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The Portuguese were aware of the Maldives as soon as they arrived in the East. In 1502-3, Vicente Sodre's fleet journeyed to the Maldives and captured four gundras. As a result, Portuguese expeditions to the Maldives commenced before their ventures to Sri Lanka. However,, their interest in the Maldives increased around the mid-1500s. By that time, the Maldives had become strategically important because Muslim ships from Southeast Asia were stopping there for supplies instead of going to the Malabar Coast. D. Francisco de Almeida instructed his son, D. Lourenço de Almeida, to search for Muslim ships in the Maldives in 1506. There is no evidence that de Almeida contacted the Maldivians, but on his return to India, he certainly established first contact with the Sri Lankan chief king in Kotte. In 1508, the Portuguese king, D. Manuel, asked Diogo Lopes de Sequeira to visit the area. Sequeira’s successor, Governor Afonso de Albuquerque, also recognized the Maldives' importance. At this point, a complex struggle for power and influence arose, involving the Portuguese, the Kolathiri (ruler) of Cannanore, the Ali Raja of Cannanore, and different Maldivian factions. In 1510, Hasan VII (r. 1510-11), one of Kalu Muhammad’s nephews, deposed Kalu Muhammad and became Sultan. After Hasan, Sharif Ahmad (r. 1511-12), an Arab from Mecca, and ‘Ali V ruled in succession. According to Maldivian legends, ‘Ali’s sister, Buraki Rani, also aspired to the throne and sought to marry Kalu Muhammad to strengthen her claims. When denied permission to marry him, she went to Achin and later to Goa, where she promised tribute to the Portuguese. She then sent her retainer to kill the reigning Sultan, seized power, married Kalu Muhammad, and made him Sultan. Portuguese sources support the idea that Buraki Rani was a key figure in the conflict. However, they also suggest that Kalu Muhammad played a more active role and received aid from Mam‘Ali of Cannanore. Clearly,

Ali Raja demanded a significant price for his assistance, as he began receiving an annual tribute from the Maldives and maintained control over much of its trade. He also appears to have gained control over some Maldivian islands. However, the situation was more complex. The Tarikh indicates that Kalu Muhammad received support from both the Portuguese and Ali Raja. Kalu Muhammad might have attempted to use his Portuguese connections to assert his independence, and by mid-1512, Mam‘Ali was trying to install his own brother, ‘Icapocar,’ as Sultan of the Maldives. The Kolatthiri seemed to back Mam‘Ali in this endeavor. As Ali Raja of Cannanore, Mam‘Ali was clearly becoming influential in the Cannanore court. Meanwhile, the Portuguese aimed to expand their political and economic influence in the East. Albuquerque’s conquest of Goa in 1510 had led some rulers, including the Kolatthiri of Cannanore, to adopt a conciliatory stance towards the Portuguese despite provocations. Governor Albuquerque viewed limiting Mam‘Ali’s power as essential for Portuguese dominance over the Maldives. Thus, in August 1512, when Baba Abdullah went to Cochin to seek support for Kalu Muhammad, Albuquerque saw it as an offer of vassalage. Upon arriving in Cannanore, he summoned the chief ministers (including Mam‘Ali) and exerted so much pressure on them that Mam‘Ali’s plan to replace Kalu Muhammad was abandoned. According to Corrèa, Mam‘Ali also agreed to make an annual payment of 3000 quintals (750 bahars) of coir rope to

the Portuguese.

Conversely, Albuquerque lacked the resources to aid Kalu Muhammad in gaining independence. As a result, even though individual Portuguese ships continued to attack and seize merchant vessels in the area, Mam‘Ali still profited greatly from the Maldives. While early interactions between the Maldives and the Portuguese were complicated by internal strife and the influence of Cannanore, the situation in Sri Lanka was much clearer. The island was politically fragmented.

