Battle of Chaul

The Battle of Chaul was a naval battle between the Portuguese and the Egyptian Mamluk fleets in 1508 in the harbour of Chaul in India. The battle ended in a Mamluk victory. It followed the Siege of Cannanore in which a Portuguese garrison successfully resisted an attack by southern Indian rulers. This was the first Portuguese defeat at sea in the Indian Ocean.¹

Background

Previously, the Portuguese had been mainly active in Calicut, but the northern region of Gujarat was even more important for trade, and an essential intermediary in east–west trade: the Gujaratis were bringing spices from the Moluccas as well as silk from China, and then selling them to the Egyptians and Arabs.²

The Portuguese' monopolizing interventions were however seriously disrupting Indian Ocean trade, threatening Arab as well as Venetian interests, as it became possible for the Portuguese to undersell the Venetians in the spice trade in Europe. Venice broke diplomatic relations with Portugal and started to look at ways to counter its intervention in the Indian Ocean, sending an ambassador to the Egyptian court.³ Venice negotiated for Egyptian tariffs to be lowered to facilitate competition with the Portuguese, and suggested that "rapid and secret remedies" be taken against the Portuguese.³ The sovereign of Calicut, the Zamorin, had also sent an ambassador asking for help against the Portuguese.⁴

Since the Mamluks only had little in terms of naval power, timber had to be provided from the in order to build the ships, about half of which was intercepted by the in , so that only a fraction of the planned fleet could be assembled at . The timber was brought overland on back, and assembled at Suez under the supervision of Venetian .