Thread by @IWTKQuiz

On this very day in 1509, the Battle of Diu took place.

Diu isn't a place you'd remember after you were done studying Indian union territories in school.

It has a population of 22K. More people saw Justin Bieber lipsync in person in Mumbai in 2017.

However, the 1509 Battle of Diu is extremely important for World History. It is ranked as the 6th most important battle in the world.

This battle changed the geopolitical landscape of the time and shaped the modern world in mind blowing ways.

Read on, Mitron.

It was fought between the Portuguese Empire on one side and the 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).

I'm sure you're curious to know how Turkey, Egypt, Portugal, Calicut and Venice get embroiled in all of this.

It all begins with Vasco Da Gama reaching Calicut in 1498 to establish trade. They thought it was easy, but the Muslim merchants of the region felt threatened.

In 1500, the local ruler of Calicut known variously as the Zamorin or the Samoothiri didn't play ball with the Portuguese and favoured the Arabs for trade.

The Portuguese got unhappy and fought with the Arab merchants leading to the massacre of the Portuguese in Calicut.

Cochin, at that time, was the sworn enemy of Calicut and the Raja of Cochin signed an alliance with the Portuguese and invited them to establish their Headquarters.

The Zamorin of Calicut was like, "bro what rubbish" and invaded Cochin in response in 1504.

However, Cochin was supported by the Portuguese and they defeated the crap out of Calicut and crippled their trade.

This was horrible because Calicut was the main exporter of spices to Europe through the Red Sea.

In 1504, the Portuguese upped their animosity even more to destroy the Zamorin's annual fleet of spices bound to Egypt.

The Portuguese had become a force to reckon with, having destroyed and taken over spice routes. Their work had disrupted Muslim trade in the Arabian sea and Indian ocean.

They were also majorly undercutting Venice in the spice trade.

The Muslim spice traders and the Zamorin of Calicut were helpless against the might of the Portuguese and asked Egypt for help.

Egypt was in the middle of the spice trade, buying from India and selling to Venice at Alexandria who then sold spices in Europe for massive profits.

Venice was angry with Portugal and broke diplomatic ties. They sent an envoy to the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt to find ways to defeat the Portuguese.

Egypt didn't have much expertise in the seas since they were all about the Nile and farming and pyramids.

So Egypt asked Venice for naval help and in return, offered to reduce the price of spices.

Venice was happy with the arrangement and they supplied Egypt with war galleys and people.

What blows my mind is that this was pre-Suez canal days. So the Venetian war ships were dismantled in Alexandria, transported over land to Suez where they were reassembled.

The Egyptian fleet was led by Hussain Al-Kurdi and included a group of people that would make any global company focused on diversity proud.

They had Egyptian Mamaluks, Turks, Kurds, Nubians, Ethiopians and Venetians in the fleet.

Our man Hussain set sail for India and after a long journey got to Diu in 1507.

Gujarat was important then as it served as a trade intermediary between Egypt and Malacca (in the far east).

Many other intermediate things happened after Hussain reached Gujarat, but ain't nobody got time for that. I have reports and status update emails to write.

In 1509 February, things came to a climax when the Calicut-Venice-Egypt-Gujarat combined navy faced the mighty Portuguese

Some major gangsta shit took place that day, making the battle of Blackwater Bay pale in comparison (get it?)

Read more on 50 Battles that changed the world - goodreads.com/book/show/1774…

Spoiler alert: Portugal won. Resoundingly.

The 1509 Battle of Diu is ranked as the 6th most important battle in world history, only behind the following:
- Battle of Marathon
- Nika Rebellion
- Battle of Bunker Hill
- Battle of Arbela /Gaugamela
- Battle of Hattin (Age of Empires represent!)

According to William Weir, "When the 15th century began, Islam seemed about ready to dominate the world. That prospect sank in the Indian Ocean off Diu."