Vasco da Gama’s second voyage was more important from the point of view of South Indian politics as it threw the whole Malabar into a state of turmoil and dreadful political uncertainty. Gama had three important objects to realise: to punish the Zamorin, to establish the supreme authority of the Portuguese in the Arabian Sea, and to propagate Roman Catholicism among Indians. The first he did in a most barbarous and diabolic manner.
As soon as he reached Cannanore, he sank a pilgrim ship belonging to the Zamorin which was returning from Mecca. After transferring the cargo to his own ship, he set fire to it killing 300 innocent men and women.
This act of base cruelty was symbolic of Portuguese relations with India. Gama, on reaching Calicut bombarded the city when the Zamorin refused his demand to expel all the Arabs from the city as a precondition for peace.
He seized 24 ships carrying rice to Calicut and killed all their crew. The Zamorin was eager to pacify Gama and establish friendly relations with Portugal; but the cruelty of the barbarous westerner foiled his attempt and reassured him that Portuguese were not mere traders but intruders. He, therefore, made it a point to expend all his energy and means to expel them from Malabar.
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Throwing Calicut in a state of stupefied amazement and anxiety, Gama proceeded southward and reached Cochin. A trade agreement was concluded whereby they expropriated exclusive trade rights from the ruler including the right to raise factories and store houses wherever the Portuguese liked.
Calicut gave timely warning to the Cochin Raja who disregarded it and was determined to foster friendly relations with Portugal. The Zamorin even expressed his willingness to concede the independence of Cochin if only the Raja expelled the Portuguese from his territory.
But the Raja’s ambition to become the chief potentate of Malabar with the help of the Portuguese, made him turn down the diplomatic overtures of Calicut. Therefore the inevitable happened. The Zamorin declared war on Cochin and sent strong squadron tinder Koja Kassim to attack Gama off Cochin. Gama, without risking his cargoes, quietly sailed away leaving the Raja to face the wrath of the Zamorin.
When da Gama left, Vincente Sodre was to patrol the coast but he sought mor lucrative business elsewhere, and instead of guarding Cochin from the Zamorin’s attack, he sailed away to plunder ships at the mouth of Red Sea. The Zamorin invaded Coch and reduced the Raja and his Portuguese allies to great straits, compelling them to retire to Vaipin island where they were left to languish without succour from the Portuguese naval forces.