Badur Soon
Found The Benefit Of His Alliance With The Portuguese, As Nizam-Al-Mulk
At The Instigation Of Nuno Made Peace With And Aided Him Against
Humayun; And A Portuguese Force Under Vasco Perez Recovered For Him A
Considerable Place Towards The Indus Named Varivene[203].
Garcia de Sa
and Antonio Galvam defended Basseen against the Moguls, who were
constrained to retreat from that place; and Mirza Mahmoud, nephew to
Badur, recovered many places on the frontiers from the Moguls.
Being
thus prosperous, solely by the assistance of the Portuguese, 500 of whom
served in his army under the command of Martin Alfonso de Sousa, Badur
repented of having allowed them to build a fort at Diu, and even began
to build a wall or fortification between the fort and the city, under
pretence of separating the Portuguese from the natives, to prevent
differences by too free communication. But after several strong
remonstrances this was desisted from.
[Footnote 203: Perhaps Warwama on the Gulf of Cutch. - E.]
In the year 1537, Badur became still more intent upon removing the
Portuguese from Diu, for which purpose he again sent to procure
assistance from the Turks, and in the mean time used his utmost
endeavours to take the fort and to destroy Nuno de Cuna, whom he invited
to Diu with that view. Though apprized of the treacherous designs of
Badur, De Cuna omitted to avail himself of an opportunity of securing
him while on a visit on board his ship, deferring it to a future
opportunity in a proposed conference in the fort. While Badur was going
on shore in his katur or barge, Emanuel de Sousa the commandant of the
fort of Diu followed him in a barge and went on board the royal katur to
give the invitation from the governor-general. At this time another
Portuguese barge coming up hastily, Badur became suspicious of some evil
intention, and ordered his officers to kill De Sousa. One Diega de
Mosquita who had aided Badur in the late war and had acquired a perfect
knowledge of the language, understood what was said by Badur, whom he
immediately attacked and wounded, but De Sousa was slain by his
attendants. Upon this a bloody affray took place between the Portuguese
and the attendants on Badur, in which seven of the latter were slain.
Several other boats belonging to both parties came up, and Badur
attempted to escape in his barge to the city, but was stopped by a
cannon-shot which killed three of his rowers; on which he endeavoured to
escape by swimming, but being in danger of drowning he called out,
discovering who he was. Tristan de Payva reached out an oar for him to
take hold of, that he might get on board the boat; but a soldier struck
him on the face with a halberd, and then others, till he was slain. His
body sunk, and neither it nor the body of De Sousa could afterwards be
found for interment.
Most of the citizens of Diu were witness to this scene from the walls,
and when the intelligence of the kings death reached the city, the
inhabitants began to abandon it in such haste and confusion that many
were trampled to death in the throng, being afraid that the Portuguese
would plunder them. The governor-general soon restored confidence by a
public proclamation, and the inhabitants returned quietly to their
houses. He even entered the town unarmed, to reassure the inhabitants
and to restrain the avarice of his people, so that no disorder was
committed. De Sousa being slain, as before mentioned, De Cuna gave the
command of the fortress of Diu to his brother-in-law Antonio de Sylveira
Menezes, and his gallant conduct afterwards shewed that he was worthy of
the station. The queen-mother had retired to Navanaguer[204], and Nuno
sent a message of condolence for the death of her son, endeavouring to
demonstrate that it had been occasioned by his own fault; but she
refused to receive or listen to the message. The treasure found in the
palace of Diu in gold and silver was of small value, not exceeding
200,000 pardaos[205], but the quantity of ammunition was exceedingly
great. The number of brass cannon was prodigious, those of iron not
being deemed worthy of account. Among the brass ordnance were three
basilisks of prodigious size, one of which was sent by De Cuna as a
curiosity to Lisbon, which was placed in the castle of St Julian at the
mouth of the Tagus, where it is known by the name of the Gun of Diu.
Among the papers belonging to Badur and his treasurer Abd' el Cader
letters were found from Saf Khan, communicating the progress he had
made in his negociations for bringing the Turks upon the Portuguese, and
copies of others from the sheikhs of Aden and Xael to the same
purpose. Having collected these and other testimonies of the treachery
of the late king, Nuno caused Khojah Zofar, a man of great reputation
among the citizens both Mahometans and Gentiles, to convene a meeting of
the principal people, merchants, and cazis, or teachers of the
Mahometan law, to whom these letters and testimonials were produced, in
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.
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