Vasco da Gama Bombards Calicut

1502

Returning to India with a war fleet, Vasco da Gama demanded the expulsion of Muslim merchants from Calicut. When the Zamorin refused, he hanged captive fishermen from his yardarms and shelled the city for three days. Portuguese diplomacy on the Indian Ocean had found its voice. His brutality established Portuguese commercial policy in the Indian Ocean: trade on Portuguese terms or face naval bombardment.