Short answers, pulled from the story.
João de Barros was a Portuguese historian born in Viseu around 1496, best known for his Décadas da Ásia, a chronicle of Portuguese activity in India, Asia, and southeast Africa. He earned the nickname "the Portuguese Livy" in reference to the ancient Roman historian Livy, recognizing the scope and ambition of his historical writing.
The Décadas da Ásia is a multi-volume history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and southeast Africa written by João de Barros. The first Decade appeared in 1552, the second in 1553, and the third in 1563; Barros died before publishing the fourth, which appeared posthumously in 1615 at Madrid, edited by João Baptista Lavanha. Diogo de Couto later continued the series, adding nine more Decades.
In 1534, Barros partnered with two merchants, Aries da Cunha and Alvares de Andrade, and sent ten vessels with 900 men to his captaincy at Maranhão in Brazil. Due to the ignorance of the pilots, the entire fleet was shipwrecked, causing serious financial loss to Barros. He subsequently paid the debts of those who had died in the expedition.
Barros served as treasurer of the India House from 1525 to 1528, then in 1532 King John III appointed him factor of the Casa da Índia e da Mina. He held this post until January 1568, when he retired with the rank of fidalgo and a pension from King Sebastian. He was noted for unusual honesty in a position where his predecessors had amassed fortunes.
João de Barros died on the 20th of October 1570. He had not published the fourth Decade of his Décadas da Ásia before his death. The Cosmographer and Chronicler-Royal João Baptista Lavanha edited and compiled Barros's scattered manuscripts and published the fourth Decade posthumously in 1615 at Madrid.
Barros wrote a romance of chivalry called the Chronicle of the Emperor Clarimundo at around age twenty, a Portuguese grammar published in 1539, a moral dialogue titled Rho pica Pneuma praised by Juan Luís Vives, and several further moral dialogues. He also wrote a 1543 text, Diálogo evangélico sobre os artigos da fé contra o Talmud dos Judeus, which contains anti-Jewish remarks.