Definition, synonyms and related words
A Portuguese trading post, usually fortified and built in coastal areas along the West and East African coasts, Indian Ocean and Brazil, from 1445 onward. It served simultaneously as market, warehouse, navigation support and customs, and was governed by a feitor (factor) to dominate the local trade with the Portuguese kingdom (and thence to Europe). Inspired by medieval European factories, feitorias were supplanted in the 16th century by rival Dutch and British colonial factories (trading posts).