THE RULE OF ALBUQUERQUE (_continued_)
_The Expedition to the Red Sea and the Conquest of Ormuz_.
The conquest of Goa is so distinctly the most important event of
Albuquerque's governorship, that it is expedient to make clear his
aims and hopes with regard to the establishment of the Portuguese
capital there. Fortunately a state paper is extant which defines the
great Governor's position in eloquent words. When Dom Garcia de
Noronha arrived at Cochin, he delivered to his uncle a letter from
King Emmanuel directing that a general council of all the captains
and chief officers in India should be held to consider the
advisability of retaining Goa. The abandonment of the place had been
recommended by four civilians, of whom the chief was, as has been
said, the Factor at Cochin, with arguments that show how deeply the
rival policy of the first Viceroy, Almeida, had taken hold of the
Portuguese officials in India. They advocated the claims of commerce,
as against empire, in language which vividly recalls that {119} used
by the English East India Company two centuries and a half later. The
opinion of these opponents of Albuquerque was supported, at the Court
of Lisbon, by Duarte de Lemos and Goncalo de Sequeira, who had
declined to share in the perils of the conquest.
The King embodied the ideas of the opposition in certain articles,
which he sent to Albuquerque to submit to the consideration of his
general council. These articles were: (1) that Goa was very unhealthy
and was the cause of unnecessary expense, being of no use except to
give trouble to the soldiers; (2) that therein there must always be
continual war, for the King of Bijapur was so powerful, that he would
be sure to try his utmost to recover it, because it was the chief
port of his dominions; (3) that the revenues of the island, upon
which Albuquerque laid great importance, could not be collected,
except by maintaining a great number of people with heavy expenses
for the collection of these revenues, since the King of Bijapur
himself could not collect them without the assistance of a large
army; (4) that the King of Bijapur would be glad to agree to any
proposal, and to become tributary to His Highness the King of
Portugal, provided that Goa was restored to him.
These articles were laid before the captains, who unanimously
condemned them and stated--
'That they were amazed at His Highness desiring to surrender, in
pursuance of the advice of men who had never donned a suit of
armour for the sake of experiencing the trouble it would involve, a
place so commodious and important {120} as Goa, which had been
acquired at the cost of so much Portuguese blood.'[1]
[Footnote 1: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. p. 264.]
It may be doubted whether the council would have come to this
decision had Albuquerque laid the subject before it before the relief
of Goa, but he carefully left the point undecided, until after his
great victory over Rasul Khan and the capture of Benastarim.
Albuquerque's despatch upon the retention of Goa reveals the whole of
his policy, and it must be carefully studied by anyone who wishes to
understand the greatness of his views.
'Sire,' he wrote to the King, 'I captured Goa, because Your
Highness ordered me to do so, and the Marshal had orders to take it
in his instructions; I took it also, because it was the
headquarters of the league which was set on foot in order to cast
us out of India; and if the fleet which the Turks had prepared in
Goa river (with a large force of men, artillery, and arms specially
assembled for this object) had pushed forward, and the fleet from
Egypt had come at this juncture, as they had expected, without
doubt I should have been utterly discomfited; yea, even if ever so
great a fleet had come from Portugal they would not have allowed it
to make good its arrival in this country. But when once Goa was
conquered, everything else was at our command without any further
trouble, and when Goa was taken, that one victory alone did more
for the advancement of Your Highness's prestige than all the fleets
which have come to India during the last fifteen years. And if Your
Highness, in deference to the opinions of those who have written
this advice to you, thinks it possible to secure your dominions in
{121} these parts by means of the fortresses of Cochin and
Cannanore, it is impossible; for, if once Portugal should suffer a
reverse at sea, your Indian possessions have not power to hold out
a day longer than the kings of the land choose to suffer it; for,
if one of our men takes anything by force from a native,
immediately they raise the drawbridge and shut the gates of the
fortress, and this causes Your Highness not to be Lord of the land,
as of Goa, for in this territory the injury which is done to Moors
or to Portuguese does not reach beyond the Captain of the fortress.
Justice is yours, and yours the arm, yours the sword, and in the
hand of your Captain-General reposes the punishment, and before him
lies the remedy for the complaint of everyone; and if to-day there
be any improvement in regard to the obedience shown by the natives
of the land, it is plainly to be referred to the fact that the
taking of Goa keeps India in repose and quiet; and the fact that
the island has so frequently been attacked by the Turks, as those
who wrote to Your Highness assert, and so valiantly defended by the
Portuguese, enhances the credit which the progress of affairs in
these parts deserves. And I have so completely disheartened the
members of the league against us, that the King of Gujarat,
powerful prince as he is, lost no time in sending to me his
ambassadors and restoring to me all the cavaliers and fidalgos, who
were shipwrecked with Dom Affonso de Noronha, my nephew, on their
voyage from Socotra, without my sending to ask this of him, and
even offered me permission to build a fortress in Diu, a matter of
such immense importance that even now I can hardly believe it; and
I am now importuned by the Zamorin of Calicut, who desires to grant
me a site to build a fortress in his city, and is willing to pay a
yearly tribute to the Crown. All this is the result of our holding
Goa, without my waging war upon any of these princes.
