The very first act of industrial sabotage in India
By: Sandeep Nair
Tags: Adventure, Military, History, India, Diplomacy

It was the year 1500. Vasco da Gama had just returned to Portugal with the grand news of the discovery of a European trade route to India.

Although da Gama didn’t leave India on the best of terms, Portuguese king Manuel I was hopeful of continued trade. After all, it was the beginning of a new century. New century, new hope, and all that.

So, Manuel I ordered a second Portuguese India Armada to be assembled. Since da Gama had by now lost favor at the Court, Manuel needed a new commander.

And he found it in Pedro Alvares Cabral, a 33-year-old minor nobleman with no naval experience. Cabral started out with 13 ships and finally reached Calicut six months later with six ships left in his fleet. He had lost the rest to bad weather and worse luck.

Cabral, seen here wondering how he got the job

Cabral presented the Zamorin (traditional ruler) of Calicut with fine jewelry, textiles and a respectful letter from Manuel I to gain his trust. Impressed, the Zamorin granted him permission to trade and to build a factory in Calicut.

Thus it came to be that the very first European factory was built in India. While he waited for the factory to be built, Cabral spent his time trying to build a more favorable position with the Zamorin by performing small military tasks for him, such as disrupting trade between traditional Arab merchants and the kingdom of Cochin.

The Zamorin in 1500, seen here wondering what new task to give Cabral

Arab Merchants had been trading with the Zamorin and the kingdom of Cochin for generations before Cabral came onto the scene, and they were not very pleased with the Europeans trying to muscle in on their turf. After all, nobody likes competition.

So the Arabs did what they did best- collude to shut out Portuguese buyers from Calicut’s spice markets. This was a tactic they had used successfully in the past against the Chinese, driving them out of Malabar in the early 15th century. Centuries later, their descendants practice pretty much the same cartel formation principles with OPEC.

But unlike Russia today, Cabral retaliated in a much more overt manner. On December 17, 1500, he ordered the seizure of an Arab merchant ship loaded with spices, and kept all the loot to himself. Incensed, the Arabs retaliated.

In what amounted almost certainly to the very first act of international industrial sabotage conducted on Indian soil, the Arabs set fire to the Portuguese factory in Calicut. Cabral, anchored as he was well away from the shore, could only watch in horror as the mob slaughtered close to 70 Portuguese men.

The Zamorin, curiously, did nothing to stop the massacre. In fact, reports show his army may have actively helped the rioters.

This incident concluded negotiations between Portugal and Calicut rather hurriedly. In retaliation, Cabral ordered the bombardment of Calicut for an entire day. It did immense damage to the city, and close to 600 men were killed.

This marked the beginning of war between Portugal and Calicut (and in a way, India). Hostilities, and the infamous ‘gun-boat diplomacy’, would continue for the next five centuries until the newly formed Indian government finally drove them out of Goa.