THE RULE OF ALBUQUERQUE
_The Conquest of Goa_
It was on November 5, 1509, almost a year after he had reached India
from his campaign in the Arabian seas, that Affonso de Albuquerque
took up office as Governor and Captain-General of the Portuguese
possessions in Asia. King Emmanuel had not conferred upon him the
title of Viceroy, which had been held by his predecessor--probably
because he had no right to the prefix Dom, or Lord. His powers,
however, were as great as those exercised by Dom Francisco de
Almeida, and he received a special patent granting him authority to
confer _Moradias_, or palace pensions, for services rendered. There
can be no doubt that during the months in which he had been kept out
of his office by the intrigues of his enemies with the Viceroy
Almeida, Albuquerque had carefully considered the state of affairs in
India, for he struck the keynotes of his future policy immediately
after taking up office.
The state of Southern India, and especially of the Malabar coast, was
at this time very favourable to the {65} aspirations of the
Portuguese. The Hindu Rajas, with the exception of the Zamorin of
Calicut, were greatly opposed to the monopoly by the Moplas of the
commerce of their dominions. These Arab traders were as completely
foreigners to the races of Southern India as the Portuguese
themselves. They made proselytes to their religion, as the Portuguese
afterwards endeavoured to do, but the Muhammadan converts were not
favourably regarded either by the Rajas or their Brahman ministers.
The most important ruler in Southern India was the Raja of
Vijayanagar or Narsingha. His power was still great, but it was
threatened by the Muhammadan dynasties established in the Deccan,
which eventually destroyed the power of the Vijayanagar kingdom at
the battle of Talikot in 1565. But when Albuquerque took up his
office the Hindu kingdom was still powerful, and it might have been
able with the assistance of the Portuguese to resist the advance of
the Muhammadans.
The Portuguese felt none of the hatred which they showed to the
disciples of Islam towards the Hindus. They had found to their great
delight that the Christian religion flourished on the Malabar coast,
and that the native Christians[1] were a prosperous and thriving
community. They inclined to believe that the Hindus or
Krishna-worshippers believed in a form of Christianity. The grounds
for their belief were very {66} slight, but sufficient to impress
ardent Christians like Albuquerque himself. One of the first designs
of the great Governor was to strike up a cordial alliance with the
Hindu rulers. The friendship which the Raja of Cochin had
consistently shown to the Europeans gave him confidence, and one of
his earliest measures was to send a Franciscan friar, Frei Luis, on a
special embassy to the Raja of Vijayanagar. The aim of this embassy
was to induce the Raja to attack the Zamorin of Calicut by land while
the Portuguese attacked him by sea, but there was also a general
desire expressed to make an alliance with the Raja.
[Footnote 1: On the early history of Christianity in India, see
Hunter's _Indian Empire_, chapter ix, pp. 229-241.]
Frei Luis was directed to state in the name of Albuquerque:
'The King of Portugal commands me to render honour and willing
service to all the Gentile Kings of this land and of the whole of
Malabar, and that they are to be well treated by me, neither am I
to take their ships nor their merchandise; but I am to destroy the
Moors [Muhammadans], with whom I wage incessant war, as I know he
also does; wherefore I am prepared and ready to help him with the
fleets and armies of the King, my Lord, whensoever and as often as
he shall desire me to do so; and I likewise, for my part, expect
that he will help us with his army, towns, harbours, and munitions,
and with everything that I may require from his kingdom; and the
ships which navigate to his ports may pass safely throughout all
the Indian sea, and receive honour and good treatment at the hands
of the fleets and fortresses of the King of Portugal.'
Albuquerque goes on to say--
'And so I intend to drive out of Calicut the Moors, who {67} are
the people that furnish the Zamorin with all the revenue that he
requires for the expenses of war, and after this is over I shall
give my attention forthwith to the affairs of Goa, wherein I can
help in the war against the King of the Deccan.'
Albuquerque then adds that Ormuz now belongs to the King of Portugal,
and that--
'the horses of Ormuz shall not be consigned except to Baticala
[Bhatkal] or to any other port he [the Raja of Vijayanagar] pleases
to point out where he can have them, and shall not go to the King
of the Deccan, who is a Moor and his enemy.'[2]
[Footnote 2: Instructions to Frei Luis; Albuquerque's _Commentaries_,
vol. ii. pp. 74-77.]
These instructions make evident the attitude of Albuquerque, his
desire to earn the friendship of Hindu rulers and his unrelenting
enmity to all Muhammadans. He had not the absurd notion which Almeida
attributed to him of desiring to establish a direct Portuguese rule
all over India. He wished rather to pose as the destroyer of
Muhammadanism and the liberator of the natives. In return for this
service Portugal was to control the commerce of India with Europe.
The attitude is not very different from that adopted by the English
300 years later, and it is a remarkable conception for a statesman at
the very beginning of the sixteenth century.
