The Zamorin of Calicut dispatches a service…
October 1500 CE
The Zamorin of Calicut dispatches a service request to Cabral's idling fleet in October.
Arab merchants allied with the rival city-state of Cochin are returning from Ceylon with a cargo of war elephants destined for the Sultan of Cambay (Khambhat, Gujarat).
Claiming it to be illegal contraband (the Zamorin can probably use the elephants himself), Cabral is asked if he can intercept them.
Cabral sends one of his caravels, brimming with cannon, under Pêro de Ataíde, nicknamed 'Inferno', to capture it.
Hoping for a spectacle, the Zamorin himself comes down to the beachfront to witness the engagement, but leaves in disgust when the Arab ship deftly slips past Ataide.
Ataíde gives chase, however, eventually catching up with it near Cannanore and successfully seizing the vessel.
Cabral presents as a gift to the Zamorin the captured ship, with its nearly intact elephant cargo (one pachyderm had been killed in the engagement).