The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c7.s7.27

c7.s7.27

The good understanding between the Portuguese and the Ahmadnagar kingdom (or to speak more correctly the governors of Chaul) was scarcely broken during the sixteenth century. On the other hand the Bijápur king was too powerful on the coast to accept the protection or acknowledge the supremacy of the Portuguese fleet, and the consequence was that as early as 1608 his great port of Dábhol was destroyed by the fleet of Francisco d'Almeida, consisting of nineteen vessels and 1600 men, half of whom were natives.⁸ On several subsequent occasions the destruction was repeated;⁹ for Dábhol was so great a place of resort for ships from Malabár and Arabia that it very soon recovered its importance.¹⁰ The king of Gujarát also for some time felt no