What was the and name and year of the naval victory Portugal have over Islamic navy in the Indian Ocean?
—Greg
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Dear Greg,
You are probably referring to the Battle of Diu, also called the Second Battle of Chaul, in which a Portuguese squadron of 18 warships under Dom Francisco de Almeida defeated a joint force of 12 major and some 250 minor vessels gathered by the Sultanate of Gujerat, the Zamorin of Calicut and the Mamluk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, with supporting contingents from the Ottoman Empire and the republics of Venice and Ragusa, on February 3, 1509. As you may note from the last two allies, this was not really about religion—as far as Venice and Ragusa were concerned, it was an attempt to eliminate a trading rival. Their victory off the coast of India was vital toward the Portuguese maintaining their scattered colonial holdings and commercial port contracts throughout the Indian Ocean and into the Far East over the next century.
Sincerely,
Jon Guttman
Research Director
World History Group
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