Malabar History journal

Shaikh Zainudin Makhdum remarked that Calicut began to decline, and lost its prominence with the arrival of Portuguese in Malabar, primarily due to their disruptive actions, particularly obstructing trade journeys. Vasco da Gama’s initial attempt to the persuade Zamorin was a failure and he attributed this failure in Calicut due to the influence of moors (Muslims). So, when Cabral arrived in 1500, their demand to the Zamorin was to expel the moors of Mecca from Calicut and stop trade voyages to Arabia. In return, they promised that they should supply the commodities the Moors bring there. Zamorin refused and conveyed that Arab traders were welcome to buy goods from Calicut as long as they are willing to pay competitive prices, and if the Portuguese could buy goods at higher prices from the natives than the prices offered by the Arab traders, they could purchase. However, the Arab competition was strong. The dissatisfied Portuguese began interfering in all the matters of Muslims, such as seizing Arab ship loading spices, disrupting the trading activities at the port of Calicut, and eventually bombarding the city of Calicut, leading to conflict with Zamorin. Consequently, the Portuguese moved to Kochi and Cannanor, where the locals started taking passes(cartaz) from them to conduct safe sea voyages to avoid risk.

As per rule, before commencing voyages, the captain of the ship had to obtain a pass by paying a fee. Even for small ships, a fee was required. If any ship did not possess the pass, the Portuguese would seize the ship, its crew, and its cargo. To establish a kind of monopoly, they claimed to be the ‘lords of the sea’ by enforcing this rule. According to their interpretation, they acknowledged that everyone had the right to navigate the seas, but this right applied only in Europe, not beyond. Therefore, as the ‘lords of the sea,’ the Portuguese claimed that they have right to confiscate the goods of anyone sailing without their permission.

In pursuit to establish their monopoly, they employed various brutal tactics. In 1510 A.D., they attacked the city of Calicut and burned the Mishal mosque in 1510; they captured Zamorin’s palace; they fired around 50 fishing boats in Ponnani; and they captured, sold, enslaved, and killed Muslims. They frequently sailed to various ports around Malabar, Konkan, Gujarat, and even Arabian coast, where they wait lying on their ships, and whenever any Muslim’s ship appears, they would seize it. Through these actions, they amassed wealth both wealth as well as Muslim prisoners, who they forcefully converted to Christianity.

Barbosa observed that Muslim ships from the regions like China, Malacca, and Bengal began avoiding Malabar due to the Portuguese, instead preferred to anchor along the Coromandel coast. The prolonged wars and atrocities, eventually forced the Zamorin to negotiate peace with the Portuguese, therefore signed a treaty in 1514-15 A.D. This treaty allowed Portuguese to build a fort in Calicut under the condition that the Zamorin’s Muslim subjects could send four ships annually to the Arabian ports. However, the Portuguese soon began obstructing trade voyages again, as they wanted to establish monopoly over the trade in pepper and dried ginger. So, they seized any ships that carried these two items even in small quantities, including small ships. The people were reluctant to obtain passes, and whoever conducted trade journey without passes were often killed by the Portuguese. In 1537 A.D., the Portuguese killed Kutty Ibrahim Marakkar and his team for sending a ship of pepper and ginger to Jeddah without pass. Similarly, in 1539 A.D., they killed the team of Ali Ibrahim Marakkar and Faqih Ahmad Marakkar, captured their ship when they attempted to travel Ceylon. This led to another treaty signed between Zamorin and the Portuguese in 1540 A.D, which allowed the Zamorin’s subjects to engage in trade, but only with passes. However, Muslim merchants were restricted to trade in certain commodities, except those interested to sell to Portuguese. The Portuguese had interest in those commodities that yielded large profit. So, they imposed monopoly over pepper and ginger initially, and later added cinnamon, clove, and other high-profit commodities to the list.

Muslims were banned from conducting trade voyages to Arabian coast, Malacca, and Sumatra also. As a result, their trading activities diminished, and they were limited to smaller-scale trade involving items like areca nuts, coconuts, and cloth. Their trade journey became restricted to places like Gujarat, Konkan coast, Qail (Kayalpattanam), Coroamandal. The Portuguese also built forts in Honnavar, Basrur, and Mangalore to monitor trade journeys of Muslims and preventing them to take rice from these areas.

In short, the Portuguese established their monopoly through violent measures and introducing Cartaz(license), which issued licenses to ships, allowing them to conduct trade under their protection without interference. However, often licensed ships were not spared, as they intercept the vessels in open sea, and seizing them, looting their cargo, and killing their crews. Gradually, rulers of various ports also submitted to the Portuguese, making it impossible for Muslims to navigate the seas without Portuguese protection and proper documentation.

References

Duarte Barbosa. A Description of the Coast of the East Africa and Malabar in the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century, trans. Henry E.J. Stanley. London: Hakluyt Society, 1865.

K.V. Krishna Ayyar. The Zamorins of Calicut: From the Earliest Times Down to A.D. 1806. Calicut: University of Calicut, 1999.

K.M. Panikkar. Malabar and The Portuguese. Bombay: D.B. Taraporevala Sons & Co, 1929.

Shaykh Zainuddin Makhdum. Tuhfat al-Mujahidin: A Historical Epic of the Sixteenth Century, trans. S. Muhammad Husayn Nainar. Calicut: Other Books, 2005.

William Brooks Greenlee. The Voyage of Pedro Alvarez Cabral to Brazil and India. London: Hakluyt Society, 1938.