Battle of Dabul explained

Conflict:Battle of Dabul
Partof:the Adil Shahi–Portuguese conflicts
Date:29 December 1508
Place:Dabul (now Dabhol, India)
Result:Portuguese victory
Combatant1: Portuguese Empire
Combatant2:Sultanate of Bijapur
Commander1:Francisco de Almeida
Commander2:Unknown
Strength1:19 ships
1,900 men
Strength2:4 merchant ships from Gujarat
6,000 men [1]
Casualties1:Negligible
Casualties2:All ships destroyed
Unknown number of men killed, captured and wounded

The Battle of Dabul was a retaliatory attack by the forces of the Viceroy of Portuguese India, Francisco de Almeida, upon the port city of Dabul (now Dabhol) in the Sultanate of Bijapur. It occurred on 29 December 1508, in retaliation for attacking the Portuguese armada en route to the Battle of Diu. Despite the presence of a double wooden wall and a ditch, the Portuguese using both an artillery bombardment and a pincer movement of armed soldiers, "slammed into the town. What followed was a black day in the history of European conquest that would leave the Portuguese cursed on Indian soil."[2] The conquerors were merciless--all living creatures (male, female, old, young, human or animal) were slaughtered then the city set on fire to burn alive those who had managed to hide in secret. The Portuguese departed on January 5, 1509. "This massacre stood beside [Vasco de] Gama's destruction of [the [[Hajj]] pilgrim ship] the Miri as an unforgiven act that lingered long in the memory".[3]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Batalhas e Combates da Marinha Portuguesa . Monteiro . Saturnino . 2010 . Livraria Sá da Costa Editora . Lisbon . 978-972-562378-7 .
  2. Roger Crowley, Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire. New York: Random House, 2015, p. 198
  3. Crowley, p. 199