Before however Albuquerque was able to combine operations with the
Hindu Raja of Narsingha he was forced, against his better judgment,
to make an immediate attack unaided upon Calicut. Dom Fernao de {68}
Coutinho, the Marshal, insisted on this expedition against the
Zamorin, on the ground that the King had ordered him to destroy
Calicut before he returned to Portugal. The prudent Albuquerque
endeavoured to dissuade the Marshal, but the headstrong young
nobleman insisted on having his way. The entire military force of the
Portuguese in India sailed for Calicut, and on Jan. 4, 1510, a
landing was effected in front of the city. Albuquerque desired that a
halt should then be made, as the men were very wearied, and could not
bear the weight of their arms by reason of the great heat,--but in
vain. He found himself forced to comply with the wishes of his
impetuous relative, but he did his best to assure a safe retreat from
the disaster, which he foresaw, by ordering Dom Antonio de Noronha,
after burning the ships in the port, to remain in reserve with 300
men. Albuquerque then proceeded to follow the Marshal, who was
rapidly making his way towards the Zamorin's palace. As the Marshal
moved forward--
'There came against him twenty or thirty Nairs, armed with swords
and shields, shouting aloud in their accustomed manner. When he
caught sight of them coming against him he began to chuckle, and
said to Gaspar Pereira, who was close beside him:--"Is this your
Calicut that you terrify us all with in Portugal?" Gaspar Pereira
replied that he would think differently before long; for he would
wager that, if they could that day penetrate to the houses of the
Zamorin, those little naked blacks would give them trouble enough.
The Marshal replied:--"This is not the kind of people who will give
me any trouble."[3]
[Footnote 3: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. ii. p. 67.]
{69} The Portuguese vanguard under the Marshal managed to reach the
Zamorin's palace, but the men soon scattered to plunder and got into
disorder. They burnt the palace, but were hotly attacked by the Nairs
when they endeavoured to retreat. More than eighty of the Portuguese
were killed as they retired, including the Marshal and ten or twelve
of the principal officers. Albuquerque himself was wounded, and all
the invaders would probably have been cut to pieces but for the
gallant conduct of the reserve under the command of Dom Antonio de
Noronha. After this repulse, which was the most serious the
Portuguese had sustained in India, Albuquerque returned to Cochin.
It is interesting to compare the account of this attack on Calicut,
as given by Sheikh Zin-ud-din in his historical work called the
_Tohfut-ul-mujahideen_, which was written in the sixteenth century:--
'Now on Thursday, the 22nd day of the month of Ramzan, in the year
of the Hejira 915, the Franks made a descent upon Calicut,
committing great devastation and burning the Jama Mosque which was
built by Nakuz Miscal; and they attacked also the palace of the
Zamorin, hoping to obtain possession of it, as that prince was
absent, being engaged in war in a distant part of his dominions.
But the Nairs that had been left behind at Calicut, having united
against these invaders, made an assault upon them, and succeeded in
ejecting them from the palace, killing at the same time nearly 500
of their party; a great number also were drowned, and the few that
escaped were saved by flying on board their vessels; having been
entirely defeated in their designs by the permission of God Most
High. Now, both {70} before this time and after it, they made
various descents upon the dominions of the Zamorin, burning in
these attacks in all nearly fifty vessels that were lying near his
shores, and conferring martyrdom upon upwards of seventy of the
faithful.'[4]
[Footnote 4: _Tohfut-ul-mujahideen_, translated by Lieut. M. J.
Rowlandson for the Oriental Translation Fund, 1833; pp. 97-99.]
After this serious disaster, which seemed an evil omen for
Albuquerque's governorship, the great captain returned to Cochin to
be healed of his wounds. Sickness however could not repress his
energies, and he soon equipped his fleet afresh and took on board
1000 Portuguese soldiers. With this fleet he intended to sail to the
Red Sea. Duarte de Lemos, who had succeeded him as Captain of the
Ethiopian and Arabian Seas, earnestly implored the Governor to bring
him help at once, alleging that his ships were rotten and unable to
defend the island and fortress of Socotra. Albuquerque was well
acquainted with King Emmanuel's desire to put an end to the
Muhammadan commerce by way of the Red Sea. It was the notion which he
had himself advocated to the King, and its execution was one of the
principal aims of his policy. He desired also to return to Ormuz in
order to punish the Minister, Cogeatar, and firmly establish
Portuguese influence in the Persian Gulf. He therefore left Cochin
with twenty-three ships on Feb. 10, 1510, and on his way to the
island of Anchediva [Anjidiv], whence he intended to start for
Arabia, he anchored off the port of Mergeu [Mirjan]. {71} He there
considered an alternative scheme of campaign, namely, to attack Goa,
for it was suggested to him by a native pirate or corsair captain,
named Timoja or Timmaya, that it was a particularly suitable time for
a sudden attack upon that central port.
This man played a most important part in the history of Portuguese
conquest in India. He is reported to have been a Muhammadan by
Correa, and, more correctly, a Hindu in the _Commentaries_ of
Albuquerque. The first Portuguese captain who had relations with this
pirate was Dom Vasco da Gama during his second voyage to India in
1502. Correa says that certain ships--
'were _fustas_ of thieves, which, with oars and sails, got into a
river called Onor (Honawar), where there was a Moor who equipped
them, named Timoja.... This Moor committed great robberies at sea
upon all that he fell in with, and this Moor was a foreigner and
paid part of the plunder to the King of Gersoppa, who was ruler of
the country.'[5]
[Footnote 5: _The Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama_, translated from
Correa's _Lendas da India_: Hakluyt Soc. 1869, p. 309.]
