The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c24.40

v3.c24.40

The Portuguese now made their first appearance in Bengal. In 1528 Martim Affonso de Mello Jusarte was sent by Nuno da Cunha, governor of the Portuguese Indies, to gain a foothold in Bengal, but was shipwrecked, and fell into the hands of Khudā Bakhsh Khān of Chakiria, south of Chatgāon (Chittagong), where he remained a prisoner until he was ransomed for £1500 by Shihāb-ud-dīn, a merchant of Chittagong. Shihāb-ud-dīn was soon afterwards in difficulties with Nusrat Shāh, and appealed to the Portuguese for help. Martim Affonso was sent in command of a trading expedition to Chittagong, and sent a mission, with presents worth about £1200 to Nusrat Shāh in Gaur. The misconduct of the Portuguese in Chittagong, and their disregard of the customs regulations incensed the king, and he ordered their arrest and the confiscation of their property. The governor of Chittagong treacherously seized their leaders at a banquet to which he had invited them, slew the private soldiers and sailors who had not time to escape to the ships, confiscated property worth £100,000, and sent his prisoners to Gaur. Nusrat Shāh demanded a ransom so exorbitant that the Portuguese authorities refused to pay it, but punished the king by burning Chittagong. This measure of reprisal in no way benefited the captives, who had from the first been harshly treated, and were now nearly starved.