Page 186 - DILMUN NO 20

Historical Links between lndia and the Gulf

weakened further with the appointment of Alfonso De Albuquerque as a
Viceroy. Albuquerque' s strategy in the lndian Ocean was based on "securing
bases covering all the entrances to that sea - in East Africa, off the Red Sea,
at Hormuz, in Malabar, and at Malacca'. 32 According to this strateg,y which
stemmed from a desire to see Portugal gaining supremacy over its rival,
venice, Abuquerque occupied Goa (1510), Malacca (1511), Hormu2 (1515),
and unsuccessfully attempted to capture Aden. His successors captured
Muscat, the lslands of Bahrain, and oatif establishing a position of
dominance for Portugal in the Gulf

As a result of the above developments, Arabia's merchants were deprived of
their influence in the lndian Ocean and of their share in the trade of lndian,
Persian, African, and Oriental goods. Their rulers in Hormuz, Muscat, and
Bahrain were suppressed and forced to pay annual tributes to the
Portuguese. Their mercantile activity in the Gulf and lndian Ocean became
subjected to trade licenses and taxes, Moreover, their vessels, sailing
behween Hormu2 and other Gulf ports, were forced to sail into Goa and "the
ships which refused to do the biding were attacked and captured with their
crew and goods'. 33 These ships included those sailing from lndian ports to
the Red Sea carrying charitable contributions or alms of gold and silver from
the lndian Muslims to Mecca. 34 ١n Goa, which had been in the pre­
Portuguese era, and particularly during the 21 years of Adil Shah's reign, "a
safe and pivotal transit port for all the merchandise of its hinterland and of all
those embarked from the thence to proceed to Jeddah enroute to the holy
cities of Mecca and Medina' 35, the lndians of Arab origin known as
"Navayats' were excluded from office and deprived of their control over
import and re-export of Arabian and Persian horses which were needed in the
cavalry, the backbone of the Hinu armies in those day.

Under these circumstances, it was natural for lndo-Gulf trade contact to face
a setback. As for contacts other than trade exchange during the period, they
were confined to the theologicla field, mostly through pilgrimage to Mecca
which continued despite all the difficulties, The 16th and 17th centuries'