The Diu Fortress ( Portuguese: ''Fortaleza de Diu'' or formally ''Fortaleza de São Tomé'')Fortaleza de São Tomé
/ref> is a Portuguese-built fortification located on the west coast of India in Diu. The fortress was built as part of

Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

's defensive fortifications at the eastern tip of the island of Diu during the 16th century. The fortress, which borders on the town of Diu, was built in 1535 subsequent to a defense alliance forged by Bahadur Shah, the

Sultan of Gujarat The Gujarat Sultanate or Sultanate of Gujarat was a late medieval Islamic Indian kingdom in Western India, primarily in the present-day state of Gujarat. The kingdom was established in 1394 when Muzaffar Shah I, the Governor of Gujarat, declar ...

and the Portuguese when

Humayun Nasir al-Din Muhammad (6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), commonly known by his regnal name Humayun (), was the second Mughal emperor, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Northern India, and Pakistan from ...

, the

Mughal Emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

attempted to annex this territory. It was strengthened over the years, till 1546. The Portuguese ruled over this territory from 1537 until the Indian invasion of December 1961. Today it is a landmark of Diu and one of the

Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World The Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World are a list of seven significant landmarks across the world which were built by the Portuguese during the six centuries of the Portuguese Empire (1415-1999). The competition was held in conjunctio ...

History

Before the Portuguese built the fortress in 1535, the ancient history of the place was linked to several kings and dynasties. The island was occupied by the Chavda

Rajputs Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

in the 9th century, and later by the

Vaghela dynasty The Vaghela dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Gujarat in India in the 13th century CE, with their capital at Dholka. They were the last Hindu dynasty to rule Gujarat before the Muslim conquest of the region. Early members of the Vaghela fami ...

. The island would later come under the control of the

Gujarat Sultanate The Gujarat Sultanate or Sultanate of Gujarat was a late medieval Islamic Indian kingdom in Western India, primarily in the present-day state of Gujarat. The kingdom was established in 1394 when Muzaffar Shah I, the Governor of Gujarat, decla ...

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Bahadur Shah of Gujarat Qutb-ud-Din Bahadur Shah, born Bahadur Khan was a sultan of the Muzaffarid dynasty who reigned over the Gujarat Sultanate, a late medieval kingdom in India from 1526 to 1535 and again from 1536 to 1537. He ascended to the throne after competin ...

sought the help of the Portuguese when

was getting ready to attack Gujarat and annex Sultan's territory. The Portuguese thus got the right opportunity, which they were seeking for long, to get a foothold on the Diu island to build a fort for the protection of their trade. In the past, in 1501, 1521 and 1531 they had made attempts to seize the island by force but had failed. In 1531, Nuno da Cunha (1487 – 5 March 1539) who was the governor of Portuguese possessions in India from 1528 to 1538, was under orders from the King of Portugal to build a fort at Diu to strengthen its flourishing

spice trade The spice trade involved historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices, such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove, and turmeric, were known and used in antiquity and traded in t ...

. He launched a strong military attack to annex Diu from the Sultan, with 100 vessels and 8000 men, including 3000 Portuguese. But this campaign could only achieve bombing of Diu without getting any foothold on the island. Portuguese forces could at best torment the nearby coast. They attacked again in 1532 and 1533 but without success. But an opportunity finally knocked on 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 Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

( Treaty of Bassein (1534)) with the Sultan in 1535 under which they got permission to build a fort and also to position a garrison in the fort. In addition, it formalized full control of the Bassein

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

(the island which they had already bought from the Sultan during an earlier skirmish in 1533 and built a fort there). The Portuguese not only built a large fort at Diu by demolishing old fortifications that were existing on the island but continued to make it a formidable fortress by constantly strengthening it during the period from 1535 till 1546. After the Portuguese ambition to build a fort at Diu was met, there was total mistrust between the Sultan and the Portuguese on several issues. In 1537, in Diu harbor, the Sultan was killed in a fracas with the Portuguese. This resulted in a fight for the throne of the Sultanate of Gujarat by two claimants, but Governor Cunha's candidate lost. This put the Portuguese in a spot vis-a-vis the throne and they quickly repaired the damage by entering into a truce with the new Sultan, which was only a temporary reprieve.

Siege of Diu (1538)

In 1538, the Turks, who were ill-disposed towards the Sultan of Gujarat and the Portuguese, mobilized a strong naval force comprising sixty-six ships and 20,000 soldiers. Starting from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in 1538 they laid siege to the fort, repeatedly assaulted and intensely bombarding it. When the fort's forces were about to collapse, the Turks, for unknown reasons, lifted the siege and turned back to the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

. Only 40 out of 400 men in the fort's Portuguese garrison had survived. This ended Turkish attacks on Portuguese India. In June 1538, the Sultan also attacked Diu, since during the previous year the Portuguese had occupied the fort as well as the city.