Vasco da Gama had on this information burnt various ships belonging
to Timoja. But the native chieftain seems to have borne the
Portuguese no ill feeling for this, and entered into very friendly
relations with Dom Francisco de Almeida, the Viceroy. He had written
to Albuquerque before the ill-fated attack upon Calicut, begging the
Governor to direct his fleet against Goa, and while Albuquerque was
on his way on this occasion to the Red Sea, Timoja arrived to parley
with him at Mergeu.
{72} 'This man,' it is said in the _Commentaries_ of Albuquerque,
'was a Hindu by birth, very obedient to the interests of the King
of Portugal; and being a man of low origin had, as a corsair,
raised himself to a position of great honour.'[6]
[Footnote 6: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. ii. p. 81.]
He informed Albuquerque that the Lord of Goa was dead, and that great
dissensions had arisen among his nobles, which left a very favourable
opportunity for an attack on the city. The Governor called a council
of his captains, and after considering Timoja's arguments it was
unanimously resolved to put off the expedition to the Red Sea and to
attack Goa.
The capture of Goa is perhaps the most important event of
Albuquerque's administration, and the reasons which led to it deserve
special consideration. The island of Goa was situated upon the
Malabar coast about half way between Bombay and Cape Comorin. It was
formed by the mouths of two rivers and was thus easily fitted for
defence. At the time of its capture there was a bar at the mouth of
the harbour, allowing in full flood ships drawing three fathoms of
water to enter, and the anchorage inside was absolutely safe. It had
always been the centre of an important trade, and was visited by
merchants of many nationalities. By some authorities its trade is
represented as larger than that of Calicut, and at any rate it was
but slightly inferior. From its situation, and the ease with which it
could be fortified, it was well fitted to become the capital of the
Portuguese in India.
Albuquerque's ideas, as has already been said, differed {73} from
those of Almeida in one important particular. Albuquerque wished to
establish a real Portuguese empire, which should rest upon the
possession of Portuguese colonies owning the direct sway of the King
of Portugal. Almeida thought it sufficient to command the sea, and
that the only land stations should be a few factories in commercial
cities, defended by fortifications against all assaults. Almeida
therefore was quite satisfied that the fortresses he had built at
Cannanore, Cochin, and Quilon were all that was needed; but
Albuquerque considered it derogatory for the Portuguese to have their
headquarters on sufferance in the capitals of native rulers. He felt
it would be impolitic to attack the Rajas who had been friendly with
the Portuguese, and he therefore resolved to establish a Portuguese
capital in another part of the Malabar coast quite independent of the
existing factories. Geographically also he considered Cochin as too
far south for the effective maintenance of the Portuguese power in
India, and he therefore looked out for a more central situation. Goa
seemed to offer just what he wanted, a good harbour and a central
situation, while its capture would not offend any of the native
allies of the Portuguese.
There was another political consideration which also weighed with
Albuquerque. Hitherto the chief enemies of the Portuguese had been
Muhammadan merchants, who had, in the instance of Calicut, induced
the Hindu ruler to take the offensive. But Goa was the actual
possession of a Muhammadan ruler, {74} and its conquest would strike
a direct blow at the growing Muhammadan power in India.
Goa belonged to various Hindu dynasties until the early part of the
fourteenth century, when it was conquered by the Muhammadan Nawab of
Honawar. In 1367, however, the Hindu minister of Harihara, Raja of
Vijayanagar, reconquered the city, and it remained a part of the
great Hindu kingdom of Southern India for more than seventy years. In
1440 the inhabitants of the old city of Goa attained their
independence, and soon after founded the new city of Goa in another
part of the island. Its trade, especially in horses, imported from
Ormuz, grew rapidly, and in 1470 it was conquered by the Muhammadan
King of the Deccan, Muhammad Shah II. So great was the monarch's joy
at the conquest, that it is stated in Ferishta that he ordered 'the
march of triumph to be beaten for seven days.'
In 1472 the Hindu Raja of Belgaum, and in 1481 the Raja of
Vijayanagar made unsuccessful attacks upon Goa. Amid the later
troubles of the great Bahmani kingdom of the Deccan, which occurred
on the death of Muhammad Shah II, Goa fell to the lot of the
Muhammadan kingdom of Bijapur. The founder of this kingdom was Yusaf
Adil Shah, a son of Amurad II, Sultan of the Ottoman Turks. That
prince had a most romantic history. He was rescued by his mother from
being put to death with his brothers on the accession to the throne
of Muhammad II. He was secretly delivered over to a merchant of Sava
in {75} Persia who educated him. He took the name of Savai from the
place of his education, and is always called by the Portuguese
historians the Sabaio or Cabaio, or the Hidalcao, a version of Adil
Khan. He came to India as a slave, but he rose rapidly from a simple
soldier to the command of the royal body-guard of the Bahmani kings,
and was eventually made Governor of Bijapur. In 1489 he was crowned
King of Bijapur, and under his rule Goa, which formed part of his
dominions, greatly increased in wealth.
