Editing 1638 (section)

=== January–March === 
* [[January 4]]
**A naval battle takes place in the Indian Ocean off the coast of [[Goa]] in South India as a Netherlands fleet commanded by Admiral Adam Westerwolt decimates the Portuguese fleet.
**A fleet of 80 Spanish ships led by Governor-General [[Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera]] attacks the Sultanate of Sulu in the Philippines by beginning an invasion of [[Jolo]] island, but [[Muwallil Wasit I of Sulu|Sultan Muwallil Wasit I]] puts up a stiff resistance.   
* [[January 8]] – [[Shimabara Rebellion]]: The [[siege of Shimabara Castle]] ends after 27 days in [[Japan]]'s [[Tokugawa shogunate]] (part of modern-day Nagasaki prefecture) as the rebel peasants flee reinforcements sent by the shogun [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]]. 
* [[January 22]] – The Shimabara and Amakusa rebels, having joined up after fleeing the shogun's troops, begin the [[Siege of Hara Castle|defense of Hara Castle]] in modern-day [[Minamishimabara, Nagasaki|Minamishimabara]] in the [[Nagasaki prefecture]]. The siege lasts more than 11 weeks before the peasants are massacred.
* [[February 28]] – The Scottish [[National Covenant]] is signed in [[Edinburgh]], [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]], in opposition to changes to the [[Church of Scotland]] proposed by [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Lynch |editor-first=Michael |title=The Oxford Companion to Scottish History |year=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199693054 |page=436}}</ref>
* [[March 3]] – [[Thirty Years' War]]: [[Battle of Rheinfelden]] &ndash; A mercenary army under [[Bernard of Saxe-Weimar]], fighting for France, defeats forces of the Holy Roman Empire.<ref>{{cite book | last = Parrott | first = David | title = Richelieu's army: war, government, and society in France, 1624-1642 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2001 | isbn = 9780521792097 | page=205}}</ref>
* [[March 5]] – [[Thirty Years' War]]: The [[Treaty of Hamburg (1638)|Treaty of Hamburg]] is signed by [[Kingdom of France|France]] and [[Sweden]], providing the latter with funds.
* [[March 22]]
**[[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Jahan]] and his sons capture the city of [[Kandahar]] from the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavids]]. <ref>G. P. Tate, ''The Kingdom of Afghanistan: A Historical Sketch'' (Times of India, 1911) p. 205</ref>
**[[Anne Hutchinson]] is banished from the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] for [[heresy]] and goes to [[Rhode Island]].
* [[March 28]] – Dutch merchant [[Willem Kieft]] is appointed [[Director of New Netherland]] by the [[Dutch East India Company]] to succeed Wouter van Twiller.<ref>George P. Donehoo, ''Pennsylvania: A History'' (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1926) p. 31</ref>
* [[March 29]] – Settlers from Sweden arrive on the ships ''[[Kalmar Nyckel]]'' and ''[[Fogel Grip]]'' to establish the settlement of [[New Sweden]] in [[Delaware]], beginning the [[Swedish colonization of the Americas]].