justification of the conduct of the Portuguese, and in proof of the
treacherous intentions of the late king. All the Moors and Pagans
acknowledged themselves satisfied by these documents, and accordingly
gave certificates to that effect in the Arabic and Persian languages,
which were signed by Khojah Zofar and all the leading people among the
Mahometans and Hindoos, which were communicated to the kings of the
Deccan, Narsinga, and Ormuz, and to all the sheikhs along the coast of
Arabia as far as Aden.
[Footnote 204: Probably Noanagur on the east side of the Gulf of
Cutch. - E.]
[Footnote 205: At 3s. 9d. each, worth L. 37,500 sterling. - E.]
For the greater security and satisfaction of the people, Nuno gave
orders that the Mahometans should enjoy the free exercise of their
religion, and that the laws and regulations established by Badur for the
government of the city and its dependencies should continue to be
executed, even continuing all the salaries and pensions granted by the
late king. Among these was a Moor of Bengal who, by _authentic_
information was 320 years old[206]. This man had two sons, one ninety
and the other only twelve years of age. He appeared to be only about
sixty, and it was said that his beard and teeth had fallen and been
renewed four or five times. He was rather under the middle size, and
neither fat nor lean. He pretended that before he was an hundred years
old, while herding cattle on the banks of a river, there appeared a man
to him clothed in a gray habit and girt with a cord, having wounds on
his hands and feet, who requested to be carried by him across the river
on his shoulders; which having done, this person said that as a reward
for his charity, he should retain all his faculties till he saw him
again. Going accordingly into one of the Portuguese churches in India,
this old man exclaimed on seeing the image of St Francis, This is he
whom I carried across the river so many years ago.
[Footnote 206: Perhaps an error of the press for 120. - E.]
Mir Mahomet Zaman, a descendant of the ancient kings of Guzerat, on
learning the death of Badur, went to condole with the queen-mother at
_Novanaguer_; but she, fearing he came to rob her, refused to see him
and even endeavoured to remove to another place. Offended at her
suspicions, Mahomet Zaman lay in wait for her with 2000 horse, and
robbed her of all her riches, amounting to above two millions of gold.
He then raised above 5000 horse, with which he seized Novanaguer, and
had himself proclaimed king of Guzerat. He then sent a messenger to Nuno
de Cuna, giving an account of the posture of his affairs and of his
title to the crown, desiring his assistance, in requital for which he
offered to cede to the Portuguese all the coast from Mangalore to
Beth[207], including the towns of Daman and Basseen with the royal
country house of Novanaguer, and other advantages. Nuno accepted these
offers, caused him to be proclaimed king in the mosque of Diu, and urged
him to raise forces and disperse the other pretenders. Fearing that this
advice was only given to deceive, Zaman procrastinated and took no
effectual steps to secure the crown to which he aspired, of which
misconduct he soon experienced the evil consequences; as the principal
people of Guzerat set Mahomet Khan, a nephew of the deceased Badur on
the Musnud, and made preparations to subdue Zaman. As Nuno was under the
necessity of leaving Diu early in 1538 to attend to the other affairs of
his extensive government, the Guzerat nobles in the interest of Mahomet
raised sixty thousand men, with which they marched against Zaman; and
having corrupted most of his officers, he was obliged to flee to Delhi,
where he was honourably received by the padishah of the Moguls, from
whom he received the kingdom of Bengal. The successful party in Guzerat
called Antonio de Sylveira who commanded in Diu to account for the death
of Badur, and being satisfied on that head proposed a treaty of peace;
but as they peremptorily refused to accede to the condition conceded by
Zaman, the negociations were broken off.
[Footnote 207: This account if the matter is inexplicable. Mangalore is
on the coast of Malabar far to the south of Guzerat, Beth is not to be
found in any map of India in these parts, and Novanaguer or Noanagur is
at the other extremity of Guzerat on the Gulf of Cutch. - E.]
