Portuguese planted giant navigational beacons called “padrões” to mark key locations along the coast. These tall pillars would have been visible for miles offshore.
Jorge Reinel (1502 — ca. 1572)
Jorge Reinel also created an equally dazzling image of the coast of Brazil in 1540. The map in this book marks his first depiction of the Indian Ocean. Most of the material written about him appears in Portuguese (Use Google translate). Information in English is error-ridden.
Map below shows the coastal areas mapped in Jorge Reinel’s Indian Ocean map, including the Andaman Islands, Burma, and part of Thailand.
View Indian Ocean mapped by Jorge Reinel in a larger map