Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portuga ...

João da Nova João da Nova ( gl, Xoán de Novoa, Joam de Nôvoa; es, Juan de Nova; ; born c. 1460 in Maceda, Ourense, Galicia; died July 16, 1509 in Kochi, India) was a Portuguese-Galician explorer of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at the service of Portuga ...

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 t ...

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

Portuguese India armadas The Portuguese Indian Armadas ( pt, Armadas da Índia) were the fleets of ships funded by the Crown of Portugal, and dispatched on an annual basis from Portugal to India. The principal destination was Goa, and previously Cochin. These armada ...

Damião de Góis Damião de Góis (; February 2, 1502January 30, 1574), born in Alenquer, Portugal, was an important Portuguese humanist philosopher. He was a friend and student of Erasmus. He was appointed secretary to the Portuguese factory in Antwerp in 152 ...

Fernão Lopes de Castanheda Fernão Lopes de Castanheda (Santarém, c. 1500 – 1559 in Coimbra) was a Portuguese historian in the early Renaissance. His "History of the discovery and conquest of India", full of geographic and ethnographic objective information, was wid ...

Diogo do Couto Diogo do Couto (Lisbon, c. 1542 – Goa, 10 December 1616) was a Portuguese historian. Biography He was born in Lisbon in 1542 to Gaspar do Couto and Isabel Serrão Calvos. He studied Latin and Rhetoric at the College of Saint Anthony the Grea ...

Manuel de Faria e Sousa Manuel de Faria e Sousa (; es, Faria y Sousa; 18 March 1590 – 3 June 1649) was a Portuguese historian and poet. He frequently wrote in Spanish. He was born of an ancient Portuguese noble family, probably at Pombeiro, studied in Braga for s ...

Gaspar Correia Gaspar Correia (1492 – c. 1563 in Goa) was a Portuguese historian considered a Portuguese Polybius. He authored ''Lendas da Índia'' (Legends of India), one of the earliest and most important works about Portuguese rule in Asia.Duarte Pacheco, respectively. Joao da Nova

The modest armada carried 350–400 men, only 80 of which were armed. Its admiral was

João da Nova João da Nova ( gl, Xoán de Novoa, Joam de Nôvoa; es, Juan de Nova; ; born c. 1460 in Maceda, Ourense, Galicia; died July 16, 1509 in Kochi, India) was a Portuguese-Galician explorer of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at the service of Portuga ...

, a Galician-born minor noble. He was '' Alcalde Pequeno'' (municipal magistrate) of Lisbon, and his principal recommendation to the admiralship was probably his connection to the powerful Portuguese nobleman

Tristão da Cunha Tristão da Cunha (sometimes misspelled Tristão d'Acunha; ; c. 1460 – c. 1507) was a Portuguese explorer and naval commander. In 1499, he served as ambassador from King Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X, leading a luxurious embassy presentin ...

.

The owners of the two private ships, D.

Álvaro of Braganza Álvaro (, , ) is a Spanish, Galician and Portuguese male given name and surname (see Spanish naming customs) of Visigothic origin. Some claim it may be related to the Old Norse name Alfarr, formed of the elements ''alf'' "elf" and ''arr'' "warri ...

and

Bartolomeo Marchionni Bartolomeo Marchionni (late 15th to early 16th century) was a Florentine merchant established in Lisbon during the Age of Discovery. Bartolomeo Marchionni arrived circa 1468 at Lisbon as an agent to the Cambini. In a long career he became the mos ...

, a Florentine, had jointly outfitted the ''Anunciada'', one of the ships of the Second India Armada of

Pedro Álvares Cabral Pedro Álvares Cabral ( or ; born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia; c. 1467 or 1468 – c. 1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first human in ...

that was still at sea at the time. It was a considerable gamble for them to outfit the new ships before knowing the results of the previous enterprise. The ''Anunciada'' safely returned to Lisbon later in 1501 with a large cargo of spices. One of the passengers on the fleet was Paio Rodrigues, employed by D. Álvaro of Braganza to remain in India as a

factor Factor, a Latin word meaning "who/which acts", may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, suc ...

for the private consortium. Another was Álvaro de Braga, a crown factor who was heading for the African port of

Sofala Sofala, at present known as Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the Mwenemutapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in Sofala Province of Mozambique. It was founded by Somali merchants. This name w ...

.

Mission

The objective of the Third Armada was wholly commercial. Its mission was to go to India, load up with spices, and return home. The journey was expected to be uneventful. The journey's destination was

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 l ...

(known as ''Calecute'' in some sources, now Kozhikode), the principal spice hub in the state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

and the dominant city-state on the

Malabar coast The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing m ...

of

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 Third Armada expected – or hoped – that the well-equipped Second India Armada of

Pedro Álvares Cabral Pedro Álvares Cabral ( or ; born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia; c. 1467 or 1468 – c. 1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first human in ...