The most inveterate enemies of the Portuguese in India were the Moors
upon the coast between Chaul and Cape Comorin, a space of about 200
leagues, who had flocked thither in great numbers allured by the vast
and profitable trade in that part of India. About this time there lived
in Cochin a rich and powerful Moor named Pate Marcar, who being
irritated against the Portuguese for taking some of his vessels went to
reside in Calicut to have an opportunity of being revenged upon them by
the assistance of the zamorin, who furnished him with above 50 ships,
2000 men, and 400 pieces of cannon. With these he went to the assistance
of Madune Pandar who had revolted against his brother the king of Ceylon
who was the ally of the Portuguese. At Coulam Marcar attacked a large
Portuguese ship which was loading pepper, but was beat off after killing
the captain. In another port farther south he took a ship belonging to
the Portuguese and killed all her crew. Beyond Cape Comorin he destroyed
a town inhabited by native Christians. On hearing of these depredations,
Martin Alfonso went in 19 row-boats from Cochin in pursuit of Marcar,
whom he found in a creek where he offered him battle; but as Marcar
declined this, and Alfonso did not think his force sufficient to attack
him in that situation, he returned to Cochin for a reinforcement.
Setting out again with 28 row-boats and 400 men, Alfonso found Marcar
careening his vessels at a port or creek beyond Cape Comorin named
_Beadala_, where he gave the Moors a total defeat though they had
gathered a force of 7000 men to resist him. Alfonso took 23 barks, 400
cannon, 1500 firelocks, and many prisoners, and set free a considerable
number of Portuguese slaves, having lost 30 men in the action, chiefly
through the mistake of a signal. After this great victory, Alfonso went
over to Columbo in Ceylon, the king of which place was besieged by his
rebellious brother Madune Pandar, who at first believed the Portuguese
fleet to be that of Marcar coming to his assistance; but hearing of the
destruction of his ally, he raised the siege and made peace.
It is proper that we should give some account of the rich and fertile
kingdom of Bengal on the bay of that name, which receives the waters of
the famous river Ganges by two principal mouths and many subordinate
creeks. This river has its source in the mountains of Great Tartary,
whence it runs southwards near 600 leagues, dividing India into two
parts _infra et extra Gangem_, or on this side and the other side of the
Ganges. On the great eastern mouth of the Ganges stands the city of
_Chatigam_ or _Chittagong_, and on the western mouth the city of
_Satigam_[208]. On the east of the Ganges, which runs through the middle
of Bengal, _Caor, Camatii, Sirote, Codovascam, Cou,_ and _Tipora_ were
subject to that kingdom, but the two last uniting together had thrown
off the yoke. On the west of the river, the country of _Cospetir_, whose
plain is overflowed annually by the Ganges as the land of Egypt by the
Nile, had been conquered by the Patans. According to the Pagans, God
hath granted to the kingdom of Bengal an infinite multitude of infantry,
to Orixa abundance of elephants, to Bisnagar a people well skilled in
using the sword and buckler, to Delhi a prodigious number of towns, and
to _Cou_ innumerable horses. The kingdom of Bengal, reaching between the
latitudes of 22° and 26° 30' N. is well watered and exceedingly fertile,
producing abundance of fruit, with sugar and long pepper, great
quantities of cotton, which the inhabitants manufacture with much skill,
and has great abundance of cattle and poultry. The natives are heathens
of a pusillanimous character, yet false and treacherous; for it ally the
case that cowardice and treachery go together.
[Footnote 208: It is impossible even to guess what place is meant in the
text by Satigam, unless it may have some reference to the river
Sagar. - E.]
The king is universal heir to all his subjects. The capital city, named
_Gowro_, on the banks of the Ganges, is three leagues in length. It
contains 1,200,000 families, and is well fortified. The streets are
long, wide, and straight, with rows of trees to shelter the people from
the sun, and are sometimes so thronged with passengers that many are
trodden to death.
About fifty years before the discovery of India by the Portuguese, an
Arabian merchant who dwelt in Gowro became very rich and powerful, and
having defeated the king of Orixa in a great battle grew so much in
favour with the king of Bengal that he was made captain of his guards.
But, ungrateful to his benefactor, he killed the king and usurped the
kingdom, leaving it as an inheritance to the Moors who have since
possessed this rich and fertile kingdom. The succession to this kingdom
proceeds upon no rule of hereditary descent; but is often acquired by
slaves who kill their masters, and whosoever acquires the government,
were it only for three days, is looked upon as established by Providence
and Divine right. Hence during a period of forty years this kingdom had
been ruled by 13 successive princes. At the time when Martin Alfonso
Melo de Jusarte was prisoner in Bengal, Mahomet Shah was king and held
his court in Gowro with such state that there were 10,000 women in his
Zenana, yet was he in continual apprehension of being deposed. Martin
and the other Portuguese prisoners did signal service to Mahomet in his
wars with the Patans; and Martin and his followers obtained their
liberty through the means of one _Khojah Sabadim_, a rich Moor, who
engaged to procure liberty for the Portuguese to build a fort at
Chittagong, if Nuno de Cuna would carry him to Ormuz. Nano being eager
to acquire an establishment in Bengal, granted all that was asked, and
sent Martin Alfonso with 200 men in five vessels to Bengal, and to
secure the friendship of the king sent him a magnificent present.
