D. Pedro Mascarenhas, 1st Count of Sandomil (9 November 1670 â 3 August 1745), was a Portuguese nobleman and colonial administrator who served as Viceroy of India from 1732 to 1741.
He was born on 9 November 1670 to D. Fernão Mascarenhas and D. Antónia de Bourbon. He was a commander of the Order of Christ and of the Order of Santiago.
He fought at the War of the Spanish Succession at the rank of Mestre de campo general.
Pedro was married with D. Margarida Juliana de Távora, widow of Francisco Barreto de Meneses and daughter of D. ÃÂlvaro José Botelho de Távora, 2nd Count of São Miguel. He was made Count of Sandomil by royal charter of 12 March 1720.
The Count of Sandomil was nominated Viceroy of India on 12 March 1732, departing from Lisbon towards Goa on 26 April. After arrivng, he was sworn on 7 November.
His government was effectively disastrous, because in 1739 he lost the ProvÃÂncia do Norte (Northern Province), and in 1740 a Portuguese squadron was destroyed and captured by Maratha pirates led by the Angria.
On 18 May 1741, he handed over the government to the Marquis of Louriçal, and on 6 January 1742 he returned to Portugal, arriving in Lisbon in November of the same year.
The Count of Sandomil died in Lisbon on 3 August 1745.