Rulers of India: Albuquerque

by H. Morse Stephens

'As soon as Manoel de Lacerda beheld Affonso de Albuquerque, he dismounted his charger and presented it to him. When Affonso de Albuquerque saw him with his armour all smirched with blood, he embraced him and said, "Sir Manoel de Lacerda, I declare to you that I am greatly envious of you, and so would Alexander the Great have been, had he been here, for you look more gallant for an evening's rendezvous than the Emperor Aurelian."'¹²

¹² Albuquerque's Commentaries, vol. iii. p. 12.

The moment the victory was won, Affonso de Albuquerque gave thanks to God, and promised to erect a church in honour of St. Catherine, whose feast day is the 25th November, on the site of the gate which had been so hardly won. He also conferred the honour of knighthood upon some of the most distinguished of the younger soldiers, among whom were Frederico Fernandes, who had been the first man to enter the city, and Manoel da Cunha, a younger son of his former commander, Tristão da Cunha.

As soon as the Portuguese were in entire possession of Goa, Albuquerque directed that the Muhammadan population, men, women and children, should be put to the sword. This cruel butchery is far more to Albuquerque's discredit than the hanging of Ruy Dias, for which the poet Camoens so strongly condemns him. It is only partially justified by Albuquerque's belief that the Muhammadans of Goa had behaved treacherously towards him in the spring and had admitted Yusaf Adil Sháh into the island. It is more likely that it was mainly due to Albuquerque's crusading hatred against the religion of the Prophet. He also gave up the city to plunder, and for three days his soldiers were occupied in the work of sacking it. He then set to work to repair the walls and ramparts, and especially to rebuild the citadel. His loss of the place in the spring made him particularly anxious to complete this work, and to set an example he himself did not hesitate to set his hands to it. When the citadel was completed he ordered a stone to be set up containing the names of all the captains who had served at the assault. But there was so much dissension as to the order in which the names should be engraved, every one desiring to be first, that eventually he placed on it only these words 'Lapidem quem reprobaverunt ædificantes'—the stone which the builders rejected.¹³

¹³ According to Barros, Decade II, Book V, ch. 11, ed. of 1778, p. 558, and Correa, Lendas da India, vol. ii. p. 157; but in the Commentaries, vol. iii. p. 137, this anecdote is told of the building of the fortress at Malacca.

It is curious to compare with the real history of Albuquerque's two occupations of Goa the account given by the Muhammadan historian in the Tohfut-ul-mujahideen, but it need hardly be said that the bribery to which he refers had no foundation in fact.

'Moreover,' writes the Sheikh Zín-ud-dín, 'the Franks having commenced hostilities against the inhabitants of Goa and captured that place, proceeded to take possession of it. Now this port was one of those that belonged to Adil Sháh (peace to his remains!); notwithstanding this, however, the Franks having seized upon it, made choice of it for their seat of government in India, proceeding to exercise rule over it. But Adil Sháh attacking these intruders, repulsed them; he in turn making it a rallying-place for Islámism. Subsequently the Franks (the curse of God rest on them!) made preparations for a second attack upon Goa, and proceeding against it with a vast armament and assaulting it, they at last captured it. It is said, however, that they bribed over to their interests some of its principal inhabitants, in which case its capture was not a feat of much difficulty; and the Franks on thus re-obtaining possession of Goa, hastened to construct around it extensive fortifications of vast height. After their acquisition of this place, their power became greatly increased, every day bringing some accession to it: for the Lord as he wills, so indeed does he bring to pass.'¹⁴

¹⁴ Tohfut-ul-mujahideen, Rowlandson's translation, pp. 100-102.

Albuquerque took Goa for the second time at a most favourable moment, for Yusaf Adil Sháh, his gallant enemy of the previous spring, died on December 5, 1510. His son, Ismáil Adil Sháh, who succeeded him, was a mere lad, and the governors of the different provinces of his kingdom soon began to show signs of rebellion. Under these circumstances Kamal Khán, the principal general and minister of the State of Bijápur, made, according to the Muhammadan historian Ferishta, an arrangement with the Portuguese, and consented to their retaining possession of Goa, on condition that they would be satisfied with the island and would not molest the adjoining districts. Albuquerque's Commentaries say nothing of this arrangement with Kamal Khán, but they contain a letter written by the Portuguese Governor to the youthful King of Bijápur directly after the second capture of Goa. The letter is both curious and characteristic.