, which had departed in the previous year (1500), had succeeded in its ambassadorial mission to secure a treaty with Calicut and set up a

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

(''feitoria'', a trading hub) there. The armada was unaware that Cabral's Second Armada had not only failed in its mission, but it also began hostilities between Portugal and Calicut. João da Nova's Third Armada was sailing into a war that it did not expect and for which it was not equipped. The Third Armada also seems to have had a planned intermediary destination at

Sofala Sofala, at present known as Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the Mwenemutapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in Sofala Province of Mozambique. It was founded by Somali merchants. This name w ...

, where Cabral had been instructed to set up a factory. According to Correia, the crown ship of Francisco de Novais was designated to trade for gold in Sofala and leave the

factor Factor, a Latin word meaning "who/which acts", may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, suc ...

Álvaro de Braga, the clerk Diogo Barbosa (same name as captain) and an additional twenty-two men. Cabral's Second Armada had also already failed that mission: there was no Portuguese factory in Sofala. The armada could not have delayed its departure until the arrival of the news of the Second Armada. The seasonal

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

wind patterns of the Indian Ocean forced India-bound expeditions to leave Lisbon by April at the latest in order to find favorable southeasterly summer winds from Africa to India. Those same wind patterns determined that returning fleets could only arrive in Europe in the summer, June at the earliest. Although the difference between one fleet's departure and another fleet's arrival was only a few months, outbound fleets could not delay their departure until the previous year's fleet returned; if they did, an entire year would be lost. Therefore, both the crown and the private consortiums were willing to equip and launch the Third Armada in March 1501 before they received any news of the outcome of the Second Armada. The first ship of the Second Armada to arrive only did so in late June. Nova's Third Armada would learn of the Second Armada's voyage along its own voyage from notes and letters left by Cabral's ships at African staging posts. Even if the Third Armada learned about the misfortune of the Second Armada, the aforementioned conditions meant that it could not go home to acquire reinforcements or otherwise change the circumstances of its journey. Lightly armed, it would have to press on, sneak into India stealthily, avoid Calicut, load spices at friendly ports, and leave, all as quickly as possible.

Outward voyage

The armada left in the spring of 1501. Sources vary as to whether it left on March 5 or April 10;

Duarte Leite Duarte Leite Pereira da Silva, GCC (11 August 1864 in Porto – 29 September 1950 in Porto; ), was a Portuguese historian, mathematician, journalist, diplomat and politician. He graduated in Mathematics at the University of Coimbra, in 1885. He ...

's analysis claims that the earlier date is more likely. According to chroniclers, the first major events happened in May. Correia states that the Third Armada followed the instructions given by

Gaspar de Lemos Gaspar de Lemos (15th century) was a Portuguese explorer and captain of the supply ship of Pedro Álvares Cabral's fleet that arrived to Brazil. Gaspar de Lemos was sent back to Portugal with news of their discovery and was credited by the Viscoun ...

or André Gonçalves (the captain of a ship that returned from Brazil the previous year). It went southwest and made a brief watering stop at

Cape St. Augustine Cabo de Santo Agostinho (English: Cape of St. Augustine) is a 448 square kilometer sized municipality located 35 kilometers south of the city of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. It is believed by some historians that Vicente Yáñez Pinzón had set anc ...

in northeast Brazil, before heading towards southern Africa. All other chroniclers do not mention the Brazilian stop. Barros and Góis mention the discovery of Ascension Island in the same month, an event that Correia himself does not record. Proceeding in the South Atlantic, Nova sighted Ascension Island, which he named ''Ilha da Conceição'' ("Conception Island"). The island is confirmed to have been discovered later by

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

, who gave it its modern name (''ilha da Ascensção'') in 1503. The fleet crossed the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

on July 7, 1501 without a known incident. It anchored at

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...

(''Aguada de São Brás''). There, Nova found a note in a shoe by a watering hole. The note was left about a month earlier by Pêro de Ataíde, one of the captains of the returning Second Armada. Ataíde's note, addressed to all captains bound for India, warned that Calicut had become hostile to the Portuguese, but that

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

(''Cochim'', now Kochi) and

Cannanore Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a Cities in India, city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city a ...

(now Kannur) were still friendly ports where spices could be procured. It also recommended India-bound captains to go to

Malindi Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Sabaki River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi was 119,859 as of the 2019 census. It is the largest urban cent ...

, where

Pedro Álvares Cabral Pedro Álvares Cabral ( or ; born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia; c. 1467 or 1468 – c. 1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first human in ...

left letters that contained more detailed information. Centuries later, the South African government declared the milkwood tree where Ataíde hung his shoe a national monument and erected a shoe-shaped postbox below it. In the middle of July 1501, the Third Armada arrived at

Mozambique Island The Island of Mozambique ( pt, Ilha de Moçambique) lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay, and is part of Nampula Province. Prior to 1898, it was the capital of colonial Portuguese East Africa. With its ric ...