Later history

The rulers of Gujarat ( Mahmud III, nephew of Bahadur Shah) also tried to take control of the fort in 1545 and 1546. However, they were repeatedly thwarted by the Portuguese under the military leadership of Dom João Mascarenhas and Dom João de Castro. After this, the Portuguese enjoyed uninterrupted control over the fort and Diu island, along with Daman and Goa. In 1670 an armed group of bandits from

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

pillaged the fort and the town. In 1960, there were only 350 Portuguese soldiers garrisoned in the fort. " Operation Vijay" was launched by India on 19 December 1961 to end Portuguese colonial rule in Goa, Daman and Diu. After Diu had fallen, the Martyrs Memorial was erected close to the Collectorate office in Diu to commemorate the Indian soldiers who were killed in the capture of Diu.

Geography

The fortress-castle, known in Portuguese as 'Praça de Diu', is set within the Diu island, on the southern tip of the coast of Gujarat at the mouth of the

Gulf of Cambay The Gulf of Khambhat, also known as the Gulf of Cambay, is a bay on the Arabian Sea coast of India, bordering the state of Gujarat just north of Mumbai and Diu Island. The Gulf of Khambhat is about long, about wide in the north and up to wi ...

(also known as Gulf of Khambat). The fort and the town are delimited on the east by the state of Gujarat, on the west by the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

, on the north by the Kolak River and on the south by Kalai river. It borders the district of Daman, the town of

Valsad Valsad (Pronunciation: �alsɑɖ, historically known as Bulsar, is a town and a municipality in Valsad district of the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the district headquarters of Valsad district. Valsad is located north of Vapi and shares bor ...

and Junagarh district of Gujarat. Two bridges provide the connecting links to the town and fort. The secured fort provided sea access for trade and traffic with

Cambay Khambhat state or Cambay state was a princely state in India during the British Raj. The city of Khambhat in present-day Gujarat was its capital. The state was bounded in the north by the Kaira district (Kheda district, Kheda) and in the sout ...

, Broach (now known as

Bharuch Bharuch () is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since times of antiquity. It was a shi ...

) and

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

in Gujarat.

Structure

Construction of the fort was started in October and completed in March, with the Portuguese forced labour putting their full might. The fortress is a large structure on the coast of the Diu island and commands views over the sea. It skirts the sea on three sides. The outer wall of the fort was built along the coastline. The inner wall had bastions on which guns were mounted. A double moat (outer one is a tidal moat) between the outer and inner walls provided security to the fort. The moat that separates the fortifications from the castle has been cut through

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

rocks. A jetty built then on the northwestern side is still in use. The fort was provided with three entry gates. A bastion built earlier by the Sultan in the deep water channel, next to the fort walls, was further strengthened by the Portuguese. In the main entry gate, there are five large windows with stone galleries on the main front wall. From the fortress, a glittering view of the Panikotha fort located in the sea, off the coast opposite to Diu Fort, could be seen in the evenings. There are several cannons (some of them made of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

appear well preserved) still seen at the top of the Diu fort. Also seen are collection of iron shells scattered around in the fort area. The fort is approached from a permanent bridge. The entrance gateway to the fort has an inscription in Portuguese. The bastion at the gate is named St. George. A large light house is also located at one end of the fortress. Even now the ruins of the walls, gateways, arches, ramps, bastions of the fort provide an impressive view of the extent of military defenses that the fort provided in the past. Within the fort, well laid out gardens have paths bordered by old cannons.

Gallery

File:Barbicans.jpg, Barbican File:Portugese relic - in diu.jpg, Portuguese relic made of petrified wood in Diu Museum File:Diu relics.jpg, Diu relics made of petrified wood in Diu Museum File:Overlook.jpg, Looking out into the sea from Fort ramparts File:Entryramparts.jpg, Entry ramparts to the fort File:Big gun, little boat . . ..jpg, Gun position File:Diu2.jpg, Diu fort's wall File:Eglise St Paul.jpg, St. Paul's Church at Diu

References

External links

{{Authority control Portuguese forts in India Diu, India 1530s in India Buildings and structures completed in 1535 1535 establishments in India 1530s establishments in Portuguese India 16th-century forts in India 1535 establishments in the Portuguese Empire Forts in Daman and Diu Tourist attractions in Diu district