The resumption of the pepper blockade seems…
December 1503 CE
The resumption of the pepper blockade seems to have hindered Albuquerque's preparations of the return fleet, much of it having still lacking spice cargoes.
Albuquerque dispatches two ships down to Quilon, with the factor António de Sá, to see if more can be procured here.
Quilon being better connected to Ceylon and points east, its spice supply is not as dependent on the Zamorin's sway and has often invited the Portuguese before.
However, soon after their departure, Albuquerque hears that the Zamorin of Calicut is preparing a Calicut fleet of some thirty ships for Quilon.
Afonso de Albuquerque leaves Cochin and hurries down to Quilon himself.
Arriving in Quilon, Albuquerque instructs the Portuguese factor to hurry his business along, and seeks an audience with the regent-queen of Quilon.
The Portuguese are still docked when the Calicut fleet arrives, carrying an embassy from the Zamorin with the mission to persuade (or intimidate) Quilon into abandoning the Portuguese.
The regent queen of Quilon rejects the Zamorin's request, while also forbidding Albuquerque from engaging in hostilities in the harbor.
Albuquerque, realizing Quilon is the only spice supply he has access to, accedes to her request.
Albuquerque resigns himself to negotiating a commercial treaty and establishing a permanent Portuguese factory in Quilon (the third in India), placing it under the factor António de Sá, with two assistants and twenty armed men to protect the factory.