. Disregarding instructions, Nova decided against dispatching Novais's ship to Sofala. Nova probably concluded that he needed to take all of his men due to the threat of a military engagement in India. Soon after, he set sail up the East African coast. At the same time, Nova possibly discovered

Juan de Nova Island Juan de Nova Island (french: Île Juan de Nova, ), Malagasy: ''Nosy Kely'') is a French-controlled tropical island in the narrowest part of the Mozambique Channel, about one-third of the way between Madagascar and Mozambique. It is a low, flat ...

in the

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (french: Canal du Mozambique, mg, Lakandranon'i Mozambika, pt, Canal de Moçambique) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about lon ...

and the

Farquhar atoll The Farquhar Atoll is part of the Farquhar Group of islands in the Seychelles that are part of the Outer Islands. It is located southwest of the capital, Victoria, on Mahé Island. History The atoll was named in honor of Robert Townsend Farqu ...

, part of the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

, which were named the "João da Nova islands" until the 19th century. Around the same time, the armada arrived at the Swahili citadel of

Kilwa Kilwa Kisiwani (English: ''Kilwa Island'') is an island, national historic site, and hamlet community located in the township of Kilwa Masoko, the district seat of Kilwa District in the Tanzanian region of Lindi Region in southern Tanzania. K ...

(''Quiloa''). A Portuguese ''

degredado ''Degredado'' is the traditional Portuguese term for an exiled convict, especially between the 15th and 18th centuries. The term ''degredado'' (etymologically, a 'decreed one', from Latin '' decretum'') is a traditional Portuguese legal term used ...

'' (convict exile), António Fernandes, greeted them on the beach or on a rowboat. According to Barros and Góis, he was António Fernandes, who carried letters from Cabral; Correia writes that he was Pêro Esteves, who was carrying no letters. The ''degredado'' informed Nova of the state of affairs in Kilwa. Barros suggests that, on this occasion, João da Nova personally met Muhammad Arcone, a Kilwan noble who would later play a critical role in Portuguese–Kilwan affairs. Correia notes that Nova was wary of approaching Kilwa, and refused to go ashore despite repeated invitations; he had the degredado negotiate the provision of some supplies, probably

citrus fruit ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

, from the city for his

scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...

-sick crews and hurriedly moved on. Barros suggests that in late July, the Third Armada immediately set sail for India after it left Kilwa. Correia claims that Nova sailed first to Malindi to deliver a letter from King Manuel I of Portugal to the Sultan of Malindi. According to Correia, the sultan received the Portuguese well, supplying them amply with biscuits, rice, butter, chickens, sheep and other foods. He further writes that it was now that Nova received the letters that Cabral had dispatched by a messenger from Mozambique, from which he learned more about the

Zamorin The Samoothiri (Anglicised as Zamorin; Malayalam: , Arabic: ''Sāmuri'', Portuguese: ''Samorim'', Dutch: ''Samorijn'', Chinese: ''Shamitihsi''Ma Huan's Ying-yai Sheng-lan: 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores' 433 Translated and Edited by ...

(monarch) of Calicut, the Portuguese factory at Cochin and the friendly relations with Cannanore and

Quilon Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city ...

. In this version, the Third Armada left Malindi on July 28, 1501, and crossed the Indian Ocean after 18 days.

Nova in India

In August 1501, João da Nova's Third Armada arrived in India at the Santa Maria islands off the

Malabar coast The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing m ...

. According to Correia, Nova named the islands because of the feast of the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

(August 15). Narratives about the ensuing events differ. Barros says that Nova immediately began going down the Indian coast to Kerala, but Correia claims that he stopped by the port of Batecala (now Bhatkal), which was the principal trade port of the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana an ...

, and lingered there, engaging in trade with merchants in the harbors, and chasing pirates in Onor (now Honnavar). Both narratives agree that the Third Armada eventually began going down the Indian coast to Kerala, attempting to capture two merchant ships, allegedly from Calicut, near Mount d'Eli (now Ezhimala Hill) along the way. The two-month delay between the Third Armada's reputed arrival in India (August) and its first recorded activities in India (November) has been subject to speculation. Correia suggests that the Third Armada simply lingered in the area between Batecala and Mount d'Eli to trade and perhaps engage in piracy before it headed south to Cannanore. Others hypothesize that during this interlude, Nova launched exploratory ventures far to the south below Cape Comorin to locate the fabled island of

Taprobana Taprobana ( grc, Ταπροβανᾶ) and Taprobane (, ) was the name by which the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka was known to the ancient Greeks. History Reports of the island's existence were known before the time of Alexander the Great ...

