THE HISTORY OF KATHIAWAD

ably led him Northwards towards Gujarat and Saurashtra,
and his arrival off those coasts created consternation and
a certain amount of fear among the inhabitants. He had
established such a reputation for himself and the Portu-
gese arms by the capture of Calicut and Goa, that dread
of him had spread far and wide. In A.D. 1507 a Portu-
gese fleet arrived at Chaul, where we have already seen
that Malik Aiaz, Governor of Sorath, sailed against it
and defeated it with loss.

But this reverse only checked for a time the Portugese
advance, and at the end of A.D. 1508 another expedition
was sent Northwards under Dom Francisca da Almeida,
which came up with a Musalman fleet under Malik Aiaz
and Emir Hussain off Diu. On February 2, 1509, an
engagement was fought, which resulted after a whole
day's fighting in the complete defeat of the Maho-
medans, the losses, as computed by the Portugese,
being twenty-two Portugese slain and three thousand
of their enemies. Next year Mahomed Begarah offered
Diu to the Portugese, but Albuquerque considered
that he had not sufficient forces to hold it, owing to its
proximity to powerful enemies, active and potential,
and accordingly he refused the offer, intending to obtain
possession of the island when circumstances became more
favourable. Three years later, Albuquerque sailed to
Aden, which he failed to capture, and returned to India
by way of the Persian Gulf. After capturing Ormuz, the
chief seat of Persian commerce, he sailed to Diu, By
this time Malik Aiaz had assumed a certain indepen-
dence of the Sultan of Gujarat, whom he nominally
served, and when Albuquerque asked that the gift of
Diu made three years earlier should be ratified, he
bitterly opposed the suggestion, and submitted that the
Portuguese should not be allowed to build a fort on
the island. Eventually, however, he consented to the
establishment of a factory, whereupon Albuquerque left

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