Having Listened To Him Attentively, The King Examined Him In Regard To
Each Separate Article Of His Impeachment, Forty-Three In All, To Every
One Of Which He Gave Apt Answers.
The principal article alleged against
him related to Pedro Mascarenas, all the others being such as would
never have been thought of except to fill up the measure of accusation.
Being carried back to the castle, he sent in his defence in writing, as
is usual in such cases.
In the end, he was sentenced to forfeit all his
allowances as governor; to pay Mascarenas a compensation of 10,000
ducats; and to be banished into Africa. He contrived however to get into
Spain, where he disnaturalized himself, as had been done by the famous
Magellan; and wrote a letter from Badajos to the king, in which he
affirmed that his sentence was unjust, and declared his resolution to
try, by changing his country, to better his fortune and restore his
honour. In consequence of this he was restored to his country.
We must now return to the affairs of India, where Diego Sylveira reduced
the people of Calicut to such straits that the zamorin was constrained
to sue to Nuno de Cuna for peace. This was granted on certain terms,
part of which the zamorin was willing to accept, but rejected the rest;
on which Sylveira reduced the city to extreme distress, by intercepting
all provisions. Some relief was received however from Cananor, and Simon
de Sousa being driven in his brigantine on shore, was blown up while
bravely defending himself against the Moors.
Malek Saca[182] being expelled from Diu, found it expedient for
compassing his ends with the king of Cambaya, to employ similar
artifices with Nuno de Cuna as had been formerly practised with Hector
de Sylveira, by offering to deliver up the city to him. Accordingly he
wrote to Nuno, that although he could not now deliver up Diu, he would
assist him to reduce it; and as it was convenient that a meeting should
take place between the governor and Malek Saca, Nuno sent him a safe
conduct, and ships to transport him and his retinue, commanded by Gaspar
Paez, who had formerly been known to Malek Saca at Diu. On this occasion
Malek Saca granted every condition required, not meaning to perform any,
and made use of this sham alliance to get himself restored to the favour
of the king of Cambaya, putting off Paez with various artifices, under
pretence that the safe conduct was not securely expressed, and that
there were too few ships. In revenge of this deceit, Paez was only able
to burn nine small barks belonging to Malek Saca. Being much enraged at
the duplicity of Malek, Nuno began to make preparations for the
reduction of Diu. In the mean time, he visited and conciliated the rajah
of Cochin, who had been much displeased with the conduct of Lope Vaz
Sampayo and Alfonso Mexia. He went next to Goa, whence he visited the
king at Chale, and satisfied him in all things. About the middle of
February 1530 he came to Cananor, the king of which place he gratified
by conforming to the ceremonials of his court; and being offered a
present of jewels, he accepted them lest he should affront that prince,
but delivered them over to the officers of the revenue, as belonging to
the king of Portugal.
[Footnote 182: He is stated on a former occasion to have been the son of
Malek Azz. - E.]
At this time a rich merchant of Mangalore did great injury to the
Portuguese, as he favoured the zamorin of Calicut though living in the
dominions of the king of Narsinga who was in friendship with the
Portuguese. Diego de Sylveira was ordered to punish that man, and went
accordingly against him with a force of 450 men and sixteen vessels. He
accordingly entered the river of Mangalore, where he was opposed by a
great number of ships belonging to the Moorish merchant, which were put
to flight after a short contest. Sylveira then landed with 240 men and
entered the town without opposition, after which he took the fort whence
the merchant endeavoured to escape, but was slain by a musquet-ball. A
vast booty fell into the hands of the Portuguese, but Sylveira ordered
it all to be burnt, lest he might endanger his ships by overloading
them. As winter was coming on Sylveira dismissed half of his fleet, yet
afterwards had occasion for them all, as he soon after encountered Pati
Marcar, a commander belonging to Calicut, who was going to Mangalore
with sixty paraos. The weather prevented him from fighting at that time;
but Sylveira waited the return of the Calicut fleet, to which he gave
battle off Mount Dely, and sank six paraos, after which he returned to
Cochin. In the same year 1530, Antonio de Sylveira commanded on the
coast of Cambaya with fifty-one sail of vessels, three of which were
gallies and two galliots, in which were 900 Portuguese soldiers. With
this force he went up the river Taptee where he burnt Surat and Reyner,
the chiefest towns in that part of India. Surat on one side of the river
contained 10,000 families, mostly Banians[183] and handicrafts of no
courage; while Reyner on the other side of the river had six thousand
houses inhabited by a warlike race, and was well fortified. On sounding,
the river was found too shallow for the larger vessels, which were left
off the bar under the command of Francisco de Vasconcelles; while with
the smaller, Sylveira went up the river about four miles to Surat. He
there found 300 horse and nearly 10,000 foot drawn up to oppose his
landing, all well armed with bows and firelocks; but after one discharge
this vast multitude fled in dismay without waiting an attack. The city
of Surat was then entered without farther resistance, and being
plundered of every thing worth carrying off was set on fire with some
ships that were in its arsenal.
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