https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Battle_of_ChaulBattle of Chaul - Revision history2026-07-29T16:50:26ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Battle_of_Chaul&diff=420876&oldid=prevAjay Kumar at 17:41, 28 August 20232023-08-28T17:41:00Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Infobox military conflict<br />
| conflict = Battle of Chaul (1508)<br />
| image = Portuguese ships 16th century Livro das Armadas.jpg<br />
| image_size = 300px|<br />
| caption = Portuguese ships, 16th century<br />
| partof = [[Mamluk–Portuguese conflicts]] and [[Gujarati–Portuguese conflicts]]<br />
| date = March 1508<br />
| place = [[Chaul]], [[India]]|<br />
| result = [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]]-[[Gujarat Sultanate|Gujarati]] victory<br />
| combatant1 = [[File:Flag Portugal (1495).svg|border|22px]] [[Portuguese Empire]]<br />
| combatant2 = [[File:Mameluke Flag.svg|22px]] [[Mamluk Sultanate]]<br>[[File:Flag of the Gujarat Sultanate.svg|22px|border]] [[Gujarat Sultanate]]|<br />
| commander1 = [[Lourenço de Almeida]]{{KIA}}|<br />
| commander2 = [[File:Mameluke Flag.svg|22px]] [[Amir Husain Al-Kurdi]]<br>[[File:Flag of the Gujarat Sultanate.svg|22px|border]] [[Malik Ayyaz]]|<br />
| strength1 = 3 ships and 5 [[caravels]]<ref name="Padfield"/><br />
| strength2 = 6 Egyptian [[carracks]] and 6 great [[galleys]], 1500 combatants<ref>''Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415–1580'' by Bailey Wallys Diffie p.232 [https://books.google.com/books?id=vtZtMBLJ7GgC&pg=PA232]</ref><br>40 [[Mahmud Begada|Gujarat Sultanate]] galleys<br />
| casualties1 = 6 ships<ref name="Padfield"/><br>140 men|<br />
| casualties2 = 600-700<ref>"Conquerors; How Portugal seized the Indian Ocean and forged the first Global Empire" by Roger Crowley p.219</ref>|<br />
}}<br />
{{Portuguese–Mamluk naval war}}<br />
{{Portuguese battles in the Indian Ocean}}<br />
<br />
The '''Battle of Chaul''' was a naval battle between the Portuguese and an [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Egyptian Mamluk]] fleet in 1508 in the harbour of [[Chaul]] in [[India]]. The battle ended in a Mamluk victory. It followed the [[Siege of Cannanore (1507)|Siege of Cannanore]] in which a Portuguese garrison successfully resisted an attack by Southern Indian rulers. This was the first Portuguese defeat at sea in the [[Indian Ocean]].<ref name="Padfield"/><br />
==Background==<br />
Previously, the Portuguese had been mainly active in [[Kozhikode|Calicut]], but the northern region of [[Gujarat]] was even more important for trade, and an essential intermediary in east–west trade: the Gujaratis were bringing spices from the [[Moluccas]] as well as silk from [[China]], and then selling them to the Egyptians and Arabs.<ref name="Diffie"/><br />
<br />
The Portuguese' monopolizing interventions were however seriously disrupting [[Indian Ocean trade]], threatening Arab as well as Venetian interests, as it became possible for the Portuguese to undersell the Venetians in the spice trade in Europe. [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] broke diplomatic relations with Portugal and started to look at ways to counter its intervention in the Indian Ocean, sending an ambassador to the Egyptian court.<ref name="Diffie230">''Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415–1580'' Bailey Wallys Diffie p.230''ff'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=vtZtMBLJ7GgC&pg=PA230]</ref> Venice negotiated for Egyptian tariffs to be lowered to facilitate competition with the Portuguese, and suggested that "rapid and secret remedies" be taken against the Portuguese.<ref name="Diffie230"/> The sovereign of [[Kozhikode|Calicut]], the [[Zamorin of Calicut|Zamorin]], had also sent an ambassador asking for help against the Portuguese.<ref name="Logan316"/><br />
