When Vasco da Gama reached India, he immediately launched a campaign of terror to avenge Cabral's men who had been killed by Muslim rioters in Calicut. Vasco da Gama's first act was to capture a passenger ship carrying Muslim families home to Calicut from a pilgrimage to Mecca. After looting the ship, Vasco da Gama set fire to it, deliberately burning to death hundreds of women and children.
He next sent an ultimatum to the Zamorin of Calicut, ordering him to kill all the Muslims in his city, or face retaliation. When the Zamorin offered to negotiate a compromise, Vasco da Gama began capturing Hindu fishermen from Calicut, and chopping off their hands, feet, and heads. He then bombarded the city, aiming to kill as many civilians as possible.
By his aggressive actions, Vasco da Gama demonstrated that Portuguese ships, with their superior cannon, were able to dominate their competitors, the traditional Arab merchant ships of the Indian Ocean. Muslim merchant ships were frightened away from Calicut, disrupting the city's trade.
Although Vasco da Gama returned to Portugal in 1503, other Portuguese commanders in India imitated his tactics of seaborne terror, with devastating results for the economy of Calicut. In 1513 the Zamorin of Calicut negotiated a trade agreement with the Portuguese.
Portugal established an empire in India, and Vasco da Gama became viceroy of the Indian colonies. He was enormously rich when he died in Cochin, India, on Dec. 24, 1524.
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