Yusaf Adil Shah erected many fine buildings, including a magnificent
palace at Goa. He even thought, it is said, of making it his capital,
and there can be no doubt that he vastly augmented its prosperity.
But his government was oppressive to the Hindu population; he doubled
the taxes, and by favouring his own creed made himself hated by all
his Hindu subjects. When Timoja pressed Albuquerque to attack Goa,
the Muhammadan Governor, whose name, Malik Yusaf Gurgi, is rendered
by the Portuguese Melique Cufegurgij, had made himself especially
obnoxious from the cruelties wreaked by his Turkish garrison on the
citizens. Yusaf Adil Shah was not dead, as Timoja told Albuquerque,
but was absent in the interior, and the time was really favourable
for a sudden assault. A Jogi or Hindu ascetic had prophesied that a
foreign people coming from a distant land would conquer Goa, and the
inhabitants were therefore ready to surrender the city without much
opposition to the Portuguese.
{76} Influenced by these considerations, and the arguments of Timoja,
Albuquerque altered the direction of his armament and cast anchor off
Goa harbour. On March 1, 1510, Dom Antonio de Noronha, Albuquerque's
gallant nephew, crossed the bar with the ships' boats of the
Portuguese fleet, two galleys commanded by Diogo Fernandes de Beja
and Simao de Andrade, and the _fustas_ or native boats of Timoja, and
stormed the fortress of Panjim, which is situated at the entrance to
the harbour. The ships then entered, and on the 3rd of March the city
of Goa surrendered without making any defence.[7] The Governor for
the Muhammadan King and his soldiers had fled with such haste that
many fugitives were drowned in crossing the rivers. Albuquerque
entered the city in triumph, and proceeded to the palace of Yusaf
Adil Shah, where his first measure was to appoint Dom Antonio de
Noronha to be Captain of the city. He was hailed with shouts of
welcome by the people, who showered on him flowers made of gold and
silver. The Governor at once prepared to strengthen the defences of
the city; the ships' crews were brought ashore, and both Portuguese
and natives were set to work to build a strong wall round the city,
and a citadel.
[Footnote 7: The dates of the first capture of Goa are given
differently. The _Commentaries_ of Albuquerque gives March 3, vol.
ii. pp. 88-92; Correa, _Lendas da India_, vol. ii p. 59, says March
1. Barros, Decade II, Book V, chapter 3, ed. of 1777, pp. 464, 465;
Castanheda, vol. iii. ed. of 1833, p. 30; and Faria e Sousa, _Asia
Portugueza_, ed. of 1666, vol. i. p. 137, all fix February 17.]
Albuquerque was well aware of the effect his {77} conquest would have
upon the minds of other native sovereigns. He received ambassadors
from the Raja of Vijayanagar, who plainly hinted that their master
expected Goa would be made over to him. He also received ambassadors
from the King of Ormuz and from Shah Ismail of Persia. These
Muhammadan potentates had despatched their ambassadors to the King of
Bijapur to incite him to join in a general war against the
Portuguese. But when they found Albuquerque in possession of the city
of Goa, they adroitly changed the purpose of their missions, and made
overtures to him instead. Albuquerque received them with fair words.
He had not abandoned his schemes against Ormuz, but he desired to
stand well with Ismail Shah. He thoroughly understood the exact
position of Ismail, the greatest of the Sufi Shahs of Persia, whom
the Portuguese always called the Sophy, and that Ismail belonged to
the Shiah sect of Muhammadans, and as such was the enemy of the
Turks, who were orthodox Muhammadans.
Albuquerque nominated Ruy Gomes as ambassador to Ismail Shah, and the
instructions which he took with him are very significant of
Albuquerque's wide range of policy. Ruy Gomes never reached the
Persian Court, being poisoned upon the way at Ormuz, but part of his
instructions deserve quotation:
'You shall tell Shah Ismail how my Lord the King will be pleased to
come to an understanding and alliance with him, and will assist him
in his war against the Sultan; and that I, in his name and on his
behalf, offer him the fleet and {78} army and artillery which I
have with me, and the fortresses, towns, and lordships, which the
King of Portugal holds in India, and I will give him all this same
help against the Turk.'[8]
[Footnote 8: Instructions to Ruy Gomes; Albuquerque's _Commentaries_,
vol. ii. pp. 114-118.]
In his letter to the Shah, Albuquerque lays weight also upon the
advantages which might be derived from an alliance with the
Portuguese:
'I believe that with small trouble,' he says, 'you must gain the
Lordship of the city of Cairo, and all his kingdom and
dependencies.... If God grant that this intercourse and alliance be
ratified, come you with all your power against the city of Cairo
and the lands of the Grand Sultan which are on the borders of your
own, and the King my Lord shall pass over to Jerusalem and gain
from him all the land on that side.'[9]
[Footnote 9: Letter to Shah Ismail; Albuquerque's _Commentaries_,
vol. ii. pp. 111-114.]
