Gujarati–Portuguese conflicts

The Battle of Chaul was a naval battle between a Portuguese fleet commanded by Dom Lourenço de Almeida and an Egyptian Mamluk fleet allied to a Gujarati fleet in 1508 in the harbour of Chaul in India. The battle ended in a Muslim victory. This was the first Portuguese defeat at sea in the Indian Ocean.[3]

After the Battle of Chaul in 1508, an allied Mamluk-Gujarati-Calicut force had assembled a fleet in Diu to drive the Portuguese out of India. They were confronted by a Portuguese fleet under the command of the viceroy of India Dom Francisco de Almeida.

Portuguese victory was critical: the great Muslim alliance was soundly defeated, easing the Portuguese strategy of controlling the Indian Ocean to route trade down the Cape of Good Hope, circumventing the historical spice trade controlled by the Arabs and the Venetians through the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. After the battle, the Kingdom of Portugal rapidly captured several key ports in the Indian Ocean including Goa, Colombo, Malacca and Ormuz. Losses crippled the Mamluk Sultanate and the Gujarat Sultanate.

The Battle of Diu was a battle of annihilation similar to the Battle of Lepanto and the Battle of Trafalgar, and one of the most important in world naval history, for it marks the beginning of European dominance over Asian seas that would last until the Second World War.[4]

In 1517, a Portuguese fleet of 7 oarships under the command of João de Monroi defeated a fleet of 15 Gujarati oarships from Diu near Chaul, contracted by the lord of Mahim to attack Portuguese shipping. Later that same year, Monroi defeated another fleet of 14 oarships near Dabul thanks to superior artillery.[5]

Portuguese watercolour sketch of a Gujarati warrior.

When the Portuguese began construction of a fortress in Chaul with the consent of the Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar, the governor of Diu Malik Issack dispatched 40-50 oarships under the leadership of Aga Mohammed to prevent its construction. The Portuguese governor of India Diogo Lopes de Sequeira mobilized three galleons, a caravel and three galleys under the command of Dom Aleixo de Meneses and after a long-drawn combat of artillery in November 1521, Aga Mohammed retreated in disgrace.[6]

The Portuguese governor of India Nuno da Cunha, sketched by Gaspar Correia.

In 1531, the Portuguese governor of India Nuno da Cunha assembled a large armada of up to 400 ships and 30,000 men to capture the island of Diu.

They engaged roughly 800 enemy soldiers at Siyâl Bet island and killed them all.[7] The Portuguese suffered 9[8] or 17 killed and 120 wounded.[9] They then sailed for Diu, but the Muslim alliance defeated them and killed 14.[10] The victory was partly the result of Ottoman firepower over the Portuguese deployed by Mustafa Bayram, an Ottoman expert.[11]

Although Diu was successfully defended, victory was short-lived: Diu was blockaded and the Portuguese armada was diverted towards more exposed Gujarati cities.[12] Ghogha, Surat, Mangrol, Somnath, Bassein, Tarapur, Kelva, Mahim, Bulsar, Agashi, Patam, Pate, and many other settlements were assaulted and sacked, some never recovering from the attacks.[13][14][15]

In 1534, Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat signed a peace treaty with Governor Nuno da Cunha, granting the Portuguese the territory of Bassein, including Bombay. In 1535, the Portuguese were allowed to construct a fortress at Diu.

The Sultan of Gujarat Bahadur Shah who was under threat from the Mughal emperor Humayun, granting Diu to the Portuguese in exchange for assistance against the Mughals and protection should the realm fall.[16] The Portuguese seized the stronghold of Gogala (Bender-i Türk) near the city,[16] and built the Diu Fort. Once the threat from Humayun was removed, Bahadur tried to negotiate the withdrawal of the Portuguese but on 13 February 1537 he drowned during the negotiations in unclear circumstances, both sides blaming the other for the tragedy.[17]

16th century sketch of the Portuguese fortress of Diu sketched by Gaspar Correia.

Bahadur Shah had appealed to the Ottomans to expel the Portuguese, which led to the 1538 expedition.[16] An army of the Sultanate of Gujarat under Khoja Zufar aided by an Ottoman fleet led by the Ottoman governor of Egypt Hadım Suleiman Pasha, attempted to capture Diu in 1538 but the Portuguese under the command of captain António da Silveira resisted the four months long siege.

While Diu was besieged, Gujarat sieged Bassein. The commander of Bassein Ruy Lourenço de Távora dispatched a distress call to the governor, who sent him a galleon and four barques with 400 soldiers in reinforcements under the command of Tristão de Ataíde. Upon arriving, the Portuguese attacked the Gujarati army and forced them to withdraw to a neighbouring island, where they were surrounded and destroyed. Upon being known of the defeat at Diu, the Gujaratis discontinued their attacks against the Portuguese.[18]

The Portuguese governor of India Dom João de Castro.

After the failed siege of 1538, the Gujarati general Khoja Zufar besieged Diu again in an attempt to recapture the island. The siege lasted seven months from 20 April 1546 to 10 November 1546.[19]

The siege ended when a Portuguese fleet under Governor João de Castro arrived and routed the attackers.[19]

Khoja Zufar and his son Muharram Rumi Khan were both killed during the siege.[20]

After Diu was sieged for the second time by the Sultanate of Gujarat, the Portuguese governor of India dispatched Jorge de Meneses with a force of 10 oarships and 600 men to blockade the coast of Gujarat and capture any ship carrying supplies.[21] Having acquired information from fishermen of two captured vessels that nearby Bharuch was poorly protected, he conducted a daring night-time raid against the city, successfully assaulting it and sacking it.[21] Meneses and his men afterwards attacked the neighbouring towns and coastal populations.[22] In the aftermath, Jorge de Meneses added Baroche to his name in remembrance of the exploit.[21]

Daman was captured by the Portuguese governor of India Dom Constantino de Bragança in order to reinforce the security of Bassein.[23] The lord of Daman whom the Portuguese identified as Cid Bofetá had mobilized 4000 men to defend his territory, however he abandoned the city and retreated further inland upon the arrival of the Portuguese armada, numbering about 100 ships and 3000 soldiers.[23] Cid Bofetá was then routed by António Moniz Barreto, who attacked his camp in a night-time raid with 500 men, while Dom Pedro de Almeida later captured nearby Valsad with 150 horse and 150 foot.[23]