Volume Three
The Portuquese in the Sea of Oman Annals of History 1497 CE – 1757 CE Volume Three by: Al Qasimi Publications Author: Dr. Sultan Bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi (United Arab Emirates) Publisher: Al Qasimi Publications, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Edition: First Year of publication: 2025 ©All rights reserved * ISBN: 978-9948-716-95-2 * Printing Permission: UAE Media Council No. MC 03-01-4903693, Date: 17-03-2025 Printing: AL Bony Press- Sharjah, UAE Age Classification: E The age group that matches the content of the books was classified according to the age classification issued by UAE Media Council * Al Qasimi Publications, Al Tarfa, Sheikh Muhammad Bin Zayed Road PO Box 64009 Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Tel: 0097165090000, Fax: 0097165520070 Email: info@aqp.ae
_ 5 _ Contents Introduction to Volume Three 7 • Episodes of the year 1508 9 • Episodes of the year 1509 413 Researchers’ Guide 587 Volume Three Reference 597
_ 6 _
_ 7 _ Introduction to Volume Three This volume covers the events of two years: 1508 and 1509. At the beginning of 1508, the Portuguese fleet remained stationed in Ormuz. However, many of the fleet’s commanders were openly defiant against the authority of Afonso de Albuquerque, who sought to bombard the city of Ormuz. This alarming decision prompted some Portuguese commanders to abandon him because of the terrifying prospect of attacking the city. In November 1508, Afonso de Albuquerque departed from Ormuz and arrived in India, where he met D. Francisco de Almeida, the Viceroy of Portugal in India. Francisco de Almeida strongly reprimanded Albuquerque’s plan to bombard Ormuz. As a result, Albuquerque demanded to take over the position of Viceroy in India, sparking a fierce
_ 8 _ dispute between the two. The matter was escalated to Portugal for resolution. In November 1509, a decision was made, appointing Afonso de Albuquerque as the new Viceroy of Portugal in India. He then began receiving delegations from neighboring states, solidifying his position. Dr. Sultan Bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi
_ 9 _ Episodes of the year 1508 In this year, the Portuguese completed their occupation of Ormuz, and then attacked people of Qalhat, to punish them for their shameful behavior. These events were mentioned in the book: “Lendas da India”:(1) Chapter: VIII How the Captain-in-Chief made war on the city and blockaded it by sea, which brought the Moors much hardship and they sued again for peace, which the Captain-in-Chief refused, over which the captains disagreed with him. The next day the Moors set up many gun positions and brought up a great deal of artillery which fired at our ships, so the Captain-in-Chief ordered terradas to be placed alongside the ships to receive the Moorish shots, and our ships did a great deal of damage to the city. They fired for (1) Document no. and reference.
_ 10 _ two days and two nights without cease, until they started running out of gunpowder and many guns lost their grease, and the gun carriages, which were very old, began to break up, and the tools were worn out. The Captain-in-Chief knew that all the ships were leaking, and from necessity he ordered the ships to move away and cease fire, because the ships were also damaged by firing the cannon. After talking to the Captains, the Captain-in-Chief decided to blockade the city so that nothing could reach it by sea, especially water, which was the worst that could happen. Because of the many inhabitants in the city, terradas from the island of Kishm brought more than a thousand barrels of water every day, as he knew well, and this was the main supply to cut off and the worst harm they could do. Everyone thought this was a good idea, and so it was agreed. Then he sent Manuel Telles to collect a large quantity of rice and sugar, and trusses of dates, and dried fish, and sacks and jars of dried fruits which he had ordered the quartermaster to buy, and to take it all to Socotra, which he knew was in great need of those things; and if he came across any ships, as might happen, he was to require them, with a document signed by the Captain-in-Chief, to come and help them in this war in which they found themselves in such straits.