These ideas deserve notice both as illustrating the grandiose
conceptions of Albuquerque, and his skill in taking advantage of
dissensions among the foes of the Christian religion. To him
doubtless it mattered not whether the Muhammadans he attacked were
Shiahs or Sunis--all alike were infidels; but he was perfectly ready
to make use of the one sect against the other. He calmly put on one
side the demand of the Persian ambassador that the Shiah form of
Muhammadanism should be proclaimed in Goa, and that Ismail Shah's
money should pass current, but he nevertheless dismissed the
ambassador with fair words.
Albuquerque was soon distracted from questions of general policy by
the advance of the King of Bijapur upon the island of Goa with 60,000
men. As had {79} happened at Ormuz, his captains did not share his
views. They declared it to be impossible to defend Goa, and strongly
resented being engaged in the hard work of building walls instead of
in the more lucrative business of collecting cargoes for Portugal.
The news of the advance of Yusaf Adil Shah increased the reluctance
of the captains to remain, but Albuquerque nevertheless refused to
evacuate Goa. The Muhammadan king made overtures to him and promised
to cede to the Portuguese any other port in his dominions except Goa,
and it was even hinted that Goa itself would be given up, if
Albuquerque would surrender Timoja, who was looked on as a traitor to
his country. This proposition it need hardly be said was rejected
with scorn. Eventually, whether from the unwillingness of the
Portuguese captains or from sheer impossibility of defence, Yusaf
Adil Shah's army made its way into the island of Goa on May 17, 1510.
The Portuguese at first hoped to hold the citadel of Goa; but finding
the position untenable, Albuquerque withdrew his men to their ships,
after setting fire to the arsenal and beheading 150 of the principal
Muhammadan prisoners whom he had in his possession.
He then dropped down the river with his fleet, but was unable to
cross the bar owing to the state of the weather. For nearly three
months the Portuguese fleet remained at anchor at the mouth of the
harbour of Goa. It was one of the most critical periods in
Albuquerque's life, and during it he exhibited the {80} highest
qualities of a commander. At their anchorage, the Portuguese found
themselves exposed to the fire of the King of Bijapur's artillery,
mounted in the castle of Panjim, which had been abandoned after the
capture of Goa. Albuquerque therefore decided to make a night attack
upon this position. The fight was a fierce one. Several of the
Portuguese were killed, and it was with difficulty that the garrison
was expelled on June 14, 1510.
This successful expedition was followed by another, marred only by
the death of the young hero of the fleet, Dom Antonio de Noronha.
News had reached Albuquerque that Yusaf Adil Shah had prepared a
number of fire-ships, which he intended to send down the river to set
fire to the Portuguese fleet. He therefore sent his boats to
reconnoitre. They reached the dockyard, but in endeavouring to cut
out one of the enemy's ships, which was still on the stocks, Dom
Antonio de Noronha was mortally wounded. He died on July 8, and, in
the words of the _Commentaries_,
'There was not a single person in the whole of the fleet who was
not deeply affected, but especially his uncle, in that he had been
deprived of him at a season when he most needed his personal
assistance, his advice, and his knightly example.... He was a very
brave cavalier, and never found himself placed in any position
which caused him any fear. He was very virtuous, very godfearing,
and very truthful. He was found side by side with Affonso de
Albuquerque in every one of the troubles which up to the hour of
his death had come upon him. He died at the age of twenty-four {81}
years, four having elapsed since he set out from Portugal with his
uncle in the fleet of Tristao da Cunha.'[10]
[Footnote 10: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. ii. pp. 180, 181.]
At no time indeed was Albuquerque more in need of help and advice;
his fleet was blockaded in the harbour and stricken with famine; his
men deserted in numbers and became renegades; and his captains were
in almost open mutiny. It was at this time that he ordered the
execution of one of his soldiers, a young Portuguese fidalgo named
Ruy Dias, which is treated by the poet Camoens as the chief blot upon
the great commander's fame. It was reported to Albuquerque that Ruy
Dias had been in the habit of visiting the Muhammadan women whom he
had brought with him as hostages from Goa. There is no doubt that
through these women information was conveyed to the enemy of the
state of affairs in the Portuguese fleet, and Albuquerque therefore
directed Pedro de Alpoem, the _Ouvidor_--that is, the Auditor of
Portuguese India, who performed the duties of Chief Magistrate--to
try Ruy Dias, and he was condemned to be hanged. While the execution
was being carried out, certain of the captains rowed up and down
among the ships crying 'Murder,' and one of them, Francisco de Sa,
went so far as to cut through the rope with which Ruy Dias was being
hanged, with his sword. Albuquerque at once determined to maintain
discipline. The execution of Ruy Dias was completed, and Francisco de
Sa, with three captains, Jorge Fogaca, Fernao Peres de Andrade and
Simao de Andrade, were put in irons.
