THE RULE OF ALBUQUERQUE (_continued_)
_The Conquest of Malacca and Relief of Goa_
Albuquerque's first thought after the completion of the
fortifications of Goa was to provide for its future government. He
determined to leave the place with the bulk of his forces as soon as
possible, for the sacked and partially burnt city was unable to
supply sufficient provisions for all his men. He accordingly
appointed Rodrigo Rebello to be Captain of the fortress of Goa,
Francisco Pantoja to be Alcaide-Mor or Chief Constable, with the
right of succeeding Rebello in case of accident, and Francisco
Corvinel to be Factor. It was more difficult to find a governor for
the island as distinguished from the city. This post he had
conferred, after the first capture, on his ally Timoja, but he now
selected a celebrated Hindu captain, who was much respected by the
Hindu population, called by the Portuguese Merlao or Milrrhao,
probably versions of Malhar Rao. This man was the brother of the Raja
of Honawar and had won distinction by defending Goa against the
Muhammadans in former days. He agreed to pay a sum equivalent to
about {94} 30,000 pounds a year for the privilege of governing the
island of Goa. Under the command of Rodrigo Rebello, Albuquerque left
400 Portuguese soldiers, together with plenty of artillery and
ammunition, for the defence of the fortress.
The Governor then resolved to set out at once for the Red Sea. King
Emmanuel, whose main idea it was to close this route to commerce, had
directed him to dismantle the fortress on the island of Socotra,
owing to the difficulty of getting provisions, and to occupy Aden
instead. When this decision became known, Diogo Mendes, who had been
specially ordered to Malacca, murmured loudly, and declared his
intention of leaving the Governor and at once departing with his
squadron westwards. Albuquerque expostulated with him; he pointed out
that four ships could not conquer the Malays, and argued that their
treatment of the first Portuguese squadron showed that they would not
permit the Portuguese to open up trade without first being defeated.
He even showed Diogo Mendes a letter which had arrived from the
Portuguese Factor left at Malacca, stating that he and his comrades
were kept as prisoners. He promised that, as soon as the King's
commands with regard to the Red Sea had been carried out, he would
himself proceed with a powerful fleet to the Malay Peninsula, and
firmly establish Portuguese influence in that quarter.
Diogo Mendes felt the force of these arguments, but the master of his
flagship, Dinis Cerniche, would not {95} agree, and setting sail
crossed the bar of Goa harbour on his way out. The Governor at once
sent a ship, under Jayme Teixeira, with orders to make Mendes return
by any means in his power. Since the master would not shorten sail,
the ship was fired on and forced to return by the destruction of its
main yard. Albuquerque forgave Mendes, but ordered Cerniche to be
executed, which sentence was not carried out, but the master was
instead sent back to Portugal in custody. Nevertheless the
persistency of Mendes and his men seems to have greatly influenced
Albuquerque, for finding in Feb. 1511, when he sailed out of Goa
harbour, that it was impossible to sail westward owing to the
monsoon, he resolved to make his way to Malacca. He first sailed to
Cochin, where he appointed Manoel de Lacerda to be Captain of the
Indian Sea with supreme authority, and he directed that Lacerda's
orders should be obeyed as if they were his own.
Albuquerque's conquest of Malacca ranks second in importance among
his great feats of arms to the capture of Goa. It gave the Portuguese
the complete command of the spice trade, and eventually of the
Chinese and Japanese trade. It struck the final blow at the
Muhammadan commercial routes to Europe. Hitherto the Portuguese had
only secured the monopoly of the Indian trade, and Muhammadan
vessels, largely manned by Arabs, still collected the produce of
Bengal and Burma, of Sumatra and the Spice Islands, of Siam and
China, at the great commercial {96} port of the Malay Peninsula.
Albuquerque resolved to check this trade by holding the mouth of the
Red Sea, but it seemed to him of even more efficacy to seize upon the
headquarters of the trade itself.