_ 11 _ This was agreed, /858/ but João da Nova, who was longing to go to India, asked the Captain-in-Chief to send him with the provisions so that he could then go on to India. The Captain-in-Chief told him that he was very far from ordering any such thing, because his ship was the most powerful he had and intimidated the Moors most, and that since he was asking other ships to come, he begged him to be so good as to help him to complete this undertaking, which would not last long; and he was only sending Manuel Telles to go and come back. João da Noa showed himself much aggrieved by this, and told the Captain-in-Chief that he should not want to take advantage of men by force. The Captain-in-Chief told him not to get angry because some time he would be glad to have done the service he was doing there. The Manuel Telles took everything on board his ship, ready to go when he was ordered. The Captain-in-Chief commanded the Captains to sail round the island of Ormuz one behind the other, within sight of each other, and told Francisco de Tavora to take up station where the terradas bringing water usually came. He had with him four skiffs and his ship’s boat with berços, well-equipped for attacking the terradas, so that none would dare to come out. The Captain-in-Chief went
_ 12 _ with the boats to set fire to the terradas that were on the shore, while the Moors made a great effort to draw them up into the streets of the city. He ordered a search to be made of the ships in the port belonging to the merchants of the city which were in the port, (the ships that lay outside that port had all gone) and whatever they had needed should be taken; then they set fire to them all so that no vessel was left on the sea. The Captain-in-Chief lay off the King’s palace and from time to time visited it with his heavy guns. With everything in order, the ships sailed out and were successful, for they found many zambucos and terradas going from the mainland to the island, and others that were fleeing from the city, and they fired shots to make them strike sail, and then robbed them. They found good booty, because many people were fleeing from the city, where there was much suffering from hunger and even more from thirst, because of the great shortage of water since none was arriving from outside. Such was the need /853/ for water that the people asked Kwaja Attar to send soldiers to guard the wells at Turum Bagh because although the water there was salty it would be some help in their great thirst. Khwaja Attar tried to do so, sending many fighting men, especially archers, and a
_ 13 _ worthy captain, a nephew of Rais Nuruddin, who took up a position near the wells, where many people of the city lived, and he organized the wells and made many of them so that they had an emergency supply. Khwaja Attar had a large cistern made with his own hands from which he supplied the King’s palace. The Captain-in-Chief was told of this, so he sent Dom Antonio in his boat with sixty men, and João da Nova and Afonso Lopes da Acosta in their boats and skiffs, and he told Francisco de Tovora to anchor near the shore by the wells and to fire with his guns, and they had some thick masts that they had cut up and they greased their guns well. He ordered that Dom Antonio should be first to attack the hamlet with Joáo da Nova and Afonso Lopes behind him. This was arranged at night, and before dawn they left the ships and all the men disembarked in good order, some way from the Moors. They heard nothing and they did not keep a good watch, and so Dom Antonio, accompanied by reliable noblemen and the other Captains, took them by surprise and the Moors at one were in disarray, and so were the Moors who lived there. The houses were set on fire, and many were killed in them, and others fell wounded; but as day broke and the fleeing Moors saw that our men were
_ 14 _ few, they turned to the attack. There must have been forty horsemen and many archers, and they had a fierce battle with our men, with countless arrows fired. Dom Antonio was wounded by three arrows, and Nuno Vaz de Castello Branco, Brás da Silva, Gonçalo Queimado, and Jaime Mendes Botelho, Gomes Teixeira and others were all wounded by arrows, and there were more than five hundred wounds. The Moors were fighting so boldly because many more were arriving from the city. When the Captain-inChief saw our men hard pressed he came to help with Francisco de Tavora. They disembarked, and with the Captain-in-Chief encouraging them all, with trumpets sounding, and calling on St James, they made a great effort and /860/ they attacked the Moors so that only five horsemen stayed, who were in the van, and the rest turned and fled, breaking through the archers, who also fled, and those who were mounted rode over them all. Our men pursued them for a while, until the Captainin-Chief ordered them back. Then he ordered the seamen to remove the stones from the wells and throw into them the Moors cut in pieces, and the camels, which they killed, and the asses that carried water in skins through the city, and many disgusting things. Then the Captain-in-Chief went
_ 15 _ back to his ship and Francisco de Tavora stayed to defend with wells with artillery so that the Moors could not get to them; but such was the agony of thirst that they went there at night and cleaned the wells, from which they drew some water, but very little. Khwaja Attar’s cistern was in the open country near the city, guarded by many Moors, but Afonso d‘ Albuquerque told the Captains that he was determined to wreck Khwaja Attar’s cistern so that the King’s palace would know real thirst. Because this would be a difficult task, the Captain-in-Chief waited until the Captains were all together, and then set out his plan. Afonso Lopes and Manuel Telles were to go in the van with a hundred and fifty men, and João da Nova and Antonio do Campo with another company of two hundred men, and the Captain-inChief in the rear with a hundred and fifty men, and Dinis Fernandes de Mello was to collect all the seamen, who made up a company of two hundred men, and some good slaves who would not bear arms but carry many fire-pots and fire-sticks. In all the companies there were noblemen with Afonso Lopes in the vanguard were Nuno Vaz, João Rodrigues Pereira, Jorge Barreto, Jorge da Silveira, Fernão Soares, Fernão Feo, Duarte de Sousa, Brás da Siva, Antonio de Sá,
_ 16 _ Simão Velho, Jemes Teixeira, Francisco de Mello – I name all these because they all received arrow wounds. The cistern was about a berço shot from the shore, and the Captain-inChief had someone who could show him the way. Our men began to disembark about an hour before dawn and they assembled in their companies some way outside the city, and there were many straw houses of poor people, which Dinis Fernandes de Mello set on fire. /861/ The people cried out, and fled towards the city, and there was a great turmoil and the Moors from the cistern ran towards it. Afonso Lopes went straight to the cistern where he found there were still many Moors, mostly archers, whom he attacked, and they retreated into the streets of the city. Dinis Fernandes de Mello advanced with his seamen, who were carrying crowbars and picks and spades, and they went to the gates of the cistern, of which there were two, and broke them down. Then they broke the walls and the mouths of the cistern, making large holes in many places, and breaking the roof of the cistern, which fell into it, and water began to pour out of the holes and run along the streets and many people ran to collect it. Dinis Fernades and his men brought out many of the bodies of Moors who had burned inside their houses and
_ 17 _ threw them into the cistern, but the wall and roofs falling inside made more than half the water overflow, and as it ran through the streets the people collected it and drank it, and all the inhabitants of the city gathered there. While this was happening the Moors who were guarding the cistern, unable to withstand our attack, retreated to four main streets which led to the cistern and from there sent a stream of arrows which wounded those whom I named above. Our men attacked them several times and the Moors fled, and every time our men returned to the cistern the Moors came back to the entrances to the streets to shoot their arrows again. Because it was now clear daylight and the sun was beginning to rise, Khwaja Attar saw what had happened to the cistern and came up with many cavalry soldiers led by the son of Rais Nuruddin, who attacked our men so fiercely that he became caught up among them and was killed, with eight pulled down from their horses. Seeing them arrive in numbers and that the cistern was almost empty, the Captain-in-Chief began to retire with the men in good order, turning back from time to time, at which the Moors fled, but the Captain-in-Chief did not want our men to pursue them but go forward until they were in sight of the boats.