(Ceylon), the world's main source of

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

. The Third Armada arrived in Cannanore in November. They were well received by the

Kolathiri Kolathiri or Kolathiri Rājā (King of KolathunāduA. Shreedhara Menon (2007), ''A brief History of Kerala'', DC Books, Kottayam or King of Cannanore in foreign accounts) was the title by which the senior-most male along the matrilineal line of ...

Raja of Cannanore, who immediately urged João da Nova to load his ships with spices from the city's markets. Nova rejected the offer because he first had to collect the supplies already acquired by the Portuguese factory in Cochin. Before leaving, Nova left a few agents with instructions to purchase spices, principally

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

and

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

, in Cannanore to be loaded later. Some sources note that Nova established the Portuguese factory in Cannanore at this point. However, the factor whom he left behind was Paio Rodrigues, a private agent of D.

Álvaro of Braganza Álvaro (, , ) is a Spanish, Galician and Portuguese male given name and surname (see Spanish naming customs) of Visigothic origin. Some claim it may be related to the Old Norse name Alfarr, formed of the elements ''alf'' "elf" and ''arr'' "warri ...

and the Marchionni consortium, not an employee of the Casa da India, the crown trading house. The Casa itself, a proxy of the Portuguese Crown, would only install a factor in Cannanore with the Fourth Armada. While he was in Cannanore, João da Nova received an embassy from the Zamorin of Calicut. Accompanying the embassy was Gonçalo Peixoto, a Portuguese survivor of the previous year's massacre who had remained in Calicut for the past year. In a letter to Nova, the Zamorin expressed sadness at the Calicut Massacre of December 1500, blaming it on hatred between Muslims and Christians that he never understood. He claimed that he, as a Hindu prince, only had a desire for friendship and peace with Portugal. The Zamorin also reported that the ringleaders of the riot had been rounded up and punished, and invited Nova to Calicut to collect the wares left behind in the Portuguese factory and receive compensation. Proposing to dispatch two ambassadors with Nova's fleet back to Lisbon, he expressed a desire to make a final treaty with King Manuel I of Portugal. The Kolathiri Raja of Cannanore recommended Nova to accept the offer. Gonçalo Peixoto warned Nova to reject the offer, claiming that the Zamorin was luring him into a trap and at the time preparing a war fleet in Calicut. Nova did not reply to the Zamorin's entreaty. Peixoto joined Nova's fleet. Correia asserts that Peixoto did not come; Nova agreed to the offer from the Zamorin's emissary to Cannanore and sailed to

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 l ...

. The Third Armada anchored by the harbor there, waiting for the promised wares to be shipped from shore, when an unnamed Christian came aboard and warns him about the Zamorin's intentions. Before Nova left, he captured three merchant ships, including one owned by the Zamorin himself, at the mouth of Calicut harbor. He seized their cargoes and burned the vessels in plain view of the city. Valuable loot from the ships included silver Indian nautical instruments, and navigational charts. Arriving in Cochin, João da Nova encountered a factor left by Cabral, Gonçalo Gil Barbosa, who reports trading difficulties in the local markets. Indian spice merchants required payment in silver, but Cabral had left the factor only with Portuguese goods, mainly cloth. He was expected to use the trading revenue from the sale of the Portuguese goods to buy spices. However, the Portuguese wares had little value in Indian markets, so Barbosa still had his unsold stock and was unable to obtain silver to buy spices. The factor suspected that Arab merchant guilds had engineered a boycott of Portuguese goods in India. He also reported that the Trimumpara Raja of Cochin, despite his alliance and protection of the factory, was furious at the Portuguese because Cabral's Second Armada had departed too suddenly, not taking two noble Cochinese noble hostages with it. Sources ascribe the lack of silver cash as the pressing problem that Nova did not anticipate. He did not bring much because he expected to raise cash through selling Portuguese goods. Nova immediately set sail back to Cannanore to see if the agents whom he left there had raised cash, but they faced the same problem. The Kolathiri Raja of Cannanore finally intervened, placing himself as security for the sale of spices to the Portuguese on credit and allowing the Portuguese to obtain spices.

Discovery of Ceylon

In 1898, excavations underneath the Breakwater Office in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, Sri Lanka, revealed a boulder with a Portuguese inscription, a coat of arms, and the clearly denoted date 1501. That was four years before

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 ...

's arrival on the island, the formal date (1505) of the Portuguese discovery of Ceylon. Much speculation has surrounded the inscription. The earliest theory was that the boulder was an uncompleted gravestone for a Portuguese captain born in 1501 (death date missing). However, the arms and style of the inscription appeared to be of a ''

padrão A ''padrão'' is a stone pillar left by Portuguese maritime explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries to record significant landfalls and thereby establish primacy and possession. They were often placed on promontories and capes or at the mouths o ...

