Background
Bustamante was born in Valencia, Spain.
Bustamante was born in Valencia, Spain.
He was later rechristened Joao Rodrigues in 1563. However, soon after, news reached Goa that the Abyssinian Emperor was not keen on receiving the missionaries. Around the same time, the clergy in Goa felt the need for a printing press and requested the then Governor-General to make the press available to them.
Since circumstances prevented the press from leaving India, Bustamante was required to set it up.
He was aided by his unnamed assistant of Indian origin and thus, printing began in India. Bustamante was among the two most important Europeans to play major roles in the history of printing in India, the other being João Gonçalves, who is credited with casting and preparing the first printing types of an Indian scriptTamil - in Goa (perfected by Father Joao da Faria in Kollam), later used by Henrique Henriques (see Printing in Tamil language).