What was the cause behind the Inter-State Rivalry in Malabar?

Economic prosperity depended upon foreign trade and each prince wanted to have the centre of trade activities placed in his own ports friendly relations between Calicut and the Portuguese was not liked by Cochin, Cannanore and Quilon, and so was the attitude of Calicut towards the other powers who had treaty relations with Portugal. These hostile relations of the Malabar princes the Portuguese utilized for enhancing their power in India.

War broke out between Cochin and Calicut in 1519 and Portuguese friendship Calicut got snapped when they supported the Raja of Cochin. The rupture became complete in 1522. During Gama’s viceroyalty he could not hold back the progress of decline in the hold of the Portuguese on the Malabar Coast. Henry Meneses, the Portuguese governor who succeeded Gama, bent upon destroying the maritime power of Calicut, invaded Ponnani and a full blooded war ensued.

The Portuguese destroyed their factory at Calicut while retreating and admitted defeat. The war resulted in irreparable damage to the Portuguese prestige and incalculable loss to their commercial prospects in the East. Kunjali Marakkar, the Muslim merchant, became the Naval Captain of the Zamorin who along with his brother inflicted heavy defeat on Portuguese navy. This made Arab trade prosper and Portuguese trade deteriorated.

Therefore, the energy of the Portuguese was now concentrated on the destruction of the Marakkars. With this intention they secured permission to build a fortress at Chyaliam from the Raja of Chaliam, Zamorin’s feudatory, from where they could threaten the internal communications of the Zamorin and intercede the trade between Arabia and Calicut.

This fortress put the Zamorin and his Arab allies in great difficulty as the Portuguese armed patrol service cut the Zamorin’s dominions in half and all merchandise to Calicut from the southern territory had to pass under Portuguese surveillance. Muslim traders were also harassed by them. The fort became a grave threat to Calicut and the Zamorin had to strive hard to unseat the Portuguese.