Fall of Calicut (1526)
The fall of Calicut occurred in 1526, when the Zamorin, the local Indian ruler, captured the fort of Calicut from the Portuguese.[1]
The Portuguese had had plans for establishing a fort at Calicut since 1500, when Pedro Álvares Cabral received this mission.[1] The fort was finally completed in 1513, on the spot of an earlier "Serame", after a peace treaty was signed between the king of Portugal and the Zamorin.[1] Hostilities were triggered when Duarte de Menezes attacked and destroyed a fleet of the Zamorin at Ponnani on 26 March 1525.[1]
In reprisal, the Zamorin attacked the fort of Calicut on 3 June 1526.[1] There were 300 Portuguese defenders in the fort, under João de Lima.[1] Reinforcements came from Goa on 20 September, with the intent of embarking the defenders and attacking the troops of the Zamorin.[1]
Faced with the continuous hostility of the Zamorin however, the Portuguese decided to abandon and partly destroy the fort, which was then captured by the Zamorin.[1]