184 PROVINCIAL DYNASTIES military power. The position of invaders was forced upon the Portuguese, as it later was upon the English. The collision was brought about by the spirited action of the last Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. Kansuh al-Ghuri, realizing the imminent jeopardy of the great Indian trade which supplied so much of the wealth of Egypt, resolved to drive the Portuguese from the Arabian Sea. His appeal and threats to the Pope had no effect, and there remained only the resort to arms. The Mamluks had long maintained a fleet in the Red Sea, and Admiral Husain was dispatched in 1508 to Gujarat with a well-equipped war squadron, manned with sailors who had often fought with Christian fleets in the Mediterranean. He was joined by the fleet of Gujarat, com- manded by the governor of Diu, in spite of the efforts of the Portuguese captain, Lou- rengo de Almeida, to prevent their union; and the combined fleet was in every respect superior to the flotilla of Christian merchantmen which boldly sailed out of the port of Chaul to the attack. The Portu- guese were defeated in a running fight which lasted two days, and the young captain, son of the famous viceroy, was killed. His ship was surrounded on every side; his leg was broken by a cannon-ball at the commencement of the action; nevertheless he TWO MINARS AT AHMADABAD.
