Battle of Cochin (1504)

Battle of Cochin
Part of Portuguese battles in the Indian Ocean
Date March 16, 1504 – July 3, 1504 Location Kochi, India Result Decisive Kochi-Portuguese victory Zamorin imperial attempts stopped and preservation of the independence of the kingdom of Cochin Secured the continued presence of the Portuguese in India
Belligerents
Portuguese Empire Kingdom of Cochin	Calicut Vassal Malabari states (Edapalli, Cranganore, Kottakkal, Kingdom of Tanur, Beypore, Chaliyam, Pariyapuram etc.)
Commanders and leaders
Duarte Pacheco Pereira Candagora, heir of Cochin Trimumpara Raja	Zamorin Raja of Calicut Naubeadarim, heir of Calicut Elancol, caimal of Edapalli
Strength
140 Portuguese 200–1000 Cochinese 5 vessels	57,000–84,000 260 vessels
Casualties and losses
Negligible or none dead	19,000 dead (c. 5,000 in action, 13,000 to disease)

Decisive Kochi-Portuguese victory

Portuguese Empire

Calicut

Duarte Pacheco Pereira
Candagora, heir of Cochin

Zamorin Raja of Calicut
Naubeadarim, heir of Calicut

The Battle of Cochin, sometimes referred as the Second Siege of Cochin, was a series of confrontations, between March and July 1504, fought on land and sea, principally between the Portuguese garrison at Cochin, allied to the Trimumpara Raja, and the armies of the Zamorin of Calicut and vassal Malabari states.

The celebrated heroics of the tiny Portuguese garrison, led by Duarte Pacheco Pereira, fended off an invading army several hundred times bigger. It proved a humiliating defeat for the Zamorin of Calicut. He not only failed to conquer Cochin, but his inability to crush the tiny opposition undermined the faith of his vassals and allies. The Zamorin lost much of his traditional authority over the Malabar states of India in the aftermath. The preservation of Cochin secured the continued presence of the Portuguese in India.

Since the fragmentation of the Chera state in the 10th century, the ruler of the city-state of Calicut (Port.Calecute; now, Kozhikode), known as the Zamorin (Samoothiri Raja, 'Lord of the Sea') had been generally recognized as overlord by most of the small states on the Malabar Coast of India. Under the Zamorin's rule, Calicut grew as a commercial city, emerging as the major entrepot of the Kerala pepper trade and the principal emporium for other spices shipped from further east (see spice trade).

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