Not long before this had died Emanuel de Mattos, who had been commander of Bandel of Dianga, and lord of Sundiva425, an island about 70 leagues in compass, the subordinate command of which he had confided to a valiant Moor named Fate Khan. On learning the death of Mattos, Fatecan murdered all the Portuguese on the island of Sundiva, with their wives and children, and all the Christian natives; and gathering a considerable force of Moors and Patans, fitted out a fleet of 40 small vessels, which he maintained by means of the ample revenue of the island he had now usurped. Understanding that Sebastian Gonzalez and his small squadron was cruizing near Sundiva, Fatecan went out to seek them with such assurance of success, that he inscribed upon his colours, "Fate Khan, by the grace of God, Lord of Sundiva, Shedder of Christian Blood, and Destroyer of the Portuguese Nation." Sebastian and his companions had put, into a river called Xavaspur, where they quarrelled about the division of their spoil, and one Pinto sailed away from the rest in disquiet; but meeting the fleet of Fatecan, who had hoped to surprize the Christians he returned and gave his companions notice of their danger. After a severe conflict, the 10 small vessels in which were only 80 Portuguese, proved victorious over the 40 vessels belonging to Fatecan, though manned with 600 Moors, not a single vessel or man escaping. After this great victory, the Portuguese agreed to appoint Sebastian Gonzalez to command over the rest. Sebastian entered into a treaty with the king of Bacala for his assistance to reduce the island of Sundiva, engaging to pay him half the revenues of that island, and accordingly procured from him some vessels, and 200 auxiliary horse. Having likewise gathered a number of Portuguese from Bengal and other parts, he saw himself, in March 1609, at the head of 400 Portuguese troops, and had mustered a fleet of 40 small ships. In consequence of the delay necessary for making these preparations, the island of Sundiva was provided for defence, under a brother of the late Fatecan, who had raised a respectable force of Moors. Sebastian, however, attempted its conquest, and had nearly been forced to desist for want of provisions and ammunition, when he was reinforced by a Spaniard named Gaspar de Pina, who brought 50 men to his aid, after which they carried the fort by assault, and put all its garrison to the sword. Having formerly been subject to the Portuguese under de Mattos, the islanders immediately submitted to Gonzalez, to whom they delivered upwards of 1000 Moors who were scattered about the country, all of whom he put to death. Thus Gonzalez became absolute master of the island, and was obeyed by the natives and Portuguese like an independent prince.
Gonzalez having now a considerable revenue at his command, raised a respectable military force of 1000 Portuguese, 2000 well armed natives, and 200 horse, with above 80 sail of small vessels well provided with cannon. He erected a custom-house, and encouraged the resort of merchants to his dominions, and became so formidable that the neighbouring princes courted his alliance. Insolent and ungrateful in the progress of his power, he not only refused to give half the revenue of the island to the king of Bacala according to agreement, but made war upon his benefactor, from whom he conquered the islands of Xavaspur426 and Patelabanga, and other lands from other neighbouring princes; so that he became suddenly possessed of vast riches and great power, and acted as an independent sovereign, having many brave men at his command. But such monsters are like comets that threaten extensive ruin, yet last only for a short time, or like the lightning, which no sooner expends its flash but it is gone for ever.
Soon after the elevation of Gonzalez to the sovereignty of Sundiva, a civil war broke out between the king of Aracan and his brother Anaporam, because the latter refused to resign a remarkable elephant, to which all the other elephants of the country were said to allow a kind of superiority. Being unsuccessful in the contest, Anaporam fled to Gonzalez for assistance and protection, who demanded his sister as an hostage. Gonzalez and Anaporam endeavoured, in conjunction, to fight the king of Aracan, who had an army of 80,000 men, and 700 war elephants; but being unsuccessful, were obliged to retreat to Sundiva, into which Anaporam brought his wife and family, with all his treasure, and became a subject of Gonzalez, who soon afterwards had the sister of Anaporam baptized, and took her to wife. Anaporam soon died, not without suspicion of poison; and Gonzalez immediately seized all his treasures and effects, though he had left a wife and son. To stop the mouths of the people on this violent and unjust procedure, he wished to have married the widow of Anaporam to his brother Antonio Tibao, who was admiral of his fleet, but she refused to become a Christian. Sebastian continued the war against the king of Aracan with considerable success; insomuch that on one occasion his brother Antonio, with only five sail, defeated and captured 100 sail belonging to Aracan. At length the king of Aracan concluded peace, and procured the restoration of his brother's widow, whom he married to the rajah of Chittigong.
