The First Luso–Malabarese War was the first armed conflict fought by the Portuguese Empire in Asia, and the first of nine against the Zamorin of Calicut, then the preeminent power on the Malabar Coast, in India. The conflict erupted in 1500 over trade. Though himself a Hindu, the Zamorin was closely associated with and heavily dependent on the influential Muslim merchant community of Calicut. Wary of the threat that the Portuguese posed to their interests, they interfered with and disrupted Portuguese attempts to trade in India or negotiate with the Zamorin. Hostilities continued for thirteen years until the ruling Zamorin was assassinated and his successor signed a peace treaty with the Portuguese governor of India Afonso de Albuquerque. The conflict is also noteworthy as the first war fought by Europeans on the subcontinent ever since the defeat of the Seleucids and the times of Menander The Great from over 1800 years prior.
Many Portuguese people alive during the Age of Discovery participated in this war, such as Vasco da Gama, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Dom Francisco de Almeida and Afonso de Albuquerque, while the actions of the defense of Cochin led by commanders such as Duarte Pacheco Pereira are considered among the greatest exploits in the military history of Portugal. It involved a significant part of Portuguese society whether directly or indirectly, many joining the service of King Manuel in the armadas attracted by the prospects of wealth and glory despite the risks to disease, enemy action or shipwrecks. "It was a national effort that called on all the available resources of manpower, shipbuilding, material provision and strategic vision to exploit a window of opportunity before Spain could react. In the process, the Portuguese took both Europe and the peoples of the Indies by surprise."
By simply sailing to India around Africa, the Portuguese incurred in the hostility of the entire Muslim community involved in the east–west trade, as well as the Republic of Venice whose commercial interests were threatened. Although the Nair armies of the Zamorin were large, they proved inflexible compared to the smaller but heavily armed forces of the Portuguese, while his actions were almost invariably spied upon and leaked to the Portuguese by their Malabarese allies who resented the rule of Calicut. The Portuguese also gathered the support of the Saint Thomas Christians. The Trimumpara raja of Cochin was a rebellious tributary vassal of Calicut and the first ruler in India to seek an alliance with Portugal. He emerged from the conflict as an alternative power to the Zamorin on the Malabar Coast as a result of his association with the Europeans.
The Zamorin sought to hire experienced Arab privateers and took in European defectors or specialists, though this ultimately proved insufficient to counteract the Portuguese. Dissenting voices favouring terms with the Portuguese eventually rose within Calicut itself. Losses were heavy for Calicut, whether in terms of lives, resources or prestige: several vassals defected, a large number of merchants quit the city to trade elsewhere, and ultimately the ruling Zamorin was himself assassinated. His successor negotiated a peace treaty and a fortress was built at Calicut.
Background
After decades of exploratory efforts around the coasts of Africa, on 17 May 1498 Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in India.
Calicut was at this time the most important commercial city in the Malabar Coast. Arabs had established trade there about 600 years before and the city contained a great number of Muslim merchants from Egypt and Arabia or born locally, called Mappilas. They imported great quantities of valuable goods from the Middle-East through the Red Sea on large fleets and took back spices and local products, mostly pepper. These were bought at Alexandria in Egypt by Venetians, and redistributed to Europe. As a result of this trade, they were wealthy and highly influential in Calicut.
Pleased by the arrival of a new set of foreigners that would increase the trade in his city, the Zamorin offered to provide the Portuguese with as much cargo as they desired. Wary of Portuguese competition however, the powerful Muslim merchant community sought by every means to sabotage or interfere with the Portuguese and get them ejected from the country. They warned the Zamorin against any treaties with the newcomers and slandered them, while key ministers of the raja were bribed. A merchant who had converted to Islam personally informed Gama aboard his flagship of the plot. Portuguese envoys to the Zamorin were subjected to constant delays but allowed to open a warehouse and trade in the city. The agent sent ashore by Gama to acquire spices were only supplied poor-quality products but he pretended not to notice and always paid great sums for the merchandise. The chief-minister of Zamorin having been bribed, he suggested that the Portuguese were spies and should therefore all be captured and executed.
Gama eventually managed to speak personally to the Zamorin and deliver a letter from King Manuel, though he was later detained for a few days and kept under watch by his chief of the royal guard. The Zamorin ordered the execution of the Portuguese along with the confiscation of their goods but then changed his mind and allowed Gama to depart with an apology.
