Scarcely was this triumph ended when the governor found it necessary to send a force of 120 horse, 800 foot, and 1000 Indians, to expel some troops sent by Adel Khan to possess the districts of Salsete and Bardes, because the conditions on which he had ceded these to the Portuguese had not been fulfilled. Diego de Almeyda, who commanded these troops, easily executed his commission, as 4000 men belonging to Adel Khan, who were stationed at Cowlii fled at his approach. Adel Khan however sent them back again, with 9000 additional men, together with a company of renegado Portuguese, commanded by Gonzalo Vaz Coutinno, who, to avoid the punishment due to his crimes, had deserted to the enemy. As Almeyda found himself too weak to resist this great force, he was forced to retire; on which the governor marched in person against the enemy with 3000 men in five battalions, and was soon afterwards joined by Francisco de Melo with about 1500 more. On the approach of this force the enemy retired to the fort of Ponda followed by the Portuguese army, on which occasion Don Alvaro de Castro, who led the van, gained possession of a ford defended by 2000 musqueteers. The main body of the enemy, twelve or thirteen thousand strong, were drawn up in good order about the fort, but fled at the first fire, leaving the fort entirely empty.
The victorious are sure to find friends. Cidoza king of Canara sent to congratulate Don Juan de Castro upon this victory, and to propose a new alliance with the Portuguese, which was accordingly concluded upon advantageous terms, as always happens upon such occasions. This kingdom of Charnataca, corruptly named Canara, had no sovereign prince before the year 1200, when one Boca, a shepherd, assumed the government, styling himself Rao which signifies emperor, a title that has been continued by all his successors. This king, in memorial of a victory gained by him over the king of Delhi, built the famous city of Visajanagur, corruptly called Bisnagar. The crown continued in his line till usurped by Narsinga, from whom the kingdom took that name, having been formerly called Bisnagar from that of the city. Afterwards king Malek sent also to confirm the peace between him and the Portuguese, more through hatred to Adel Khan who was defeated, than from love to the victorious Portuguese.
Hearing in 1546 that the king of Cambaya intended again to besiege Diu with a larger army than ever, Don Juan de Castro prepared with all diligence to relieve it, borrowing money from the city of Goa for the expences of the expedition; and on this occasion the women of Goa sent him their jewels by the hands of their young daughters, complaining that he had not used them before, and requesting him to do so now; but he sent all back accompanied with presents. Having fitted out 160 sail of various kinds of vessels with a large military force, Don Juan sailed for Basseen and thence to Surat, where Don Alvaro had arrived before the fleet, and had taken a work with several cannon from the Moors. Sailing thence to Baroch, the army of the king of Cambaya was seen covering the whole plain, to the amount of 150,000 men, with 80 large cannon in front. Don John was anxious to land with his small army of 3000 men to give battle to the king, but was dissuaded from the rash attempt by his most experienced officers. He went on therefore to Diu, where he appointed Luis Falcam to command the castle, as Mascarenhas was then about to return to Portugal. After this he went along the coast of the Guzerat dominions, landing in many places, and destroying every thing with fire and sword. The strong and beautiful cities of Pate and Patane, being abandoned by the inhabitants, were utterly destroyed; two hundred vessels were destroyed in their ports, and a prodigious booty was obtained. Dabul also, though in the dominions of Adel Khan, was treated in a similar manner, in revenge for the ravages committed by the orders of that sovereign in the districts of Salsete and Bardes, which were occupied by Calabate Khan at the head of 20,000 men.
As Calabate Khan seemed disposed to retain possession of these districts, Don Juan went against him with 1500 horse and 4000 foot; but the enemy fled in all haste to the gauts, leaving their tents and baggage behind. The Portuguese army pursued; and being resisted by Calabate Khan in person, with 2000 horse at a ford or pass, that general was unhorsed and slain by a Portuguese officer named Almeyda, after which the enemy were defeated with great slaughter. The cymeter, dagger, chain, and rings of the slain general were estimated at the value of 80,000 crowns. After this victory, Don Juan ravaged the whole country below the gauts belonging to Adel Khan, destroying every thing before him, burning all the towns and woods, and carrying off the cattle and provisions. From this destructive expedition he returned to Goa, which he again entered in triumph.
About this time the king of Acheen in Sumatra, an irreconcilable enemy to the Portuguese, sent a fleet of sixty vessels against Malacca with 5000 soldiers, among whom were 500 men called Orobalones or the golden bracelets, from wearing that ornament in distinction of their bravery; but the principal force consisted of a regiment of Turkish janisaries commanded by a valiant Moor. This man landed in the night near Malacca, and it is said that the garrison was alarmed and put on their guard by a flock of geese, as the capitol was in ancient times. The garrison of Malacca was then very weak, yet the enemy were forced to reimbark, after burning two Portuguese ships then ready to sail. On returning from their intended attack on Malacca, the enemy took seven poor fishermen, whose noses, ears, and feet they cut off and sent them in that mutilated condition to the commander at Malacca, George de Melo, with a letter written with their blood, challenging him to come out and fight them at sea. Melo was by no means disposed to accept this challenge, having a very inadequate force, and because he had only eight small vessels which lay aground in a state unfit for service. But the great St Francis Xavier, who was then in Malacca, prevailed on some merchants to be at the expence of fitting out these vessels, and upon Melo to go out against the enemy, promising that two galliots would come by a certain time to his aid. When the time was near expired, two galliots actually made their appearance and came into the harbour, though intended upon a different course. The saint went on board, and found that they were commanded by Diego Suarez de Melo, commonly called the Gallego, and his son Baltazar, whom he prevailed upon to join in the attack of the Acheenese. The ten small vessels were accordingly fitted out and manned by 230 men, and set sail in search of the enemy under the command of Don Francisco Deza. After ranging about for two months in search of the Acheen fleet, when at length about to return to Malacca, Deza found them in the river Parles, where he resolutely attacked them one Sunday morning, and, after an obstinate engagement, gained a complete victory, in which 4000 of the enemy were slain. Several of the Acheen ships were sunk, and almost all the rest taken, of which the Portuguese brought in twenty-five to Malacca, with 300 pieces of cannon, and about 1000 firelocks, having only lost twenty-five men according to one account, while some said only four. St Francis was preaching at Malacca when this battle took place, and suddenly pausing in the middle of his discourse, he distinctly related all the particulars of the victory to his auditors, who were in great anxiety for the fate of their ships, having received no news of them during two months. His prophecy was verified a few days afterwards by their triumphant arrival.
Don Juan de Castro began his operations in January 1548, by the entire destruction of all that part of the western coast of India which belonged to Adel Khan. From the river Charopa two leagues from Goa, to that of Cifardam, which divides the dominions of Adel Khan from that of the Nizam, he spared neither living creature, vegetable, nor dwelling of any kind.