Thirteen men who carried the present to Gowro, and thirty others who
accompanied Martin Alfonso to an entertainment at Chittagong were made
prisoners. On learning this event, Nuno sent Antonio de Silva with 350
men in nine vessels, to treat for the liberation of Martin Alfonso and
prisoners, by the assistance of Khojah Sabadim, to whose suggestions the
former unfortunate expedition was owing; and to secure the fidelity of
Sabadim, a ship belonging to him with a rich cargo was detained in
pledge. From Chittagong, Silva sent a messenger to Gowro with a letter
and a present; but as the answer was long in coming, Silva judged that
the king had detained his messenger along with the rest, on which he
rashly destroyed Chittagong and some other places; for which proceeding
the king confined the prisoners more rigidly than before. But his
necessities obliged him soon after to change his severity into kindness.
_Xerchan_, or _Shir Khan_, a general of note among the Moguls, being in
disgrace with the padisbah or Great Mogul, fled from Delhi to Bengal
accompanied by his brother Hedele Khan, and both of them rose to eminent
rank in the service of Mahomet. Being now at the head of a large army,
Shir Khan resolved to avenge upon Mahomet the murder of the former
infant king of Bengal; for which purpose he revolted with his army to
Humayun the Mogul padishah, and turned his arms against Mahomet. In his
distress, Mahomet consulted with Martin Alfonso how best to oppose the
arms of Shir Khan. By his advice, some vessels commanded by Portuguese
were stationed in the Ganges at a pass near the fort of _Gori_ where the
Ganges enters Bengal. These effectually barred the passage of Shir Khan
in that direction; but having discovered another ford, he advanced to
Gowro, which he invested with 40,000 horse, 200,000 foot, and 1500
elephants. Shir Khan likewise brought a fleet of 300 boats down the
river, to a place where Mahomet had 800 boats to oppose the enemy. At
this place Duarte de Brito did signal service in the sight of King
Mahomet, and among other things, accompanied by eight other Portuguese,
he took an elephant that was swimming across the river. The city of
Gowro being reduced to distress by the besiegers, Mahomet bought a
peace, and Shir Khan drew off with his army. Being now as he thought in
safety, Mahomet allowed Martin Alfonso to depart with the other
Portuguese, only retaining five as hostages for the assistance he had
been promised by Nuno.
Shir Khan returned soon afterwards to Gowro, which he took by assault,
obliging the king, who was wounded in the assault, to abandon the city.
Mahomet died of his wounds on his way to ask assistance from Humayun.
Shir Khan drew off from Gowro, where he acquired treasure to the amount
of 60 millions in gold. Humayun brought the dead body of King Mahomet to
Gowro, where he appointed his own brother-in-law Mir Mahomet Zaman to
the vacant kingdom, who had been lately driven from Guzerat. But on the
return of Humayun towards Delhi, Shir Khan returned to Gowro and drove
out Mahomet Zaman. Humayun then marched against Shir Khan with 100,000
horse and 150,000 foot, with above 200,000 followers. The two armies met
on the banks of the Ganges near the city of Kanoje when Shir Khan gained
so complete a victory that Humayun made his escape with only 25
attendants, and never stopt till he arrived at Lahore. Shir Khan treated
the women belonging to Humaynn with great respect, and restored them to
the padishah. Finding himself too weak for the conquest of Bengal,
Humayun determined upon endeavouring to reduce Guzerat; but abandoned in
his distress by his own Omrahs, he went into Persia, where the Sophi
supplied him with an army of 12,000 horse, to which he was enabled to
add 10,000 volunteers. With these allies, added to the troops that
continued to adhere to him, he invested Candahar, where his brother
Astarii Mirza had proclaimed himself king of Mogostan. The city was
taken and given up to the Persians. In the mean time Shir Khan made
himself formidable in Bengal, having an army of 400,000 horse. He took
the city of Calijor belonging to the Rajputs, meaning to plunder a vast
treasure contained in the temple at that place; but pointing a cannon to
kill an elephant belonging to the temple, the piece burst and killed
himself.