Despite numerous shortcomings, the expedition of Vasco da Gama was a resounding success. He was afforded a hero's welcome upon his return and the achievement was celebrated across Portugal with public thanksgivings, feasts and entertainments. Among other things, he delivered to King Manuel a letter from the Zamorin which read:
Vasco da Gama, a gentleman of your household, came to my country, whereat I was pleased. My country is rich in cinnamon, cloves, ginger pepper and precious stones. That which I ask of you in exchange is gold, silver, corals and scarlet cloth.
— Letter of the Zamorin of Calicut to King Manuel of Portugal
Casus Belli
King Manuel decided to follow up with a new and larger expedition and the following year Pedro Álvares Cabral was entrusted by King Manuel with a powerful fleet of 13 ships to overawe the Muslims who were sure to put up opposition, and rich gifts to impress the Zamorin. It was manned by 1200 carefully selected men, including some of the boldest and most famous navigators of the generation, such as Bartolomeu Dias and Nicolau Coelho. Cabral was presented with a royal banner blessed by the Bishop of Viseu and he departed on 9 March 1500. His instructions were filled with commercial information, and little to the effect of hostility towards the Zamorin, who was believed to be a Christian and therefore one whom an alliance ought to be forged with.
Cabral made a landfall in South America en route to India. The fleet arrived at Calicut with only six ships, four having been lost rounding the Cape of Good Hope, while two returned to Portugal and one strayed to the Red Sea due to the ineptitude of the pilot. Cabral reached Calicut on 30 August. The Zamorin that had welcomed Gama had died, and his nephew had since succeeded him. Cabral landed with thirty men to meet the Zamorin on the beach and costly presents were gifted to the raja. After two and a half months of negotiations, a treaty was signed, the terms engraved on metal plates and a trading post opened in the city, placed under the direction of the experienced agent Aires Correia with 70 Europeans.
Calicut Massacre
On the request of the Zamorin, Cabral had a passing merchant ship from the neighbouring Kingdom of Cochin carrying a valuable cargo of elephants seized. While the Zamorin was willing to have the Portuguese as customers, the more numerous Arab community of merchants sought to thwart their supply of pepper and spices. They sabotaged and interfered with the supply and after three months the Portuguese could load no more than two carracks, while Muslim vessels were secretly departing with full cargoes. Cabral was informed of this by Coje Bequi, who championed one of the rival factions of merchants at Calicut and had befriended Aires Correia. After Cabral complained to the Zamorin, the raja allowed him to arrest any ship trying to evade customs and confiscate their cargo, however when Cabral had a ship arrested a riot sparked in the city. The feitoria in the city was attacked by an armed mob and about 50 Portuguese were killed, among them the agent Aires Correia, a number of Franciscan friars and Pero Vaz de Caminha, while the rest managed to escape to the fleet, most of them wounded. Some were sheltered at the home of Coje Bequi.
Course of hostilities
After the massacre at the feitoria, Cabral demanded to hear from the Zamorin, but no answer was ever provided by the ruler. After a day his silence was interpreted as hostile.
Bombardment of Calicut
Ten merchant ships in the harbour were seized and their crews were killed. The following morning Calicut was subjected to a fierce bombardment that continued for two days. A few small cannon onshore replied, but Portuguese firepower was overwhelming. Shots tore into the city and demolished several buildings, including some of the Zamorin, who left Calicut. The death toll was estimated at over 500 or 600 persons, including one of the Zamorin's close notables and the bombardment was only ceased due to the damage that the recoil from the cannon was causing to the ships.
The position of the Portuguese was now serious, as the season to sail had nearly passed, Cabral had acquired almost no pepper at all, and they were at war with Calicut and without a friendly port in the region.
Alliances with Cochin and Cannanore
The Portuguese were informed by Gaspar da Gama that the Raja of Cochin was an unwilling vassal of Calicut seeking independence and would probably welcome an alliance. After the bombardment of Calicut therefore, Cabral directed his fleet to Cochin further south, and on the way there he had Pandarane attacked and two more trade ships captured.
He arrived at Cochin on 24 December and a treaty of commerce and alliance was signed with its raja, Unni Goda Varma. A trading post was opened on the city and Gonçalo Gil Barbosa left ashore as its director with six men. While at Cochin, Cabral was sought by deputations from the rulers of Cannanore and Kollam, who also wished to sign alliances with Portugal against the Zamorin. A number of Saint Thomas Christians from Cranganore also contacted Cabral and requested passage to Europe.