The city of Malacca, with its splendid harbour, was the capital of a
wealthy Muhammadan Sultan. This man's ancestors were said to have
come from the neighbouring island of Java, and to have been converted
to Islam some 200 years before. Constant war had been waged between
the Kings of Siam, who formerly ruled the whole peninsula, and the
Javanese immigrants; but the latter had held their own, and by a wise
encouragement of commerce had become very wealthy and powerful. The
trade of Malacca with India is said by the Portuguese chroniclers to
have been largely in the hands of merchants from Gujarat, and when
the Portuguese conquered the city it was inhabited by men of nearly
every Eastern race, Hindus from both sides of India, Arabs, Chinese
and Javanese. It is mentioned that on their arrival they found, among
other officers, four men holding the title of Xabandar
(Shah-i-Bandar) or Captain of the Port. These four men are expressly
stated to have been governors of different districts, and they are
said to have belonged to four different nationalities and to rule
over the Chinese, the Javanese, the Gujaratis and the Bengalis
respectively. This division probably fairly indicates the chief
nationalities of the merchants of Malacca.
Malacca was first visited by a European squadron {97} on September
11, 1509. Diogo Lopes de Sequeira had been despatched by King
Emmanuel with instructions to explore the island of Madagascar, and
afterwards to proceed to the Malay Peninsula, which was well known to
the Portuguese king by its classical name of the Golden Chersonese.
The arrival of Sequeira in India during the viceroyalty of Almeida
has been already noticed, and mention has been made of the Viceroy's
wish that he should take over the government in the place of
Albuquerque. Sequeira declined this offer and sailed for the Malay
Peninsula with his squadron of five ships, but he so far complied
with the Viceroy's wishes as to carry with him the chief friends of
Albuquerque, and notably his most constant supporter, Ruy de Araujo.
Sequeira visited Sumatra, and safely reached Malacca. He was
favourably received at first by the Sultan, and sent ashore Ruy de
Araujo to fill the perilous post of Factor. As a lucrative trade
seemed likely to spring up, the Portuguese captain proceeded to land
a large quantity of goods together with several Portuguese clerks.
But as usual the Muhammadan merchants soon showed their jealousy of
the Portuguese, as they had always done on the Malabar coast. The
Bendara, or native Prime Minister of Malacca, listened to the
suggestions of the Moslem merchants, and formed a plan to destroy the
whole Portuguese squadron. It was resolved to invite all the officers
to a grand banquet at which they should be suddenly murdered, and in
their absence it was believed {98} that the ships might be easily
taken. A Javanese woman, who had fallen in love with one of the
Portuguese, swam out to their ships and gave warning of the plot. The
Portuguese officers in consequence declined to land, and as soon as
their determination was made known, the Malays set upon the factory,
and made Ruy de Araujo and about twenty men whom he had with him
prisoners.
They defended themselves gallantly, but Sequeira made no effort to
assist them, and sailed away out of the harbour. He was obliged
before leaving the peninsula to burn two of his ships for want of men
to navigate them, and with the other three he made his way to India.
When he reached the Malabar coast and touched at Caecoulao
(Kayenkolam), he heard that the Marshal had placed Albuquerque in
power, and that Almeida had departed. Sequeira, fearing the vengeance
of Albuquerque, at once set sail for Portugal, sending his other two
vessels under the command of Nuno Vaz de Castello-Branco to join the
Governor at Cochin. It was to wreak vengeance on the Sultan of
Malacca and to open up trade there that the squadron of Diogo Mendes
de Vasconcellos had been sent from Portugal in 1510; but, as has been
related, in spite of the captain's wishes, he and his men had been
detained by Albuquerque to take part in the second capture of Goa.
Ruy de Araujo wrote a pathetic letter to Albuquerque, describing the
manner in which he and his companions were treated. He told his
friend that {99} there were nineteen Portuguese alive at Malacca, who
had been greatly tortured to make them turn Muhammadans. He also said
that they had been very kindly treated by a Hindu merchant, named
Ninachatu, who had secured the means for the despatch of the letter.
He begged Albuquerque, for the love of God, to keep them in
remembrance, and rescue them out of their captivity; and he also
requested that the kindness of the Hindu merchant should not be made
known for fear that the Moslems of the Malabar coast should give
information to their co-religionists at Malacca.