'And I hold it to be free from doubt, that if fortresses be {122}
built in Diu and Calicut (as I trust in Our Lord they will be),
when once they have been well fortified, if a thousand of the
Sultan's ships were to make their way to India, not one of these
places could be brought again under his dominion. But if those of
your Council understood Indian affairs as I do, they would not fail
to be aware that Your Highness cannot be Lord over so extensive a
territory as India by placing all your power and strength in your
navy only (a policy at once doubtful and full of serious
inconveniences); for this, and not to build fortresses, is the very
thing which the Moors of these lands wish you to do, for they know
well that a dominion founded on a navy alone cannot last, and they
desire to live on their estates and property, and to carry their
spices to the ancient and customary markets which they maintain,
but they are unwilling to be subject to Your Highness, neither will
they trade or be on friendly terms with you. And if they will not
have any of these things, how is it likely that they will be
pleased to see us establishing ourselves in this city of Goa, and
strengthening its defences, and Your Highness Lord of so important
a port and bar as this is, and not labour with all their might to
hinder us from accomplishing our intentions? And if it seems a hard
matter to those who have written about this to Your Highness that
the recovery of Goa should have been so many times attempted, how
much harder must it have been to gain the country from so powerful
a sovereign as the King of Bijapur, Lord of so many armies, who is
not likely to refrain from straining every nerve to recover the
possession of it and striking a decisive blow at our prestige, if
he could do so? And whenever any one of his captains shall come up
against this city, are we to surrender it immediately without first
of all measuring our forces against him? If this be so, Your
Highness may as well leave India to the Moors, than seek to
maintain your position therein with such extraordinary outlays and
expenses {123} on the navy, in ships as rotten as cork, only kept
afloat by four pumps in each of them.
'As for the extraordinary expenses connected with the maintenance
of Goa, of which these idle fellows write to Your Highness, the
mere dross of India is so great, that, if the Portuguese
possessions be properly farmed by your officers, the revenue from
them alone would suffice to repay a great part of these expenses to
which we are put, and if they say that the reason why I desire to
keep possession of Goa is because it was I who took it, Your
Lordship may rest assured that if I were a Portuguese of such a
character as they are, I would be the first, if you ordered me to
destroy it, to put the pick axe into the walls, and to fire the
barrel of gunpowder under the Castle, if only for the pleasure of
seeing the cards of the game of India shuffled for a new deal; but
as long as I live, and while it remains my duty to send an account
to Your Highness of Indian affairs, Goa must not be dismantled, for
I would not that my enemies should exult in the contemplation of
any serious disaster to this estate; and I must sustain it at my
own cost, until they get their wishes, and another governor be sent
to rule over it.
'If this that I say does not agree with the ideas of some of those
who are half-hearted about this matter of Goa, Your Highness may
know for certain that as yet there is a man who is governing it;
and old and weak as I am, I will accept the government of this
conquered territory at Your Highness's hands, if it may be
permitted me to confer the lands of the Moors upon the cavaliers
and fidalgos who have assisted me to gain them. But do not require
of me every year an account of what I am doing as if I were a
tax-gatherer, because four ill-mannered fellows, who sit at home
like idols in their pagodas, have borne false witness against me;
but honour me, and thank me, for I shall be happy to complete this
enterprise, and spend what little I have upon it; and, {124} in
conclusion, all that I have to say is, that, if Your Highness
either now or at any other time surrenders Goa to the Turks, then
plainly Our Lord desires that the Portuguese dominion in India
should come to an end; and, as for me, Your Highness may be sure
that, so long as I am Governor, although I be put to much trouble,
I shall not at any rate send you painted pictures of fictitious
places, but rather kingdoms taken by force of arms from their
masters and fortified by me in such a manner that they may give a
good account of themselves to all time.
'This is my opinion concerning this question of Goa which Your
Highness commanded me to discuss with my captains and officers.'[2]
[Footnote 2: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iii. pp. 258-263.]
