While on his return, Catiproca was applied to by the queen of Mangalore to assist her in surprizing the Portuguese fort at that place, which she alleged might be easily taken. Catiproca agreed to this, in hopes of regaining the reputation he had lost at Chaul. He accordingly landed his men secretly, and made an attempt under night to scale the walls. While his men were mounting the ladders some servants of Antonio Pereyra, who commanded in that fort, were awakened by the noise, and seeing the enemy on the ladders threw out of a window the first thing that came to hand, which happened to be a chest of silver; with which they beat down those who were on the ladder. Pereyra waking with the noise, threw down those who had mounted, and the rest fled carrying his chest of silver on board their ships. While passing Cananor, Don Diego de Menezes fell upon the Malabar squadron, which he totally routed and drove up the river Tiracole, where every one of the ships were taken or destroyed, the admiral Catiproca slain, his nephew Cutiale made prisoner, and the chest of money belonging to Pereyra recovered.
Even by the fitting out of this unfortunate fleet, the zamorin did not fulfil the conditions of the confederacy against the Portuguese, as each of the high contracting parties had engaged to undertake some considerable enterprize against them in person; but he had been hitherto deterred by the presence of Diego de Menezes with a squadron in their seas, who burned several of his maritime towns and took many of his ships. Towards the end of June 1571, Diego de Menezes having withdrawn from the coast with his squadron, and when Adel Khan and the Nizam were both about to desist from their enterprises upon Goa and Chaul, the zamorin took the field with an army of 100,000 men, most of them armed with firelocks, with which he invested the fort of Chale about two leagues from Calicut, which was then under the command of Don George de Castro. Having planted forty pieces of brass cannon against the fort and straitly invested it with his numerous army so as to shut out all apparent hope of relief, a small reinforcement under Noronha was unable to penetrate; but soon afterwards Francisco Pereyra succeeded by an effort of astonishing bravery to force his way into Chale with a few men.
Advice being sent to the viceroy of the dangerous situation of Chale, Diego de Menezes was sent with 18 sail to carry supplies and reinforcements to the besieged. De Menezes got to Chale with great difficulty about the end of September, at which time the besieged were reduced to great extremity, having not above 70 men able to bear arms out of 600 persons then in the fort. The relief of the fort seemed impracticable, as the mouth of the harbour was very narrow, and was commanded on all sides by numbers of cannon on surrounding eminences. Diego resolved however to surmount all difficulties. A large ship was filled with sufficient provisions to serve the garrison for two months, and carried likewise fifty soldiers as a reinforcement. One galley preceded to clear the way and two others followed the large ship to defend her against the enemy. By this means, but with incredible difficulty and danger, the relief was thrown in, but it was found impossible to bring away the useless people from the fort as had been intended. Thus, by the valour and good fortune of the viceroy, this formidable confederacy was dissipated, which had threatened to subvert the Portuguese power in India, and their reputation was restored among the native princes.
SECTION VII.
Portuguese Transactions in India from 1571 to 1576.
At this period Sebastian king of Portugal made a great alteration in the government of the Portuguese possessions in the east, which he deemed too extensive to be under the management of one person. He divided them therefore into three separate governments, which were designated respectively, India, Monotmotapa, and Malacca. The first, or India, extended from Gape Guardafu, or the north-east extremity of Africa on the Indian ocean, to the island of Ceylon inclusive. The second, or Monomotapa, from Cape Corrientes to Cape Guardafu; and the third, or Malacca, from Pegu to China both inclusive. To the command of the first, or India, Don Antonio de Noronha was sent with the title of viceroy. Francisco de Barreto was appointed to Monomotapa, and Antonio Moniz Barreto to Malacca, both stiled governors. It will be necessary therefore to treat of these governments separately, though by this we must necessarily in some measure neglect the consideration of regular chronology in the distribution of events. We begin therefore with the viceroyalty of Noronha.
