The previous article in this series explained how the Portuguese arrived in India as traders but soon displayed their unending greed and began fighting the indigenous rulers to control the spice trade. Their onslaught, however, continued unabated because the aforementioned incidents were followed by even more brutal attacks and a greater Portuguese ambition to seize control of the entire Indian trading network along the West Coast.
The present article throws light on how they successfully repelled assaults from Indian kings and introduced brutal tactics in their warfare to enhance their dominance on the Indian subcontinent.
1503: First siege of Cochin
Calicut was regularly bombarded by the Portuguese armadas which preyed on its ships and diverted trade traffic from the city. The Zamorin soon discovered that there was little use in opposing the Portuguese fleets at sea because of the vast technological gap between the Indian or Arabic ships and the Portuguese ships fitted with bigger cannons. He also realised that the difference was not nearly as pronounced on land. Spices were the reason the Portuguese had arrived. The Zamorin reasoned that the Portuguese would either retreat or be compelled to engage in serious negotiations and reach truce if he could exercise his customary power over the Malabar nations and cut off access to spices.
The Zamorin of Calicut took a strong force of over 50,000 armed warriors overland against Cochin in March 1503, as soon as de Gama’s fleet left. Cochin was Calicut’s vassal. Cochin was a junior familial branch of the mainland kingdom of Edapalli (Repelim) and the Trimumphara Raja of Cochin was a prince who was somewhere down the line (perhaps the second heir) to the Edapalli throne rather than a monarch in his own right.
The Zamorin sent a message to the Trimumpara Raja of Cochin from Edapalli, directing him to turn over the Portuguese traders in the city, as he appeared to have no trouble marching his enormous force over that region. The Zamorin authorized an attack on the city after this request was denied. With Calicut’s far larger army (perhaps reinforced by Edapalli-supplied auxiliary forces), the small Cochinese troops had little chance. However, it is reported that Narayan, Trimumpara’s son, rallied the Cochinese. Under him, Cochin defended its stronghold on the Vembanad coasts, fending off two overwhelming attacks until succumbing to sheer numbers.
They had enough time to leave Cochin city and escape to Vypin Island with the core of the Nair (Nayar) guard. With its natural fortifications, Vypin’s location at the mouth of the Vembanad lagoon proved to be a formidable obstacle. However, weather also had an impact and the conditions were made exceedingly challenging by the intensifying Spring monsoon winds and heavy rains. Under these circumstances, it was nearly impossible to deploy assault boats against Vypin. The Zamorin then gave the order for his army to end the siege, but not before destroying Cochin city with fire and promising to return in August when the weather improved.
In August 1503, Francisco de Albuquerque and Nicolau Coelho, the vanguard of the 5th Armada, eventually located the crippled patrol at Angediva (or Cannanore). After completing the repairs, Albuquerque commanded the patrol caravels and sailed south toward Cannanore. During their journey, the ship of Duarte Pacheco Pereira caught up to them. The Zamorin of Calicut had regrouped his force by this point, as promised, and was once again intiated the siege of Cochin (or rather, Vypin Island, as Cochin itself was a blazing waste).
After learning of the dire situation at Cannanore, Albuquerque wasted no time in sending his fleet of eight ships down to save their stronghold. The Portuguese factor Diogo Fernandes Correia and the Trimumpara Raja were once again trapped up in Vypin Island, under siege by the Calicut army, when Francisco de Albuquerque’s improvised squadron arrived in Cochin. As the fleet approached, the attacking force started to disperse.
The Calicut army lacked local backing after the auxiliary forces (of Edapalli and others) likely left the siege first in apprehension of Portuguese retaliation. The Zamorin came to the conclusion that he had no option except to end the siege and return his soldiers to Calicut.
1504: Battle of Cochin
The Portuguese garrison at Cochin, which was allied with the Trimumpara Raja, and the armies of the Zamorin of Calicut and vassal Malabari states fought each other on land and at sea during the Battle of Cochin, also known as the Second Siege of Cochin, which took place between March and July of 1504. An army around hundred times larger was repelled by a small Portuguese garrison under the command of Duarte Pacheco Pereira.