These arguments of Albuquerque were convincing, and King Emmanuel
wrote to him, that for the future he should consider it necessary to
retain Goa. But at the same time the frank language which the great
Governor had used, was turned to his disadvantage by his numerous
enemies at the Court of Lisbon. It was suggested to the King, who was
very jealous of his authority in the distant parts of Asia, that
Albuquerque threatened and desired to make himself an independent
prince at Goa. He was attacked as extravagant in his expenses and
grandiose in his views, just as Lord Wellesley was censured by the
directors of the East India Company nearly 300 years later. And these
views became so prevalent at Court, that King Emmanuel resolved to
supersede Affonso de Albuquerque.
The news of his disgrace did not however reach {125} India until some
months later, and Albuquerque carried out two interesting and
important campaigns, the one in the Red Sea in 1513 and the other at
Ormuz in 1515. It was not until after the relief of Goa that
Albuquerque was at last able to carry out his favourite scheme of
entering the Red Sea, and attempting to close that route to
Muhammadan commerce. This was one of the primary aims of his policy.
The various circumstances which had delayed its execution from year
to year have been noted; and it was a curious irony of fate that the
only scheme in which Albuquerque failed was the establishment of the
Portuguese power in the Red Sea. Other things which he regarded as
subordinate, such as the conquests of Malacca and Ormuz, were
accomplished, but he was never able to become master of Aden.
Before he set sail, he sent in January 1513, a squadron under Garcia
de Sousa to cruise off Dabhol, the next most important port of the
King of Bijapur to Goa; he despatched three ships with artillery and
reinforcements to Malacca; and he ordered Dom Garcia de Noronha to
blockade Calicut. He then set to work to complete the defensive
fortifications of the island of Goa. The events of the preceding
siege showed that it was not sufficient to build a wall round the
city of Goa, but that the whole island must be adequately fortified.
For this purpose he rebuilt and strengthened the fortress of
Benastarim, and also constructed castles and military works at Panjim
and Divarim, since these three places commanded the most {126}
practicable passages across the rivers into the island. He appointed
commandants for these forts, but placed over them Pedro Mascarenhas
as Captain of Goa.
Albuquerque next sent ambassadors to the principal native princes,
who desired to enter into negotiations with him. To the King of
Ahmadabad or Gujarat he sent Tristao de Ga with a demand for leave to
build a fortress in the island of Diu. To Bijapur he sent Diogo
Fernandes to treat for peace. To the Raja of Vijayanagar he sent
Gaspar Chanoca with a request that the Portuguese should be allowed
to build a fortress at Baticala. He also had an interview with Rasul
Khan, and heard from him that there were serious dissensions at the
Court of Bijapur between the Turks and the Persians, which had
culminated in the murder of Kamal Khan, the chief minister, who was a
Persian. Having thus placed everything in the most secure situation
possible, he appointed his cousin Jorge de Albuquerque to be Captain
of Cochin in the place of Pedro Mascarenhas, and ordered Dom Garcia
de Noronha to break up the blockade of Calicut and to join him with
his fleet.
On February 7, 1513, Albuquerque sailed out of Goa harbour for the
Red Sea with twenty ships carrying 1700 Portuguese and 800 native
soldiers, the latter of whom had been recruited on the Malabar coast.
He had a favourable voyage, and on Good Friday, March 25, 1513, he
cast anchor in the harbour of Aden. The importance of Aden at the
entrance to the Red Sea was at that time very great, as the ships
from India {127} and the further East all stopped there before
proceeding to Egypt. It was not only merchant vessels which followed
that route, but the numerous ships which carried Moslem pilgrims to
the birthplace and the tomb of Muhammad at Mecca and Medina.
Albuquerque's intention was to put a stop alike to the passage of
traders and of pilgrims. The chief who ruled at Aden was practically
independent, but owed some fealty to the Sultans of Egypt. He
possessed a powerful army, and the walls of his city were well
provided with artillery. Nevertheless Albuquerque determined to
assault the place by escalade. The Portuguese were nearly successful,
but their over impetuosity caused all the scaling ladders to be
broken by the crowds of soldiers who tried to mount them at once.
Only a small party managed to enter the town, and since they could
not be supported owing to the breakdown of the ladders, they were
almost entirely cut to pieces. Several officers were killed in this
affair, amongst whom were Jorge da Silveira and Garcia de Sousa, who
both distinguished themselves by their daring valour. Finding it
impossible to breach the walls from the sea Albuquerque then set out
to explore the coasts of Arabia and Abyssinia.
The latter, as a Christian empire, and the seat of that mythical
monarch, Prester John, was a subject of great interest to the
Christians of Europe. It has been said that John II of Portugal sent
one of his equerries Joao Peres de Covilhao to Abyssinia, where he
had become a person of influence and eventually {128} died.
Ambassadors had also been sent to that country by way of Melinda in
Vasco da Gama's second voyage to the East, and had been favourably
received by David, the then Emperor of Abyssinia.