It may well be imagined that Albuquerque was not sorry to go to the
rescue of the Portuguese prisoners. He would have postponed this duty
in order to obey the king's express commands; but now that the winds
forbade him to sail East, he determined to sail West. He started with
eighteen ships, carrying 1400 men; and though he lost one galley at
sea, he arrived safely at the port of Pedir in the island of Sumatra
in May 1511 with the rest of his fleet. At that place he found nine
of the Portuguese prisoners, who had escaped from Malacca, and he
then made his way slowly to the great city, which was said to contain
a population of over 100,000 inhabitants.
For weeks negotiations went on with the Sultan of Malacca. The main
point at issue was the surrender of Ruy de Araujo and his
fellow-prisoners. Albuquerque declared he would make no treaty with
the Sultan until the prisoners were delivered, and the {100} Sultan
on his part was resolved not to give them up until a treaty of peace
had been signed. Under these circumstances Albuquerque wrote to the
Factor, telling him that he and his companions must bear their
hardships with patience. Ruy de Araujo replied in terms which show
the gallant spirit of the Portuguese at that period.
'God grant,' he said, 'that neither the fleet of the King of
Portugal, nor his Portuguese should receive any affront or
discomfiture in order to make his life secure, for he was also on
his part bound to die for the service of God and his King, and for
the liberty of his countrymen, and he held it to be a good fortune
for him that Our Lord had placed him in a state where he could die
for his Holy Faith; and as for himself and his companions, he
should not fail to do what was best for the service of the King of
Portugal, for they were now quite resigned to anything that could
happen to them; and he would have Affonso de Albuquerque to know
that the King of Malacca was making ready as fast as was possible,
and that it was the Gujaratis who were at work day and night upon
the fortification of the stockades, for these were the principal
people who could not bear that the Portuguese should get a footing
in the land; and if the Portuguese attack upon the city should be
decided upon, it ought to be put into execution as quickly as could
be, without wasting any more time in discussing terms of agreement
or making demands for the surrender of the Christians; for he must
know for certain that the King would not restore them except under
compulsion; and he was now become so puffed up with pride when he
surveyed the great number of foreign soldiers that he had, that he
thought of nothing less than actually capturing the Portuguese
fleet.'[1]
[Footnote 1: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. pp. 92, 93.]
{101} Acting on the unselfish advice given to him, Albuquerque sent
some boats to set fire to the ships in harbour and the water-side
houses. The Sultan immediately gave in, and sent Ruy de Araujo and
his companions safely on board the Portuguese fleet. Negotiations
still continued, and Albuquerque became convinced at last that the
Sultan was endeavouring to delay him until the change of the monsoon
should make it impossible for him to return to India that season. He
therefore resolved to attack Malacca at once. Ruy de Araujo informed
him that the key of the city was a certain bridge which united its
two portions. The Governor divided his forces into two battalions,
which were to attack the bridge from either extremity; and he fixed
the day of his patron Saint, St. James the Greater, July 25, for the
assault.
One division was led by Dom Joao de Lima, Gaspar de Paiva, and Fernao
Peres de Andrade; the other by Albuquerque himself and Duarte da
Silva. Each did what was required, and the bridge was carried. The
Governor then gave orders to build stockades on each side of the
bridge, in order that they might spend the night there; but the men
became wearied by the constant attacks made upon their position, and
towards the evening the Portuguese set fire to the city and returned
to their ships. Special mention is made of the use of elephants
during this action, but the animals were wounded and did more harm to
the Malays than to the Portuguese.
The withdrawal of his tired-out soldiers did not {102} dishearten
Albuquerque, and he resolved to call a council of his captains to
obtain their consent to renewing the attack with the idea of
permanently occupying the city, and building a fortress there; for he
had experienced both at Ormuz and at Goa the great distaste
entertained by the Portuguese captains for the work of building
fortresses. The policy of Almeida, who preferred factories to
fortresses, had always plenty of adherents who could not appreciate
the imperial notions of Albuquerque.