'', the typical marker of a Portuguese claim. Some argue that the date is simply a mistake or that the "1" in 1501 is a poorly carved digit. Another theory is that what appears to be a number is actually an acronym, ISOI (''Iesus Salvator Orientalium Indicorum'' – "Jesus the Savior of the East Indies"). Nonetheless, some historians, notably Bouchon in 1980, have argued that the inscription was made by a captain of the Third Armada of 1501. The sources that describe the journey of the armada do not record that it stumbled upon Ceylon, but the journey of the armada was poorly recorded as a whole. Portuguese inscription in Colombo, 1501

Bouchon (1980) speculates that the discovery happened during an exploratory venture launched from

Anjediva Island Anjediva Island (also Anjadip Island) ( Konkani: Anjadiv; Portuguese: ''Ilha de Angediva'') is an Indian island in the Arabian Sea. It sits off the coast of Canacona. It is politically part of Goa state, geographically the nearest mainland is t ...

or the Santa Maria islands. Another theory that he suggests (p. 257) is that the journey to Ceylon was sometime in late November or early December 1501. Under this scenario, Nova did not immediately return to Cannanore after he realized the cash problem, but rather he or one of his captains either stumbled upon Ceylon or was guided there by a local, hoping for better success there. None of these theories are confirmed or suggested in any written accounts.

First Battle of Cannanore

In mid-December 1501, the Third Armada was preparing to leave India, loaded with spices from Cannanore and other goods from piratical attacks. News arrived, however, that a battle fleet led by the Zamorin was approaching. Sometime in December, Nova's fleet was cornered by the Zamorin's fleet as he was about to leave Cannanore. The Zamorin's fleet comprised nearly 40 large ships, and 180 small ships called ''paraus'' and ''zambuks''. He commanded an estimated 7,000 men. The Raja of Cannanore urged Nova to stay under his protection and avoid conflict. Nova rejected the Raja's offer, attempting to break out with a favorable breeze. The Third Armada fired its cannons to breach the Zamorin's line. Once a breach was opened, four Portuguese ships charged into the breach in a

column formation A military column is a formation of soldiers marching together in one or more files in which the file is significantly longer than the width of ranks in the formation. The column formation allows the unit rapid movement and a very effective charge ...

, their side cannons blasting. The pounding from the cannons and the height of Nova's ships prevented the Calicut forces from boarding the Portuguese ships with grappling hooks. The less seaworthy fleet of the Zamorin, pursuing the escaping Portuguese, began to splinter due to intense cannon fire. The increased distance between the slowed-down Calicut fleet and the Third Armada caused the former to stop aiming to board the Portuguese ships, causing the battle to become a ranged artillery duel. The Calicut fleet retreated after it realized that its cannons' range and reloading speed could not match those of the Third Armada. Nova gave a brief chase, finally breaking up the engagement on January 2, 1502. After two days of fighting, the Third Armada had sunk five large ships and about a dozen oar-driven boats. It inflicted great damage on the remaining vessels of the Zamorin while it was not damaged much itself. Although João da Nova was not prepared for a fight, the two-day naval battle off Cannanore is regarded by some as the first significant Portuguese naval engagement in the Indian Ocean. It was not the first clash between Portuguese and Indian ships –

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

's First Armada and Cabral's Second Armada also fought with various Indian fleets. Earlier encounters were fought against mostly poorly armed merchant ships, pirates and isolated squads; a single well-armed

caravel The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing win ...

could win a battle against these targets with ease. In the First Battle of Cannanore, the Zamorin of Calicut had attacked directly, deploying the best fleet he could against a small group of Portuguese merchant

carrack A carrack (; ; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade fr ...

s, which were significantly less heavily armed than the ships of Gama and Cabral. According to the Portuguese Navy's official website, the battle is also historically notable for being one of the earliest recorded deliberate uses of a naval column, later called

line of battle The line of battle is a tactic in naval warfare in which a fleet of ships forms a line end to end. The first example of its use as a tactic is disputed—it has been variously claimed for dates ranging from 1502 to 1652. Line-of-battle tacti ...

, and for being resolved by cannon fire alone. The tactics used in the battle became increasingly prevalent as naval technology and strategy evolved, causing the battle to have been called the first modern naval battle.

Return voyage

In early 1502, the Third Armada captured another Calicut merchant ship near Mount d'Eli, which it sacked, burned and sunk. It began the return voyage soon afterwards. The armada made two watering stops in East Africa: first at Malindi, where Nova deposited letters that would be received later that year by

Thomé Lopes Thomé Lopes (sometimes modernized as Tomé Lopes) was a Portuguese scrivener, writer of an eyewitness account of the second journey of Vasco da Gama to India (1502–1503). Thomé Lopes's background is obscure. All that is known is that he wa ...