The main ruler in Kotte controlled only the southwestern part of the country directly. In the north, the Tamil kingdom of Jaffna did not acknowledge Kotte's authority. In the central highlands, the chief king's suzerainty was minimal. Even within the chief king's domain, there were principalities independently governed by the ruler’s brothers. On the other hand, the Kotte royal family seemed united against the Portuguese newcomers. When D. Lourenço de Almeida’s fleet arrived at Colombo harbor in 1506, the king’s brother evaluated the situation and advised the chief ruler to invite the Portuguese to the king’s court. The reception included an exchange of gifts that the Portuguese saw as a tribute offer, but the meeting had no significant consequences. The Portuguese continued purchasing cinnamon in Cochin from the Mappila traders of Calicut, who almost entirely controlled its export from Sri Lanka. In 1518, the Portuguese initiated efforts to leverage their naval and military power to achieve commercial dominance in the Maldive Islands and Sri Lanka. This endeavor proved more successful in Sri Lanka than in the Maldives, though success in Sri Lanka was still limited. Let's first look at the Maldive Islands. In 1518, Portuguese Governor Lopo Soares de Albergaria, responding to repeated requests for assistance from Sultan Kalu Muhammed, dispatched a fleet of four ships under D. João de Silveira to the Maldives. Sultan Kalu Muhammad offered Portugal 750 bahars of coir and half the ambergris he received annually, along with a site for a factory, in exchange for Portuguese support. Initially, De Albergaria seemed to agree, but his resources were stretched due to a significant expedition to Sri Lanka, and when Mam‘Ali proposed the same tribute if the islands were left under his control, De Albergaria consented. At that time, Mam‘Ali's revenues from the Maldives were estimated at 10,000 pardãos.

Diogo de Sequeira, who followed De Albergaria, decided to end the agreement with Mam‘Ali and sent D. João Gomes Cheiradinheiro to the Maldives in November 1518 to establish a Portuguese presence. The Portuguese requested permission to build a fort, and Kalu Muhammad, seemingly intending to use the Portuguese against Mam‘Ali, agreed. Once the fort was built, Gomes demanded the right to buy a fifth of the rice imports at cost, paying with coir he had collected. Trade in Male declined, and the situation worsened when Gomes began looting ships in the area. Mam‘Ali withdrew his agents from Male, moving them to the southern atolls of Addu and Huvadu, where trade had shifted. The Portuguese garrison decreased from 20 to 14. In 1521, a group attacked the fort at dawn, captured it, killed the Portuguese, and set fire to a caravel and a few smaller ships. Although one contemporary source credits the attack to Gujeratis, Bouchon suggests that the assault on the Portuguese fort in Male might have been part of a larger offensive by Malabar Muslims. The outcome in Male was decisive. Some Portuguese returned to Male after 1521, but they remained vulnerable and had little influence over the Maldives, which reverted to Cannanore's protection. In 1525, when the Portuguese tried to negotiate with the Kolatthiri to acknowledge Cannanore’s authority over the Maldives, the ruler of Cannanore was unwilling to offer anything substantial, leading to failed negotiations. It wasn't until 1526 that Luis Martins was welcomed in Male as the Portuguese factor. It is quite possible that Governor Lopo Soares de Albergaria delayed his attempt to dominate the Maldives because by late 1517, he was focused on a major effort to establish Portuguese power at Colombo. The Governor’s fleet reportedly included 27 vessels, large and small, and carried a significant portion of the Portuguese fighting force in India as well as many mercenaries from the Malabar coast. Arriving in Colombo in late 1517, the only request the Portuguese Governor made was permission to build a fort to protect Portuguese trading interests. Faced with an overwhelming display of force, Vijayabahu, chief King of Kotte, agreed. However, once the walls of the new fort had reached a defensible height, de Albergaria sent an envoy to the ruler with a gift of cloth and horses, requesting that all the cinnamon in the royal storehouses be delivered to the Portuguese at the current price. The ruler sought assistance from Mam’Ali and attacked the Portuguese fort. The Portuguese firearms and cannon inflicted