The existence Of such a Christian empire interested most Europeans
only on account of its religion, but Albuquerque looked on it from a
political aspect. He hoped to make use of the Abyssinians to attack
Egypt from the South and overthrow the Muhammadan dynasty reigning
there. In case this could not be accomplished, he formed a scheme by
which the waters of the Nile should be diverted, so as to run through
Abyssinia to the Red Sea, and thus destroy the fertility of Egypt. He
even went so far in pursuance of his idea as to request the King of
Portugal to send him experienced miners from the island of Madeira,
who were accustomed to dig through rocks. Another plan he formed was
to send a detachment to Medina to carry off the body of Muhammad. But
he felt his present voyage to be rather one of exploration, and so,
after sailing about throughout the summer of 1513, he left the Red
Sea in the month of August for India. This cruise was one of great
importance to the Portuguese, and a knowledge of the coasts, and of
the navigation of the Red Sea was obtained, which proved in after
years to be very useful. Before departing Albuquerque burnt many of
the ships which were moored in the harbour of Aden, and he promised
to return speedily and conquer the city.
On leaving the coast of Arabia, Albuquerque sailed {129} direct to
Diu. The situation of affairs in Gujarat had somewhat altered. Mahmud
Shah Begara had always been willing that the Portuguese should build
a fortress there, and his willingness may be attributed to the fact
that Malik Ayaz, the Nawab of Diu, had become practically independent
of him. This Muhammadan ruler had been the declared enemy of the
Portuguese ever since the days of the first Viceroy, Dom Francisco de
Almeida. He had assisted the Emir Husain in the naval battles of
Chaul and Diu, and had formed a high idea of the power of the
Portuguese. He now submitted to Muzaffar Shah II, who had just
succeeded as King of Gujarat, and implored him not to grant
permission for the Christians to build a fortress at Diu. He
consented however to the foundation of a factory, and Albuquerque
accordingly left one ship behind him, when he sailed south, with
Fernao Martins Evangelho as Factor. On their way to Goa the
Portuguese seized all the Muhammadan ships which had that year left
Calicut, and had not yet been able to get across the Indian Ocean
because of the monsoon, which is said to have completed the ruin of
the Mopla merchants of Calicut. Albuquerque also left a squadron
under Lopo Vaz de Sam Paio to blockade the port of Dabhol, and he
then returned safely to Goa.
The year 1514 is the most peaceful of Albuquerque's administration.
In it he was occupied mainly with matters of internal policy and the
strengthening of his relations with the native princes. The most
important event of the year was the building of the {130} fortress of
Calicut, and though the policy by which he attained this end cannot
be commended, the result was a remarkable conclusion to his
transactions on the Malabar coast. The long and consistent opposition
of the Muhammadans of Calicut to the establishment of the Portuguese
power is one of the leading threads of the history of the period.
From the time of Vasco da Gama's first voyage and the murder of the
Portuguese factor in 1500, Calicut had been the headquarters of the
enemies of Portugal. King Emmanuel never ceased reiterating his
orders that Calicut should be conquered at any cost; he declared his
honour to be involved in the destruction of the Zamorin's power; and
the defeat and death of Dom Fernao de Coutinho exasperated him
exceedingly.
By the fleet which was commanded by Dom Garcia de Noronha the most
precise orders had been sent for the building of a fortress at
Calicut, and Francisco Nogueira had brought out a royal commission to
be Captain of it. The Zamorin, who had been much impressed by the
conquest of Goa, now declared his willingness to grant a site for a
fortress at Calicut, but he would not grant the only site which
Albuquerque was inclined to accept, because it completely commanded
the harbour. On his return from the Red Sea, Albuquerque was informed
by Nogueira of the temporising policy of the Zamorin, and resolved to
carry out the King's orders without more delay. He met with
considerable opposition, especially from the Raja of Cochin, who
feared that the lucrative {131} pepper trade, which he enjoyed, owing
to the existence of a fortress and factory in his capital, would go
to Calicut, and his views were adopted by the civil officers in
charge of the trade and also by all the adherents of Almeida's
policy. Nevertheless Albuquerque persisted, and since nothing could
be done with the reigning Zamorin he advised the heir apparent to
secure his accession by poison.
The advice was followed; the Zamorin was poisoned, and his murderer
and successor allowed Albuquerque to build a fortress on the site he
had chosen. It was the best fortified castle erected in India, and
its water gate, by means of which reinforcements and ammunition could
be introduced direct from the sea, was especially admired. The new
Zamorin offered to pay full compensation to the Portuguese for all
the damage that had been done since the murder of the first factor,
and he also sent two native envoys to Lisbon to protest his sincere
submission to King Emmanuel. The erection of the fortress at Calicut
set the seal on the Portuguese power on the Malabar coast; the Mopla
merchants were controlled at their headquarters, and the
_Commentaries_ assert that the Raja of Narsingha or Vijayanagar
'declared, when he heard of it, that since the Zamorin of Calicut
had assented to the building of a fortress in his land by the
Portuguese, the Captain-General of India might as well build
another in Bisnagar (Vijayanagar) if he pleased.'[3]
[Footnote 3: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iv. pp. 74, 75.]
