Pedro Alvares Cabral

Cabral, Pedro Alvares (1467–1520), Portuguese navigator. Commanding a fleet that was meant to sail from Lisbon to India, in 1500, Cabral went too far southwest and sighted Monte Pascoal on the east coast of Brazil. After exploring the coast and claiming Brazil for Portugal, Cabral sailed on to India, where he founded a small factory at the port of Calicut. Very little is known of his life after his return to Portugal in 1501.