Malabar History journal

A strong garrison with the best artillery installed around the fortress was a distinctive feature of the fortress. It was the largest Portuguese fort built in Malabar as compared to others. Built at the mouth of Chaliyar river, the river encircled the fort, with the Arabian Sea on the left side and the Chaliyar river on the right-side. After the establishment of the fort in 1531 A.D., Portuguese atrocities expanded to the interior regions. Their atrocities both on lands and seas included attacks on Muslims, mosque, and Hajj pilgrims; the enslavement of people: burning of places and vessels; forceful conversion to Christianity; the blockage of trade routes both on the seas and lands, etc. In this context, the Bijapur Sultan Adil Shah appealed to Zamorin to take action against the Portuguese. As a result, they decided to capture the Portuguese forts of Chaliyam and Chaul, thereby, Zamorin turned his attention toward Chaliyam fort.

The Zamorin attacked the fortress of Chaliyam and captured it after a four-months of siege in 1571 A.D. Initially, the Zamorin, who was at Kodungallur, ordered his ministers to blockade the fort. Then the people of Tanur and Parappanangadi also joined the ministers. However, the Portuguese secretly learned about Zamorin’s plan through the Raja of Tanur, who acted as the informant of both Zamorin and Portuguese throughout war. The battle began outside the fort wall, and when the Portuguese faced defeat, they retreated inside fortress along with the shops, people, food provisions that were just outside the fort. Subsequently, the Zamorin and the Muslims leaders also joined the war. The Zamorin called upon all his servants to participate the war, opened his treasury, signed peace treaties with former enemies, and provided weapons to the local people regardless of caste and religion distinction. Thus, Zamorin united all his subject in the battlefield to win the war, assigning specific duties to each caste. He deployed an army that included both his troops and the locals, appointing one leader for hundred people. Additionally, Zamorin asked the Muslim religious people to pray for the war and offered money to the mosques of Mecca and Madina. He also brought Hindu pandit and astrologers to the battlefield, and promised reward to anyone who kill the enemy.

Further, Zamorin’s troops surrounded the fortress, dug trenches around it, thereby effectively blocked the entry of Portuguese men, supply of weapons and food provisions to inside the fort. Every trench contained troops, arms, water, fire, flag, and etc. They even made secret road leading into the fort. The Zamorin’s forces fired artillery and launched fireballs inside the fort. In response, the Portuguese fired back with artillery and threw stones and fire. They even installed lights to detect intruders at night. However, food shortages became a significant problem for the Portuguese, and they sent letters to their people for help. Although ships carrying food provisions arrived from Kochi and Cannanore, they were captured by the Zamorin’s troops. Zamorin had stationed people along the sea and Chaliyar river to intercept Portuguese ships carrying arms, troops, food, and other provisions. Additionally, two sides of the Chaliyar river were closed by woods and iron chains to prevent Portuguese entry. Similarly, the sea side was also closed by iron chains and anchored many ships there. Hence, numerous battles occurred at sea, but the Portuguese were unable to break the blockade and enter the fort. Moreover, the Zamorin’s force also blocked their access to river water, as the well inside the fort became contaminated. The exhausted Portuguese were forced to eat animals and insects, and many died inside the fortress. Finally, they sued for peace by offering money and weapons. In the end, they surrendered the fort along with all its weapons, mainly cannons. The Zamorin ordered the fort to be demolished, a process that took a year. The building materials from the fort were given to rebuild the mosque that had been destroyed by the Portuguese, and other valuable items were sent to the treasury.

Thus, the Portuguese efforts to dominate Malabar through Chaliyan ultimately failed. When the Portuguese built the fortress, they had hoped to weaken the Zamorin, and thereby the, Muslim traders by blockading trade voyages from Calicut. Initially, they built a fort in Calicut, but when they tried to assert political authority, the Zamorin drove them away from Calicut. The second attempt was Chaliyam fortress, meant to obstruct the trade journeys even in the interior regions. However, the Portuguese’s defeat at Chaliyam signified a major victory for the Zamorin. Despite their presence for nearly seventy years and they could hold power in Cannanore, Kochi, Quilon, and Goa, the Portuguese were never able to establish control over Calicut from the time they arrived until 1570 A.D. Throughout those years, they continuously tried to diminish the Zamorin’s influence and territorial power but were ultimately unsuccessful in doing so.

References

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.

Quazi Muhammed bin Abdul Azeez. Fathuhul Mubeen, Malayalam trans. Prof. Mankada Abdul Aziz. Calicut: Alhuda Book Stall, 1996.

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