A report is given of the speech which Albuquerque is said to have
delivered to his captains, both in Correa and in the _Commentaries_.
It is not probable that he actually spoke these words, any more than
the Roman generals in Livy made use of the very sentences attributed
to them. But the language is thoroughly consonant with Albuquerque's
character, and exhibits the aims of his policy so clearly that the
oration deserves quotation. The text here selected is that of the
_Commentaries_, which is fuller than that given by Correa.
'Sirs,' he is reported to have said, 'you will have no difficulty
in remembering that when we decided upon attacking this city, it
was with the determination of building a fortress within it, for so
it appeared to all to be necessary; and after having captured it, I
was unwilling to let slip the possession of it, yet, because ye all
advised me to do so, I left it and withdrew; but being now ready,
as you see, to put my hands upon it again once more, I learned that
you had already changed your opinion: now this cannot be because
the Moors have destroyed the best part of us, but on account of
{103} my sins, which merit the failure of accomplishing this
undertaking in the way that I had desired. And, inasmuch as my will
and determination is, so long as I am Governor of India, neither to
fight nor to hazard men on land, except in those parts wherein I
shall build a fortress to maintain them, as I have already told you
before this, I desire you earnestly, of your goodness, although you
all have already agreed upon what is to be done, to freely give me
again your opinions in writing as to what I ought to do; for,
inasmuch as I have to give an account of these matters, and a
justification of my proceedings to the King Dom Manoel, our Lord, I
am unwilling to be left alone to bear the blame of them; and
although there be many reasons which I could allege in favour of
our taking this city and building a fortress therein to maintain
possession of it, two only will I mention to you on this occasion
as tending to point out wherefore you ought not to turn back from
what you have agreed upon.
'The first is the great service which we shall perform to Our Lord
in casting the Moors out of this country, and quenching the fire of
this sect of Muhammad so that it may never burst out again
hereafter; and I am so sanguine as to hope for this from our
undertaking, that if we can only achieve the task before us, it
will result in the Moors resigning India altogether to our rule,
for the greater part of them--or perhaps all of them--live upon the
trade of this country, and are become great and rich, and lords of
extensive treasures. It is, too, well worthy of belief that as the
King of Malacca, who has already once been discomfited and had
proof of our strength, with no hope of obtaining any succour from
any other quarter--sixteen days having already elapsed since this
took place--makes no endeavour to negotiate with us for the
security of his estate, Our Lord is blinding his judgment and
hardening his heart, and desires the completion {104} of this
affair of Malacca: for when we were committing ourselves to the
business of cruising in the Straits of the Red Sea, where the King
of Portugal had often ordered me to go (for it was there that His
Highness considered we could cut down the commerce which the Moors
of Cairo, of Mecca, and of Jeddah carry on with these parts), Our
Lord for His service thought right to lead us hither; for when
Malacca is taken, the places on the Straits must be shut up, and
they will never more be able to introduce their spices into those
places.
'And the other reason is the additional service which we shall
render to the King Dom Manoel in taking this city, because it is
the headquarters of all the spices and drugs which the Moors carry
every year hence to the Straits, without our being able to prevent
them from so doing; but if we deprive them of this, their ancient
market, there does not remain for them a single port nor a single
situation so commodious in the whole of these parts, where they can
carry on their trade in these things. For after we were in
possession of the pepper of Malabar, never more did any reach
Cairo, except that which the Moors carried thither from these
parts, and the forty or fifty ships, which sail hence every year
laden with all sorts of spices bound to Mecca, cannot be stopped
without great expense and large fleets, which must necessarily
cruise about continually in the offing of Cape Comorin; and the
pepper of Malabar, of which they may hope to get some portion,
because they have the King of Calicut on their side, is in our
hands, under the eyes of the Governor of India, from whom the Moors
cannot carry off so much with impunity as they hope to do; and I
hold it as very certain that, if we take this trade of Malacca away
out of their hands, Cairo and Mecca will be entirely ruined, and to
Venice will no spices be conveyed, except what her merchants go and
buy in Portugal.
