1. Although King Vijayabahu did not like the Portuguese, he did not show it openly, as he felt it was not a wise thing to do. He thought of seeking the help of another nation to defeat them. For this purpose, he selected the erstwhile enemy of the Portuguese, who were in India, at the time. He was the 'Zamorin' or the King of Calicut. 'Zamorin' – meant the ‘Master of the Seas.’

2. When you refer to him, you cannot forget Vasco da Gama. That is because he was able to cross the Indian Ocean and arrive at Calicut. This happened in 1498 A.D. At this time, North India was divided into a number of Muslim principalities. In the South was the Vijayanagar Empire. The Western coast of South India was also divided into a number of states.

3. Goa, Calicut, Cochin, Tanjore and Kilan are some of them. They were named as small principalities. It is the range of Western Ghats that separated them from the Vijayanagar Empire. The Muslim states and the Vijayanagar Empire were suspicious of each other. As a result, none of the states were capable of fighting against the Portuguese.

4. The Western coast, that is the Malabar states, were also jealous of each other. As they were fighting amongst themselves, they were not in a position to rise up against the foreigner. This made things easy for the Portuguese to land there. The enemies, whom they encountered in Indian Ocean, were the Arabs, who respected the Muslim religion. As such, even where religion was
concerned they were old enemies.

5. Although it was rather easy for Vasco da Gama to land in India, it was no easy task to engage in trade. The main obstacle was the opposition put forward by the Arabs. The 'Zamorin' too did not extend his
support to him. His officers too were against him. Therefore Vasco da Gama returned to Portugal. By the time he reached home, two thirds of his people who accompanied him, were dead.

6. In spite of this loss, from whatever little trade he did, the profit he gained was sixty times the expenses on this first trip. The Portuguese began to realize that this was a considerable success. This resulted in a second trip to India – by the Portuguese, under the leadership of Pedro Alvares Cabraal. They got caught to a storm and were washed ashore to the North East coast of South America. They captured the land there. This happened in 1500 A.D.

7. This area they captured was later named Brazil. It became a colony of the Portuguese king. The next one to visit India was Almeida. His ambition was to get hold of the rule of the Indian Ocean and grab the spice trade from the Arabs. For this purpose, they started guarding the Indian Ocean and attacking Muslim ships.

8. Muslim ships were destroyed. Every attempt was made to chase them away from the seas. This resulted in constant sea battles. Almeida's son, Lorenzo de Almeida, extended his fullest support in this connection. In fact, he became a threat, even to the Zamorin's naval power.