Though the building of the fortress at Calicut was {132} the most
important event of Albuquerque's rule in 1514, some notice must
likewise be given to his relations with Gujarat, and the expeditions
he sent to Ormuz and Malacca.
It was reported to him by the factor he had left at Diu, that the
Nawab of that place had gone to Ahmadabad in order to induce the King
of Gujarat to refuse the Portuguese leave to build upon the island,
and also that Ismail Shah, of Persia, had sent a special embassy to
Ahmadabad to induce the King to accept the Shiah form of the
Muhammadan religion. Albuquerque, on this, determined to send a
better equipped embassy than before to the Court of Muzaffar Shah II.
He selected two fidalgos, on whom he could rely, Diogo Fernandes de
Beja, who had been his flag captain in the Red Sea, and Jayme
Teixeira. The ambassadors arrived safely at Surat, but it was not
until after a long delay that they were forwarded to Ahmadabad. They
at once demanded of the Minister that the Portuguese should be
allowed to build at Diu, and were told in reply that the very name of
a fortress was distasteful to the King. The ambassadors replied
'that the King of Portugal's men and property could only be safe in
a very strongly fortified fortress, so that it should not be
exposed to robbery, nor the men to slaughter, things which it was
notorious had been perpetrated in Calicut, Quilon, and Malacca.'[4]
[Footnote 4: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iv. p. 101.]
The King then sent an answer that, as a favour to {133} Albuquerque,
he would grant a site for a fortress at Broach, Surat, Mahim, Dumbes,
or Bukkur, but not at Diu. This offer was refused, and the King then
asked whether the Portuguese would allow his ships to make their
voyages in security to Aden, if they did not carry spices. Diogo
Fernandes replied that this could not be allowed, and that the
Gujaratis should be content with trading to Malacca, Burma, Bengal
and Persia, which were allied to the King of Portugal, without
seeking to go to Arabia where he was at war. After these questions
had been discussed at length, the Portuguese ambassadors returned to
Goa, and it was not till some years later, during the governorship of
Nuno da Cunha, that leave to build a fortress in Diu was granted to
the Portuguese. Albuquerque was much pleased with the prudence and
good behaviour of his envoys, which contrasted favourably with the
outrageous conduct of the ambassador of Ismail Shah. It may be added
that the King of Ahmadabad declined to accept the suggestion that he
should become a Shiah.
From Malacca very bad news reached Albuquerque. Though the King of
Siam and other neighbouring rulers had been kindly disposed to the
Portuguese residents there, an energetic attack on their position was
made by a fleet and army of Javanese, commanded by a former servant
of Utemuta Raja. The Captain of the fortress and the Captain of the
fleet, who had been left in command, Ruy de Brito and Fernao Peres de
Andrade, quarrelled, and their {134} dissensions had nearly ruined
the cause of the Portuguese. The latter had, however, won a
considerable naval victory, and Albuquerque was inclined to favour
him. He at once sent off three ships to Malacca, with whose help
another great victory was won, and eventually he appointed his
cousin, Jorge de Albuquerque, to be Captain of Malacca. This officer
showed himself worthy of the confidence bestowed upon him; he
defeated some insurgents who had risen against the King of Pacem, a
native monarch in the island of Sumatra, which victory finally
established the Portuguese influence in those quarters. Ruy de Brito
returned to India, and under the government of Jorge de Albuquerque
the Portuguese settlement in the Malay Peninsula remained in peace
and tranquillity for some years.
A matter which occupied much of Albuquerque's attention was the
establishment of the Portuguese power at Ormuz. He had never
forgotten nor forgiven the slights which had been put upon him during
the year 1508, and had long desired to complete the fortress which he
had commenced, and carry out his vow of vengeance. The state of
affairs in Persia increased his wish to act with promptitude. On his
return from the Red Sea, he had been informed that the old King of
Ormuz and his wily minister, Cogeatar (Khojah Atar), were dead, and
what was of more significance, that the new king had acknowledged the
supremacy and the form of religion of Ismail Shah. It was obvious
that if the Portuguese did not strike {135} quickly they would have
to contend with the powerful Shah of Persia for the possession of
Ormuz. Albuquerque had found an ambassador from Ismail waiting for
him in India, to whom he exhibited the wealth and strength of the
Portuguese establishments, before sending him back to Persia
accompanied by an envoy from himself. It will be remembered that he
had nominated Ruy Gomes as ambassador in 1510, and that that
gentleman had been poisoned at Ormuz on the way. He now selected
Miguel Ferreira for the office, with similar instructions to those
given to Ruy Gomes. The Governor himself greatly impressed the Shah's
ambassador, and it is recorded
'That he was so struck with the personal appearance of Affonso de
Albuquerque, that he desired a life-size portrait of him to be
painted, which could be carried to Shah Ismail.'[5]
[Footnote 5: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iv. p. 81.]
