_ 481 _ then King of them; for the kings of Kilwa and Mombasa, if you let them, and those of Malindi and Mogadishu. I believe, will call you their lord and themselves your vassals if you ask them; others do already, and other minor kings such as that of Zanzibar etc.; and on the other coast you have royal and peaceful fortresses. No one travels by sea without your safe-conduct...Bhatcal and Honawar have promised me that they will be your vassals and will pay you tribute, and for this purpose I have sent D. Lourenco with a fleet. So that nothing could be more just nor better deserved than that Your Highness should take this title(A). Two years later, in the letter here published, the Viceroy revealed the persistence of doubts about the entitlement of Portuguese sovereigns, a problem which indicates the desire to consolidate the legality of power, elucidate the nature of the regime of the 'Empire' of the Orient, and raise the status of the 'Fortunate' Manuel and his descendants. So he repeated: 'Your Highness should not heed counsel but call yourself Emperor, for no prince has had as much right to be one'. (A) ANTT, Gaveta XX-10-33 the text of which was published by António Baião in História do Expansão Portuguesa no Mundo, vol.ÎI, pp.105 and 111, and in As Gavetas da Torre do Tombo, vol.XI, Lisbon 1975, pp.40 and 50.
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