_ 18 _ Then they began to fire the berços among the houses, where all the Moors were running, killing and wounding many of them. This was a great help to our men, but still /862/ many were hard pressed by the mounted Moors who came up behind them, and by the many archers. Then Dinis Fernandes remembered fire and lit many fire-pots and fire-sticks, and waited among the men until they came up to the Captains who were bringing up the rear, protecting the men and fighting the Moors with their lances. Seeing the fire-sticks they turned back towards the Moors, but before they turned the pots and fire-sticks were thrown at the Moors, and caused great havoc among them, setting their clothes on fire. Our men were thus relieved, and they were able to reach the beach safely. Six of our negroes and seamen were killed, being unarmed, and over a hundred of our men wounded by arrows. Because the berços defended the open country, our men embarked without difficulty and returned to the ships to rest and have their wounds tended. Although the work was hard, the Captain-in-Chief did not rest, and he said to the boatswain of his ship that he and those who went with him could have whatever they captured. Then he charged Duarte de Sousa to take the seamen, who all wanted to go and steal, and embark in
_ 19 _ four Moorish oared vessels that the Captain-in-Chief had ordered to be kept near his ship, all well-equipped, and he told them that they could circle the city all night to see what they could find. They went and they seized two almadias in each of which there were jars of water being taken to the city, and captured six Moors in them, the others escaping overboard and swimming under water, and they also took thirteen Moors who were making for the mainland swimming with planks, risking death at sea rather than suffer thirst. Then they returned to the Captain-in-Chief, who learned from the Moors that the city was in desperate straits from hunger and thirst, and that every night people from the city, including women and children, went to the King’s palace crying and shouting about their sufferings, and cursing Khwaja Attar who had caused so much harm by not handing over four sailors. This happened every night, and by day they shouted the same in the streets. The King was very angry and sad that there was such devastation in the city, and he summoned his council, and they agreed to sue for peace. They sent the Armenian, Khwaja Bairam, and the Macsum, the chief Muslim of the city, to the Captain-in-Chief’s ship in an almadia with a white flag, and when they came before /863/ the Captain-
_ 20 _ in-Chief they told him that the King sent them to beg him to cease the war against him and he would give him all he asked. The Captain-in-Chief replied that he would do so but that first he must return the fortress so that it could be finished, and send him the Portuguese, and pay him the cost of the fleet. The Armenian took the message ashore and returned with the King’s answer, he would give him the Portuguese and the expenses of the fleet and as much money as he asked, but he must not speak of the fortress, which he would not give him. The Captain-in-Chief told them to go back and tell Khwaja Attar, because the advice was his, that he would take no money, he wanted nothing but the fortress or else he would have to give his own ears, and they would be cut off in his own house. They were not to return with such deluded messages, because he would not listen to them. The King and the others were frightened by this message, but Khwaja Attar, a man of diabolical understanding, sought another way, because he knew that this war was against the wishes of the Captains who were forced into it by the arguments they had with the Captainin-Chief. So by night he sent one of the Portuguese to call to the Captains by name, and say that Khwaja Attar was giving a lot of money to the Captain-in-Chief, as much as
_ 21 _ he wanted, and they should not make war and destroy the city, which belonged to the King of Portugal, to whom it paid fifteen thousand xerafins a year, and would pay in advance as many years as he asked. He said that the Captain-in-Chief only wanted to destroy and lay waste everything; and he was making this known so that they could be witnesses. Although this was reported to the Captains, they did not inform the Captain-in-Chief about it, nor did the Captain-in-Chief tell them that he knew about it. But they talked of it among themselves, saying that if something disastrous happened, it was an occasion to hold against the Captain-in-Chief. And he, although he knew everything, pretended not to, because it was not the moment to confront them. There was a shortage of water in the fleet, so the Captain-in-Chief sent word to Antonio do Campo that he should go to the port of Naband, a place from which water was brought to Ormuz, and he should endeavor to load the vessel with water by paying them the money they asked for it rather than in any other way. He sent the quartermaster Pero Vaz d’ Orta with him to buy the water. /864/ When they reached Kishm island they went to the port, and asking about water it was refused him by a captain of the King of Ormuz, who was there with some
_ 22 _ soldiers. They returned to the Captain-in-Chief, and when he heard about it, he prepared to go there in person. He took with him Antonio do Campo and Francisco de Tavora, and left Afonso Lopes, Manuel Telles on guard, and João da Nova with powers as Captain-in-Chief and he left them the four armed Moorish paraos with which he told them to keep a watch on the shore. He took four of the terradas with jars in which the Moors fetched water and set off for the island. He reached the port before dawn and disembarked with all his men and told Duarte de Sousa to go and put water on board, and the seamen carried it in small jars and emptied them into the large ones, which they loaded on to the paraos and the terradas too. While this was being done, the Captain-in-Chief with his men went to the town; the captain fled towards the hills, and the Captain-in-Chief ordered that the many provisions they found in the town should be collected up, and they did this all day. He learned from the Moors whom he captured there that people from the city were arriving there at night on planks, and he ordered fifty of them to be round up. When they reached Ormuz he had their right hands and noses and ears cut off and commanded that they should be thrown on the shore as an example to the city.