, and second at

Mozambique Island The Island of Mozambique ( pt, Ilha de Moçambique) lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay, and is part of Nampula Province. Prior to 1898, it was the capital of colonial Portuguese East Africa. With its ric ...

.

After turning around the Cape of Good Hope, Nova sailed into the South Atlantic and discovered the uninhabited island of Saint Helena while he was returning home. It is believed that the island was named after St. Helen. By tradition the date is the

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

of the saint on May 21.

Jan Huyghen van Linschoten Jan Huygen van Linschoten (1563 – 8 February 1611) was a Dutch merchant, trader and historian. He travelled extensively along the East Indies regions under Portuguese influence and served as the archbishop's secretary in Goa between 1583 ...

in a 2015 paper says that the date is a mistakenly quoted Protestant feast day for a discovery made two decades before the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, instead suggesting May 3 as the more likely date, the feast day of the

True Cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...

. According to legend, Nova anchored on the western side of the island and built a timber chapel at the location of the future Jamestown, Saint Helena. The island became a routine staging post on future Portuguese expeditions to India, but its existence and location was a Portuguese secret for the next eighty years until English captain

Thomas Cavendish Sir Thomas Cavendish (1560 – May 1592) was an English explorer and a privateer known as "The Navigator" because he was the first who deliberately tried to emulate Sir Francis Drake and raid the Spanish towns and ships in the Pacific and retu ...

stumbled upon it in 1588. Nova's Third Armada arrived in Lisbon on September 11, 1502. According to the letters by Italian merchants in Lisbon, the Third Armada brought back 900 ''cantari'' (

quintal The quintal or centner is a historical unit of mass in many countries which is usually defined as 100 base units, such as pounds or kilograms. It is a traditional unit of weight in France, Portugal, and Spain and their former colonies. It is com ...

s) of

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diame ...

, 550 of

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

, 30 of

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

, 25 of

lac Lac is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is ''Kerria lacca''. Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infes ...

, and other assorted goods. The amount of cinnamon has been cited as evidence of the theory that the armada visited Ceylon, but cinnamon was not rare in other Indian markets. Some of the cinnamon may have come from the cargoes of seized vessels.

Aftermath

The expedition of the Third Armada was not considered a resounding success. Although there was no significant loss of ships or men, the armada came back with fewer spices than what was anticipated; letters insinuate that the cargo holds were partially empty. Nova also failed to trade for gold in Africa. The report of the cash constraint in India and the armada's reliance on piracy to fill its holds disheartened Portuguese merchants, who had previously thought that they could make easy profits on both legs of the India run. In contrast, the discovery of Ascension Island and Saint Helena was well received. The armada arrived too late to supply information from the journey to Gama's heavily armed 4th India Armada, which had already left Lisbon.

Revision of island discoveries

There are doubts regarding the Third Armada's discovery of Ascension Island and Saint Helena. It is customary to credit João da Nova's Third Armada for discovering Ascension Island, albeit it named the island "Conception Island", on its outward journey in May 1501 and Saint Helena on his return journey on May 21, 1502. The main accounts that have led to this widespread belief are from Barros and Góis. Barros and Góis later suggest that Ascension island was re-discovered twice. Gama's returning Fourth Armada re-discovered it when it was returning to Lisbon in the spring of 1503; eyewitness

Thomé Lopes Thomé Lopes (sometimes modernized as Tomé Lopes) was a Portuguese scrivener, writer of an eyewitness account of the second journey of Vasco da Gama to India (1502–1503). Thomé Lopes's background is obscure. All that is known is that he wa ...

gives the date as July 30, 1503.

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

's outgoing Fifth Armada discovered the island on May 20, 1503 and renamed it ''ilha da Ascensção''. Nevertheless, modern historians have found anomalies with the conventional account, suggesting that Barros and Góis were mistaken and offering alternative accounts of the discovery of the two islands. In the Catholic liturgical calendar, the Feast of Conception is on December 8, while the

Feast of the Ascension The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (i.e., shared by ...

would be in May 1501. Historians contend that the latter fits the timing of the Armada's discovery better, so Nova would be unlikely to name it "Conception Island" rather than "Ascension". Furthermore, the

Cantino planisphere The Cantino planisphere or Cantino world map is a manuscript Portuguese world map preserved at the Biblioteca Estense in Modena, Italy. It is named after Alberto Cantino, an agent for the Duke of Ferrara, who successfully smuggled it from Portu ...