{105} 'But if you are of opinion that, because Malacca is a large
city and very populous, it will give us much trouble to maintain
our possession of it, no such doubts as these ought to arise, for,
when once the city is gained, all the rest of the kingdom is of so
little account, that the King has not a single place left where he
can rally his forces; and if you dread lest by taking the city we
be involved in great expenses, and on account of the season of the
year there be no place where our men and our fleet can be
recruited, I trust in God's mercy that when Malacca is held in
subjection to our dominion by a strong fortress, provided that the
Kings of Portugal appoint thereto those who are well experienced as
governors and managers of the revenues, the taxes of the land will
pay all the expenses which may arise in the administration of the
city; and if the merchants, who are wont to resort
thither--accustomed as they are to live under the tyrannical yoke
of the Malays--experience a taste of our just dealing,
truthfulness, frankness and mildness, and come to know of the
instructions of the King Dom Manoel, our Lord, wherein he commands
that all his subjects in these parts be very well treated, I
venture to affirm that they will all return and take up their abode
in the city again, yea, and build the walls of their houses with
gold; and all these matters which here I lay before you may be
secured to us by this half-turn of the key, which is that we build
a fortress in this city of Malacca and sustain it, and that this
land be brought under the dominion of the Portuguese, and the King
Dom Manoel be styled true King thereof, and therefore I desire you
of your kindness to consider seriously the enterprise that we have
in hand, and not to leave it to fall to the ground.'[2]
[Footnote 2: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. pp. 115-119.]
After having made use of some such arguments as {106} these,
Albuquerque ordered a second attack on the city of Malacca. His
success was as complete as it had been on St. James' Day, but the
Portuguese on this occasion, instead of evacuating the place, at once
commenced to build a fortress. The Sultan was driven out of the city,
and was pursued into the interior by an army of 400 Portuguese and
600 Javanese.
The contingent of Javanese soldiers was obtained by an alliance which
Albuquerque made as soon as he was in occupation of Malacca. When the
Sultan fled, the Portuguese General ordered his men to spare the
warehouses and other property of Ninachatu, the Hindu merchant who
has been mentioned as the kindly benefactor of Ruy de Araujo and his
companions in captivity. This leniency caused other Hindus to ask
Albuquerque for his protection. He willingly granted it, and
appointed Ninachatu as superintendent or governor of all the Hindus
in the city. Then an aged Javanese, who had turned Muhammadan and was
possessed of great wealth and influence, named Utemuta Raja, also
made his submission, and was appointed head of the Javanese
community. He it was who supplied the Portuguese with the force of
600 Javanese soldiers.
Nor were these the only native trading communities which the
Portuguese Governor favoured. He gave particular encouragement to the
Chinese, the Burmese, who are generally called by the chroniclers
Pegus, and the Loochewans; but he declared war to the death with the
Malays, both as Muhammadans {107} and as the former rulers. In spite
of the assistance which the old Javanese chieftain had rendered him,
Albuquerque was soon placed on his guard against the ambitious
projects of Utemuta Raja. Ruy de Araujo gave information that he was
at the bottom of the plot formed in 1509 for the massacre of the
Portuguese, and that it was his son who had sworn to assassinate
Sequeira with his own hand. He further declared that if Albuquerque
sailed away and left Utemuta Raja in power, there would soon be an
end of the Portuguese domination in Malacca.
Albuquerque gave heed to the warning, and when he found that the
Javanese was taking advantage for his own profit of the power
committed to him, he promptly had him and the principal members of
his family arrested. They were tried before Pedro de Alpoem, the
Ouvidor or Chief Magistrate of the Portuguese in the East, and
condemned to death. The wife of Utemuta Raja, who was a native of
Java, promised to give a large sum of money in gold towards the
expense of building the fortress, if the Portuguese would let her
husband and children go. Albuquerque replied that the Portuguese did
not sell justice for money, but that he was willing to hand over the
corpses of the victims to be buried with native rites. The sentence
was carried out in the great square of Malacca, where the treacherous
banquet to Sequeira and his officers was to have been held, and
Utemuta Raja, his son, his son-in-law, and his grandson were all
beheaded. The execution was {108} followed by an attempted riot of
the Javanese, which was easily suppressed.