_ 23 _ The Captain-in-Chief was told that when João da Nova was keeping watch at night, as he had been ordered, he went close to the shore to talk to the Moors, and that he had received messages form Khwaja Attar saying that they ought to complain of the wrong the Captain-in-Chief was doing to the city without reason, when they were giving him as much money as he asked; and that they would give money to the Captains too if they would help them in this, since it was serving the King João told the other Captains about this conversation, and they determined to face up to the Captain-in-Chief over this and to petition him forcefully, and they agreed with João da Nova that he should bring the matter to a head by asking the Captain-inChief’s permission to set off for India and go to the Viceroy, because he was hindering his departure in time for him to be able to go to Portugal. The Captain-in-Chief was informed of all these consultations, but because time prevented him from giving the punishment this deserved and because he wanted to put an end to the siege and get possession of the large amount of money that he knew the city was ready to give him in the plight it was in, he told no one of these things that he kept secret, not even Dom Antonio /865/ his nephew, because he was a young man and would think these things a matter of honour. So, to avoid the difficulties
_ 24 _ that might arise, he kept everything to himself and sought to remedy everything with his good sense. He took care to say nothing of this to João da Nova because if he did, he would have to execute justice, and he determined to keep the Captains apart so that they could not have these consultations. He summoned them and told then to go and circle the island, taking good care that nothing either came in or went out, because they had brought the city to such straits that it would have to give them all the treasure and riches it had. The Captains said “That is so already, they will give what we ask. Sometimes when things are done contrary to reason, everything is lost, and so if they were prepared to make a good agreement, it ought to have been accepted so as to spare us more trouble, for we are running short of the things essential for war, and the ships can only just stay afloat.” The Captain-in-Chief understood what lay behind this talk and said to them “I agree with what you say, which is what I know, and I am ready to do everything in the service of the King our master. Let us put pressure on these enemies of ours so that they will surrender. Accordingly, I entreat you to keep this watch with which I entrust, because I hope in Our Lord that soon this will be finished, with a good agreement and of great profit to the King.”
_ 25 _ The Captains saw that the Captain-in-Chief was speaking truly, from what they knew, but they feared that it would end up with such an agreement that everything would be for the King’s profit, and they would end up with nothing. This troubled them, and they feared that when they were at sea the Captain-in-Chief would settle the agreement and they would not be able to depart from it. With this in mind they encouraged João da Nova to make a firm request for permission to go, and to ask for letters for the Viceroy as he had been ordered to do by Tristan da Cunha; and when the Captain-in-Chief saw that he could not refuse, he would fear that when he was in India João da Nova would tell of the large amount of money they were giving by agreement which he would not take, and if later there was some reverse he would be under great obligation to the King, and this would be a reason for the Captain-inChief to reach an agreement. If he still persisted in not doing so, he would not give João da Nova permission, and then they would all support him, and this /866/ lead to a total break, after all the protests and petitions. This was all agreed among them, and João da Nova was prepared for it. So when the Captainin-Chief was giving orders to the vessels that were going to
_ 26 _ circle the island, João da Nova said to him “Sir, this affair has now reached such a point that you can certainly excuse me from taking part in any more work, so I ask for your permission to leave, with letters for the Viceroy to whom I shall take good news of great things you have achieved.” The Captain-in-Chief, who knew that all this had been planned by the Captains and he could not punish him as he deserved, replied “Sir João da Nova, I do not think that you will find such good winds as you expect to have for this voyage. You are wrong to ask to go with your ship now, for you will leave such a large hole that these fish we now have surrounded will escape, and you will cause us to lose all that we have won with such labor; so you must not ask me for such permission.” João da Nova said to him “I see, sir, that I am wrong in this, because I have permission, I do not belong to your fleet nor am I obliged to you.” The Captains agreed, saying that João da Nova was right. The Captain-in-Chief was walking on the quarter-deck, and everyone was standing, and with João da Nova's answer he turned very pale and went up close to him and said “João da Nova, do you say that you have permission and that you will go although I do not give it you, and so disobey me?” He said, “If I had known that we would have these arguments about it I would not have spoken and