The present formerly mentioned, which was sent by the king of Guzerat to
the Grand Turk to obtain his assistance, was delivered at
Constantinople, where at the same time arrived news of the kings death.
But the great value of the present demonstrated the vast riches of
India, and made the Turkish emperor desirous of acquiring a footing in
that country, whence he thought the Portuguese might be easily expelled,
and their possessions reduced under his dominion. In this enterprise he
was greatly encouraged by a Portuguese renegado at Constantinople, who
asserted that the Turkish power might easily supplant that of the
Portuguese in India. For this purpose, the Turkish emperor ordered a
fleet to be fitted out at Suez, the command of which was given to the
eunuch Solyman Pacha, governor of Cairo. Solyman was a Greek janizary
born in the Morea, of an ugly countenance, short of stature, and had so
large a belly that he was more like a beast than a man, not being able
to rise up without the aid of four men. At this time he was eighty years
of age, and he obtained this command more by dint of his wealth than
merit, as he offered to be at the entire charge of the expedition. To
enable him to perform this, he put many rich men to death and seized
their wealth. Among others he strangled Mir Daud, king or _bey_ of the
Thebaid, and seized his treasure. It might be said therefore that this
fleet was equipped rather by the dead than the living. It consisted of
70 sail, most of them being large gallies, well stored with cannon,
ammunition, and provisions; on board of which he embarked 7000 soldiers,
part Turkish janizaries and part Mamelukes; besides a great number of
choice sailors and galley-slaves, many of the latter being taken from
the Venetian gallies then at Alexandria, which were seized in
consequence of a war breaking out between the Turks and the republic of
Venice.
Solyman, who was both a tyrant and a coward, set out from Suez on the
22d of June 1538, ordering four hundred of the soldiers to assist at the
oars, and as they resisted this order as contrary to their privileges,
he put two hundred of them to death. At Jiddah he endeavoured to take
the sheikh, but knowing his tyrannical character, he escaped into the
interior. At _Zabid_, after receiving a rich present, he put the sheikh
to death. He did the same thing at Aden; and arrived at Diu about the
beginning of September 1538, losing six of his vessels by the way.
When Badar king of Guzerat was killed, one _Khojah Zofar_ swam on shore
and was well received by the Portuguese, being the only one of the kings
retinue who was saved on that occasion. For some time he seemed grateful
for his safety; but at length fled without any apparent reason to the
new king of Guzerat, to whom he offered his services, and even
endeavoured to prevail upon him to expel the Portuguese from his
dominions, asserting that this might be easily done with the assistance
of the Turks. By his instigation, the king of Guzerat raised an army at
Champaneer of 5000 horse and 10,000 foot, to which Khojah Zofar added
3000 horse and 4000 foot in his own pay. Getting notice of these
preparations, Antonio de Sylveira who commanded in Diu, used every
precaution to provide against a long and dangerous siege. Khojah Zofar
began the war by attacking the town of the _Rumes_[209] near Diu.
Francisco Pacheco defended himself bravely in a redoubt at the place,
with only fourteen Portuguese, till relieved by Sylveira, and Zofar was
forced to draw off his troops, being himself wounded. Immediately
afterwards Ali Khan, general of the Guzerat army, joined Zofar with all
the army, and Sylveira thought proper to evacuate all the posts beyond
Diu, that he might be able to maintain the city and fort; but some
vessels and guns were lost in the execution of these orders. In
consequence of these losses, and because there were many concealed
enemies in the city who only waited an opportunity of doing all the evil
in their power to the Portuguese, Sylveira deemed it expedient to
evacuate the city, giving his sole attention to the defence of the fort.
Ali Khan and Zofar immediately took possession of the city, and began to
fire upon the fort with their cannon. Lope de Sousa, who guarded the
wood and water belonging to the garrison, had several rencounters, in
which he slew many of the enemy without any loss on his side, except
being himself severely wounded.
[Footnote 209: This must have been some town or village inhabited by
Turks. - E.]
Hearing that the Turkish fleet was approaching, Sylveira sent immediate
notice of it to Nuno de Cuna, who prepared with great diligence to go in
person to relieve Diu. Michael Vaz was sent to sea by Sylveira to look
out for the enemy, and falling in with their fleet came so near on
purpose to examine their force that several of their shot reached his
vessel. He got off however, and carried the news to the governor of Goa.