, composed in late 1502 (after Nova returned, but before Albuquerque left), denotes an ''ilha achada e chamada ascenssam'' ("island found and called Ascension") but not St. Helena. However, Thomé Lopes, an eyewitness to the return of the 4th Armada, noted that Saint Helena was an "unknown island", and gave its position as 200 leagues away from "Ascension Island" – not "Conception". The 4th Armada had already left Portugal when Nova returned. Because of these two anomalies, Leite concludes that Nova discovered and named Ascension Island on the outgoing voyage on May 20, 1501 but did not discover St. Helena on the return voyage. Roukema disagrees with Leite. He cites that it would have been nautically bizarre for Nova, on his outgoing journey, to sail from Cape St. Augustine in Brazil to Ascension Island directly against the winds and currents. The usual route to the Cape of Good Hope was to follow an ocean current known as the

South Atlantic Gyre The South Atlantic Gyre is the subtropical gyre in the south Atlantic Ocean. In the southern portion of the gyre, northwesterly (or southeastward-flowing) winds drive eastward-flowing currents that are difficult to distinguish from the northern ...

, whose path additionally had favorable winds. Roukema proposes that Nova did discover Ascension island on his return voyage on May 5, 1502 (Ascension Day).Roukema, 1963: p. 16 However, only Correia suggests that Nova stopped in Brazil, so Roukema's theory rests on conflicting chronicles. Nonetheless, Roukema agrees with Barros and Góis in that Nova discovered some island on his outgoing journey, conjecturing that he actually discovered the

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately from Cape Town in South Africa, from Saint Helena ...

island group in the South Atlantic. The Cantino planisphere depicts the so-called Ascension Island as multiple islands. Additionally, the one-day difference between Ascension Day (May 20) and St. Helen's Day (May 21) may be the source of confusion of the names. Thus Roukema asserts that Nova discovered and reported the Tristan da Cunha group on the outgoing voyage on May 21, 1501, calling it "Saint Helena", and Ascension island on the return voyage on May 5, 1502, calling it "Ascension Island". However, because of the dates, the two islands were conflated, and the inconsistently used name "Saint Helena" misled Barros and Góis. Nova was in India in December, and there is no reconciliation of the timing with the liturgical calendar; therefore, Livermore contends that the identification "Conception Island" was a mistake. He also notes that Thomé Lopes could not have known the name "Ascension Island" in July 1503 because his ship left Lisbon before Nova returned. A possible resolution to the latter issue, as Lopes writes, is that the Fourth Armada met the outgoing ships of the Fifth Armada near the Cape of Good Hope in July 1503. Accepting the theories of Roukema, Livermore, and other similarly thinking historians leaves doubt about the actual discovery of Saint Helena. Many cite the account of Estêvão da Gama, Vasco da Gama's cousin, on the fleet of the Fourth Armada, which was returning in early 1503. However, the eyewitness account of Thomé Lopes indicates that he landed on Saint Helena on July 30, 1503. Lopes writes that on St. Helen's day (May 21, 1503), almost all the ships of the Fourth Armada, including Estêvão da Gama's, were stuck on

Mozambique Island The Island of Mozambique ( pt, Ilha de Moçambique) lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay, and is part of Nampula Province. Prior to 1898, it was the capital of colonial Portuguese East Africa. With its ric ...

with severe sailing problems. Vasco de Gama ordered ships to depart in small groups as they were repaired. Lopes departed Mozambique on June 16 with three ships, noting an anonymous

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

sailor, who also confirms landing on a South Atlantic island on June 30 in an account.The anonymous Flemish sailor reports a massacre on the uninhabited island: "On the 30th day of June we found an island, where we killed at least 300 men, and we caught many of them, and we took there water and departed thence on the 1st day of August" (English trans. in J.P. Berjeau, 1874, ''Calcoen, a Dutch narrative of the second voyage of Vasco da Gama to Calicut, printed at Antwerp circa 1504''. London
p. 37
His "men" may be of birds, perhaps penguins, or turtles. The ships were very short of supplies. He also confuses June with July. Two of the three ships that Lopes describes had gone to India in 1502 as part of a squadron led by Estêvão da Gama, but they returned in 1503 without him. Lopes's account gives no reason for the island to be named "Saint Helena" since the date reported – July 30, 1503 – was not a feast day of St. Helen. The earliest possible feast day was August 18. Lopes does not state the exact date of his departure from the island, but the Fleming reports that they left on August 1. A possibility is that Saint Helena was first discovered by a different ship of the Fourth Armada – not part of the trio that carried Lopes, but another that departed from Mozambique Island earlier in May.

References and notes

Sources

Chronicles * João de Barros (1552) ''Décadas da Ásia: Dos feitos, que os Portuguezes fizeram no descubrimento, e conquista, dos mares, e terras do Oriente.'', 1777–78 ed. ''Da Ásia de João de Barros e Diogo do Couto'', Lisbon: Régia Officina Typografica
Vol. 1 (Dec I, Lib.1–5)
*

Diogo do Couto Diogo do Couto (Lisbon, c. 1542 – Goa, 10 December 1616) was a Portuguese historian. Biography He was born in Lisbon in 1542 to Gaspar do Couto and Isabel Serrão Calvos. He studied Latin and Rhetoric at the College of Saint Anthony the Grea ...