_ 27 _ by now I should have gone; and so I shall, because these gentlemen know that I have right ad justice on my side.” The Captain-in-Chief with great anger said to him, for this great disrespect I will free you from the empty dreams that fill your head, and you will go below my deck in irons. If you have no obligation to me, you will have more justice against me, João da Nova answered. “You will have done further and greater wrongs if you put me in irons, because you deserve them more.” At this the Captain-in-Chief attacked him and seized him by the chest, and called the bailiff, who ran up at once, and he was loaded with heavy irons and the Captain-in-Chief ordered him to be taken below. In the struggle he caught hold of some of the hairs of his beard, which he wore long, and /867/ they came away and fell to the deck when he opened his hands. João da Nova picked up the hairs and wrapped them in a cloth, and with many tears he said, “Tristan da Cunha will repay you for what you have done to me, and I promise that I shall complain in the King's council, and you will repay me for this insult of pulling out my beard.” The Captain-in-Chief said to him “I shall pay all that I am adjudged to owe you; I do not fear that they will cut off my head even if I pull out those that you have left.” João da Nova was taken below, but because of the heat he could not
_ 28 _ stand it, and at the request of Francisco de Tavora and Jorge Barreto and other nobles he was brought out and put in the forecastle, and later the irons were taken from him and he returned to his ship on surety, on condition that he did not leave the Captain-in-Chief without his permission. He was still very angry, complaining to the Captains that they had not helped him when he was arrested the Captain-in-Chief. The Captains had not dared to do so because they saw that the Captain-in-Chief realized that they had incited João da Nova to act, for in the quarrel the Captain-inChief said to him “João da Nova, may God forgive you for taking bad advice from: Joao da Nova, may God forgive you for taking bad advice from those who put you in the fire and stay away from it, and who make you a halter without you realizing it.” The Captains understood this and dare not speak, seeing the Captain-in-Chief so angry, but their hatred against him grew. When their fury over João da Nova’s imprisonment had died down and he had been freed from the irons, the Captains thought that it was cowardly not to mention it to the Captain-in-Chief, since he said that they were bad advisers. One day the Captain-in-Chief was telling them of news he had received that many soldiers had come to Kishm island to protect the water, and if this was true it would be necessary to go and throw them off the island.
_ 29 _ Afonso Lopes said that it was necessary, but it was work that had already been done, and if he would be content with what the Moors offered, they would give as much money as he asked, and all the work that plagued the men would be over. João da Nova had persistently asked his permission, which he ought to have given him, for it was reasonable. The Captain-in-Chief would not let the conversation continue, and he said, João da Nova’s persistence was due to bad advice, because if he had understood /868/ he would not have said such things. As for it being wrong to not accept the agreement with the Moors, I confess that I do wrong because I go against what you wish; and in this I will do what I understand to be in the best interests of the King our master, who entrusted. I have already shown you his commission which says at the end that I should do what I think serves him best. Since I have shown it to you, and you still want to contend with me, which I cannot allow, I beg that you will not come to me any more with these novelties; and if you want only to follow your fancies. I will show you my powers, Afonso Lopes said, “However great your powers are, you do not have the power to cut off our heads; and there is Portugal.” Manuel Telles added “We are not the sort of men that you should despise, because even if the King
_ 30 _ has made you so free, as you make yourself with us, you should have due regard for our being who we are and not be so contemptuous.” The Captain-in-Chief endured these insults and answered mildly “The King did not give me powers to order you to be beheaded, but the deeds which deserve it bring the power with them. Since that is your opinion, in the King’s name give me your hand.” He got up and crossed over to them, which made them afraid, and they rose to their feet, and all three gave him their hands, Afonso Lopes, Manuel Telles and Antonio do Campo. He took them from them sureties that they would not leave that ship without his permission, and he ordered Pero d’ Alpoy, who acted as magistrate, to take their signed sureties. He sent for the masters of their ships and ordered them to take charge as captains and to do nothing in them without his command, on pain of death. He ordered a deed to be drawn up, which they signed, and the pilots also signed, and as a result of this deed, which they did not observe, he had some of them hanged in Goa, as will be told later. The Captains made great complaints and petitions and brought out their patents, which the Captain-inChief ordered should be given to him. After three days the Captain-in-Chief’s fury abated, and at the request of Dom Antonio and the nobles they were released from the
_ 31 _ ship, and returned to their own ships on surety, promising to do nothing except what he ordered. He commanded them that /869/ on pain of severe punishment and the traitor’s penalty they should have no speech with the land. All this redoubled their mortal hatred towards the Captain-in-Chief. Chapter: IX How Afonso da Costa, Antonio Lopes and Manuel Telles fled in their ships from the blockade of Ormuz in which they were engaged and went to India to complain to the Viceroy of the wrongs done them by Afonso de Albuquerque, and what he did after their departure, returning to Socotra. In the days which followed this disagreement, the Portuguese who were with the Moors spoke from the shore at night, sent by Khwaja Attar, saying “Ah sirs, Captains of the King and noblemen, how can you not see the great loss is suffered by the King of Portugal because the Captain-inChief will not accept all the money that the King of Ormuz is giving him, and in his obstinacy only wishes to destroy this city and lose sixteen thousand xerafins he pays every year! Why do you not do what you should do the serve the King of Portugal? The Captain-in-Chief heard this too and said.