Ferreira was more fortunate than Ruy Gomes, and reached the Court of
the Shah of Persia in safety. He was received with the greatest
honour; so much so that the ambassador of the King of Bijapur was
much offended that a better reception was given to the Portuguese
emissary than to himself. Ismail Shah had many conversations with
Ferreira, and declared 'the desire which he cherished for the
destruction of the Grand Sultan and the house of Mecca.'[6] After the
departure of his ambassador, Albuquerque sent the son of his cousin,
Jorge de Albuquerque, a young man of much promise, named Pedro, in
command of four ships, with instructions to visit Aden, to winter at
{136} Ormuz, and to explore the Persian Gulf. The young commander, on
his arrival at Ormuz, found that the new King was entirely under the
influence of a young Persian named Rais Ahmad, who had taken
possession of Cogeatar's goods and endeavoured to occupy his
position. Pedro de Albuquerque first demanded that the half-finished
fortress commenced by the Governor should be handed over to the
Portuguese. When excuses were made, he desisted from this demand
owing to the weakness of his squadron, and contented himself with
requesting that the tribute due to the King of Portugal for the last
two years should be paid. He obtained 10,000 xerafins (under 750
pounds), and after exploring the Persian Gulf he returned to India.
On hearing his report, Albuquerque resolved in the succeeding season
to proceed himself to Ormuz.
[Footnote 6: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iv. p. 88.]
On February 20, 1515, Albuquerque left Goa with twenty-six ships,
after appointing Pedro Mascarenhas Captain of Cochin, and Dom Joao de
Eca Captain of Goa. This was his last campaign, and it is interesting
to notice that it took place in the same quarter as his first Asiatic
enterprise. But Affonso de Albuquerque, the great Captain-General of
India, the conqueror of Goa and Malacca, was a very different person
to the Affonso de Albuquerque of seven years before, the commodore of
a small squadron, holding an ambiguous position, and at issue with
the Viceroy and his own captains. The terror of his name had now
spread abroad, and his captains no longer dared to oppose his wishes.
In the month of March he anchored off {137} the island of Ormuz, and
at once demanded that the half-finished fortress should be handed
over to him. After much negotiating the King of Ormuz gave way, and
the Portuguese landed to complete their fortress. But Albuquerque did
not feel safe as long as Rais Ahmad preserved his influence at Court;
he therefore had the young man assassinated before the King's eyes.
This murder terrified the King, who then complied with all the wishes
of the Portuguese.
Albuquerque's successive measures were taken with great skill; he
first got the King to surrender all his artillery, on the ground that
it was needed for the defence of the fortress against a fleet which
was rumoured to be coming from Egypt; and he next persuaded the King
to issue an edict that the inhabitants of Ormuz should be disarmed.
The completion of the fortress occupied some months, at the close of
which, in August 1515, Albuquerque unwillingly consented to the
return of his favourite nephew, Dom Garcia de Noronha, to Portugal.
While at Ormuz he was visited by envoys from all the petty rulers
along the Persian Gulf, and even by chiefs from the interior of
Arabia, Persia, and Tartary. His accumulated labours by this period
had broken down his health, but his fame was at its height.
'From all parts of the interior country so many were they who came
daily into the fortress in order to look upon Affonso de
Albuquerque that our people could not keep them back; and although
his illness prevented him from going out very often, they begged
those who were on guard at the doorway {138} of the fortress to at
least permit them to get sight of him, for they had come from their
own country for this express purpose. And if at any time he rode on
horseback, so large a crowd of people followed after him along the
streets, that he could hardly make his way through them; and as the
fame of his person, and his greatness, was the topic of all those
parts, and in consequence of the news which the ambassadors whom
Shah Ismail had sent to him had circulated, they sent their
servants to him with orders to draw his portrait to the life.'[7]
[Footnote 7: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iv. p. 181.]
Every day, however, the great Governor's health grew worse, and on
September 26, 1515, he summoned all the captains to his residence in
Ormuz, and declared to them that since his illness promised to prove
fatal, he wished them to swear to obey whoever he nominated as his
successor. On October 20 he appointed Pedro de Albuquerque Captain of
Ormuz, and from that time gave up attending to business and began to
prepare for death.
