As Almeyda
Found Himself Too Weak To Resist This Great Force, He Was Forced To
Retire; On Which The Governor Marched In Person Against The Enemy With
3000 Men In Five Battalions, And Was Soon Afterwards Joined By Francisco
De Melo With About 1500 More.
On the approach of this force the enemy
retired to the fort of Ponda followed by the Portuguese army, on which
occasion Don Alvaro de Castro, who led the van, gained possession of a
ford defended by 2000 musqueteers.
The main body of the enemy, twelve or
thirteen thousand strong, were drawn up in good order about the fort,
but fled at the first fire, leaving the fort entirely empty.
The victorious are sure to find friends. Cidoza king of Canara sent to
congratulate Don Juan de Castro upon this victory, and to propose a new
alliance with the Portuguese, which was accordingly concluded upon
advantageous terms, as always happens upon such occasions. This kingdom
of Charnataca, corruptly named Canara, had no sovereign prince
before the year 1200, when one Boca, a shepherd, assumed the
government, styling himself Rao which signifies emperor, a title that
has been continued by all his successors. This king, in memorial of a
victory gained by him over the king of Delhi, built the famous city of
Visajanagur, corruptly called Bisnagar. The crown continued in his line
till usurped by Narsinga, from whom the kingdom took that name, having
been formerly called Bisnagar from that of the city. Afterwards king
Malek sent also to confirm the peace between him and the Portuguese,
more through hatred to Adel Khan who was defeated, than from love to the
victorious Portuguese.
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