forts, but placed over them Pedro Mascarenhas
as Captain of Goa.

Albuquerque next sent ambassadors to the principal native princes,
who desired to enter into negotiations with him. To the King of
Ahmadabad or Gujarat he sent Tristao de Ga with a demand for leave to
build a fortress in the island of Diu. To Bijapur he sent Diogo
Fernandes to treat for peace. To the Raja of Vijayanagar he sent
Gaspar Chanoca with a request that the Portuguese should be allowed
to build a fortress at Baticala. He also had an interview with Rasul
Khan, and heard from him that there were serious dissensions at the
Court of Bijapur between the Turks and the Persians, which had
culminated in the murder of Kamal Khan, the chief minister, who was a
Persian. Having thus placed everything in the most secure situation
possible, he appointed his cousin Jorge de Albuquerque to be Captain
of Cochin in the place of Pedro Mascarenhas, and ordered Dom Garcia
de Noronha to break up the blockade of Calicut and to join him with
his fleet.

On February 7, 1513, Albuquerque sailed out of Goa harbour for the
Red Sea with twenty ships carrying 1700 Portuguese and 800 native
soldiers, the latter of whom had been recruited on the Malabar coast.
He had a favourable voyage, and on Good Friday, March 25, 1513, he
cast anchor in the harbour of Aden. The importance of Aden at the
entrance to the Red Sea was at that time very great, as the ships
from India {127} and the further East all stopped there before
proceeding to Egypt. It was not only merchant vessels which followed
that route, but the numerous ships which carried Moslem pilgrims to
the birthplace and the tomb of Muhammad at Mecca and Medina.

Albuquerque's intention was to put a stop alike to the passage of
traders and of pilgrims. The chief who ruled at Aden was practically
independent, but owed some fealty to the Sultans of Egypt. He
possessed a powerful army, and the walls of his city were well
provided with artillery. Nevertheless Albuquerque determined to
assault the place by escalade. The Portuguese were nearly successful,
but their over impetuosity caused all the scaling ladders to be
broken by the crowds of soldiers who tried to mount them at once.
Only a small party managed to enter the town, and since they could
not be supported owing to the breakdown of the ladders, they were
almost entirely cut to pieces. Several officers were killed in this
affair, amongst whom were Jorge da Silveira and Ga