Siege of Cannanore ( 1507 ) The Siege of Cannanore ( 1507 ) was a four - month siege , from April to August 1507 , when troops of the local ruler ( the Kōlattiri Raja of Cannanore ) , supported by the Zamorin of Calicut and Arabs , besieged the Portuguese garrison at St . Angelo Fort in Cannanore , in what is now the Indian state of Kerala . It followed the Battle of Cannanore ( 1506 ) , in which the fleet of the Zamorin was defeated by the Portuguese . Background . In early 1501 , shortly after the opening of hostilities between the Portuguese admiral Pedro Alvares Cabral and the Zamorin of Calicut , the Kōlattiri Raja of Cannanore invited the Portuguese to trade in the spice markets of Cannanore instead . Treaties were signed and a crown factory , defended by a small palisade , was established in 1502 . In late 1505 , D . Francisco de Almeida , the first Portuguese vice - roy of the Indies , secured permission to erect the stone fortress of Santo Angelo in Cannanore . The fortress garrison of 150 men was placed under the command of D . Lourenço de Brito The old Kolathiri Raja who had energetically pursued the Portuguese alliance died sometime in 1506 . As the succession was disputed , the Zamorin of Calicut , as formal suzerain of the Kerala coast , nominated an arbitrator to sort through the candidates . The new Kolathiri Raja of Cannanore was consequently indebted to the Zamorin and less inclined to the Portuguese . Hostilities were in large part due to the Portuguese sinking an Indian ship and killing the crew by stitching them into sails and throwing them into the sea , on the grounds that they were not carrying one of the " Cartaz " , the passes the Portuguese were imposing on all ships of the region . Such passes had to be signed by either the commander of Cochin or Cannanore . The population of the adjoining state of Kōlattunād was greatly angered by this event , and asked their ruler , the Kōlattiri , to attack the Portuguese . The siege . The siege started on 27 April 1507 , and was to last for four months . The Kōlattiri had 40 , 000 Nāyars attack the position . The Zamorin supplied the ruler of Cannanore with 21 pieces of artillery and 20 , 000 auxiliaries . The firepower of the garrison under Lourenço de Brito allowed it to repulse massive attacks involving thousands of men . The siege soon entered a stalemate , with the Malabari trenches being protected from Portuguese cannon fire by walls of cotton bales , and the Portuguese being slowly forced into starvation . Castanheda ' s detailed report of the siege states that they were then surprised - and saved - by a tidal wave of lobsters that washed ashore on August 15 . A major assault before the Onam festival nearly overcame the defenders , but was eventually repulsed . However , a large part of the garrison was wounded in the attempt . The Portuguese garrison was on the verge of being overwhelmed , when on 27 August a fleet of 11 ships under Tristão da Cunha , the 8th Armada , coming from Socotra , appeared . The fleet landed 300 Portuguese soldiers , forcing the lifting of the siege and relieving the fortress . Peace was negotiated between the Portuguese and the Kōlattiri Raja , confirming the continued presence of the Portuguese in Cannanore and the resumption of their access to its spice markets . These events would eventually be followed by the defeat of the Portuguese at the Battle of Chaul in 1508 .