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The Battle of Cochin sometimes referred as the Second Siege of Cochin was a series of confrontations, between March and July 1504, fought on land and sea, principally between the Portuguese garrison at Cochin, allied to the Trimumpara Raja, and the armies of the Zamorin of Calicut and vassal Malabari states. The celebrated heroics of the tiny Portuguese garrison, led by Duarte Pacheco Pereira, fended off an invading army several hundred times bigger. It proved a humiliating defeat for the Zamorin of Calicut. He not only failed to conquer Cochin, but his inability to crush the tiny opposition undermined the faith of his vassals and allies. The Zamorin lost much of his traditional authority over the Malabar states of India in the aftermath. The preservation of Cochin secured the continued presence of the Portuguese in India. ==Background== Since the fragmentation of the Chera state in the 10th century, the ruler of the city-state of Calicut (Port.''Calecute''; now, Kozhikode), known as the Zamorin (Samoothiri Raja, 'Lord of the Sea') had been generally recognized as overlord by most of the small states on the Malabar Coast of India. Under the Zamorin's rule, Calicut grew as a commercial city, emerging as the major entrepot of the Kerala pepper trade and the principal emporium for other spices shipped from further east (see Spice trade). In the opening journey of the Portuguese to India in 1498, Vasco da Gama immediately made his way to Calicut and tried to secure a commercial treaty with the Zamorin. Unimpressed by Gama, the elderly Zamorin allowed the Portuguese to buy spices on Calicut's markets, but refused to accord them any greater privileges. The follow-up expedition of Pedro Álvares Cabral (2nd India Armada, 1500) arrived better prepared. The old Zamorin having died in the interim, Cabral negotiated a treaty with the new Zamorin, and a Portuguese factory was opened in Calicut. But within a couple of months, quarrels erupted between Portuguese agents and established Arab traders in the city, in which the Zamorin refused to intervene. In December, 1500, a riot was raised and the factory in Calicut was overrun and numerous Portuguese massacred. Blaming the Zamorin for the event, Cabral demanded that the Zamorin compensate them for their losses and expel all Arab traders from the city. When the Zamorin refused, Cabral bombarded the city of Calicut. Thus began the war between Portugal and Calicut. The Portuguese quickly found local allies among some of the city-states on the Malabar coast which had long grated under Calicut's dominance. Cochin (''Cochim'', Kochi), Cannanore (''Canonor'', Kannur) and Quilon (''Coulão'', Kollam) opened their ports and invited the Portuguese. The succeeding Portuguese armadas to India took to routinely bombarding Calicut, preying on her ships, and driving commercial traffic away from the city. The Zamorin quickly learned that there was little point challenging the Portuguese fleets at sea〔Lopes (1504 p. 185) refers to 1502 letters from the Zamorin to his vassals explaining how in the naval engagement against João da Nova's little fleet in 1501 the Calicut navy was "unable to do them any harm, and thus did not think it appropriate to expose themselves again"〕 – the technological gap in ships and cannon was just too great – but on land the difference was not nearly as lopsided. The Portuguese presence in India consisted only of a handful of commercial agents, after all. The Portuguese had come for spices. The Zamorin calculated that if he could exert his traditional authority over the Malabar states and close off access to spices, the Portuguese would either leave or be forced to negotiate terms and make a sensible peace.〔Logan (1887: p. 310).〕 That meant persuading – or forcing – his errant vassals in Cochin, Cannanore and Quilon into shutting their markets to the Portuguese.〔Thomé Lopes (1504: p. 185) refers to the 1502 letters sent out by the Zamorin of Calicut to Cochin and other Malabari lords urging them join in a general anti-Portuguese boycott, to make sure the Portuguese found "no spices in all of India at any price" ("não lhes darem especiarias em toda a India por preço alguem").〕 In principle, the Zamorin's plan was sound. The Portuguese had not exactly endeared themselves to the residents of the Malabar coast. Their fleets had left a brutish calling card, made absurd demands upon the rulers, disrupted trade and daily life all along the coast. It should not have been too difficult to prevail upon the Malabari cities to participate in a general boycott of Portuguese trade, at least temporarily. But the resistance of Cochin to the Zamorin's entreaties proved most stubborn.〔Thomé Lopes (1504: p. 185) refers to the Trimumpara Raja of Cochin's reply to the Zamorin's letter, that he "had already negotiated a peace and very advantageous trade with the Portuguese, and for that reason could do nothing contrary to it." ("ja tinha ajustado paz e commercio mui vantajosamente com os Portuguezes, e por isso nada podia fazer em contrario.")〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Cochin (1504)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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