_ 32 _ “This is all to saw discord among the Captains and cause me trouble.” He sent Francisco de Tavora to sail round the island departing at nightfall, then João da Nova to leave at the middle watch, and after the same lapse of time Afonso Lopes and then Antonio do Campo and then Manuel Telles, because with these differences the ships would be three or four leagues away from each other; and at dawn they were all to anchor within sight of each other, and then the Captain-in-Chief would visit them and give each one freely what it took. But after they had left in this way, Afonso Lopes caught up with João da Nova and spoke to him, telling him that he should lose no more time but come with him, he had a good Moorish pilot and was going to sail to the Viceroy to get him to send away Afonso d’ Albuquerque in irons, and Antonio do Campo and Manuel Telles, who had a good stock of provision for them all, were going with him. João da Nova said to him “I am very sorry that cannot do it, / 870/ I have given surety and do not want to lose it, and I hope to make my complaints against the Captain-in-Chief heard before the King.” He sailed on, and Afonso Lopes waited until Antonio do Campo and Manuel Telles arrived, and they all set off as they had planned, and went to Muscat, where they took on water by force, and Manuel Telles shared out the provisions.
_ 33 _ They set off for India and as they crossed the gulf, they took a rich ship of Cambay coming from Mecca loaded with rich merchandise, which they divided among themselves, and they took the women and slaves and everything else they sent to the bottom with the ship, and they went to the Viceroy in Cochin, where all three arrived, as has been told above. The next day the Captain-in-Chief went with his ship on a tour of inspection round the island, and he went all the way without seeing any sign of the Captains except Francisco de Tavora and João da Nova. When he saw that the others had fled, he was in a mortal fury and went to the anchorage with Francisco de Tavora and João da Nova. He summoned them to his ship, with the masters and pilots and men of rank, and before them all he made biting remarks about the Captains who had fled, saying to them that they were all witnesses that because of the absence of those Captains he could no longer blockade Ormuz and that the city was so hard-pressed that if he had maintained it for twenty days they would have surrendered or at least would certainly have given him fifty thousand xerafins. He could only suppose that all the money the Moors had promised him, and he had not wanted to take they had
_ 34 _ given to the Captains as a bribe at night so that they would go away, because with them gone the siege would have to be lifted; and as they had done this, an account must be given to the King. He ordered that they should be proclaimed traitors, and their possessions confiscated to the Crown, and the terms of the surety bonds that they had given to be collected, and those present swore on the Gospel to the notaries of the ships. He ordered another two men to be investigators, and they were to question twenty of the highest-ranking men in each ship to tell the truth about what had happened since their arrival at Kalhat until the day the Captains had fled. A copy of everything was to be given to him, and they were to keep their own; and he ordered that a public deed should be made of everything. The he took surety from Francisco de Tavora against this going away, as he had said that he / 871/ would, and he told João da Nova that he was to go with him as for as Cape Ras-el-Had and from there he could continue to India; and he returned the surety that he had taken from him and gave permission for some of the nobles who has asked leave to go with him, who were Jorge Barreto, Nuno Vaz de Castello Branco, Brás de Silva, and others who were disabled with wounds, and he sent to each of them what he owned.
_ 35 _ He sent Pedr’ Alvares, a servant of the Conde de Villa Nova, who was in his favour, with letters to the Viceroy telling him what had happened and asking him to give the Captains who had fled fitting punishment for their affrontery in leaving their King’s flag in time of war and running away from their Captain-in-Chief; and after they had been punished then he might hear all the wrongs of which they accused him and he would endure the punishment that he truly merited. The next day, when the Captain-in-Chief was about to depart and he was giving the order for the anchor to be raised, there appeared on land signals were made from the land, and the Captain-in-Chief told Ayres de Souse and Gaspar Rodrigues the linguist to go to the shore, but without landing. They did so, and a Moor spoke to them saying that Khwaja Attar sent word to the Captain-inChief that he would do all he asked except give him the Portuguese, because they were already his brothers; and he asked him to send whatever answer he wished. When the skiff returned the Captain-in-Chief was angry with the message, because he saw it was a kind of mockery; and he sent word that what he wanted to do was to tell him to compete the fortress and maintain it once completed, because he assured him that if he lived he would return,