This execution struck terror into the inhabitants of Malacca, and
firmly established the Portuguese authority. Albuquerque then devoted
himself, while the fortress was being constructed, to opening up
relations with the neighbouring powers. He knew that the possession
of Malacca would be of no advantage if traders were not encouraged to
come to the city. It has been seen therefore that, while striking
hard at the Malays, he gave every encouragement to the merchants of
other nationalities. The most important of the trading nations, which
brought their commodities to the Malay port, were the Chinese.
Albuquerque had treated with great courtesy the crews of five Chinese
junks, which were anchored in the harbour, at the time of the first
assault on Malacca. After they had witnessed the valour of the
Portuguese on that occasion, he allowed them to take in cargo and to
depart in safety. These crews reported throughout China the bravery
and civility of the Portuguese, which had a great effect upon the
minds of the Chinese ministers; so much so, that when the expelled
Sultan of Malacca appealed to China for help, and abused the
Portuguese as robbers and pirates, he received the answer that the
Portuguese seemed to be a very good people, and that the Chinese
government would not assist him. Albuquerque did not at this time
send an ambassador to China, but it is worthy of notice that it was
one of {109} his captains, Fernao Peres de Andrade, who, in 1517, was
the first Portuguese to visit Canton.
With the kingdom of Siam Albuquerque himself opened up direct
relations. When the five Chinese junks left Malacca, they took with
them, at the Governor's request, Duarte Fernandes, who had learnt the
Malay language while a prisoner with Ruy de Araujo, as an emissary to
the Siamese Court. He was received most favourably by the King of
Siam, who had always considered the Sultan of Malacca as an intruder
and had heard the news of his defeat with joy. Fernandes returned to
Malacca laden with rich presents, and Albuquerque sent him back to
Siam, accompanied by a Portuguese fidalgo or gentleman, Antonio de
Miranda, as ambassador. He also sent in different directions Duarte
Coelho to visit Cochin China and Tongking, and Ruy da Cunha to the
kingdom of Pegu. He entered into communications with the King of Java
and with some of the chiefs of the island of Sumatra, who were all
greatly impressed by the speedy conquest of Malacca.
Of equal importance was Albuquerque's despatch of three ships, under
the command of Antonio de Abreu, to explore the Moluccas and the
Spice Islands. This squadron was ordered not to take prizes, but to
devote itself entirely to the work of exploration. It touched at many
places, and did much important work, but its chief interest to later
generations is that Francisco Serrao, who commanded one of the ships,
carried with him a young Portuguese gentleman, {110} Fernao de
Magalhaes, who was afterwards to make the first voyage round the
globe in the service of Spain, and who, as Magellan, has left his
name upon the map of the world.
In January, 1512, Albuquerque, after having completed his fortress,
sailed from Malacca. He left an efficient garrison of 400 Portuguese
soldiers, and placed the settlement under the governorship of Ruy de
Brito Patalim, as Captain of the fortress, with Fernao Peres de
Andrade under him as Chief Captain of the sea. Ruy de Araujo was
re-appointed Factor, and also judge of suits between merchants of
different nationalities. For each nationality in itself he appointed
separate governors, of whom one was the faithful Hindu, Ninachatu. On
his way back to India the famous ship _Flor de la Mar_, on which
Albuquerque sailed, and which had been commanded during the Ormuz
campaign by Joao da Nova, ran ashore on the coast of Sumatra, and
since it was very old and rotten it broke up. Albuquerque and the
crew were saved. But their dangers were not yet over, and the whole
fleet would have perished from want of water and of supplies had they
not met with and captured two Muhammadan ships.
When the Governor arrived at Cochin, there was great excitement, for,
since no news had been received from Malacca, some of the officers
had written to King Emmanuel that Albuquerque was lost with all his
fleet. His first question, after returning thanks to Heaven in the
principal church, was about the {111} situation of Goa, his favourite
conquest, and he was informed that it had been besieged throughout
the winter, and was almost at the point of surrender.
