A History of the Mahrattas v1.c9.25

v1.c9.25

Early in the sixteenth century a new power appeared, which took some share in the events which followed. The Portuguese, under the celebrated Vasco de Gama, had made their appearance in May, 1498, at the town of Calicut in Kerala, or Malabar. In 1507, in an engagement fought at Choule,² by Lorenzo, the son of Francisco de Almeyda, against the fleet of the Soldan of Egypt, the Portuguese cannon were first heard on the shores of Maharashtra. Choule then belonged to Ahmednugur, and the country of Mullik Nizam Ool Moolk Byheree seems to have been the only one to which the ravages of Portuguese piracy did not extend. They maintained a friendly intercourse for a good many years with the king of Ahmednugur.