How did Afonso de Albuquerque run his colony?

Answer 1

n January 1510, fulfilling the orders from the kingdom, and knowing of the absence of Zamorin, Albuquerque advanced to Calicut (now Kozhikode). But he had to retreat after the Marshall D. Fernando Coutinho, against his warnings, ventured in the inner city fascinated by its richness, and suffered an ambush. To help him, Afonso de Albuquerque received a severe wound and had to retreat[20].

Soon after the failed attack on Calicut, Albuquerque hastened to form a powerful fleet of twenty-three ships and 1200 men. Contemporary reports state that he wanted to fight the egipcian Mamluk Sultanate fleet in the Red Sea or return to Hormuz. However, he had been reported by Timoji (a privateer in the service of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire) that it would be easier to fight them in Goa, where they had sheltered after the Battle of Diu [21], and also of the illness of the Sultan Yusuf Adil Shah and war between the Deccan sultanates[22]. So he invested by surprise in the capture of Goa to the Sultanate of Bijapur. He thus completed another mission, for Portugal wanted not to be seen as an eternal "guest" of Kochi and had been coveting Goa as the best trading port in the region.

A first assault took place in Goa from March 4 to May 20, 1510. After a first occupation, feeling unable to handle the city - given the poor condition of its fortifications, the cooling of Hindu population support and insubordination among his rank, after a severe attack of Ismail Adil Shah - Afonso de Albuquerque refused an agreement peace by the sultan and abandoned the city in August. His fleet was shattered and a palace revolt in Kochi hindered his recovery, so he headed to Fort Anjediva. When new ships arrived from the kingdom they were intended to Malacca, for nobleman Diogo Mendes de Vasconcelos, who had been given a rival command of the region.

Only three months later, on November 25, Albuquerque reappeared in Goa with a fleet fully renovated, Diogo Mendes de Vasconcelos vexed by his side with the reinforcements of Malacca[23] and about 300 Malabari reinforcements from Cannanore. In less than a day they took possession of Goa from Ismail Adil Shah and his Ottoman allies, who surrendered on 10 December. It is estimated that 6000 of the 9000 Muslim defenders of the city died, either on the fierce battle in the streets or drowned while trying to escape[24]. Albuquerque regained the support of the Hindu population, although frustrating the initial expectations of Timoja, who aspired to become governor. Afonso de Albuquerque rewarded him by appointing him chief "Aguazil" of the city, an administrator and representative of the Hindu and Muslim people, as a knowing interpreter of the local customs[21]. He then made an agreement to lower yearly dues.

In Goa Albuquerque started the first Portuguese mint in the East, after complaints from merchants and Timoja about the scarcity of currency, taking it as an opportunity to announce the territorial conquest[25]. The new coin, based on the existing local coins, showed a cross on one side and the design of an armillary sphere (or "espera"), king Manuel's badge, on the other. Gold, silver and bronze coins were issued, respectively gold cruzados or manueis, esperas and alf-esperas, and "leais"[26][27]. More mints would follow in Malacca in 1511.

In spite of constant attacks, Goa became the center of Portuguese India, with the conquest triggering the compliance of neighboring kingdoms: the Sultan of Gujarat and the Zamorin of Calicut sent embassies, offering alliances and local grants to fortify.

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