Diu Fort

Before the Portuguese built the fort in 1535, the ancient history of the place was associated with several kings and dynasties. The earliest citation is from the Purana period, followed by the Maurya’s, the Kshetrapals from the 1st century to 415, the Guptas from 415 to 467, the Maitrika’s from 470 to 788, the Chabad dynasty of Gujarat and Saurashtra from 789 to 789. The Chalukya’s and the last were Portuguese colonial rulers until the Government of India annexed Diu along with Goa and Daman on 19 December 1961. Sultan Shah Bahadur of Gujarat captured Diu Island in 1330 AD. Some defense forts were built during his reign and during the previous Muslim rulers, but the Portuguese demolished them while building new forts. But when the Mughal Emperor Humayun was preparing to invade Gujarat and capture the Sultan’s territory, the Sultan had to seek the help of the Portuguese. Thus, the Portuguese at length found the right opportunity to set foot on the island of Diu to build a fort to protect their trade. In the past, in 1501, 1521 and 1531 they tried to take the island by force but failed. In 1531, Nuno da Cunha (1487 – 5 March 1539) who was the governor of the Portuguese possessions in India from 1528 to 1538, ordered the King of Portugal to build a fort at Diu to strengthen its spice trade. He launched a powerful military attack to annex Diu from the Sultan with 100 ships and 8000 men, including 3000 Portuguese. But the expedition could bombard Diu without ever setting foot on the island. Portuguese forces could at best harass the nearest coast. They attacked again in 1532 and 1533 but were unsuccessful. But opportunity finally knocked at their door in 1535, when the Sultan sought their help to defend against Humayun’s forces. Taking full advantage of this situation, the Portuguese diplomatically signed a defense treaty with the Sultan in 1535 under which they were allowed to build a fort and station a garrison in the fort. Additionally, it formalized their complete control of Bassein Island (an island they had already bought from the Sultan during a previous conflict in 1533 and built a fort there). The Portuguese not only built a large fort at Diu by demolishing the old forts existing on the island but also continuously strengthened it from 1535 to 1546 to make it a strong fort. After the Portuguese ambition to build a fort at Diu was fulfilled, there was complete distrust between the Sultan and the Portuguese on several issues. In 1537, at the port of Diu, the Sultan was killed in a skirmish with the Portuguese. This led to a battle between two claimants for the throne of the Sultanate of Gujarat, but Governor Kumhar’s candidate lost. This resulted in the Portuguese making a spot near the throne and they quickly repaired the damage by entering into a truce with the new sultan, which was only a temporary remedy.