The facts were that as soon as Albuquerque, the terrible governor,
was known to be out of India, all his enemies, both native princes
and reluctant captains, breathed more freely. The minister of the
young King of Bijapur at once sent an army against Goa, under the
command of Fulad Khan, whom the Portuguese called Pulatecao. This
general defeated the forces of Timoja and Malhar Rao, and then
invaded the island of Goa, and established himself in the fortress of
Benastarim. Timoja and Malhar Rao fled to the court of the Raja of
Vijayanagar, where Timoja was poisoned, and Malhar Rao soon after
made his way to Honawar, where he succeeded his brother as Raja. The
Portuguese garrison of Goa, under the command of Rodrigo Rebello, the
Captain, marched out to attack Fulad Khan. But they had underrated
the strength of their opponents. They were defeated, and among the
slain were Rebello himself and the young Manoel da Cunha, son of
Tristao da Cunha, whom Albuquerque had knighted for his gallantry at
the capture of Goa.
According to Albuquerque's express commands, Francisco Pantoja should
have succeeded to the governorship of Goa, but the captains resolved
to pass him over, and elected instead Diogo Mendes de Vasconcellos.
The new governor at once ordered Manoel de Lacerda to abandon the
blockade of {112} Calicut, on which he was engaged, and to come to
the assistance of the besieged inhabitants of Goa. Diogo Mendes soon
proved his unfitness for supreme command. The Court of Bijapur sent
its most famous general, Rasul Khan, with a strong army to the coast,
but Fulad Khan refused to acknowledge his supremacy. Rasul Khan then
appealed for the help of the Portuguese against the insubordinate
officer, and Diogo Mendes was foolish enough to comply. With the help
of the Portuguese themselves, Rasul Khan drove Fulad Khan out of
Benastarim, and, once safely within the island of Goa, he demanded
the surrender of the city.
This was too much even for Diogo Mendes, who now showed himself to be
a brave commander. The city held out during the winter, but the
inhabitants were much reduced by famine, and their power of defence
was injured by the fall of part of the new wall, owing to the
severity of the winter. Albuquerque, on hearing of the situation of
affairs, sent a warrant for Manoel de Lacerda to be Captain of the
city, and promised to arrive soon and destroy the besiegers. This
news was received, in the words of the _Commentaries_, 'with a great
ringing of bells and firing of salutes, for every one looked upon
himself as redeemed from death.'[3]
[Footnote 3: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. p. 206.]
But eagerly as Albuquerque desired to bring help to Goa, he sadly
felt how inadequate were the forces that remained to him. The
conquest of Malacca, and {113} the necessity for leaving a garrison
there, had much reduced his fighting strength, and he found that the
officers he had left behind at Cochin were unwilling to lend him
their aid. In fact, the agents or factors at Cochin, Quilon, and
Cannanore looked with alarm at the establishment of the Portuguese in
Goa. Their fears were shared by the native Rajas, who expected that
the whole trade of the coast would be attracted from their ports to
the new settlement. So strongly had this been felt, that the factors
and their party, headed by Lourenco Moreno, the Factor at Cochin, had
sent a despatch to King Emmanuel, during the period when they hoped
the Governor had been lost in his expedition to Malacca, strongly
advising the immediate abandonment of Goa.
An effort was made to dissuade Albuquerque by Diogo Correa, Captain
of Cannanore, who reported that an Egyptian fleet had set sail from
the Red Sea for India, and advised Albuquerque to go against it, and
not to the relief of Goa. After passing some weeks in a state of
forced inactivity, Albuquerque, to his great joy, was reinforced by
his nephew, Dom Garcia de Noronha, with six ships, on Aug. 20, 1512,
and directly afterwards by a further squadron of eight more ships
under Jorge de Mello Pereira. Both these captains brought with them a
large number of soldiers. They also carried many young and gallant
officers, who greatly distinguished themselves in the ensuing
campaigns, among whom Dom Garcia de Noronha held the royal commission
as Captain of the Indian {114} Seas. The arrival of this young
nobleman rejoiced the heart of Albuquerque, for it gave him a brave
and faithful adherent, who almost replaced the loss he had suffered
by the death of Dom Antonio de Noronha.