The Zamorin of Calicut suffered a terrible loss. His incapacity to suppress the small opposition damaged the faith of his associates and vassals in him in addition to his failure to conquer Cochin. The result was a significant loss of the Zamorin’s customary power over India’s Malabar states while the Portuguese were able to maintain their presence in India by preserving Cochin.
As soon as the 5th Armada departed in late January of 1504, the Portuguese started preparing right away without the fleet. They convinced Trimumpara Raja to let them build a fort on the edge of the Cochinese peninsula, which is now called “Fort Kochi,” a short distance west of the old city of Cochin proper (now known as Mattancherry). It was called Fort Manuel de Cochim and was the first Portuguese fort in Asia. The fort was finished in a few months using local coconut palm wood that the Trimumpara himself provided.
Calicut’s naval power Vs the Portuguese armada
However, Albuquerque unexpectedly consented to a peace pact with the Zamorin of Calicut. This was later broken again in a conflict over the delivery of a supply of spices in Cranganore. At Fort Manuel of Cochin, Portuguese left behind a small garrison of about 150 armed soldiers, led by the knight Duarte Pacheco Pereira. He obtained information about the Zamorin’s military forces and, more crucially, their movements from intelligence networks. The Zamorin himself was in charge of an army of 57,000 people in Calicut. Five European huge guns, cast by the two Venetian engineers, and around 300 smaller Indian weapons were also being brought by the Zamorin’s troops.
There were 160 ships in the Calicut navy, with roughly 76 of them were Malabari warships powered by sail and oars. Each one had 25 archers, five muskets, and two bombards. The other boats were smaller, and each one had 16 troops and a gun. Mass panic quickly ensued as some Cochinese boats began to turn away, followed by others. Soon, Cochinese boats were escaping back to Cochin with their 500 Nairs. There were just three anchored ships left to contend with the Zamorin’s troops and fleet, together with about 90 Portuguese and two Cochinese officials.
The five Venetian guns on the coast were Pereira’s first concern. Due to their “range and strength of an arm-thrown stone” the majority of Indian guns were considered to be of little danger to the cotton-reinforced ships. At a distance, however, the Venetian guns might sink them. Pereira quickly focused all of his fire on those guns, scattering the battery workers and continued to fire intermittently on them to keep them from regrouping. Additionally, Calicut hatchet crews who had ventured into the ford to try to tear down the stockade that blocked the ford were also targeted.
The navy from Calicut started to move toward the Portuguese position. But several waves blocked their progress. However, Portuguese crossbowmen, musketeers, and gunners were able to eliminate the Malabari gunners and musketeers, who had little to no protection as the tower shields and cotton sacks on the Portuguese ships, which effectively cushioned the projectiles. Four boats were partially sunk after a few volleys, and the remaining boats were either too damaged or covered in enough dead and injured to continue, so they started to retire.
The Portuguese found it easier as the sinking, damaged, and retreating paraus of previous waves created river barriers (and a disheartening sight) for the subsequent waves. The commanders of the Calicut fleet realized this was not working by midday and gave the order to withdraw. The Calicut army and fleet lost about 1,300 men in this initial battle, while the Portuguese were unharmed.
A week later, the Zamorin had been occupied with assembling additional troops and fixing his ships. He had chosen a diversionary strategy for the second time. A fleet of about 70 Calicut paraus would go into Cochin city and engage the nau Concepcao, while the main Calicut fleet (about 150 boats) would go towards Kumbalam. The idea was to make Pereira’s little group leave Kumbalam in order to save Cochin city, which would allow his army to cross the Kumbalam ford.
Upon learning of this (via standard intelligence channels), the Trimumpara Raja promptly sent a message to Pereira, pleading with him to come back who arrived at Kumbalam ford in time to join the others and get ready to face the majority of the Calicut fleet, which was now advancing on the ford. The scene from the previous week was repeated, with Calicut paraus being forced to progress in narrow and little waves. The Calicut admiral canceled the attack after about 290 people were killed and about 19 ships were severely damaged. The diversionary strategy had not worked.
Pereira’s surprise attack on a few small villages on neighboring islands the next day was believed to have secretly provided paraus to the Calicut fleet in order to psychologically trouble the Zamorin army by highlighting that, in spite of the horrific events of the day before, the Portuguese were still unharmed and in renewed fighting form. The Zamorin chose a different strategy the following day. No more rash fleet assaults would occur. The fleet was told to wait until shore cannons sank or seriously damaged Portuguese ships. However, this plan also resulted in zero casualities for the Portuguese as the Zamorin army lost 22 paraus and some 600 died.
