The Commander Of This Party, Named Tuam Calascar, On Learning
The Miscarriage Of Tuam Maxeliz, Pretended That He Came To The
Assistance Of Brito, And By That Means Was Permitted To Retire.
Soon after this Pedro de Faria arrived at Malacca from the Straits of
Sabam, bringing with him Abdela king
Of Campar, who being no longer
able to endure the insolence of his father-in-law Mahomet, came to
reside in security under the protection of the Portuguese in Malacca.
This was in the month of July [135], shortly after the arrival of George
de Albuquerque from Goa to command at Malacca. By instructions from the
viceroy, Abdela was appointed Bendara, or governor, of the natives,
which office had till then been enjoyed by Ninachetu, who was now
displaced on account of some miscarriage or malversation. Ninachetu, who
was a gentile, so much resented this affront, that he resolved to give a
signal demonstration of his fidelity and concern. He was very rich, and
gave orders to dress up a scaffold or funeral pile in the market-place
or bazar of Malacca, splendidly adorned with rich silks and cloth of
gold, the middle of the pile being composed of a vast heap of aromatic
wood of high price. The entire street from his dwelling to the pile was
strewed with sweet-scented herbs and flowers, and adorned with rich
hangings, correspondent to the magnificence of the pile. Having
collected all his friends, and clad himself and family in splendid
attire, he went in solemn procession to the bazar, where he mounted the
scaffold and made a long harangue, in which he protested his innocence
and declared that he had always served the Portuguese with the utmost
zeal and fidelity. Having ordered the pile to be fired, and seeing the
whole in flames, he declared that he would now mount to heaven in that
flame and smoke, and immediately cast himself into the flaming pile, to
the great admiration of all the beholders.
[Footnote 135: Faria omits any mention of the year, but from the context
it appears to have been in 1513. - E.]
At this time the king of Campar had gone home, intending to return to
assume his office of Bendara, but was hindered by Mahomet and the king
of Bintang, who fitted out a fleet of 70 sail with 2500 men under the
command of the king of Linga, and besieged Campar, in the harbour of
which town there were eight Portuguese vessels and some native proas,
under the command of George Botello. Observing this squadron to be
somewhat careless, the king of Linga fell suddenly with his galley on
the ship commanded by Botello, followed by the rest of his fleet; but
met with so warm a reception that his galley was taken, so that he had
to leap overboard, and the rest of the enemies fleet was put to flight.
The siege was now raised, and Botello conveyed the king of Campar to
Malacca, where he exercised the office of Bendara with so much judgment
and propriety, that in four months the city was visibly improved, great
numbers of people resorting thither who had formerly fled to Mahomet to
avoid the oppressions of Ninachetu. Perceiving the growth of the city
under the wise administration of Abdela, Mahomet determined to put a
stop to this prosperity by means of a fraud peculiar to a Moor. He gave
out secretly, yet so that it might spread abroad, that his son-in-law
had gone over to the Portuguese at Malacca with his knowledge and
consent, and that the same thing was done by all those who seemed to fly
there from Bintang, with the design to seize upon the fort on the first
opportunity, and restore it to him who was the lawful prince. This
secret, as intended by Mahomet, was at length divulged at Malacca, where
it produced the intended effect, as the commandant, George de
Albuquerque, gave more credit to this false report than to the honest
proceedings of the Bendara, who was tried and condemned as a traitor,
and had his head cut off on a public scaffold. In consequence of this
event, the city was left almost desolate by the flight of the native
inhabitants, and was afterwards oppressed by famine.
During the year 1513, while these transactions were going on at Malacca,
the viceroy Albuquerque visited the most important places under his
charge, and gave the necessary, orders for their security. He dispatched
his nephew Don Garcia to Cochin, with directions to expedite the
construction of the fort then building at Calicut. He appointed a
squadron of four sail, under the command of his nephew Pedro de
Albuquerque, to cruise from the mouth, of the Red Sea to that of the
Persian Gulf, with orders to receive the tribute of Ormuz when it became
due, and then to discover the island of Bahrayn, the seat of the great
pearl-fishery in that gulf. He sent ambassadors well attended to several
princes. Diego Fernandez de Beja went to the king of Cambaya, to treat
about the erection of a fort at Din, which had been before consented to,
but was now refused at the instigation of Maluk Azz. Fernandez returned
to Goa with magnificent presents to Albuquerque, among which was a
Rhinoceros or Abada, which was afterwards lost in the Mediterranean on
its way from king Manuel to the pope along with other Indian rarities.
Juan Gonzalez de Castello Branco was sent to the king of Bisnagar, to
demand restitution of the dependencies belonging to Goa, but with little
success.
In September 1513, five ships arrived at Goa from Portugal under the
command of Christopher de Brito, one of which bound for Cambaya was
lost. Having dispatched these ships with their homeward cargoes,
Albuquerque prepared for a military expedition, but was for some time
indetermined whether to bend his course for Ormuz or the Red Sea, both
expeditions having been ordered by the king.
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