<br />
Since the Mamluks only had little in terms of naval power, timber had to be provided from the [[Black Sea]] in order to build the ships, about half of which was intercepted by the [[Knights Hospitaller|Hospitallers of St. John]] in [[Rhodes]], so that only a fraction of the planned fleet could be assembled at [[Suez]].<ref name="Diffie"/> The timber was then brought overland on [[camel]] back, and assembled at [[Suez]] under the supervision of Venetian [[shipwrights]].<ref name="Logan316">[https://books.google.com/books?id=9mR2QXrVEJIC&pg=RA1-PA316 ''Malabar manual'' William Logan p.316''ff'']</ref><br />
<br />
==Preparations==<br />
The Mamluk fleet finally left in February 1507 under [[Amir Husain Al-Kurdi]] in order to counter the expansion of the Portuguese in the [[Indian Ocean]] and arrived in the Indian port of [[Diu, India|Diu]] in 1508 after delays subduing the city of [[Jeddha]].<ref name="Diffie">''Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415–1580'' Bailey Wallys Diffie p.234''ff'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=vtZtMBLJ7GgC&pg=PA236]</ref> It consisted of six round ships and six great galleys called galleasses.<ref name="Diffie"/> 1500 combatants were on board, as well as the ambassador of the Zamorin ruler of Calicut, [[Mayimama Mārakkār]].<ref name="Logan316"/><br />
<br />
The fleet was to join with [[Malik Ayyaz]], a former Russian slave, who was in the service of the Sultan [[Mahmud Begada]] of [[Gujarat Sultanate]], who was naval chief and master of [[Diu, India|Diu]].<ref name="Diffie"/> The fleet was also planning to join with the Zamorin of Calicut, and then to raid and destroy all the Portuguese possessions on the Indian coast, but the Zamorin, who was expecting the Mamluk fleet in 1507 had already left.<ref name="Padfield">[https://books.google.com/books?id=ACI-AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA62 ''Tide of Empires: 1481–1654'' Peter Padfield p.62''ff'']</ref><br />
<br />
==Battle==<br />
The Portuguese, under [[Lourenço de Almeida]], son of the Viceroy [[Francisco de Almeida]], were inferior in number with only a light force, and located in the nearby harbour of [[Chaul]]. The rest had sailed north to protect shipping and fight the so-called piracy. The Mamluks sailed into Chaul and fought for two days inconclusively with the Portuguese, unable to board their ships. Finally, Malik Ayaz sailed in with his own galleys. The Portuguese had to retreat, and Almeida's ship was sunk at the entrance of Chaul harbour with Almeida aboard. Amir Hussain returned to the port of Diu, but from that point abandoned any further initiative on the Indian coast, his ships becoming derelict and his crews dispersing.<ref name="Padfield"/><br />
<br />
==Aftermath==<br />
The Portuguese later returned and attacked the fleet in the harbour of Diu, leading to a decisive victory in the [[Battle of Diu (1509)]].<ref name="Padfield"/><br />
<br />
These events would be followed by a new Ottoman intervention in 1538, with the [[Siege of Diu]].<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
* [[Battle of Cannanore]]<br />
* [[Portuguese India]]<br />
<br />
==Notes==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
{{coord missing|Kerala}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Naval battles involving Portugal|Chaul]]<br />
[[Category:Maritime history of Portugal]]<br />
[[Category:Battles involving the Mamluk Sultanate|Chaul]]<br />
[[Category:Portuguese in Kerala]]<br />
[[Category:1508 in Portugal]]<br />
[[Category:1508 in India]]<br />
[[Category:Conflicts in 1508|Chaul]]<br />
[[Category:Battles involving Portuguese India|Chaul]]<br />
[[Category:1508 in the Mamluk Sultanate]]</div>Ajay Kumar