{82} The extent of the suffering from sickness and starvation in the
fleet was made known to Yusaf Adil Shah by deserters, and that
monarch, with true chivalry, offered to send provisions to the
Portuguese, stating that he wished to conquer them not by starvation
but by the sword. Albuquerque resolved to receive no such assistance
from his enemies. He collected on board his own ship all the wine and
food that was left, which was being kept for the use of the sick, and
displayed it to the messengers of the King of Bijapur. Throughout
this difficult period the two generals vied with each other in
generosity. One fact is particularly worthy of notice. Yusaf Adil
Shah at the request of Albuquerque refused to allow the Portuguese
deserters, who had joined him, to continue going down to the banks of
the harbour to incite other soldiers and sailors to desert. At last
in August, 1510, the weather changed; it became once more possible to
cross the bar, and the Portuguese fleet sailed away from Goa. But
Albuquerque was not a man to be depressed by one failure. He had
resolved that Goa should be the capital of Portuguese India, and he
never rested until he had attained his end.
It was on August 15 that Albuquerque sailed out of Goa harbour, and
to his great joy the first sight he saw was a Portuguese squadron of
four ships which had just arrived from Portugal under the command of
Diogo Mendes de Vasconcellos. The Governor stopped for a time at the
anchorage of Anchediva Island, and then proceeded to Honawar (Onor),
where he had an {83} interview with Timoja, who had been able to
leave Goa harbour with his light native galleys before the larger
Portuguese ships. Timoja gave him information that Yusaf Adil Shah
had left Goa for Bijapur three days after the departure of the
Portuguese fleet, and also that directly the main Muhammadan army had
gone the people in the neighbourhood of Goa had risen in
insurrection. Timoja therefore pressed Albuquerque to make a second
attack on Goa as soon as possible, which was exactly what the
Portuguese commander had determined to do. Albuquerque then sailed
south to Cannanore, where he was met by Duarte de Lemos, who had
succeeded him as Captain of the Arabian Seas.
Duarte de Lemos told Albuquerque that his nephew, Dom Affonso de
Noronha, had left Socotra in the previous April, and had never been
heard of again, and the news of this loss increased his sorrow for
the loss of his other nephew, Dom Antonio. Duarte de Lemos took
advantage of his position as a Chief Captain to entreat Albuquerque
to release the captains and other gentlemen whom he had imprisoned
for insubordination in the harbour of Goa. Albuquerque accordingly
released all except Jorge Fogaca, whom he regarded as the ringleader,
and some of those to whom he showed clemency, notably the brothers
Andrade, afterwards did him good service, and showed themselves
worthy of his forgiveness.
While he was at Cannanore, Albuquerque received an ambassador from
Mahmud Shah Begara, the {84} Muhammadan King of Ahmadabad, informing
him that Dom Affonso de Noronha's ship had been wrecked off the coast
of Gujarat, and that, though Dom Affonso was drowned, most of his men
were saved and were detained in custody. The mere fact that such an
embassy was sent showed how far the fame of the great Portuguese
captain had already extended.
During this period of waiting, two other squadrons joined Albuquerque
under the command of Goncalo de Sequeira and Joao Serrao, making the
amount of reinforcements which had reached him during the year
fourteen ships and 1500 Portuguese warriors. But his difficulties
were not yet over. Two of these squadrons, those of Diogo Mendes and
Joao Serrao, had been sent for the express purpose, the former of
going to Malacca, the latter of exploring the Red Sea. These captains
wished to depart at once on their several missions, and desired not
to co-operate in a second attack on Goa. Goncalo de Sequeira, on his
part, declared that his ships were ships of burden and that it was
his duty to load them with cargo for Portugal.
Albuquerque knew how eagerly King Emmanuel expected his
merchant-ships, and, like Warren Hastings in later times, he was
forced to subordinate his political aims to the commercial objects of
his employer. He therefore sailed to Cochin, where he invested a new
Raja in the place of his deceased uncle and got ready the cargo for
Portugal. But, though he yielded to Sequeira's representations, he
insisted upon being accompanied to Goa by the squadrons of {85} Diogo
Mendes and Joao Serrao. Duarte de Lemos was greatly disgusted with
this decision, and demanded leave to return to Portugal instead of to
his station at the mouth of the Red Sea. Albuquerque acceded to his
request, and placed him in command of the squadron of cargo-ships
which was about to return to Portugal.
The combined Portuguese war-fleet then sailed to Honawar, where
Albuquerque was present at the marriage of his ally Timoja to a
daughter of the Raja of Gersoppa. Timoja pressed the Portuguese
Governor to attack Goa as soon as possible. He informed him that
Yusaf Adil Shah had now gone so far into the interior that he would
be unable to relieve the city, and also that the garrison of Goa
consisted not of more than 4000 Turks and Persians under the command
of a general named Rasul Khan, whom the Portuguese called Rocalcao.
Under these circumstances the Portuguese Governor resolved to attack,
and in the beginning of November he sailed once more into the harbour
of Goa with twenty-eight ships carrying 1700 soldiers, accompanied by
a large number of native troops belonging to Timoja and the Raja of
Gersoppa.
On November 25, 1510, the Portuguese assaulted the city of Goa in
three columns. Each was entirely successful; the Turks fought
desperately, and at least half of them, or 2000 men, were killed. The
Portuguese lost forty killed and 150 wounded. Many feats of valour on
the part of the Portuguese warriors are related by different
chroniclers, two of which deserve {86} mention here, as they
illustrate the chivalrous conduct of the Portuguese in those days.
