This Man Was Born In Slavery, Being Descended
Of Heretic Christian Parents Of Russia, And Had Risen By Degrees To The
Rank He Now Held.
The origin of his advancement was owing to the
following trivial incident.
One day a kite flying over the king of
Cambaya, muted on his head, on which the king was so enraged that he
declared he would give all he was worth to have the kite killed. Malek
Azz who heard this, was an excellent bowman, and immediately let fly an
arrow which brought down the kite. The king of Cambaya rewarded this
lucky shot so bountifully, that the archer soon rose to be lord of Diu,
a famous sea-port in Guzerat, seated on a triangular peninsula, which is
joined to the continent by so small an isthmus that it is generally
reputed an island. In this letter to the viceroy, Malek Azz craftily
endeavoured to secure himself at the same time both in the favour of the
king of Cambaya, and to conciliate the Portuguese, though he mortally
hated them for the injury they had done to the trade of Diu. While he
pretended to condole with the viceroy on the death of his son, whose
bravery he extolled in exalted terms, he sent him the nineteen men saved
from his sons ship, who had been made prisoners in the late battle;
endeavouring by this conciliatory conduct to appease his wrath for
having aided Mir Husseyn and occasioned the defeat of the Portuguese.
In this same year 1508, seventeen vessels sailed for India from Lisbon
about the beginning of April, which were all separated by bad weather,
but all rejoined at Mozambique, except one which was lost on the Islands
of Tristan de Cunna. These ships, with those of the former year, coming
all together to India about the close of the year 1508, greatly raised
the courage of the Portuguese, which had been much depressed by their
defeat at Chaul. By this fleet an order came from the king for Don
Francisco de Almeyda to resign the government of India to Don Alfonso de
Albuquerque, and to return to Portugal in one of the trading ships. But
Almeyda took upon him to suspend the execution of this order, under
pretence that he had already made preparations for taking revenge upon
Mir Husseyn, and the Rums or Turks[105] who had slain his son. Owing to
this a controversy arose between Albuquerque and Almeyda, the former
demanding possession of the government, which the latter refused to
demit; which became a precedent for succeeding governors to protract the
time of their command. Albuquerque, much offended by this conduct of
Almeyda, retired to Cochin, where he appears to have lived in private
till the departure of Almeyda from India.
[Footnote 105: The Turks, as having conquered the eastern Roman empire,
have succeeded in India to the name of Rums, Rumi, or Romans. The
Circassian Mamelukes of Egypt are here named Turks, because so soon
afterwards conquered by that nation.
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