The Portuguese ships launched a bombardment from land. However, the comparatively unskilled battery crews lacked the accuracy, at least not from that distance, while the Venetian guns had the range to strike the ships. Pereira promptly informed the ships of the situation and prohibited them from retaliating. He wanted to instill confidence in the Calicut battery operators and encourage them to advance their guns for better aim (and expose themselves).
The Calicut commanders quickly deduced that the Portuguese must have run out of ammunition when the guns on the Portuguese ships stopped firing and they simply sat there in silence, letting themselves be fired upon from land without retaliating. The Zamorin’s cautious approach collapsed at this point. The Calicut fleet, which had been sitting at the mouth of the strait, observing the Portuguese with caution, decided this was a great chance and the cannon batteries also started to leave their protected positions. They hurled themselves downriver in the direction of the Portuguese without warning.
After holding fire until the first wave of paraus approached sufficiently, Pereira opened fire at close range, sinking eight paraus in a single, enormous salvo of musket and cannon fire, resulting in an exceptionally high death toll. The rest of the paraus had advanced too far to retreat at this point, but the first wave was shattered. The exact thing that the Zamorin had wished to stay away from was happening.
However, one of the Portuguese boat was on fire before noon, so the crew had to split their focus. The next wave of Calicut paraus focused all of their energy on it in the hopes of permanently decommissioning at least one of the four Portuguese stations. However, the crew was able to repel the attack and extinguish the fire.
1504 Battle of Cochin: Further assaults between the two sides
The Zamorin dismantled his tent at Kumbalam in late April and started to leave, presumably returning to Calicut. However, Pereira quickly learned that Zamorin’s army was actually on its way to the Palignar-Palurte passes and that 500 Nairs, or more, of the Zamorin’s advanced forces were already on Arraul island, clearing thickets to make way for the army. The Trimumpara Raja sent an army of about 200 Cochinese Nairs from Cochin city to assist as he hurried up to Arraul with a few boats. After taking charge of them, he split them up into two columns, one led by Pero Rafael and the other by himself. He then forced the thicket-cutters to retreat.
A day or two after the battle at Arraul, the Zamorin army’s vanguard, consisting of some 15,000 infantrymen under the command of Prince Naubeadarim, reached Palignar ford. The Calicut fleet, which consisted of about 250 ships and was commanded by Lord Ercanol of Edapalli, arrived at the Palurte area around the same time. Ercanol was left to dislodge the two caravels at Palurte while Naubeadrim set out to take control of the ford with his army. The onslaught started on 1st May at morning.
As soon as they arrived at Palurte, Pereira saw that the foliage on the opposing banks had been cleared, and that several Calicut cannons were being brought into position with the intention of sinking the anchored Portuguese ships called Caravels. Calicut artillery crews were dispersed as he ordered concentrated fire from the ships at their position. He then landed a Portuguese-Cochinese assault force on the shore. It spiked or dragged away the abandoned Calicut cannons and rushed to finish off the remaining Calicut men.
The troops went back to the caravels to confront the approaching Calicut fleet after the cannon threat was eliminated. The admiral Elcanol of Edapalli was able to send in a significant first wave, a broad front of 40 paraus, tied across, against the caravels since the strait was not as narrow as it had been at Kumbalam. However, the oncoming fleet was wiped out by the Portuguese gunners’ quickness. It was followed by another wave of almost the same magnitude, but it was also repelled.
The Calicut admiral Ercanol ordered the fleet to leave because the tide had started to drop and the Calicut paraus were having problems navigating the treacherous shallow waters of Palurte. It was soon reported that the infantry of Naubeadarim from Calicut was preparing to wade the passage at Palignar. Pereira returned with his soldiers on their longboats. Naubeadarim’s infantry column began their assault to take the ford when the tide was sufficiently low. However, the fast and intense shooting from the bateis and the constant missile fire from the Cochinese Nairs on the bank prevented them from moving much or reaching the opposing back.
