The Battle of Chaul was a naval battle between the Portuguese and an Egyptian Mamluk fleet in 1508 in the harbour of

Chaul Chaul is a historic town located in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. The Korlai Fort is located nearby. History The town was famous for cotton manufactured goods in the 15th and 16th century, According to Varthema, Chaul was prod ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The battle ended in a Mamluk victory. It followed the Siege of Cannanore in which a Portuguese garrison successfully resisted an attack by Southern Indian rulers. This was the first Portuguese defeat at sea in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

Background

Previously, the Portuguese had been mainly active in

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

, but the northern region of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

was even more important for trade, and an essential intermediary in east–west trade: the Gujaratis were bringing spices from the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...

as well as silk from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and then selling them to the Egyptians and Arabs. The Portuguese' monopolizing interventions were however seriously disrupting

Indian Ocean trade Indian Ocean trade has been a key factor in East–West exchanges throughout history. Long-distance trade in dhows and proas made it a dynamic zone of interaction between peoples, cultures, and civilizations stretching from Southeast Asia to Ea ...

, threatening Arab as well as Venetian interests, as it became possible for the Portuguese to undersell the Venetians in the spice trade in Europe.

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

broke diplomatic relations with Portugal and started to look at ways to counter its intervention in the Indian Ocean, sending an ambassador to the Egyptian court.''Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415–1580'' Bailey Wallys Diffie p.230''ff'

/ref> Venice negotiated for Egyptian tariffs to be lowered to facilitate competition with the Portuguese, and suggested that "rapid and secret remedies" be taken against the Portuguese. The sovereign of

, the Zamorin of Calicut, Zamorin, had also sent an ambassador asking for help against the Portuguese. Since the Mamluks only had little in terms of naval power, timber had to be provided from the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

in order to build the ships, about half of which was intercepted by the Hospitallers of St. John in

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

, so that only a fraction of the planned fleet could be assembled at

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...

. The timber was then brought overland on

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

back, and assembled at

under the supervision of Venetian

shipwrights Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

.''Malabar manual'' William Logan p.316''ff''
/ref>

Preparations

The Mamluk fleet finally left in February 1507 under Amir Husain Al-Kurdi in order to counter the expansion of the Portuguese in the

and arrived in the Indian port of Diu in 1508 after delays subduing the city of Jeddha.''Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415–1580'' Bailey Wallys Diffie p.234''ff'

/ref> It consisted of six round ships and six great galleys called galleasses. 1500 combatants were on board, as well as the ambassador of the Zamorin ruler of Calicut, Mayimama Mārakkār. The fleet was to join with

Malik Ayyaz Malik Ayyaz, called Meliqueaz by the Portuguese, was a naval officer and governor of the city of Diu, India, Diu, in the mouth of the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay), circa 1507-1509 under the rule of Gujarat Sultanate. He was one of the most distinguish ...

, a former Russian slave, who was in the service of the Sultan

Mahmud Begada Sultan Mahmud Begada or Mahmud Shah I (), was the most prominent Sultan of the Gujarat Sultanate. Raised to the throne at young age, he successfully captured Pavagadh and Junagadh forts in battles which gave him his name ''Begada''. He establishe ...

Gujarat Sultanate The Gujarat Sultanate (or the Sultanate of Guzerat), was a Medieval Indian kingdom established in the early 15th century in Western India, primarily in the present-day state of Gujarat, India. The dynasty was founded by Sultan Zafar Khan Muza ...

, who was naval chief and master of Diu. The fleet was also planning to join with the Zamorin of Calicut, and then to raid and destroy all the Portuguese possessions on the Indian coast, but the Zamorin, who was expecting the Mamluk fleet in 1507 had already left.''Tide of Empires: 1481–1654'' Peter Padfield p.62''ff''
/ref>

Battle

The Portuguese, under

Lourenço de Almeida Lourenço de Almeida (c.1480 - March 1508) was a Portuguese explorer and military commander. He was born in Martim, Kingdom of Portugal, the son of Francisco de Almeida, first viceroy of Portuguese India. Acting under his father, Lourenço dist ...

, son of the Viceroy

Francisco de Almeida Dom Francisco de Almeida (), also known as the Great Dom Francisco (c. 1450 – 1 March 1510), was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against ...

, were inferior in number with only a light force, and located in the nearby harbour of

. The rest had sailed north to protect shipping and fight the so-called piracy. The Mamluks sailed into Chaul and fought for two days inconclusively with the Portuguese, unable to board their ships. Finally, Malik Ayaz sailed in with his own galleys. The Portuguese had to retreat and Almeida's ship was sunk at the entrance of Chaul harbour with Almeida aboard. Amir Hussain returned to the port of Diu, but from that point abandoned any further initiative on the Indian coast, his ships becoming derelict and his crews dispersing.

Aftermath

The Portuguese later returned and attacked the fleet in the harbour of Diu, leading to a decisive victory in the

Battle of Diu (1509) The Battle of Diu was a naval battle fought on 3 February 1509 in the Arabian Sea, in the port of Diu, India, between the Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, and the Zamorin ...

. These events would be followed by a new Ottoman intervention in 1538, with the

Siege of Diu A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterized ...

Notes

{{coord missing, Kerala

Maritime history of Portugal

Portuguese in Kerala 1508 in Portugal 1508 in India

1508 in the Mamluk Sultanate

Background

Preparations

Battle

Aftermath

See also

Notes