On 10 January, a large fleet from Calicut carrying 1500 men appeared off Cochin, however it hesitated in attacking the Portuguese ships. A storm overcame the ships as Cabral directed his vessels to attack, and they were driven out to sea. Five days later, the Portuguese called at Cannanore, signed a treaty with its raja and took in an ambassador before leaving for Portugal.
First Battle of Cannanore
Every outgoing fleet had to leave Lisbon before the arrival of vessels from India if they were to reach the subcontinent before the Monsoon set in. As such, King Manuel dispatched four ships under the command of the Galician noble João da Nova to trade in India, before Cabral had returned, based on the assumption that trade had been successfully been opened with Calicut.
Nova set sail from Belém on 10 April 1501, and on 7 July anchored his ships at Mossel Bay near the Cape of Good Hope. A message was found in a shoe hanging from a tree, left there a month prior by one of Cabral's captains, Pero de Ataíde. Among other things, Ataíde informed any commanders bound to India of the situation at Calicut and that safe-havens could be found at Cochin and Cannanore.
Nova arrived at Cannanore in November and was well received by the local raja. A number of agents were left ashore to purchase spices to be loaded on the way back to Portugal, while Nova departed for Cochin to collect those already acquired by the agents there left by Cabral the year before.
While on his way to Cochin, Nova engaged some vessels of Calicut, in sight of the city. At Cochin he found that the trading agents had been lodged by the Trimumpara in his own palace for security reasons and also been unable to sell their wares due to a boycott and therefore been unable to secure the necessary money to buy spices. Lacking the funds to do so himself, the captain-major negotiated with the Trimumpara to serve as his security for 1000 hundredweight of pepper, 450 of cinnamon, 50 of ginger and some bales of cloth.
Before returning to Portugal, Nova still called at Cannanore first, but while in the harbour, he captured a wealthy trade ship from Calicut and was later attacked by a large fleet of the Zamorin, numbering about 180 vessels or more. The first Battle of Cannanore was noteworthy as the first time a line of battle was employed, and despite the numerical disparity, Nova was able to breach through the Zamorins fleet out to high seas, and before long the Hindu fleet was discouraged from seeking further combat due to the damage sustained by Portuguese artillery.
Second bombardment of Calicut
With the return of Cabral to Portugal, King Manuel was informed that opposition to the Portuguese was mounting, hence after the small fleet of Nova, King Manuel decided to dispatch an even larger armada of 20 well-armed ships. Cabral however was sidelined for failing to secure trade diplomatically and command fell on Gama.
En route to Cannanore, the Portuguese intercepted a large trade ship coming from the Red Sea, and on board the Portuguese found 10 or 12 of the wealthiest merchants of Calicut, headed by Ioar Afanquy, chief agent of the Sultan of Cairo in Calicut. After the ship was plundered therefore, Gama decided to make an example of the merchants for their part in instigating the riot at Calicut and the Zamorin against the Portuguese, hence the vessel was bombarded and sunk with all on board as retribution.
At Cannanore, Gama received messages from the Zamorin requesting talks. He sailed to Calicut and demanded that the Muslims be expelled as a condition for peace. The Zamorin refused but proposed that bilateral relations be re-established and remade anew instead. At this juncture however, Gama was forwarded a number of letters which the Zamorin had written to the King of Cochin urging obedience and co-operation against the Portuguese.
Talks continued after this act of duplicity was uncovered but they quickly broke down, Gama had a number of Muslim merchants implicated in the massacre of the feitoria along with some fishermen hanged from the yard-arms, and Calicut was subjected to a new bombardment for two days. After over 400 heavy shots were fired Gama proceeded to Cochin but left Vicente Sodré behind with six carracks and a caravel to blockade Calicut.
Ambush in the harbour of Calicut
The blockade of Sodré caused hardship at Calicut and the Zamorin dispatched a Brahmin to Cochin inviting Gama to continue talks. Gama was impressed by the high status of the envoy, and as he expected to find the squadron of Sodré at Calicut he sailed there with just his flagship accompanied by a caravel. Upon arriving, however, Gama found Sodré to be missing, because he had left to resupply at Cannanore, and the caravel was sent to seek him.