and the Aftermath

and the Aftermath Portuguese in India During his first voyage Vasco da Gama came with men in three vessels. The cordiality of Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut, made him comfortable. He journeyed back on August with only fifty five surviving men and of the three ships, two were laden with Indian goods. Gama’s success made Portugal to send men with vessels under Pedro Alvarez Cabral. On October Gama visited Calicut for the second time with a fleet of vessels. Gama moved from Calicut to Cochin as its harbour was better. He soon realized that the monopolistic trade of the Arabs needed to be broken if European trade was to thrive. He used the enmity between the two Hindu rulers of Cochin and Calicut for this purpose. Before he returned to Portugal he established a factory [warehouse] in Cochin and a prison at Kannur. Consolidation of the Portuguese Trade The Portuguese stopped yearly expeditions and instead decided to appoint a Viceroy. The first Viceroy was Francisco d’ Almeida who followed what is known as ‘Blue Water Policy,’ and accordingly, he added more ships to strengthen the navy rather than adding more settlements. He destroyed the fleet of Zamorin and a fleet sent Zamorin