Battle of Diu (1509)

Battle of Diu

Date	3 February 1509
Location	Diu, India
Result	Decisive Portuguese victory

Belligerents

Ottoman auxiliaries
Supported by:

Commanders and leaders

Strength

18 ships; including 12 carracks and 6 smaller caravels
1,300 Portuguese
400 Hindu-Nairs

12 ships and 80 war-boats; 4000 to 5000 men

Casualties and losses

Unknown

The Battle of Diu, sometimes referred to as the Second Battle of Chaul, was a naval battle fought on 3 February 1509 in the Arabian Sea, near the port of Diu, India, between the Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut with support of Ottomans, the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik).

The Portuguese victory was critical: the Mamluks and Arabs retreated, easing the Portuguese strategy of controlling the Indian Ocean to route trade down the Cape of Good Hope, circumventing the traditional spice route controlled by the Arabs and the Venetians through the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. After the battle, Portugal rapidly captured key ports in the Indian Ocean like Goa, Ceylon, Malacca and Ormuz, crippling the Mamluk Sultanate and the Gujarat Sultanate, greatly assisting the growth of the Portuguese Empire and establishing its trade dominance for almost a century, until it was lost during the Dutch-Portuguese War and the Battle of Swally (Battle Of Suvali) won by the British East India Company in 1612. It marks the beginning of European colonialism in Asia. It also marks the spillover of the Christian-Islamic power struggle, in and around the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East, into the Indian Ocean, which was the most important region for international trade at the time.