Don Antonio de Noronha arrived at Goa in the beginning of September 1571, having lost 2000 men by sickness out of 4000 with whom he sailed from Lisbon. Don Luis de Ataine, who surrendered to him the sword of command, was a nobleman of great valour and military experience, and so free from avarice that instead of the vast riches which others brought from India to Portugal, he carried over four jars of water from the four famous rivers, the Indus, Ganges, Tigris, and Euphrates, which were long preserved in his castle of Peniche. After serving both in Europe and Africa, he went out to India, where at twenty-two years of age he was knighted on Mount Sinai by Don Stefano de Gama. Returning to Portugal, he went ambassador to the Emperor Charles V. and was present in the battle in which that emperor defeated the Lutherans under the Landgrave and the Duke of Saxony. He behaved so bravely in that battle, that the emperor offered to knight him; but having already received that honour on Mount Sinai, he could not again accept the offer, on which the emperor declared in public that he envied that honour beyond the victory he had just gained. On his return to Lisbon from administering the government of India with such high reputation, he was received with much honour by King Sebastian, yet was afterwards much slighted, as Pacheco had been formerly by King Emanuel, as will be seen afterwards, when appointed a second time to the viceroyalty.
The first attention of the new viceroy was bestowed for the relief of Chale, to which Diego de Menezes was sent with 1500 men; but he came too late, as the fort had been already surrendered to the zamorin upon conditions. This surrender had been made by the commander Don George de Castro, contrary to the opinion of the majority of his officers, overcome by the tears and entreaties of his wife and other ladies, forgetting that he who was now eighty years of age ought to have preferred an honourable death to a short and infamous addition to his life. Neither was this his only fault, for the provisions had lasted longer if he had not committed them to the care of his wife, who dissipated them among her slaves. Owing to this unforeseen event, Diego de Menezes could only conduct the people who had surrendered at Chale to Cochin. He then divided his fleet with Matthew de Albuquerque, and cleared the seas of pirates.
When Norhonha accepted the viceroyalty of India, now so much lessened by the division into three governments, his great aim was to acquire riches, as he was poor, and had several children. With this view he endeavoured to prevail on Antonio Moniz Barreto, the newly appointed governor of Malacca, to be satisfied with a smaller force than had been ordered for him on going to assume that government, alleging that India was not then in a condition to give what was promised; but Moniz refused to go unless supplied with the force agreed on, as the posture of Malacca was then too dangerous to admit of being governed by a person who considered his reputation, unless supported by a considerable force. Moniz therefore wrote home to Portugal, complaining against the viceroy, and malicious whispers are for the most part gratefully received by princes and ministers: and the Portuguese ministry, on the sole information of Moniz, committed the weakest act that ever was heard of, as will appear in the sequel: Unhappy is that kingdom whose sovereign is a child.
About this time Akbar Shah,[381] emperor of the Moguls had acquired the sovereignty of Cambaya or Guzerat. Sultan Mahmud the heir of the late king had been left under the tuition of three great men, Ali Khan, Itimiti Khan, and Madrem-al-Mulk, each of whom envious of the others endeavoured to acquire the entire direction of the young king. He, considering himself in danger, fled from Madrem-al-Mulk to the protection of Itimiti Khan, the worst of all his guardians, who immediately offered to deliver up the king and kingdom to the great Mogul, on condition of being appointed viceroy or Soubah in reward of his treachery. Akbar accordingly marched to Amedabad, where the traitor delivered up to him the young king, and the Mogul was seated on the musnud or throne of Guzerat without drawing a sword. Not satisfied with this great acquisition, Akbar resolved to recover the town and districts of Basseen and Daman, which had formerly belonged to Cambaya, and were now possessed by the Portuguese; and as this intention became known to Luis de Almeyda who commanded at Daman, he sent notice to the viceroy, who immediately sent him succours and prepared to follow there in person, going accordingly from Goa about the end of December 1571, with nine gallies, five gallions, eight galliots, and ninety smaller vessels. On his arrival with this large armament in the river of Daman, the Mogul, who was encamped at the distance of two leagues from that place, was so much dismayed by the power and military reputation of the Portuguese, that he sent an ambassador to the viceroy to treat of peace. The viceroy received the Mogul ambassador in his gallery with great state, and after listening to his proposals sent Antonio Cabral along with him to Akbar, on which a peace was concluded to the satisfaction of both parties. The viceroy then returned to Goa, and the great Mogul settled the government of his new kingdom of Guzerat, cutting off the head of the traitor Itimiti Khan, a just reward of his villany.