Perhaps the most striking is the story of Dom Jeronymo de Lima, a
young nobleman, who had accompanied Almeida to India, and remained to
serve under Albuquerque. He was mortally wounded at the storming of
the gate of the fortress.
'And while he lay on the ground so severely struck that he could
not survive, his brother, Dom Joao de Lima, who was wheeling round
with others, came upon him; and when he beheld him in such a
condition, with his head leaning against the wall, he exclaimed,
with many tears, "What is this, brother? How art thou?" Dom
Jeronymo replied, "I am on the point of finishing this journey, and
I am glad, as it has pleased Our Lord to require this service of
me, that it has been completed here in His service, and in that of
the King of Portugal." Dom Joao de Lima desired to remain in
company with him; but he said, "Brother, there is no time for you
to remain with me; go and perform what is required of you. I will
remain here and finish my days, for I have no longer any strength
left." So Dom Joao de Lima left him and went on, following after
the Moors; and when the fortress had been captured and the Moors
driven out, he returned to seek after his brother, and found him
already dead. I should be very glad to have been either one of the
two brothers [the chronicler quaintly adds], but I know not how to
decide which one of the two I most envy,--whether Dom Joao de Lima,
because he went to fight where such another one as himself could be
met with, or Dom Jeronymo de Lima, who did not desire to remedy his
wounds, although they were mortal (it being a very natural thing
for men to desire to live), but rather sought to advance his
brother's honour, and would not consent to his remaining {87}
behind with him at a time when the other fidalgos and cavaliers
were carrying on the fight with the Turks within the fortress. The
decision of this I leave to those who read the lessons of this
history; let them judge which of these two brothers best performed
his obligations.'[11]
[Footnote 11: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. pp. 13, 14.]
Another anecdote illustrates Albuquerque's personal admiration of
warlike prowess. Manoel de Lacerda was wounded in the face by an
arrow; but nevertheless he killed a mounted Turk, seized his horse,
and continued to fight with the broken arrow fixed in his face and
his armour covered with blood. At this moment the Turks rallied and
attacked Lacerda's force with 500 men. Albuquerque, on receiving
information of this resistance, came up with his reserve to the point
of danger.
'As soon as Manoel de Lacerda beheld Affonso de Albuquerque, he
dismounted his charger and presented it to him. When Affonso de
Albuquerque saw him with his armour all smirched with blood, he
embraced him and said, "Sir Manoel de Lacerda, I declare to you
that I am greatly envious of you, and so would Alexander the Great
have been, had he been here, for you look more gallant for an
evening's rendezvous than the Emperor Aurelian."'[12]
[Footnote 12: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. p. 12.]
The moment the victory was won, Affonso de Albuquerque gave thanks to
God, and promised to erect a church in honour of St. Catherine, whose
feast day is the 25th November, on the site of the gate which had
been so hardly won. He also conferred the honour of {88} knighthood
upon some of the most distinguished of the younger soldiers, among
whom were Frederico Fernandes, who had been the first man to enter
the city, and Manoel da Cunha, a younger son of his former commander,
Tristao da Cunha.
As soon as the Portuguese were in entire possession of Goa,
Albuquerque directed that the Muhammadan population, men, women and
children, should be put to the sword. This cruel butchery is far more
to Albuquerque's discredit than the hanging of Ruy Dias, for which
the poet Camoens so strongly condemns him. It is only partially
justified by Albuquerque's belief that the Muhammadans of Goa had
behaved treacherously towards him in the spring and had admitted
Yusaf Adil Shah into the island. It is more likely that it was mainly
due to Albuquerque's crusading hatred against the religion of the
Prophet. He also gave up the city to plunder, and for three days his
soldiers were occupied in the work of sacking it. He then set to work
to repair the walls and ramparts, and especially to rebuild the
citadel. His loss of the place in the spring made him particularly
anxious to complete this work, and to set an example he himself did
not hesitate to set his hands to it. When the citadel was completed
he ordered a stone to be set up containing the names of all the
captains who had served at the assault. But there was so much
dissension as to the order in which the names should be engraved,
every one desiring to be first, that eventually he placed on it only
these words {89} '_Lapidem quem reprobaverunt aedificantes_'--_the
stone which the builders rejected_.[13]
[Footnote 13: According to Barros, Decade II, Book V, ch. 11, ed. of
1778, p. 558, and Correa, _Lendas da India_, vol. ii. p. 157; but in
the _Commentaries_, vol. iii. p. 137, this anecdote is told of the
building of the fortress at Malacca.]
It is curious to compare with the real history of Albuquerque's two
occupations of Goa the account given by the Muhammadan historian in
the _Tohfut-ul-mujahideen_, but it need hardly be said that the
bribery to which he refers had no foundation in fact.
'Moreover,' writes the Sheikh Zin-ud-din, 'the Franks having
commenced hostilities against the inhabitants of Goa and captured
that place, proceeded to take possession of it. Now this port was
one of those that belonged to Adil Shah (peace to his remains!);
notwithstanding this, however, the Franks having seized upon it,
made choice of it for their seat of government in India, proceeding
to exercise rule over it. But Adil Shah attacking these intruders,
repulsed them; he in turn making it a rallying-place for Islamism.
