Rulers of India: Albuquerque

by H. Morse Stephens

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 Fernão 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 João 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 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 Bijápur at once sent an army against Goa, under the command of Fulad Khán, whom the Portuguese called Pulatecão. This general defeated the forces of Timoja and Malhár Ráo, and then invaded the island of Goa, and established himself in the fortress of Benastarim. Timoja and Malhár Ráo fled to the court of the Rájá of Vijayanagar, where Timoja was poisoned, and Malhár Ráo soon after made his way to Honáwar, where he succeeded his brother as Rájá. The Portuguese garrison of Goa, under the command of Rodrigo Rebello, the Captain, marched out to attack Fulad Khán. 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 Tristão 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 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 Bijápur sent its most famous general, Rasúl Khán, with a strong army to the coast, but Fulad Khán refused to acknowledge his supremacy. Rasúl Khán 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, Rasúl Khán drove Fulad Khán 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

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 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 Rájás, 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 Lourenço 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 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 Rasúl Khán 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 Rasúl Khán had marched out towards the city at the head 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.