At this time, the Moguls undertook the conquest of the kingdom of Balua427, and as Gonzalez considered this conquest might prove dangerous to his ill-got power, Balua being adjoining to his own territories, he entered into a league with the king of Aracan for the defence of that country. Accordingly, the king of Aracan took the field with an immense army, having 80,000 of his own native subjects, mostly armed with firelocks, 10,000 Peguers who fought with sword and bucklers, and 700 elephants with castles carrying armed men. Besides these, he sent 200 sail of vessels to sea, carrying 4000 men, ordering this fleet to join that of Gonzalez, and to be under his command. According to the treaty, Gonzalez, with the combined fleet, was to prevent the Moguls from passing to the kingdom of Balua, till the king of Aracan could march there with his army for its protection; besides which it was agreed, when the Moguls were expelled from Balua, that half the kingdom was to be given up to Gonzalez; who, on this occasion, gave as hostages, for the safety of the Aracan fleet, and the faithful performance of his part of the treaty, a nephew of his own, and the sons of some of the Portuguese inhabitants of Sundiva.
According to treaty, the king of Aracan entered the kingdom of Balua with his army, and expelled the Moguls; but Gonzalez did not perform his part of the agreement in preventing the Moguls from penetrating into that kingdom, some alleging that he had been bribed by the Moguls to allow them a free passage, while, according to others, he did so from revenge against the king of Aracan, for the Portuguese who had been slain by that king in Bangael of Dianga428. However this may have been, Gonzalez was guilty of a most execrable treachery, as, by leaving open the mouth of the river Dangatiar, he left a free passage to the Moguls. After this he went with his fleet into a creek of the island Desierta429, and assembling all the captains of the Aracan vessels on board his ship, he murdered them all, seized all their vessels, and killed or made slaves of all their men, after which he returned to Sundiva. Soon afterwards the Moguls returned in great force to the kingdom of Balua, where they reduced the king of Aracan to such straits that he made his escape with great difficulty on an elephant, and came almost alone to Chittigong. Immediately upon this discomfiture of the Aracan army, which was utterly destroyed by the Moguls in Balua, Gonzalez plundered and destroyed all the forts on the coast of Aracan, which were then unprovided for defence, as depending on the peace and alliance between their king and Gonzalez; he even went against the city of Aracan, where he burnt many merchant vessels, and acquired great plunder, and destroyed a vessel of great size, richly adorned, and containing several splendid apartments like a palace, all covered with gold and ivory, which the king kept as a pleasure-yacht for his own use. Exasperated against Gonzalez for his treachery, the king ordered the nephew of that lawless ruffian, who was in his power as a hostage, to be be impaled. But Gonzalez, being a person utterly devoid of honour, cared not at whose cost he advanced his own interests; yet the guilt of so many villanies began to prey upon his conscience, and he became apprehensive of some heavy punishment falling upon him, which he had little means to avert, as all men considered him a traitor unworthy of favour; those of Aracan, because he had betrayed them to the Moguls; and the Moguls, because he had been false to those that trusted him. He afterwards met his just reward under the government of Don Jerom de Azevedo430.
425
It is highly probable, though not mentioned by De Faria, that this Portuguese was in the service of the king of Aracan, under whom he had held these offices. Sundiva or Sundeep is a considerable island to the south-east of the mouth of the Burrampooter, near the coast of Chittagong, and to the east of the Sunderbunds or Delta of the Ganges. –E.
426
Shabapour is an island to the west of Sundeep, at the principal mouth of the Barrampooter. –E.
427
There still is a town named
429
Probably a desert or uninhabited island among the Sunderbunds, in the Delta of the Ganges. Indeed the whole geography of this singular story is obscure, owing to the prodigious change in dominion and names that have since taken place in this part of India. –E.
430
Owing to the want of interest in the transactions of these times, as related in the Portuguese Asia, and the confused arrangement of De Faria, we have in this place thrown together the principal incidents in the extraordinary rise of these two successful adventurers, Nicote and Gonzalez, leaving their fate to be mentioned in the succeeding section. –E.