_ 202 _ vessels together under his command and entered the port of Cannanore, with great pomp, at the beginning of September 1504. As soon as he arrived, he received the feitor Gonçalo Gil Barbosa, who gave him a detailed account of the situation in Malabar(A). II. The Conflicts in Malabar and the destruction of the Calicut Muslims’ fleet. The arrival of the Portuguese in India had had the effect of rekindling the existing centuries-old rivalry between the sovereigns of Kerala(B). The Samorin of Calicut had been Braamcamp Freire, Os Brasôes da sala de Cintra, 3 vol., Lisbon, 1899-1908, vol. 3, p. 211- 213 and Caetano de Sousa, História genealógica da casa real portuguesa, XI, Coimbra, 1953, p. 251-259). António de Saldanha was accompanied by Rui Lourenco Ravasco, captain of the taforea and by Diogo Fernandes Peteira, captain of Setubal's ship. For details of this expedition, cf. Castanheda, 1/64, p. 132-134; Barros, I/7-2, p. 261 and I/7-4, p. 269-174 and Avelino Teixeira da Mota's study quoted above. (A) Lopo Soares arrived in Cannanore on 1st September according to Castanheda (I/91, p. 193) and Góis (I/96, p. 232). We know that Lopo Soares left Cannanore on 7th at the earliest (vide infra, note 59); now, if we believe Barros, who wrote that Lopo Soares did not delay more than three days in the town, we can put the arrival of the fleet on 4th or 5th September, the last date corresponding with that of the oldest document of this expedition (mandado, Cannanore, 5.IX.1504, TdT, CC. II-9-2). (B) Malabar was then divided into four principal kingdoms, that is to say, from the north to the south: the Kolathunãd or kingdom of Eli, the Ernãd, the Perumpadappunãd and the Venad that the Portuguese
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