The dispersal of Luso-Asians occurred very early after the contact between Portugal and the late medieval nations of Asia. Indians, Siamese, Malays, Chinese and Japanese travelled to Portugal as sailors, clerics, servants, slaves and ambassadors. Many male Luso-Asians entered trade within the Portuguese maritime empire and many Luso-Asian women joined their Portuguese husbands or masters in official or unofficial capacities within the Portuguese sphere of influence. This genetic and cultural mixing especially between Portugal, Cochin, Goa, Ayutthaya, Malacca, Macau and Nagasaki in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century marks the first dispersal.
