Rulers of India: Albuquerque

by H. Morse Stephens

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.

'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

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 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 Rájás 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, 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 Nawáb of Honáwar. In 1367, however, the Hindu minister of Harihara, Rájá 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 Sháh 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 Rájá of Belgáum, and in 1481 the Rájá of Vijayanagar made unsuccessful attacks upon Goa. Amid the later troubles of the great Báhmani kingdom of the Deccan, which occurred on the death of Muhammad Sháh II, Goa fell to the lot of the Muhammadan kingdom of Bijápur. The founder of this kingdom was Yusaf Adil Sháh, 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 Persia who educated him. He took the name of Savái from the place of his education, and is always called by the Portuguese historians the Sabaio or Çabaio, or the Hidalcão, a version of Adil Khán. 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 Báhmani kings, and was eventually made Governor of Bijápur. In 1489 he was crowned King of Bijápur, and under his rule Goa, which formed part of his dominions, greatly increased in wealth.