Ormus, Kingdom of

The Kingdom of Ormus, located within the Persian Gulf and extending as far as the Strait of Hormuz, had been established by Arab princes in the tenth century who in 1262 come under the suzerainty of Il-Khanid Persia.

The kingdom receives its name from the fortified port city which serves as its capital, one of the most important ports in the Middle East as it controls sea lanes through the Persian Gulf to India and East Africa.

This port is probably located on the island of Hormoz, which is located near the modern city of Bandar-e Abbas.

The city-state of Ormus controls the slave market from Africa and Arabia to Khorasan in Persia.

Muslim countries of the Middle East have controlled East-West trade during the Middle Ages.

Control changes in the fifteenth century, however.

The Portuguese, who are building ships with deep hulls that remain stable in high seas, are thereby able to make longer voyages.

They push farther and farther down the west coast of Africa until they find their way around the southern tip of the continent and make contact with Muslim cities on the other side.

In East Africa, the Portuguese enlist Arab navigators there to take them across to India, where they eventually set themselves up in Calicut on the Malabar Coast.

Once in India, the Portuguese use their superior ships to transport goods around Africa instead of using the Red Sea route, thus eliminating the middlemen in Egypt.

The Portuguese then extend heir control to the local trade that crosses the Arabian Sea, capturing coastal cities in Oman and Iran and setting up forts and customs houses on both coasts to collect duty.

The Portuguese allow local rulers to remain in control but collect tribute from them in exchange for that privilege, thus increasing Portuguese revenues.

Oman's geographic location gives it access not only to the Red Sea trade but also to ships skirting the coast of Africa.

By the end of the fifteenth century, however, an Iranian ruler, the shaykh of Hormuz, profits most from this trade.

The shaykh controls the Iranian port that lies directly across the gulf from Oman, and he collects customs duties in the busy Omani ports of Qalhat and Muscat.

Ibadi imams continue to rule in the interior, but until Europeans enter the region in the sixteenth century, Ibadi rulers are unable to reclaim the coastal cities from the Iranians.

Afonso de Albuquerque completes the capture of Hormuz in 1515, while other Portuguese establish trading relations with Macao in China.

With the acquisition of these bases, the Portuguese have not only gained access to the rich spice trade of the East Indies but are now positioned to destroy their rivals, the Arab seafarers.

Having discovered the sea route to India, Manuel organizes successive fleets to that region in order to establish Portuguese commercial hegemony.

In 1505 Francisco de Almeida leaves Lisbon with a fleet of twenty-two ships and twenty-five hundred men, fifteen hundred of whom are soldiers.

Invested with the title of viceroy of India, Almeida is instructed to conclude alliances with Indian rulers, set up factories, and build forts on the east coast of Africa, which he does at Mombasa and at Kilwa in present-day Tanzania before arriving in India.

After his arrival, he fortifies the island of Angediva and Cochin.

He imposes a system of licenses on trading vessels that threaten to ruin the Muslim traders, who react by seeking spices in Malacca in present-day Malaysia and the Sunda Islands in the Malay Archipelago and sailing directly to the Persian Gulf, bypassing India.

Almeida seeks to suppress this trade and secure Portuguese commercial hegemony.

He is joined in this effort by two more fleets sent from Lisbon, one under the command of Tristão da Cunha and the other under Afonso de Albuquerque, who had been appointed Almeida's successor as viceroy.

Cunha explores Madagascar and the coast of east Africa, occupies the island of Socotra (now part of Yemen), and builds a fort at the mouth of the Red Sea, before sailing to India.

Albuquerque ravages the Oman coast and attacks Ormuz, the great entrepôt at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where he begins constructing a fort.

The spice trade linking India to Egypt, and thence Venice, had been seriously diminished and prices had shot up following the bombardment of Calicut in 1500–01 by the second Portuguese India Armada under Pedro Cabral.

Arab shipping is also being attacked directly: an Egyptian ship had been robbed and sunk by the Portuguese in 1503 as it was returning from India.

The Mamluk Sultan Qansuh al-Ghurii in 1504 first sends an envoy to the Pope, in the person of the Grand Prior of the Saint Catherine's Monastery, warning that if the Pope does not stop the exactions of the Portuguese against Muslims, he will bring ruin to the Christian Holy Place in the Levant and to the Christians living in his realm.

The Venetians, who share common interests with the Mamluks in the spice trade and desire to eliminate the Portuguese challenge if possible, send envoy Francesco Teldi, posing as a jewel buyer, as envoy to Cairo.

