1. The Zamorin was not frightened of Lorenzo de Almeida. He fought equally well. But before long, he had to retreat, being unable to fight the powerful army of the Portuguese. After some time, Almeida seized the naval power too. This led to constant battles. Very often, it was Lorenzo de Almeida who won.

2. During this time, there was a combined naval power made of North India and Egyptian states. Lorenzo de Almeida, went to fight them. In this battle, the Portuguese lost and the young commander Lorenzo died in the battle. Yet, the naval battles did not stop. In the year 1509, the combined naval fleet was defeated by the Portuguese.

3. It is after this battle, that the Portuguese became the most powerful force in the Indian Ocean. But before long, there appeared signals of the failure of the security service installed in the sea, by Almeida. The first obvious reason for this failure was the difficulty of guarding a vast sea area like that of the Indian Ocean. The second reason was that the sea battles engaged in by the Portuguese, were fought in the Indian Ocean, which was thousands of miles away from their headquarters in Lisbon.

4. This made the Portuguese deviate from that and concentrate on a policy where they would be able to take the spice trade into their hands. It was with this in mind, that Albuquerk wanted to tour the areas and see things for himself. After this tour of study, he forwarded a few suggestions.

5. All these proposals were not his own. Some were proposals, made even earlier. He, however, had suggested the opening up of a headquarters in the Indian Ocean, to monitor their activities. Accordingly, Goa was captured and a ceasefire for military and naval activities was established. As it was already proved that guarding the entire Indian Ocean was impossible, they decided to guard the entrances to the Indian Ocean.

6. These entrances happened to be, the Red Sea, Persian Bay and the Straits of Malacca. As such, the Portuguese acted accordingly. They were unable to capture Aden, but captured Socotra instead. This enabled them to establish their power, in the Red Sea, at least to a certain extent. When they captured Ormuz, the entrance to the Persian Bay too fell under their power.

7. They were able to capture Malacca in 1511 A. D. A fortress was erected there. Thence forward they could monopolise the trade in the islands of East India and even Far East India. Malacca became an
important centre in this connection. As Portuguese power was established in these centres, things became difficult for the Muslims. They lost their chance of moving about freely, in the Indian Ocean.

8. In short, the Indian Ocean was like a tank, owned by the Portuguese. When Albuquerk's proposals were put into effect, the naval power and the trade monopoly, the Portuguese had gained in the Indian Ocean lasted for nearly 150 years.