econciliation was not made,
but, considering his conduct towards his greatest enemy, Joao da
Nova, this does not seem to be probable; for it is written:--

'Joao da Nova died at Cochin in July 1509, so reduced in
circumstances that he had no one to care for him; but Affonso de
Albuquerque forgot all that he had been guilty of towards himself,
and only held in memory that this man had been his companion in
arms, and had helped him in all the troubles connected with the
conquest of the kingdom of Ormuz like a gallant knight, and he
ordered him to be buried at his own expense, with the usual display
of torches, and himself accompanied the body to the grave, clad all
in mourning, a thing the Viceroy would not have done.'[9]

[Footnote 9: Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. ii. p. 49.]

{64}

CHAPTER III

THE RULE OF ALBUQUERQUE

_The Conquest of Goa_

It was on November 5, 1509, almost a year after he had reached India
from his campaign in the Arabian seas, that Affonso de Albuquerque
took up office as Governor and Captain-General of the Portuguese
possessions in Asia. King Emmanuel had not conferred upon him the
title of Viceroy, which had been held by his predecessor--probably
because he had no right to the prefix Dom, or Lord. His powers,
however, were as great as those exercised by Dom Francisco de
Almeida, and he received a special patent granting him authority to
confer _Moradias_, or palace pensions, for services rendered. There
can be no doubt that during the months in which he had been kept out
of his office by the intrigues of his enemies with the Viceroy
Almeida, Albuquerque had carefully considered the state of affairs in
India, for he struck the keynotes of his future policy immediately
after taking up office.

The state of Southern India, and especially of the Malabar coast, was
at this time very favourable to the {65} aspirations of the
Portuguese. The Hindu Rajas, with the exception of the Zamorin of
Calicut, were greatly opposed to the monopoly by the Moplas of the
commerce of their dominions. These Arab traders were as completely
foreigners to the races of Southern India as the Portuguese
themselves. They made proselytes to their religion, as the Portuguese
afterwards endeavoured to do, but the Muhammadan converts were not
favourably regarded either by the Rajas or their Brahman ministers.

The most important ruler in Southern India was the Raja of
Vijayanagar or Narsing