On November 8, 1515, he set sail from Ormuz in the _Flor da Rosa_,
commanded by his faithful friend, Diogo Fernandes de Beja, hoping
that he should end his days in Goa, the city which he had conquered
and which he loved. But he was not allowed to conclude his great
career without suffering a deep humiliation. On the way a native
brigantine was captured, which contained letters directed to
Albuquerque. In spite of his health he insisted on these letters
being read to him at once. In them appeared the news that Lopo Soares
de Albergaria had just reached India, with a {139} commission to
succeed him as Governor. This news wounded Albuquerque to the heart.
'He lifted up his hands and gave thanks unto Our Lord and
cried:--"In bad repute with men because of the King, and in bad
repute with the King because of the men, it were well that I were
gone."'[8]
[Footnote 8: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iv. p. 195.]
This harsh measure of supersession had undoubtedly been suggested to
King Emmanuel by the personal enemies whom the Governor had made
through his imperious temper; and it is not without significance that
among the captains who accompanied Soares de Albergaria were two of
Albuquerque's declared enemies, Francisco de Tavora and Diogo Mendes
de Vasconcellos. The jealous disposition of the King had been freely
worked on, and the argument that Albuquerque wished to make himself
an independent prince or duke at Goa had had its effect. On receiving
the tidings of his disgrace Albuquerque added a codicil to his will,
directing that his bones should be carried to Portugal, and he wrote
the following proud and touching letter to King Emmanuel, the
sovereign he had served so well.
'Sire, I am not writing to Your Highness with my own hand, because,
when I do so, I tremble very greatly, which is a warning of my
approaching death. I leave a son, Sire, to perpetuate my memory, to
whom I bequeath all my property, which is little enough, but I
bequeath him also the obligation, due to me for all my services,
which is very great. The affairs of India speak for me and for
themselves [_lit._ for it]. I {140} leave India, with its principal
heads fallen, in your power, without its promising any other
trouble, except the locking close of the gate of the Straits
[_i.e._ of the Red Sea]; that is what Your Highness ordered me to
do. I give you as my constant counsel, Sire, for the security of
India, to continue drawing your expenses from it [_i.e._ to make
the administration pay for itself]. I beg Your Highness in reward
to remember all this, and to make my son a nobleman and to give him
full satisfaction for my services. All my hopes I place in the
hands of Your Highness and of the Queen. I commend myself to you
both that you may make my affairs [_cousas_] great, since I make my
end in the affairs of your service and for them deserve to be
rewarded. And as for my pensions, which I have won for the greater
part, as Your Highness knows, I kiss your hands for them for my
son. Written at sea on the sixth day of December, 1515.'
_In Albuquerque's own handwriting_:--
'Done by the servant of Your Highness,
'AFONSO D ALBOQUERQUE.'[9]
[Footnote 9: This letter is translated from the original text
preserved in the Torre del Tombo, or Archives of Portugal, printed in
the _Cartas de Albuquerque_, vol. i. pp. 380, 381. The version given
in the _Commentaries_, vol. iv. pp. 195, 196 is much shortened.]
It is satisfactory to know that the King complied with the dying wish
of the great Governor. Albuquerque's illegitimate son, Braz de
Albuquerque, was recognised at Court and married to a rich heiress,
Dona Maria de Noronha, daughter of the first Count of Linhares; he
was granted a pension of 300,000 reis (about 66 pounds) a year; and
his name was changed by royal command to Affonso. He proved himself
worthy of his father, became Controller of the Household of King
{141} John III, and President of the Senate of Lisbon, but posterity
is chiefly grateful to him for having compiled the _Commentaries_ of
his great father's deeds. King Emmanuel quickly regretted his
unworthy treatment of his faithful servant, and in 1516, before the
news of his death had reached Lisbon, he sent out orders that while
Lopo Soares de Albergaria was to be Governor of Calicut, Cochin and
Malacca, Albuquerque was to command in the Indian and Arabian Seas,
with power to draw on all the resources of India for a final campaign
in the Red Sea. This news, however, never reached the great captain,
and the commission was not signed until after his death.
The details of the death of Affonso de Albuquerque are best told in
the brief words of the _Commentaries_.
