140 querque's plan submitted to the king in 1512 involved a force of three thousand men for three years. Manu- script letters in the India Office are our authority for the various statements here made. The practice of enlisting native soldiers commenced with the first foothold obtained by the Portuguese in India. In 1504 Pacheco defended Cochin with a garri- son of three hundred Malabar soldiers and one hundred to one hundred and fifty Portuguese besides the levies under the native king. Albuquerque employed two hun- dred native soldiers in taking Goa (1510), and one thou- sand of them at a single position during its subsequent defence. His Indian troops consisted partly of Nairs, partly of the ancient native Christians of Malabar, and it was a native Christian soldier who first forced his way through the arsenal door into the city. After its final recapture, Albuquerque advanced with a mixed force of one thousand Portuguese and two thousand native troops. How far the native soldiers in these early operations were drilled, it is difficult to say, but the contemporary records disclose bodies of Asiatics as a regular part of the trained Portuguese forces, both on shore and in distant sea expeditions. To quote only a few examples: Albuquerque employed a mixed force of 1700 Portuguese and 830 Indians against Aden in 1513; and 1500 Portuguese with 700 Indians against Ormuz in 1515; while Soarez in 1516 sailed for the Red Sea with 1200 Portuguese, 800 Indian soldiers, and 800 Indian seamen. The last instance exhibits a high proportion of