The Turkish fleet came at length to anchor in the port of Diu, where it
was formidable not only to the small Portuguese garrison in the fort,
but to the Moors even who had long expected their arrival. Next day
Solyman landed 600 well armed janizaries, who immediately entered the
city and behaved with much insolence. Drawing near the fort, they killed
six Portuguese; but 300 musqueteers attacked them from the fort and
drove them away with the loss of fifty men. In consequence of a storm,
Solyman was obliged to remove his fleet to _Madrefavat_, as a safer
harbour, where he remained twenty days, during which time Sylveira was
diligently occupied in strengthening the fortifications of the castle,
planting his artillery on the ramparts, and assigning every one his
proper post for the ensuing siege. At the same time, the Turks assisted
by Zofar commenced operations against the fort, by constructing
batteries, and endeavouring to ruin the defences of a bulwark at the
entrance of the harbour, which they battered with their cannon. With
this view likewise, they built a wooden castle on a large bark, which,
they filled with combustibles, meaning to send it against the bulwark
to set it on fire. But Francisco de Gouvea, who commanded the small
naval force then at Diu, went against this floating castle under night,
and contrived to destroy it by fire. At this time likewise some relief
was sent to the fort by Nuno de Cuna, and the garrison was much elated
by the assurance of his intention of coming speedily in person to raise
the siege.
Returning from Madrefavat, Solyman commenced a heavy fire from his ships
against the sea bulwark in which Francisco de Gouvea commanded, but was
so well answered both from that work and the tower of St Thomas, that
one of his gallies was sunk and most of her men drowned. The greatest
harm suffered at this time by the Portuguese was from the bursting of
some of their own cannon, by which several men were killed. Two brothers
only were slain by the fire of the Turks. Zofar now so furiously
battered the bulwark in which Pacheco commanded, that it became
altogether indefensible, on which seven hundred janizaries assaulted it
and set up their colours on its ruined walls; but the Portuguese rallied
and dislodged them, killing an hundred and fifty of the enemy. The
assault of this bulwark was continued a whole day, and at night the
enemy were forced to retreat with much loss. Next day Pacheco deeming it
impossible to resist, surrendered upon promise of life and liberty to
himself and his men. Solyman did not perform the latter stipulation, but
he granted their lives for the present and clothed them in Turkish
habits. By one of these prisoners, Solyman sent a summons to Sylveira to
surrender, but the proposal was treated with contempt. Solyman now
planted his artillery against the fort, having among other cannon nine
pieces of vast size which carried balls of ninety pounds weight. His
artillery in all exceeded 130 pieces of different sizes, and his
batteries were continually guarded by 2000 Turks. This formidable train
began to play against the castle on the 4th of October 1538, and
continued without cessation for twenty days, doing great injury to the
defences of the fort, which could hardly do any injury in return to the
besiegers, neither could the garrison repair sufficiently the most
dangerous breaches, though they used every possible exertion for that
purpose. On the sixth day after the commencement of this violent
cannonade, perceiving that the bulwark commanded by Caspar de Sousa was
much damaged, the Turks endeavoured to carry it by assault, but were
repulsed with much slaughter, two only of the defenders being slain.
Every day there were assaults by the besiegers or sallies by the
garrison. In one of these Gonzalo Falcam lost his head; and Juan de
Fonseca being disabled by a severe wound of his right arm continued to
wield his lance with his left as if he had received no hurt. A youth of
only nineteen years old, named Joam Gallego, pursued a Moor into the sea
and slew him, and afterwards walked back deliberately to the fort
through showers of balls and bullets. Many singular acts of valour were
performed during this memorable siege.
At length many brave officers and men of the besiegers were slain,
powder began to wax short and provisions shorter. The relief expected
from Non Garcia Noronha, now come out as viceroy of India, was long in
making its appearance. The remaining garrison was much weakened by a
swelling in their gums, accompanied by their teeth becoming so loose
that they were unable to eat what little food remained in the stores.
Yet the brave garrison continued to fight in defence of their post, as
if even misery and famine were unable to conquer them. Even the women in
the fort exerted themselves like heroines. Donna Isabella de Vega, the
wife of Manuel de Vasconcelles, had been urged by her husband to go to
her father Francisco Ferram at Goa, lest the fort might be taken and she
might fall into the hands of the Turks; but she refused to leave him.
During the distress of the garrison, as many of the men were obliged to