A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar): A Contribution to the History of India c17.s1.22

c17.s1.22

Barros relates the departure of de Sequeira from India for the Red Sea on February 13, 1520, and states that in his absence Ruy de Mello was governor of Goa, under Sequeira’s lieutenant, Aleixo de Menezes. Ruy de Mello seized the mainland of Goa after the battle of Raichûr,¹ and at that time de Sequeira was absent at the Red Sea. His description of the siege of Raichûr and the great battle in the vicinity clearly seems to have been taken from the chronicle of Nuniz. It follows the latter blindly, even in the misspelling of names, and therefore is really of no greater value. When, however, Barros comes to deal with the acquisition of the mainlands of Goa,² he is dependent on other information, and gives a much more detailed account. The time is clearly fixed. After the battle and flight of the Âdil Shâh the feeling between the two adversaries was naturally highly strained, and this “enabled Ruy de Mello, captain of Goa, to take the mainlands of Goa.” Sequeira was at the Red Sea and Menezes at Cochin. A very important passage for my present purpose occurs a little later on in Barros’s work:³—