"De todas as Armadas que os Reys de Portugal mandáram à Índia, até que El-Rey D. Filippe succedeo nestes Reynos", de 1497 a 1581", in J. de Barros and D. de Couto, ''Décadas da Ásia'
Dec. X, Pt.1, Bk.1, c.16
*

Fernão Lopes de Castanheda Fernão Lopes de Castanheda (Santarém, c. 1500 – 1559 in Coimbra) was a Portuguese historian in the early Renaissance. His "History of the discovery and conquest of India", full of geographic and ethnographic objective information, was wid ...

(1551–1560) ''História do descobrimento & conquista da Índia pelos portugueses'' (1833 edition, Lisbon: Typ. Rollandian
v.1
*

Gaspar Correia Gaspar Correia (1492 – c. 1563 in Goa) was a Portuguese historian considered a Portuguese Polybius. He authored ''Lendas da Índia'' (Legends of India), one of the earliest and most important works about Portuguese rule in Asia.Vol 1
*

Damião de Góis Damião de Góis (; February 2, 1502January 30, 1574), born in Alenquer, Portugal, was an important Portuguese humanist philosopher. He was a friend and student of Erasmus. He was appointed secretary to the Portuguese factory in Antwerp in 152 ...

(1566–67) ''Chrónica do Felicíssimo Rei D. Manuel, da Gloriosa Memoria, Ha qual por mandado do Serenissimo Principe, ho Infante Dom Henrique seu Filho, ho Cardeal de Portugal, do Titulo dos Santos Quatro Coroados, Damiam de Goes collegio & compoz de novo.'' (As reprinted in 1749, Lisbon: M. Manescal da Costa
Online
* ''Relação das Náos e Armadas da India com os Sucessos dellas que se puderam Saber, para Noticia e Instrucção dos Curiozos, e Amantes da Historia da India'' (Codex Add. 20902 of the British Library), . António de Ataíde, orig. editor.Transcribed and reprinted in 1985, by M.H. Maldonado, Biblioteca Geral da Universidade de Coimbra
Online
Secondary * Birch, W. de G. (1877) "Introduction" to translation of

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

(1557) ''The Commentaries of the great Afonso Dalboquerque, second viceroy of India'', 4 volumes, London: Hakluyt Society * Dames, M.L. (1918) "Introduction" in ''An Account Of The Countries Bordering On The Indian Ocean And Their Inhabitants, Vol. 1'' (Engl. transl. of ''Livro de Duarte de Barbosa''), 2005 reprint, New Delhi: Asian Education Services. * Bouchon, G. (1980) "A propos de l'inscription de Colombo (1501): quelques observations sur le premier voyage de João da Nova dans l'Océan Indien", ''Revista da Universidade de Coimbra'', Vol. 28, p. 233-70.
Offprint.
* Danvers, Frederic Charles (1894) ''The Portuguese in India, being a history of the rise and decline of their eastern empire. Vol. 1 (1498–1571) London: Allen. *Diffie, B. W., and G. D. Winius (1977) ''Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415–1580'', Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press * Leite, Duarte (1960) ''História dos Descobrimentos'', Vol. II Lisbon: Edições Cosmos * Mathew, K.S. (1997) "Indian Naval Encounters with the Portuguese: Strengths and weaknesses", in K.K.N. Kurup, editor, ''India's Naval Traditions'', New Delhi: Northern Book Centre. * Monteiro, Saturnino (1989) ''Batalhas e combates da Marinha Portuguesa: 1139–1521'' Lisbon: Livraria Sá da Costa * Quintella, Ignaco da Costa (1839) ''Annaes da Marinha Portugueza'', v.1. Lisbon: Academia Real das Sciencias. * Radulet, Carmen M. (1985) "Girolamo Sergini e a Importância Económica do Oriente", ''Revista da Universidade de Coimbra'', Vol. 32, p. 67–77
Offprint
* Report (1899) "Antiquarian Discovery Relating to the Portuguese in Ceylon", ''Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. 16, p. 15–2
Online
* Roukema, E. (1963) "Brazil in the Cantino Map", ''Imago Mundi'', Vol. 17, p. 7–26 * Subrahmanyam, S. (1997) ''The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. * Smallman, D.K. (2003) ''Quincentenary: A Story of St Helena,1502–2002''. Pezance, UK: Patten. {{DEFAULTSORT:3rd Portuguese India Armada (Nova, 1501) Portuguese India Armadas Maritime history of Portugal Portuguese in Kerala 1501 in Portugal 1501 in India 16th century in Portuguese India 1501 in the Portuguese Empire 1501 in Portuguese India

Fleet

Mission

Outward voyage

Nova in India

Discovery of Ceylon

First Battle of Cannanore

Return voyage

Aftermath

Revision of island discoveries

References and notes

Sources