 By 1525, the Portuguese had established a fortress at Calicut.

Out of the innumerable

skirmishes at sea a few engagements stand out.

 Mohammed kunjali Marakkar, first Admiral of Calicut has two deputies Kiti Ali and
Pachi marakkar.

 Kutti ali used smaller crafts War Padaos which could be rowed through lagoons and
narrow waters.

 The Portuguese squadron, under the command of Lope Vaz da Sampayo, came upon
Kutti Ali’s fleet off Cannanore and a long-drawn and indecisive engagement followed. Kutti
Ali’s fleet, however, managed to approach Calicut and bombard the Portuguese citadel.

 On February 26, 1525, the Portuguese under Henry Menezes struck at the newly
developed base at Ponnani, and a few ships berthed in the roadstead caught fire. Kutti

 Ali in retaliation stormed the port of Cochin, set fire to the Portuguese ships and
managed to get away unhindered.

 During the Zamorin’s siege of Calicut in the same year, Kutti Ali’s ships blockaded
the port and to a large extent interrupted the Portuguese logistic support arriving from Cochin
and Goa.

 While menacing the Portuguese, Kutti Ali strove to avoid a direct engagement with
the caravels.

 In 1528, however, a powerful Portuguese armada forced him to give battle off Barkur
in which the Zamorin’s fleet suffered severe reverses and Kutti Ali was taken prisoner.

 The Portuguese came upon the island of Ceylon by chance when Don Lorenzo drifted
into Colombo after a heavy squall, and they were quick to seize the opportunity to make a
settlement there.

 The Calicut and Arab ships, which were regularly calling at this port, were subjected
to the traditional Portuguese treatment. This brought Kunjali’s fleet out to Negapatam in the
east coast and to the Ceylonese waters, and it got embroiled in a civil war in the island.

 After a prolonged stay in the region, the bulk of Kunjali’s fleet was destroyed off
Vidulai near Rameswaram and Kunjali himself is reported to have been killed on shore at
Puttalam in Ceylon.

 The Zamorin was by now convinced of the futility of such illconceived operations and
realized that, as a last resort, he should
invoke the assistance of a comparable naval power from outside India to evict the Portuguese
finally. He, therefore, parleyed with Turkey and secured a Turkish fleet of 70 ships,
commanded by Sulaiman Pasha, which arrived in 1538. The fleet arrived off Diu and
bombarded the city. Pasha and his men were much interested in plunder, irrespective of the
nationality of the victim. He was more a source of difficulties to the Indians than of any help
to them. On November 2, 1538, a powerful fleet of the Portuguese appeared off Diu, and
Pasha stealthily sailed away during the night without giving battle.
 In 1558 two significant events took place. Luiz de Mello engaged Kunjali’s ships off
Cannanore and inflicted heavy damage on the Zamorin’s fleet, which withdrew to Calicut.

 Thereupon de Mello’s ships systematically blockaded the port of Calicut. Had he not
been recalled to Portugal, if he was not recalled Calicut would have been reduced to utter
commercial starvation. It the absence of de Mello, Kunjali III ( also called Pate Marakkar)
renewed his depredations.

 In 1553, as usual, the Portuguese replaced their fleet with a good number of galleons
(ships of about 600 tons) and some sloops.

 in 1564, Kunjali’s ships made a determined attack on the ships berthed in Cannanore
harbour and damaged them severely.

 To crush the Zamorin’s naval power, three squadrons were organized under the
over-all command of Concalo Marmanaque.

 One of the squadrons under Dom Paulo de Lina operating off Bhatkal was attacked by
Kunjali, who gained a resounding victory.

 The other notable sea action which brought laurels to Kunjali III was in 1569. A
formidable fleet consisting of 36 ships set sail from Goa under the command of Dom Martino
de Miranda in search of Kunjali’s forces.

 When the forces met, Kunjali tried to avoid a direct engagement. However, when
Miranda’s forces were placed in an unfavourable position Kunjali took advantage of the
situation, inflicted heavy damage and caused the Portuguese ships to retire.

 Kunjali shifted his base to Kotta north of Calicut. After death of Kunjali III, his
nephew Kunjali IV as Chiefton
INS Kunjali was named after Kunjali III

Details

1. Vasco da gama: First to reach Calicut

2. Cabral: with 13 ships, bombarded Calicut

3. Jao Da Nova: with 4 ships, attacked and looted Calicut. Zamorin tried to retaliate with
his ships were not successful in front of cannons.

4. Vasco da Gama returned to India with 20 ships and flag ship being San Jeronymo, on
reaching India he established bases in Cochin and Cannanore with support of Rajas. He
stated attacking Indian and Arab vessel and started collecting taxes and made a blockade to
Calicut port thus pushing Calicut to commercial starvation. He defeted King of Bhatkal a
vessel state in Vijayanagar Empire.

Zamorin tried to regroup and attack Portuguese Caravel’s, zamorin ships were light and had
an advantage of only speed. They were successful to out manoeuvre Portuguese.