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The Duke of Goa was a title of nobility created in 1515 by King Manuel I of Portugal in favor of Afonso de Albuquerque, the second Viceroy of India. This was the first ducal title granted outside the Royal family and the first title that refers to land overseas. The Casa Ducal de Goa was the most important and richest of noble houses of its time in the sixteenth century, shortly behind the ducal houses on the Crown and the House of Braganza.
Having no legitimate children, Afonso de Albuquerque, before leaving for his term as Governor in India, provided for the legitimacy of his only natural son Brás de Albuquerque, which was granted by the Crown in 1506.
In India, he wrote to ask King Manuel I that all the honors for himself deserved to be granted to his son Brás de Albuquerque, instituting him as his sole heir.
Before the death of Afonso de Albuquerque in 1515, the King showered honors and riches on Brás de Albuquerque, granting him the Duchy of Goa and the title of Don, although determining that Afonso would add to his baptism name in honor of former Viceroy.
The Casa de Goa died out, due to the effect of the Lei Mental, with the death without a male issue of the 2nd Duke, Afonso Brás de Albuquerque.
In the nineteenth century, by the decree of 19 May 1886, King Luís I created the Duchy of Albuquerque in favour of D. João Afonso Macedo de Sousa Costa, 2nd Earl of Mesquitela, naming the ducal title Albuquerque in honor of the family representation of Afonso de Albuquerque held by that noble (as a descendant in a straight line daughter of D. Afonso Brás de Albuquerque).