_ 36 _ and if Khwaja Attar were still alive he would need to be afraid, because if he did not find the fortress completed. It would be completed with the bones of the Moorish princes of Ormuz, and their ears nailed to its doors, and for the four Portuguese he would burn in this great mosque four thousand men and women and children; for the King of Portugal had never won anything that he later lost. And the city of Ormuz, and its King and counsellor would pay double tribute and the expenses of his fleet and of the one with which he would return. He ordered the linguist that when he had made this reply, he was to listen to nothing further and come back, which was done. The Afonso d’ Albuquerque set sail for the cape of Ras-el-Hed, but João da Nova did not want to go there and at night he separated from him and went his way, and when Afonso d’ Albuquerque found he was missing he was extremely angry that he should go away without a word. As he continued on his route and crossed / 872/ the Gulf to Socotra he took a rich ship that was on its way to Mecca, from which he seized some fine cloth and all its provisions and good slaves and set the ship on fire. He sailed on and reached Socotra, where they were suffering terribly from hunger, with all the soldiers ill
_ 37 _ and the Captain, Dom Afonso, at death’s door. When the Captain-in-Chief arrived everyone recovered, with many things from the ship, which he ordered to be given to the soldiers, and then the people of the country arrive to sell provisions. From there he sent Francisco de Tavora to Melinde with money and goods to load up with provisions and pitch and planks and timber, which they needed to repair the ships, and he told him that when he came back to must make for Cape Guardafuy, and he would go there to wait for him. When this had been arranged, the Captain-inChief set off for Cape Guardafuy, and Francisco de Tavora went to Melinde and loaded up with provisions, and then met up with Afonso d’ Albuquerque at Guardafuy. Francisco de Tavora brought with him Diogo de Mello and Martin Coelho in two very well-equipped vessels with good men, which he had found in Melinde, just arrived from Portugal where they had left after the fleet, as I have told. In Melinde he also found the Comendador Ruy Soares and requested him to come with them, but he would not, only Diogo de Mello and Martim Coelho would come. Francisco de Tavora had with him a copy of a document from the King in Afonso d’ Alquerque’s possession, in which the King commanded all Captains of ship and other
_ 38 _ vessels in the seas between Melinde and Mozambique to be at the call of Afonso d’ Albuquerque if he required them, with severe penalties if they refused. Martim Coelho and Diogo de Mello obeyed this when Francisco de Tavora required them. These ships were loaded with provisions, most of which were maize. When they arrived, the Captain-in-Chief set sail at once and returned to Socotra, where he found the local people rebelling and fighting the Portuguese. He entered into this and fought so hard that they surrendered and agreed peace with the obligation to provide every year a certain number of goats and trusses of dates. When everything was at peace again, the Captain-in-Chief busied himself with beaching his ship and Francisco de Tavora’s repairing them, and their ship’s boats, which were no longer seaworthy /873/. These vessels were them very well repaired with a great deal of pitch and coir and wood and planks brought by Francisco de Tavora; and in addition, he built brigantine with fourteen benches. While this was being done winter arrived, and there was great danger of losing the ships in the winter storms, so much so that the castles of the Rey Grande, which was Francisco de Tavora’s ship, had to be dismantled.
_ 39 _ He was so annoyed that he told the Captain-in-Chief that he could give the ship to whomsoever he liked because it had been ruined by someone who did not have to sail in her and was not of her company. The Captain-in-Chief laughed at this and said that he would do as he asked; after Francisco de Tavora said this, he asked the Captainin-Chief to pardon him, but he would not give him back his ship and said that he would send it to India and give it to the Viceroy. So, Francisco de Tavora remained with the Captain-in-Chief, who sent Dinis de Mello to ship as overseer, a mulatto and nobleman, a worthy gentleman. Chapter: X How Afonso d’ Albuquerque departed, having provided the fortress at Socotra with everything necessary, and returned to make war on Ormuz, taking with him Martim Coelho de Sousa and Diogo de Melo in two ships from Melinde, and all that he did until he returned and went to India. Having provided the fortress at Socotra with everything necessary, the Captain-in-Chief Afonso d’ Albuquerque left in August of 1508, determined to wage total war and return to Socotra loaded with provisions before going to India, as he told the Captains. Diogo de Mello and Martim Coelho tried hard not to go with him and requested him to let them
_ 40 _ go on to India, but the Captain-in-Chief showed them his commission and put them under obligation, which they could not avoid. Then he set sail with the four ships and the brigantine he had had built, equipped with shackles bolted to the benches, which he entrusted to Nicolao d’ Andrade, a suitable man for the task. They sailed along to the town of Kalhat, and he gave orders that it was to be attacked and destroyed. When they made landfall, he sent Dom Antonio de Noronha in the brigantine to go close to shore and see who appeared. The Captain of the /873/ town was Zafaruddin, a servant of Khwaja Attar, who at once sent an almadia with a present of six goats for the Captain-in-Chief. When the Moor who came in the almadia went aboard, he recognized the Captain-in-Chief and wanted to go straight back, but the Captain-in-Chief ordered him to be kept in a safe place and learned from him that there were few people in the town. Dom Antonio went close in to land and spoke to a Moor who was riding along the shore, who asked him whose fleet it was. He said that it had come from Portugal to join another Captain-in-Chief who was going to Ormuz, and the Captain wished him to go and speak to him on the ship.