The Kotte forces suffered significant losses, leading the Sri Lankan king to accept vassal status and agree to pay an annual tribute. However, this did not resolve the conflict. In June 1518, a group of Muslims from the Malabar coast attacked the Portuguese fort. Although this attack was repelled, trade at Colombo port, similar to Male, came to a halt. With most Portuguese having left, the Kotte ruler delayed the tribute and delivered poor-quality cinnamon. These events must be seen within the context of a competition between the Mappila traders of Cannanore and Calicut, and the Maraikkayars of the Coromandel coast, against the Portuguese settlers of the Malabar coast, supported by the Portuguese state, for control of trade in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and the Palk Straits. The attempts to establish forts in Colombo and Male in 1518 and to take control of the pearl fishery in the Gulf of Mannar were early moves in a struggle with fluctuating fortunes during the 1520s. The Portuguese court in Lisbon recognized the importance of this struggle for the state and, in 1519, the Portuguese ruler instructed Governor Diogo Lopes de Sequeiria to secure a monopoly on Sri Lanka's cinnamon exports and impose a tax on every exported elephant. The Portuguese reinforced their fort in 1519 but barely managed to hold it when the Kotte ruler launched a major attack in October 1521. The ruler's inability to resist the Portuguese resulted in his overthrow the same year, and his son, Bhuvanekabahu (r.1521-51), was installed as the ruler of Kotte. From the Portuguese perspective, the fort in Colombo was becoming a burden. It generated little revenue and caused tensions with the local ruler. Consequently, in 1524, the fort was dismantled and replaced with a trading post (factory) guarded by twenty soldiers. However, this was not entirely a loss for the Portuguese, as Bhuvanekabahu agreed to protect them. Thus, when a group of Mappila Muslims attacked the Portuguese factory in February and May 1525,

Kotte forces helped to repel them. In fact, in 1526, the ruler of Kotte expelled all foreign Muslim merchants from his realm. Another factor that benefited the Portuguese was the growing influence of Bhuvanekabahu’s brother, Mayadunne (r.1521-81), as the sub-ruler at Sitawaka. During the 1520s, the relationship between the two brothers deteriorated. One reason for this might have been Bhuvanekabahu's pro-Portuguese stance, although Portuguese chroniclers claimed that Mayadunne’s ambition to usurp his brother as the chief king was the main cause. In 1527, Mayadunne, with the help of 2500 men sent by the Samudri of Calicut, attacked his brother, who was only saved by the arrival of a Portuguese expedition in early 1528. Bhuvanekabahu maintained his position as chief king, but in reality, Mayadunne of Sitawaka operated almost independently. Due to Bhuvanekabahu’s reliance on Portuguese support, their influence in Kotte gradually increased. In 1533, he granted the Portuguese exclusive rights to purchase cinnamon for export.

In contrast to their inability to achieve commercial dominance in the Maldives, the Portuguese were emerging as both a political and commercial influence in Sri Lanka. Around thirty Portuguese settlers had relocated to Kotte and engaged in trade. When Mayadunne, who had welcomed foreign Muslims into his kingdom and received military support from the Kunjali (Mappila) admirals of Calicut, attacked his brother in 1536 and 1538, Portuguese forces arrived from India to successfully defend Bhuvanekabahu. The Portuguese position in Sri Lanka was further bolstered by their success in the pearl fishery in South India. In the early 1520s, Portuguese appointed as Captains of the Fishery Coast collected tribute (protection money) from the rulers of Kayal and Kilakkarai and established a small fort at Vedalai near the island of Rameswaram. However, it was the conversion of the parava pearl fishermen to Christianity in 1532 that provided the Portuguese with a strong base of support in the area. The situation improved further for them after the decisive defeat of Calicut's naval forces in the battle of Vedalai in 1538. From that point on, the Portuguese in Sri Lanka could expect assistance from the nearby South Indian coast whenever they faced threats.

source

Portuguese Interactions with Sri Lanka and the Maldives in the Sixteenth Century: Some Parallels and Divergences

Chandra R. de Silva, History Professor at Old Dominion University