On September 10, 1512, Albuquerque set sail from Cochin with fourteen
ships carrying 1700 Portuguese soldiers. He heard on his way that the
report of the departure of an Egyptian fleet was unfounded; and he at
once entered the harbour of Goa. He never doubted of victory, and
instead of endeavouring to drive Rasul Khan out of Benastarim, he
resolved to blockade him, with his 6000 Turkish and Persian soldiers,
in the castle there. For this purpose he sent Ayres da Silva to cut
off the communications of the castle with the mainland. That captain,
with six small ships manned by picked sailors, forced his way up the
river, and after pulling up the stakes which the Muhammadans had
fixed in the stream for their defence, he bombarded the castle under
the eye of Albuquerque himself.
This operation cut off the retreat of the Muhammadan garrison, and
Albuquerque made his entry into Goa. It is mentioned as
characteristic of his extreme piety that he ordered the canopy of
brocade which the chief men of the city were carrying over his head,
to be borne instead over the Cross, which the priests had brought
from their church to greet him. He then organised his military
forces, and hearing that Rasul Khan had marched out towards the city
at the head {115} of 3000 men, he resolved on fighting a pitched
battle. He divided his infantry into three divisions, commanded
respectively by Pedro Mascarenhas, Dom Garcia de Noronha, and
himself; and he placed his cavalry, amounting to about thirty
troopers, under Manoel de Lacerda. Owing to the Portuguese general's
skilful dispositions the Musalmans were attacked simultaneously, in
front by Mascarenhas and on the two flanks by the other divisions.
The battle was very fierce, and the Muhammadans were driven into the
castle of Benastarim.
The Portuguese endeavoured to follow them, and some of their leaders
climbed upon the walls. The first who got up was Pedro Mascarenhas,
and the author of the _Commentaries_ states that,
'Affonso de Albuquerque after the rally embraced and kissed him on
the face, whereat some were scandalised, although they had no need
to be, for besides his actions that day like a brave cavalier,
Albuquerque was under an obligation to him, for he had left the
fortress of Cochin, of which he was Captain, and had come to serve
the King in that war.'[4]
[Footnote 4: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. pp. 226, 227.]
In spite of this gallantry it proved impossible to capture the castle
by escalade, and Albuquerque ordered a retreat to Goa. Many officers
and men were wounded in this engagement, and Albuquerque then
determined to breach the fortress and carry it by storm. The trenches
were pushed forward with much rapidity and an adequate breach was
made, but on {116} the very morning for which Albuquerque had ordered
the assault, Rasul Khan hung out the white flag. The terms which
Albuquerque demanded were that the castle should be surrendered with
all its artillery, ammunition and horses, and that the deserters in
Rasul Khan's camp should be given up to him. The Muhammadan general
consented, but only on condition that the lives of the deserters
should be spared. Benastarim was accordingly evacuated, and the
island of Goa was once more left entirely in the hands of the
Portuguese. The conquest had been made only just in time, for Rasul
Khan, as he retired with his disarmed troops, met a strong
reinforcement coming up from Bijapur under the command of
Yusaf-ul-Araj, whom the Portuguese called Icufularij.
This brilliant victory was marred by Albuquerque's cruelty to the
Portuguese deserters who fell into his hands. Some of these men had
gone over to the Muhammadan camp when the Portuguese ships were
blockaded in the harbour of Goa in 1510, and the others had left Goa
during the recent siege. Having promised to spare their lives,
Albuquerque kept his word, but he mutilated them horribly, cutting
off their ears, noses, right hands, and the thumbs of their left
hands, and plucking out all their hair. The most conspicuous
renegade, a fidalgo named Fernao Lopes, was also put on board a ship
bound for Portugal in custody. He escaped, while the ship was
watering at the island of St. Helena, and led a Robinson Crusoe life
there many years.
{117} The relief of Goa in 1512 completes the second period of
Albuquerque's governorship. His tenacity in maintaining the
Portuguese position at Goa is not less noteworthy than the valour by
which he conquered it.
{118}