The tide started to rise again after two fierce but unsuccessful attacks, and Naubeadarim gave the order for the column to withdraw. The battle at Palignar and Palurte that day was arguably the most intense the Portuguese had yet encountered. They had little time to construct effective defenses and were lucky to get away with it. The Portuguese were worn out and suffered numerous injuries, but no fatalities.
Over 10,000 troops were lost in the Zamorin army as a result of the cholera epidemic. Some of the old Cochinese vassals who had previously deserted the Trimumpara Raja had returned as a result of the triumph.The Zamorin launched his largest attack to date on or around 6th May, centering all of his soldiers on capturing the ford at Palignar. About 4,000 men with 30 brass cannons led the charge. Prince Naubeadarim spearheaded the 12,000-man vanguard column that followed. The Zamorin led a column of about 15,000, including 400 specialist hatchet workers to cut down the stockade and clear the passages, while Ercanol of Edapalli headed a column of the same size.
Portuguese floating artillery Vs Calicut’s land-based cannons
The land-based Calicut artillery and the bateis engaged in a cannonade battle to start the attack on Palignar. The Calicut cannons were scattered when the Portuguese artillery overcame it. However, the tide had dropped by this point, and the bateis, which were now scraping the riverbed, were difficult to maneuver into the best firing positions. Calicut infantry surged into the Palignar ford after the Zamorin ordered an advance in an attempt to retake the other bank.
The spiked planks had the desired effect: the Calicut army gathered into a dense throng as the rear lines pushed them from behind and the front forces slowed to observe their step. This dense human mass was the target of Portuguese artillery fire, which resulted in a horrifying number of Calicut ranks casualties. Nevertheless, the Calicut infantry continued to advance under the encouragement of their superiors.
Pero Rafael used a cannonball to kill the Zamorin and the two of the nobles who were standing close to him were sliced to pieces as it landed close enough to him. His security rushed the blood-covered Zamorin from the field, leaving Naubeadarim and Ercanol to carry out the remainder of the attack. Naubeadarim rallied the Calicut warriors and moved forward with a vengeance, infuriated at the assassination attempt. The vanguard eventually made it to the palisade on the Cochinese bank after agonizingly navigating the impaling spikes. According to reports, the few Portuguese soldiers positioned there were abandoned for lost, and the Cochinese soldiers guarding the walls retreated or abandoned their posts.
The tide had started to rise again by this point, though, and the bateis were no longer stuck in the muck and could be moved freely. As the bateis charged directly into the ford, they broke up the intense attack on the palisade with focused fire. The Calicut troops were pushed to return to the banks and retreat to the tree line after the ford was crossed back and forth with near-point blank cannon. The assault ended when the high tide returned after nine hours of fierce combat as the army of the Zamorin had once again failed.
The troops of the Zamorin started to march in the direction of Palignar at the crack of dawn on the day of the launch of sixth attack. Pereira also took a boat all the way to the point of Arraul island, where he landed with a small group of soldiers to fight the Calicut army’s advance squads. A sizable portion of Zamorin’s army was turned after him by the agitated leader. Pereira simply got back into his boat and headed out.
The combat started at Palurte, where the caravels were anchored, since the tide was high. The first to be launched were the Calicut fire ships, but they were intercepted by the anchored raft and burned innocuously. The caravels then were launched against the row of floating castles. This was more challenging because it appeared that their fortified sides could withstand all of the Portuguese cannon fire. It appeared hopeless, and Pereira is credited with frantically saying, “Lord, don’t make me pay for my sins just yet,” before directing heavy, concentrated fire on the closest fortress and ultimately shattering its sides. Soon after, the entire apparatus started to pull and break apart, causing the paraus to sink.
The tide had turned and the army of the Zamorin marched on Palignar ford while the caravels at Palurt were thus engaged. As the Calicut army entered the ford, line after line was mowed down by the ceaseless firing of the two bateis, as well as the constant missile fire of the Cochinese on the palisade ramparts and in the launches. The attack was repulsed and the Calicut soldiers were forced to abandon the attempted crossing when the high tide returned. This day reportedly saw the greatest number of casualties in the Calicut army, but the Portuguese still had no fatalities, only injuries. Great celebrations were held in Cochin to celebrate the triumph over the Zamorin’s most formidable attack to date.