'At this time he had become so weak that he could not stand, ever
desiring Our Lord to take him to Goa, and there do with him as
should be best for His service; and when the ship was yet distant
three or four leagues from the bar, he ordered them to summon Frei
Domingos, the Vicar-General, and Master Affonso, the physician. And
as he was so weak that he could not eat anything, he ordered his
attendants to give him a little of the red wine which had been sent
that year from Portugal. And when the brigantine had sailed away in
advance to Goa, the vessel proceeded to cast anchor on the bar, on
Saturday night, the fifteenth day of the month of December. When
they told Affonso de Albuquerque that he was at the end of his
voyage, he lifted up his hands and gave many thanks to Our Lord,
because he had vouchsafed to grant him that mercy which he had so
earnestly desired, and thus he remained all through that night with
the {142} Vicar-General, who had already come off from the shore to
the ship, and with Pedro de Alpoem, Secretary of India, whom he
constituted his executor, embracing the crucifix and continually
talking; and he desired the Vicar-General, who was his confessor,
to recite the Passion of Our Lord, written by St. John, to which he
was always devoted, for in it, and in that cross which was made in
the likeness of that whereon Our Lord had suffered, and on His
wounds he rested all the hope of his salvation; and he commanded
them to attire him in the costume of the Order of Santiago, whereof
he was a Commander, that he might die in it; and on the Sunday, one
hour before the dawn, he rendered up his soul to God; and there
finished all his troubles without seeing any satisfaction of
them.'[10]
[Footnote 10: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iv. p. 196.]
The corpse of the great governor was at once conveyed to Goa and
'so great was the crying and weeping on all sides, that it seemed
as if the very river of Goa was being poured out.'[11]
[Footnote 11: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iv. p. 198.]
The body was conveyed to the Chapel of Our Lady of the Conception,
which he had founded outside the gates of Goa on the spot where he
had witnessed the second capture of the city.
'There accompanied the procession,' it is recorded in the
_Commentaries_, 'all the people of the city, not only Christians,
but Hindus and Moors [Muhammadans], who filled the streets,
demonstrating by the profusion of their tears the great sorrow they
felt at his death. As for the Hindus, when they beheld his body
stretched upon the bier, with his long beard reaching down to his
waist, and his eyes half open, they declared, after their heathen
notions, that it could not be that he was dead, {143} but that God
had need of him for some war, and had therefore sent for him.'[12]
[Footnote 12: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iv. p. 198.]
His son, according to the last wishes of the great captain, desired
to remove the body of Affonso de Albuquerque to Portugal, but King
Emmanuel would never consent, saying that as long as the bones of
Affonso de Albuquerque were at Goa India was secure. John III held
the same view, and it was not until 1566, more than fifty years after
his death, that his remains were removed to Portugal by permission of
Queen Catherine, who was then Regent in the name of the boy-king, Dom
Sebastian. They were then solemnly interred in the Chapel of Our Lady
of Grace at Lisbon, attached to the Augustinian monastery, where they
still repose.
The deeds of Albuquerque form his fittest memorial, and in the next
chapter an attempt will be made to examine his character as exhibited
by his internal policy. Nevertheless it is interesting to quote here
his son's description of his person and his character as given in the
_Commentaries_.
'This great Captain was a man of middle stature, with a long face,
fresh coloured, the nose somewhat large. He was a prudent man, and
a Latin scholar, and spoke in elegant phrases; his conversation and
writings showed his excellent education. He was of ready words,
very authoritative in his commands, very circumspect in his
dealings with the Moors, and greatly feared yet greatly loved by
all, a quality rarely found united in one captain. He was very
valiant and favoured by fortune. King Ferdinand said to Pedro
{144} Correa, when he was Portuguese ambassador at the Spanish
Court, that it was a very astonishing thing, that King Emmanuel,
his son-in-law, should have ordered Affonso de Albuquerque to
return from India, seeing that he was so great a captain and so
fortunate in his wars. He always gained the victory in his battles
against the Moors, both at sea and on land, sometimes indeed being
wounded, for the places where he was posted were never of the
safest. He was very prompt in the performance of any undertaking
when he had once determined upon it, and his name and his successes
are so celebrated among all the kings and princes of Europe and
Asia, that the Grand Turk, when conversing with Don Alvaro de
Sande, captain of the Emperor Charles V, whom he held in captivity,
concerning the state of India, laid his hand on his breast and said
that Affonso de Albuquerque had been a very remarkable captain. He
was a man of the strictest veracity, and so pure in the justice he
administered that the Hindus and Moors after his death, whenever
they received any affront from the Governors of India, used to go
to Goa to his tomb and make offerings of choice flowers and of oil
for his lamp, praying him to do them justice. He was very
charitable to the poor, and settled many women in marriage in Goa.
For he was of such a generous disposition that all the presents and
gifts which the kings of India bestowed on him--and they were
numerous and of great value--he divided among the captains and
fidalgos who had assisted him in obtaining them. He was very
honourable in his manner of life, and so careful over his language,
that the greatest oath which he ever took when he was very much
enraged was this: "I abhor the life that I live." He died at the
age of sixty-three years, having governed India for six years.'[13]
[Footnote 13: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. iv. pp. 199, 200.]
{145}