Teldi tries to find a level of cooperation between the two realms, encouraging the Mamluks to block Portuguese maritime movements.

The Venetians claim they cannot intervene directly, and encourage the Mamluk Sultan to take action by getting into contact with Indian princes at Cochin and Cananor to entice them not to trade with the Portuguese, and the Sultans of Calicut and Cambay to fight against them.

Some sort of alliance is thus concluded between the Venetians and the Mamluks against the Portuguese.

There will be claims, voiced during the War of the League of Cambrai, that the Venetians had supplied the Mamluks with weapons and skilled shipwrights.

The cavalry-oriented Mamluks have little inclination for naval operations, but the Portuguese keep blockading the Red Sea, and arresting Muslim merchant ships.

The Sixth Portuguese India Armada (1504): Reinforcing Portugal’s Position in India

In 1504, King Manuel I of Portugal assembled the Sixth India Armada, comprising 13 ships and 1,200 men, under the command of Lopo Soares de Albergaria. The mission was to strengthen Portuguese control over the Indian Ocean trade, protect Portuguese-allied cities, and continue hostilities with the Zamorin of Calicut, following the failures of previous fleets to force him into submission.

Background: Ongoing Conflict with Calicut

• Pedro Álvares Cabral’s Second Armada (1500–1501) initiated hostilities with the Zamorin of Calicut, Portugal’s first major naval conflict in India.
• Vasco da Gama’s Fourth Armada (1502–1503), despite its brutal attacks and blockades, failed to force Calicut into submission.
• The Fifth Armada (1503) under Afonso de Albuquerque managed to defend the Portuguese-allied cities of Cochin and Cannanore, preventing them from falling to the Zamorin.
• The Portuguese realized that more firepower and troops were needed to secure their position and defeat Calicut.

Composition and Leadership of the Sixth Armada (1504)

• Fleet Size: 13 ships
  • Nine large naus (carracks) designated to return with spice cargoes.
  • Four smaller navetas (caravels), intended to stay in India for coastal defense.
• Commander: Lopo Soares de Albergaria
  • A middling noble with strong Almeida family connections.
  • Previously served as captain-general of São Jorge da Mina on the Gold Coast (West Africa).
• Private Participation:
  • One ship was outfitted by Catarina Dias de Aguiar, a wealthy merchant woman from Lisbon.

Mission Objectives and Strategy

• Protect Portuguese Factories in Cochin and Cannanore
  • Defend Portuguese commercial outposts from Zamorin-led attacks.
  • Strengthen fortifications and local garrisons.
• Maintain War Against Calicut
  • Lopo Soares was under strict orders to refuse peace with the Zamorin.
  • His mission was to continue harassing Calicut, weakening its commercial power and naval influence.
• Bolster Portuguese Naval Presence in India
  • Unlike previous armadas, some of the fleet’s caravels were instructed to remain in India for coastal patrols.

Departure and Significance

• The Sixth Armada set sail from Lisbon on April 22, 1504, carrying more soldiers and reinforcements than previous fleets.
• This fleet marked a strategic shift in Portuguese policy, recognizing that long-term naval and military presence was required to dominate Indian Ocean trade.
• The Portuguese Crown saw Cochin and Cannanore as critical allies, ensuring that these cities would serve as long-term bases for future expansion.

Conclusion: Setting the Stage for Portuguese Hegemony in India

The Sixth India Armada (1504) was part of Portugal’s growing military commitment to Indian Ocean domination. By reinforcing their allies and maintaining pressure on Calicut, the Portuguese laid the groundwork for later conquests, culminating in the fall of Goa in 1510 under Afonso de Albuquerque and the establishment of Portugal’s Eastern Empire.

The sixth armada, proceeding in good order from Portugal to India, reaches the Cape of Good Hope in mid-June.

The ships of the sixth Portuguese India armada arrive at the first collection point, Cape Verde, on May 2.

Lopo Soares announces that as they had left Lisbon so late, there is no room for error.

He lays down a set of strict sailing instructions, and warns pilots and masters he will dock their pay for every mistake.

The sixth armada reaches Mozambique Island on June 25.

Here, Lopo Soares finds the testimonial letter left behind by Pêro de Ataíde, the former captain of the India patrol, who had died there in February.

From this missive, Lopo Soares learns of the debacle of the coastal patrol of Vicente Sodré and Calicut's attack on Cochin the previous spring.

Ataide's letter gives Lopo Soares the news of India up until February, 1504.

What Lopo Soares does not know (but probably can guess) is that at this very moment there is a desperate battle going on in Cochin.