Question

When did Albuquerque capture Goa?
a. 1507
b. 1508
c. 1509
d. 1510

Answer 1

Hint: Goa, on the west coast, was the first region of India to come under European colonial rule. Its capture was the work of the energetic Portuguese Viceroy Afonso de Albuquerque, who understood that the port city would provide a perfect home base for the trade and navy of Portugal.

Complete Answer:
a. Francisco de Almeida was appointed as Portugal's overall commander in the Indian Ocean by Albuquerque after the Portuguese naval victory at Diu in 1509. He had a fleet of twenty-three ships and more than a thousand men at his command.
b. In January 1510, he was approached by a Hindu bandit chief, Timoji, with a proposal that he should attack Goa while the city's Muslim king, Ismail Adil Shah, was distracted by a revolt inside the city.
c. Albuquerque attacked Goa through the sea with tremendous force and within a day, despite the brave resistance of the Muslim garrison, the Goan defences were defeated. Approximately two-thirds of Muslim defenders are said to have been killed in battle or drowned in an effort to escape Portuguese attack.
Albuquerque captured Goa in 1510.
Thus, the correct option is (d).

Note: Albuquerque set about turning Goa into the capital of the naval and commercial empire of Portugal in Asia, Timoji was given only a subordinate position. Until 1961, Goa remained under colonial rule, it was also the first city in India to come under European colonialism.