The Zamorin reportedly ordered a few more attacks on the Portuguese positions, one of which reportedly used the same floating castles that have now been restored, but to no avail. Due to disease and defection, the Zamorin had fewer troops for these raids, and their attacks were generally ineffective due to a lack of enthusiasm and energy. The monsoon season had already started to change by this point, and the Zamorin army was suffering from the stronger winds and rains, which made it harder to move around and spread disease.
Additionally, the passages had higher water levels, which made sailing the paraus more challenging and the Calicut vassals were slipping out of the Zamorin’s camp one by one. Generally speaking, a fresh Portuguese armada was expected to arrive in August. Having given up on taking Cochin by that point, many of the Zamorin’s vassals decided it would be preferable to work out their own conditions of peace with the Trimumphara Raja before the Portuguese came, should their territories be targeted by retaliatory, punishing raids. The lord Elcanol of Edapalli was the final vassal to reach a separate peace with Cochin.
After deciding he had had enough, the Zamorin of Calicut abdicated his crown on 24th June 1504, transferring it to his nephew and heir, Naubeadaraim, the general who had commanded the Calicut soldiers. He then retreated to a temple and committed himself to a life of religion. However, the reprimand of his own mother enticed the weary Zamorin to leave the temple and plan a final attack. However, when it didn’t work out, the Zamorin went back to his religious seclusion for good. The Calicut army left the Vembanad lagoon shoreline on or around 3rd July. Duarte Pacheco Pereira set sail for Quilon with his caravels as soon as the Zamorin withdrew his men from the area of Cochin (some claim early August, 1504).
1505: Francisco de Almeida appointed the first Portuguese Viceroy of India
Francisco de Almeida was a Portuguese explorer, soldier and aristocrat. He gained fame as a counselor to King John II of Portugal, and then as a participant in the Moorish battles and the 1492 conquest of Granada. In 1505, he was appointed viceroy, the commander of the seventh armada and first ruler of the Portuguese State of India. On 25th March 1505, Portugal’s King Ferdinand I appointed a three-year governor to India and gave him enough troops to protect Portuguese interests. Almeida, the recently appointed governor, was given the mission of disrupting Muslim trade and strengthening Portuguese dominance in the country by capturing Aden, Ormuz, and Malacca.
On 31st October 1505, Almeida reached Cochin with just eight remaining ships. He set off with a mighty fleet of twenty-one ships, passed the Cape of Good Hope, and proceeded along the east coast of Africa, seizing Kilwa (in present-day Tanzania), where he built a fort. He then devastated Mombasa, arrived in India, and settled in Cochin. He constructed many fortified installations with the goal of monopolizing the spice trade and elevating Portugal to the position of supreme power in the East. A business agreement was reached with Malacca (present-day Melaka, Malaysia) under his leadership, and additional explorations were performed, particularly by his son Lourenco.
While there, he discovered that the Portuguese traders at Quilon had been massacred. The six ships he sent with his son Lourenco indiscriminately sank Calicut boats in the harbor of Quilon. Almeida made Cochin his home. He strengthened the Portuguese defenses at Fort Manuel there. He is recognized for having established Portuguese dominance in the Indian Ocean with his triumph in the naval Battle of Diu in 1509 and became the first Portuguese to reach Bombay by the sea in the same year.
He pursued the Mamluk Mirocem, who resided over a fleet of 23 ships close to the port of Diu, and Meliqueaz, to whom he had sent a terrifying letter, in the naval Battle of Diu on 3rd February 1509. With expert naval assistance from the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), which were concerned for their eastern trade links, he overcame a combined fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Ottoman Empire, the Mamluk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, and the Zamorin of Calicut.
Almeida and his Portuguese fleet were now a threat to Sultan of Egypt too
Additionally, he was told to build defences at Cochin and Anjadiva. However, in addition to the Zamorin’s opposition, Almeida were also in danger from Egypt’s Mamluk Sultan. The trade disruptions had sent shockwaves through the Indian Ocean Region, and Arab powers, including the merchants of Venice who traded with the Arab powers..
