_ 225 _ The chroniclers do not agree at all on the site of the battle. This disagreement is due to the fact that, in 1504, Portuguese pilots had only a rather sketchy knowledge of the Malabar coast, and particularly the waters of Calicut, which they had not been able to explore for fear of being surprised by the enemy fleet. The fact that they could not identify a port as important as Ponnani revealing. The chroniclers could only collect fanciful place-names that they attempted to match up with names of places that were already known: Ponnani(A), Pantalayini Kollam(B), Dharmapatam(C). It is from a written command, signed by Lopo Soares at Cannanore, some days after the battle, that we obtain the information that the location was Capocate(D) modern Kappatt situated between Calicut and Pantaleyini Kollam, to the north of the mouth of the Blattur and of Agalapula: a remarkable strategic position, the port being sited in a rocky roadstead, partly hidden by a jutting piece of It coastline. (A) Barros, 1/7-11, p. 295. (B) Castanheda, 1/96, p. 199, Góis, 1/99, p. 241; “junto de Paodarame” according to the BM Anonymous, p. 126, Anonymous Account from Florence, p. 48. (C) Correia, 1/2, p. 510-513. (D) Mandado, Cananner, 5.1.1505, TdT, CC, II-9-38, published below, doc. 14 [not included in this translation].
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