Battle of Diu -- Portugal Dominates the Indian Ocean
A Portuguese fleet destroyed a combined Muslim armada off Diu on 3 February 1509 and took control of the Indian Ocean. The opposition was assembled precisely because the Portuguese had broken a trade that had run for centuries. The Mamluk sultan of Egypt, whose revenues depended on spices passing through the Red Sea to Venice, sent a fleet built with Venetian help and timber; the Sultan of Gujarat contributed; the Zamorin of Calicut sent ships; and the Ottomans and Ragusans supplied men. The Mamluk admiral Amir Husain had beaten a Portuguese squadron at Chaul the previous year and killed the viceroy's son. Francisco de Almeida came for him with eighteen ships and about 1,500 Europeans, having refused to hand over his command to Afonso de Albuquerque, who had arrived to replace him. The battle turned on gunnery and ship design. The Portuguese carracks were built to carry heavy cannon and to fight at a distance; the galleys and dhows opposing them were built for boarding and had guns mounted for use at close quarters. Almeida stood off and shot them to pieces. Almost the entire allied fleet was taken or sunk. Almeida hanged, burned and dismembered prisoners, and had body parts fired from cannon into Diu. The consequence was strategic and durable. No Asian or Middle Eastern power seriously contested the ocean again for a century, and Albuquerque used the freedom to take Goa, Malacca and Hormuz within six years. Almeida was killed by Khoikhoi at Table Bay on the way home the following year.
- Year: 1509 CE
- Category: Military