The merchants of Venice, whose lucrative commerce was now in danger due to Portuguese interference, encouraged the Egyptians to establish a warship in the Red Sea to resist the Portuguese advance. The battles and rapidly shifting power games that were to follow in the next few years, were at a scale never seen before in these regions. The combined mercantile power of Calicut, Arab traders, the Sultan of Gujarat and the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt was to witness a naval force that was stronger than anything they had imagined. Little did anyone know at that time that the Portuguese ‘Viceroy’ will wage wars that will spell the end of Muslim dominance in the Arabian Sea spice trade and open the floodgates of European monopoly.
1507: Siege of Cannanore (Kannur)
The Portuguese fleet led by Lourenco de Almeida, son of Viceroy Almeida, and the Indian fleet of the Zamorin of Calicut participated in a battle in 1506 off the Indian harbor of Cannanore, now known as Kannur. Hindu, Arab, and Turkish crews manned the roughly 200 ships that formed the Calicut navy, which had cannons made with the assistance of two Milanese Italians. However, the Portuguese prevailed and this victory was followed by the siege of Cannanore in 1507.
The Portuguese admiral Pedro Alvares Cabral and the Zamorin of Calicut started a conflict in early 1501, but the King of Cannanore urged the Portuguese to trade in his spice markets instead. In 1502, treaties were made and a crown factory was built, protected by a modest palisade. The first Portuguese viceroy of the India, Almeida, obtained authorization to erect the stone fortress of St. Santo Angelo in Cannanore towards the end of 1505. D. Lourenco de Brito was assigned to lead the 150-man garrison in the castle.
Sometime in 1506, the elderly Kolathiri Raja who had actively sought the Portuguese alliance passed away. The Zamorin of Calicut, the official suzerain of the Kerala coast, appointed an arbitrator to sift through the candidates because the succession was subjected to debate. As a result, the new Kolathiri Raja of Cannanore had less affinity for the Portuguese and a greater debt to the Zamorin.
The Portuguese sank an Indian ship and killed its crew by sewing them into sails and tossing them into the sea because they were not carrying one of the Cartaz, which they imposed on all ships in the area. This was a major contributing factor to the hostilities. These passes have to be signed by Cannanore or the Cochin commander. The incident immensely infuriated the people of the neighboring state of Kolattunad, who then asked that their king, the Kolathiri, launch an attack on the Portuguese.
Commencing on 27th April 1507, the siege was expected to last for four months. The position was attacked by 40,000 Nayars ordered by the monarch. The monarch of Cannanore received 20,000 auxiliary troops and 21 pieces of artillery from the Zamorin. Under Lourenco de Brito, the garrison’s weaponry enabled it to repel large-scale attacks with thousands of soldiers. With walls of cotton bales shielding the Malabari trenches from Portuguese cannon fire and their gradual starvation to death, the attempt quickly came to a standstill. On 15th August, a tidal surge of lobsters swept ashore, surprising and saving them.
Before the Onam festival, an attack came dangerously close to defeating the defenders but was ultimately repelled while several Portuguese men were injured. As the Portuguese garrison was about to be overrun, a fleet of eleven ships led by Tristao da Cunha, the 8th armada, arrived from Socotra on 27th August just in time to turn the tides in the battle. The siege was forced to be lifted and the castle was relieved when the ship landed 300 Portuguese men. Negotiations for peace between the Portuguese and the Kolathiri Raja confirmed that the Portuguese would remain in Cannanore and would once again have access to its spice markets.
The Portuguese’s inability to possess any items that the Indians wanted was the main obstacle to their commercial aspirations in the East. They were already exceedingly wealthy from centuries of lucrative relationships with Muslim traders in the Persian Gulf and on the Swahili coast of East Africa, and they were reluctant to alter a regional trading network that was operating perfectly and, peacefully. The Portuguese were the disruptors of that peace. They did not merely want to trade, they wanted a trade monopoly and the spread of Christendom.
More importantly, trade ships in the Indian Ocean Region were constructed for freight and speed, to endure the Monsoon winds. The cannons from the hardened Portuguese Carracks were not what they expected to face. Though some Arab traders and Indian monarchs did own cannons, they were not as good as those of the Europeans. OpIndia will address how this technological superiority helped the Portuguese to advance their ruthless rule over the Indian subcontinent through the “Battle of Diu” in the next article.
