in Africa; Lord of Guinea, and of the conquest and navigation of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India).