Siege of Diu (1531)

The siege of Diu occurred when a combined Ottoman-Gujarati force defeated a Portuguese attempt to capture the city of Diu in 1531. The victory was partly the result of Ottoman firepower over the Portuguese besiegers deployed by Mustafa Bayram, an Ottoman expert.[14]

First siege of Diu
Part of the Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts and Gujarati–Portuguese conflicts
Date16 February 1531[1]
Location
Diu, Gujarat Sultanate
Result Ottoman-Gujarati victory
Belligerents
 Ottoman Empire
Gujarat Sultanate		  Portuguese Empire
Commanders and leaders
Khoja Zufar
Mustafa Bayram		 Nuno da Cunha
Strength
10,000[2] - 12,000 men[3]
2 galleons[4]
70 oarships of various sizes[4]
several basilisks[5]

About 400[6][7][8] vessels:

30,000 men,[10] including:

  • 3,560 Portuguese soldiers[11]
  • 2,000 Malabarese auxiliaries[11][12]
  • 8,000 combat slaves[11][7]
    • 3,000 slave gunners[11]
  • 1,450 Portuguese sailors[11][12]
  • 4,000 Malabarese sailors or rowers[11]
  • 800 junk ship crew[11]
Casualties and losses
800 31 dead[13]
120 wounded

Shortly before the siege they encountered roughly 800 enemy soldiers at Siyâl Bet island[a], engaged them in combat, and killed them all.[15] There were 9[16] or 17 Portuguese killed and 120 wounded.[17] They then sailed for Diu, but the Muslim alliance defeated them and killed 14.[18]

Although Diu was successfully defended, victory was short-lived: Diu was blockaded and the Portuguese armada was diverted towards more exposed Gujarati cities.[19] Ghogha, Surat, Mangrol, Somnath, Bassein, Tarapur, Kelva, Mahim, Bulsar, Agashi, Patam, Pate, and many smaller settlements were assaulted and sacked, some never recovering from the attacks.[20][21][12]

In 1534, Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat signed a peace treaty with Governor Nuno da Cunha, granting the Portuguese the territory of Bassein, including Bombay. In 1535, the Portuguese were allowed to construct a fortress at Diu.

See also

Notes
  • ^[a] Gujarati name for jackal island, one of three islands near Diu, João de Barros calls it Ilha de Bet.

References
  1. Denvers, 1894, p.402
  2. Denvers, 1894, p.402
  3. Monteiro, Saturnino. Batalhas e Combates da Marinha Portuguesa – Volume II: 1522–1538, 1991, Livraria Sá da Costa Editora, p.207
  4. Monteiro 1991, p. 207.
  5. Monteiro 1991, p. 220,221.
  6. J. Gerson Da Cunha: The Origin of Bombay, Asian Educational Services, 1993, p.77.
  7. Denvers, 1894, p.400.
  8. Gaspar Correia (1495-1561). Lendas da Índia 1858 edition, Typographia da Academia Real das Sciencias de Lisboa, p. 390
  9. Correia 1858, p. 390.
  10. Gaspar Correia (1495-1561). Lendas da Índia 1858 edition, Typographia da Academia Real das Sciencias de Lisboa, p. 392
  11. Correia 1858, p. 392.
  12. Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Volume 13, Government Central Press, 1882, p.451
  13. Monteiro, 1991, pp.205-209.
  14. Guns for the sultan: military power and the weapons industry in the Ottoman Empire, Gábor Ágoston, page 194, 2005
  15. Monteiro (1991), p.205
  16. Frederick Charles Denvers: The Portuguese in India, W.H. Allen & Company, 1894, p. 401.
  17. Monteiro (1991), p.205
  18. Monteiro, 1991, p.209
  19. Denvers, 1894, p.403.
  20. Pearson, Michael Naylor (1976). Merchants and Rulers in Gujarat: The Response to the Portuguese in the Sixteenth Century. University of California Press, pg. 76
  21. Denvers 1894, p.402-404

20.71°N 70.98°E / 20.71; 70.98

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.