Subsequently the Franks (the curse of God rest on them!) made
preparations for a second attack upon Goa, and proceeding against
it with a vast armament and assaulting it, they at last captured
it. It is said, however, that they bribed over to their interests
some of its principal inhabitants, in which case its capture was
not a feat of much difficulty; and the Franks on thus re-obtaining
possession of Goa, hastened to construct around it extensive
fortifications of vast height. After their acquisition of this
place, their power became greatly increased, every day bringing
some accession to it: for the Lord as he wills, so indeed does he
bring to pass.'[14]
[Footnote 14: _Tohfut-ul-mujahideen_, Rowlandson's translation, pp.
100-102.]
{90} Albuquerque took Goa for the second time at a most favourable
moment, for Yusaf Adil Shah, his gallant enemy of the previous
spring, died on December 5, 1510. His son, Ismail Adil Shah, who
succeeded him, was a mere lad, and the governors of the different
provinces of his kingdom soon began to show signs of rebellion. Under
these circumstances Kamal Khan, the principal general and minister of
the State of Bijapur, made, according to the Muhammadan historian
Ferishta, an arrangement with the Portuguese, and consented to their
retaining possession of Goa, on condition that they would be
satisfied with the island and would not molest the adjoining
districts. Albuquerque's _Commentaries_ say nothing of this
arrangement with Kamal Khan, but they contain a letter written by the
Portuguese Governor to the youthful King of Bijapur directly after
the second capture of Goa. The letter is both curious and
characteristic.
'You must well know,' he wrote, 'how the Sabaio, your father, used
to take the ships of Malabar out of the ports and harbours of the
King, my Lord; wherefore it was that I was constrained to go
against Goa, and take the city, and there it is that I am now
occupied in building a very strong fortress. I wish most sincerely
that your father had been living, that he might know me to be a man
of my word: out of regard for him I shall be ever your friend, and
I will assist you against the King of the Deccan and against your
enemies; and I will cause all the horses that arrive here to be
carried to your stations and your marts, in order that you may have
possession of them. Fain would I that the merchants of your land
would come with white stuffs and {91} all manner of merchandize to
this port, and take to yours in exchange merchandize of the sea,
and of the land, and horses, and I will give them a safe conduct.
If you wish for my friendship, let your messengers come to me with
your communications, and I will send you others on my part, who
shall convey to you my communications: if you will perform this
which I write unto you, by my aid shall you be able to gain
possession of much land, and become a great Lord among the Moors.
Be desirous of performing this, for thus it shall be well with you,
and you shall have great power; and for all that the Sabaio, your
father, be dead, I will be your father and bring you up like a
son.'[15]
[Footnote 15: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. pp. 20, 21.]
The conquest of Goa had an immense effect upon all the sovereigns on
the western side of India. Not only did the Muhammadan King of
Ahmadabad send ambassadors to Albuquerque asking to make an alliance
with him, but the Hindu Zamorin of Calicut, hitherto the principal
foe of the Portuguese, also sued for peace. Albuquerque took a high
hand with the latter; too much Portuguese blood had been shed in
Calicut for him to desire a treaty of alliance. The only terms he
would accept were that he should have permission to build a fortress
in the very heart of Calicut commanding the harbour. As the Zamorin
would not accept these terms, which would leave his capital and his
commerce at the mercy of the Portuguese, the negotiations were broken
off. With Mahmud Shah Begara, King of Ahmadabad, communications were
carried on in a more friendly tone. The King promised to release the
men who had been {92} wrecked with Dom Affonso de Noronha, and
ordered the Emir Husain to leave his dominions at once. He even
offered the island of Diu as a site for a Portuguese fortress, but
Albuquerque had not sufficient strength in India at that moment to
accept the offer.
The conquest of Goa, both in its immediate and in its ultimate
results, was one of the greatest achievements of Albuquerque's
governorship. It gave the Portuguese a commercial and political
capital; it showed the neighbouring rulers, both Hindu and
Muhammadan, that the Portuguese intended to remain on the Malabar
coast as a governing power, and not simply, like the Arab Moplas, as
a commercial community; and the gallantry shown in the final assault,
as well as during the sojourn of the fleet in the harbour of Goa,
proved to the people of India that a new warrior race had come
amongst them. Its ultimate results are quite as important. Goa, by
the policy of the successors of Albuquerque, concentrated the whole
trade of the Malabar coast. To increase the prosperity of Goa the
earlier centres of trade, such as Calicut and Cochin and Quilon, were
purposely deprived of their freedom to buy and sell; Goa became the
seat of the Viceroys and Governors of Portuguese India; its wealth
passed into a proverb; and though the glory of Golden Goa lasted but
a century,[16] it was during that century one of the most splendid
cities on the face of the earth.
[Footnote 16: On the later history of Goa, see Hunter's _Imperial
Gazetteer of India_, ed. 1885, vol. v. pp. 101-105.]
{93}