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Software Kerala |
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Kochi Business View |
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Know the City |
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History of Kochi |
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E Governance |
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The Portuguese Period
It was during this time that the Portuguese Admiral, Pedro
Alveraz Cabral, landed at Cochin on 24 December 1500.
The Cochin Raja, Unni Godavarma, received his emissaries
with great warmth and friendliness. A treaty of friendship
was signed. The Portuguese were allowed to build a factory
at Cochin and the Portuguese promised to add Calicut to
the Cochin Raja’s dominions. At Cabral’s suggestion,
a few leading Nairs were taken as hostages in the ships
but to the Raja’s displeasure Cabral left in panic
at the sight of the Calicut fleet. Anxious to get Portuguese
assistance he took no reprisals against the Portuguese
left on shore. Joao Da Nova, the next Portuguese captain
who was received with warmth, had to face the hostility
of the Zamorin.
The indignant Portuguese King sent Vasco Da Gama next
and after bombarding Calicut and annihilating the Arab
merchants, he arrived at Cochin on 7 November 1502. Alarmed
at the Portuguese commercial triumphs at Cochin, the Zamorin
in anger at the Cochin Raja’s refusal to heed his
ultimatum, marched into the heart of the Cochin Kingdom
at the head of a large army. The war between Calicut and
Cochin began on 1 March 1503. Cochin Raja was soon forced
to take refuge in a temple at Vypeen. The Zamorin ordered
the town of Cochin to be burnt and went to blockade the
island of Vypeen. However, on account of the monsoon setting
in, he raised the blockade and after fortifying Cochin
with a ditch and rampart and leaving a strong force there,
departed for Calicut. He intended to renew the blockade
after the Onam festival in August. The arrival of a small
Portuguese fleet under Francisco De Albuquerque alarmed
the Calicut army at Cochin and they soon left the city
in panic. The ruler of Cochin was then conducted triumphantly
to Cochin and re-established in the possession of his
kingdom.
After this the Portuguese extracted concessions from the
Raja who entered
into a treaty with the Anchikaimals, who repudiated their
allegiance to Zamorin. The Portuguese also obtained permission
from the Raja to erect a fort at Cochin for the protection
of the Portuguese factory. A convenient spot close to
the edge of the river was chosen and the foundation stone
laid on 27 September 1503. The Raja supplied all the materials
and workers for the work. The fort was a square structure
of 183 yards surrounded by a deep moat. The fort, when
completed, was christened Manuel Kotta or Fort Manuel
after the reigning king of Portugal. The two Albuquerques
sailed from India in 1504, leaving Duarte Pacheco with
about 150 Portuguese and 300 native soldiers and some
vessels to defend Cochin. The Zamorin once again tried
to regain Cochin but his attempts were thwarted by the
Portuguese when, after 5 months of war, the Zamorin was
forced to return. The Raja, Unni Rama Koil II, continued
to rule with Portuguese help. From now onwards a convention
was in force for about a century and a half that the succession
to the throne of Cochin should be confined to the Elaya
Thavazhi branch.
Mysorean
Invasion |
Portuguese Period
| Dutch
Conquest | Pre
History
Albuquerque (1509-1515) reversed several policies of his
predecessors. He also entered into a treaty with the Zamorin
of Calicut. During this time the headquarters of the Portuguese
Government of India was transferred from Cochin to Goa
in 1510. Before he left, he made an abortive attempt to
convert the Raja to Christianity. His immediate successors
were incompetent. The only important development of the
period was an unsuccessful attempt on the part of the
Cochin Raja to attack Calicut (1521). On his visit to
India in 1524, Vasco Da Gama, who was appointed as Viceroy,
visited Cochin. During the Portuguese period, notable
events were the war with Vadakkumkoor, the building of
Mattancherry Palace during Veera Kerala Varma’s
reign (1537-65) the building of the Jew Town and the convention
of the Synod of Diamper during Kesava Rama Varma’s
reign (1565-1601). In the latter half of the 16th century,
two foreign travellers, Caesar Frederick and Ralph Fitch,
visited Cochin. Another Englishman, Sir Thomas Herbert,
described Cochin on the eve of Dutch capture as the chief
place the Portuguese have in the Indies where they carried
on trade in spices, drugs and all other merchandise.
The causes for the decline of Portuguese in Kerala, which
began soon after the time of Albuquerque, were both internal
and external like the intermarriages, forcible conversions,
religious persecution etc.
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