February 3, 1509- a Portuguese fleet annihilates the warships of the Mamluk and Gujarat sultanates at the Battle of Diu. The victory, the first of many by Europeans in Asia, helps establish Portugal as a military and commercial power in India.
Critical for Portuguese
The Battle of Diu was a naval battle fought on 3 February 1509 in the Arabian Sea, in the port of Diu, India, between the Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, and the Zamorin of Calicut with support of the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire.
The Portuguese victory was critical: the great Muslim alliance was soundly defeated, 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.
Please read : November 17, 1796 : Battle of Arcole, Republic of Venice (THIS DAY IN HISTORY)
Portugal captured key ports in the Indian Ocean
After the battle, Portugal rapidly captured key ports in the Indian Ocean including 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 more than a century.
The Battle of Diu was a battle of annihilation similar to the Battle of Lepanto and the Battle of Trafalgar, and one of the most important of world naval history, for it marks the beginning of European dominance over Asian seas that would last until the Second World War.
