This Wall Was Accordingly
Commenced; But As Emanuel De Sousa, Who Commanded In The Castle Of Diu,
Considered That The
Wall now building was of a very different
description from a mere boundary, as intended in the treaty, and
appeared
To be destined for hostile purposes, he drove away the workmen,
threw down the wall, and made use of the materials for strengthening the
defences of the castle. Mahmud was highly offended at this procedure,
and at the instigation of his great minister Khojah Zofar, he secretly
used every possible means to stir up enemies to the Portuguese,
endeavouring to form an union of the Indian princes to expel them not
only from Diu but from all India.
In the course of this year 1544, the great Khan of the Tartars invaded
China and besieged Peking with a prodigious army, amounting to
millions of men. A large detachment from this vast army, among which
were 60,000 horse, was sent against the city of Quamsi, which was
plundered, and an immense number of the inhabitants put to the sword.
While on his return with this part of the army, Nauticor the Tartar
general attempted to reduce the fortress of Nixiancoo, but was
repulsed with the loss of 3000 men, on which he was disposed to desist
from the enterprise, deeming the place impregnable. Among the prisoners
taken at Quamsi were nine Portuguese, one of whom named George Mendez
made offer to the Tartar general to put him on a plan for gaining the
fortress of Nixiancoo, on condition that he and his companions were
restored to liberty.
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