_ 41 _ The Moor excused himself, saying that he was not used to such things, but if he sent word of what he wanted, he would reply. This was towards evening, but the Captain-in-Chief had made up his mind, all the soldiers were armed, and he gave the order to embark, Dom Antonio going in his large boat, and many men in the brigantine with five guns and a falcõ, and berços in the boats, and without waiting for the Moors to see them he ordered them to row strongly for the shore. There were about three hundred well-armed men, and reliable gentlemen, including Dom Antonio, Francisco de Tavora who had returned to his ship, Diogo de Mello, Martim Coelho de Sousa, Ayres de Sousa, Duarte de Mello, Pero d’ Alpoy, Lisuarte de Freitas, Dinis Fernandes de Mello, Antonio Vogado, Lourenço da Silva, João Teixeira, Antonio de Sá, and other gentlemen of rank. When the Moors saw the boats approaching, bristling with shining spears and weapons and full of purpose, they ran up to defend the landing-place, shooting many arrows because they were all archers. But they were very close together, and when the boats came up and fired cannon, many of them were hit and fell dead and wounded. Sounding trumpets and calling on St James, our men charged the Moors with such speed and
_ 42 _ force that they had no time to shoot, and all in a body they ran along a wide street which went through the middle of the town, and many of them rushed into a great mosque which had been partly destroyed in a previous battle. Our men followed the other Moors, who went past the mosque, until they had gone a good way beyond the town, and the Captain-in-Chief sent Dom Antonio to call them back. Because the town ran along the foot of the cliff, it was safe from the land side. Then the Captain-in-Chief sent Diogo de Mello and Francisco de Tavora to bring straw /875/ from some huts that were nearby, and it was stuffed into the broken walls of the mosque and then set alight, and it all caught fire and fell in, and over a hundred Moors died inside and many others were killed in the houses, and many taken captive. Then night fell, and the Captain-in-Chief divided the men into watches to keep guard on the two entrances into the town in case the Moors came back; but they were so frightened that they spent the night a long way off. When it was daybreak, for they never slept all night, the Captain-in-Chief told the Captains to send their seamen to load the boats with provisions, which was the best thing they could take. They did this until midday,
_ 43 _ and they took on as much water as there was room for, which they found in seventeen ships that were in the port for cargo, from which they also took yards and wood for firing. They worked at this until noon, and then the Captain-in-Chief said they could take what they liked of whatever they found, which was good booty, and this they did until sunset, when the Captain-in-Chief ordered that the town and the ships should be set on fire, and everything was destroyed. When the Captain-in-Chief returned to his ship, he spoke to the Moor who had come with the goats and asked him for news of Ormuz, because he was a merchant who travelled around, and he told him that a ship had come to Ormuz from Cambay which had brought the news that Mir Asim, the Turkish Captain, with a fleet of ships and galleys, in company with Malik Ayyaz, had been to Chaul, where he had fought the Portuguese and taken the flagship of the Captain-in-Chief, whom they had killed, and they had captured some Portuguese, who had converted to Islam. Ormuz was half destroyed because after the war it had always been short of provisions. Food had not arrived from India because when they heard that there was fighting there the ships that brought it turned back. They were also very short of water because none of the terradas that
_ 44 _ brought it remained, and it was very expensive. He said that Khwaja Attar had finished the keep and made it very strong, and that the people of the city wanted to kill him because he had been the cause of all their sufferings; and Rais Nuruddin wanted him killed because he had thrown his sons out of the city, and he was in such a condition that he might do him much harm. The Captain-in-Chief sent away the Moor with honor, and told the Captains the news, and it was agreed that they should go straight to Ormuz /876/ without stopping anywhere; and the Captain-in-Chief set sail, ordering the Captains to start blockading the city as soon as they arrived, which they did. When Khwaja Attar saw the fleet arrive, he at once ordered all the boats in the city to be filled with ordinary people, and they were taken to the mainland and told they should not return, so as to avoid being burned by our men. When Khwaja Attar had heard that our fleet was coming back, he had two strong bulwarks made in the King’s palace and blocked off many streets and made ready to defend the city. One of the renegades had been in Kalhat, and at night he had made bold to go on his own and talk to one of the boys of Diogo de Mello’s ship, who made him flee; and he had at once got in a terraquim, which with sails and oars reached Ormuz in four days, and he gave Khwaja Attar news of how few soldiers there were in the fleet, and how
_ 45 _ the ships made so much water that they were not seaworthy, and that they were discussing in Kalhat whether to return to India. When our fleet had arrived and taken up positions, the Captain-in-Chief, with this information, sat tightly and did nothing. The next day, they signaled from the shore with a white flag. The Captain-in-Chief ordered that another white flag on board should signal to them to come. No one came to him, but a respected Moor went to the other side where Diogo de Mello was stationed and told him that the King of Ormuz had letters from the Viceroy of India, among which was one concerning the Captain-in-Chief, of which he brought a copy and if he wanted to see the original signed by the Viceroy, someone must go ashore, and it would be shown to him. He said that he had not gone to the Captain-in-Chief with this message but to him so that he should be a witness, and he should tell this to the other Captain from Portugal if the Captain-in-Chief would not see the letter. Meanwhile, he would go back to the shore and there he would wait until he received a reply. Diogo de Mello asked him if he wanted to go with him to the Captain-in-Chief, for he would take him and bring him back safely.
_ 46 _ The Moor said he would if he swore by his faith, and Diogo de Mello swore. Then he got into the skiff with the Moor and went to the Captain-in-Chief, where the Moor repeated what he had said and gave him the copy of the Viceroy’s letter written in Persian, which the Captain-inChief /877/ ordered to be read. The substance of it was that the Viceroy said to the King of Ormuz that the Captains who went away from Ormuz had told him all that had been done. He was pleased with the treaty of friendship that had been made, and with the tribute, and that he would accordingly always be his friend. He was not pleased with the things that the Captain-inChief had done and for this he would punish him if he went there, and so he let him remain. Because he knew the truth, he had ordered the release of Zafaruddin and had gladly sent all those who were held as prisoners in the ships, and so he would always do. He had sent Zafaruddin with them to Cannanore so that they could embark with the rest. He should send him letters and he would reply; and accompanying this there were many words of pleasure. When this letter was read in the presence of all, they were surprised and said that someone should be sent ashore to see the letter. The Captain-in-Chief said it was unnecessary to see the original because the words were
sheikhdrsultan.aeRkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy