Question

Explain the importance of Zamorian control over seas.

Answer 1

Samoothiri of Kozhikode (anglicised as Zamorin of Calicut; Portuguese: Samorim, Dutch: Samorijn, Chinese: Shamitihsi[2]) is the hereditary title of the Hindu monarch of the kingdom of Kozhikode on Malabar Coast, India. The Samoothiris were based at the city of Kozhikode, one of the important trading ports on the south-western coast of India. At the peak of their reign, the Samoothiri's ruled over a region from Kollam (Quilon) to Panthalayini Kollam (Koyilandy)

It was after the dissolution of the kingdom of Cheras of Cranganore (Kodungallur) in the early 12th century, the Samoothiris – originally autonomous chiefs of Eranadu – demonstrated their political independence. The Samoothiris maintained elaborate trade relations with the Muslim Middle-Eastern sailors in the Indian Ocean, the primary spice traders on the Malabar Coast in the Middle Ages. Kozhikode was then an important entrepôt in south-western India where Chinese and West Asian trade met.[1]

The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama visited the Kozhikode in 1498, opening the sailing route directly from Europe to Asia.[5] The Portuguese efforts to lay the foundations to Estado da Índia, and to take complete control over the commerce was repeatedly hampered by the forces of Samoothiri of Kozhikode. The Kunjali Marakkars, the famous Muslim warriors, were the naval chiefs of Kozhikode. By the end of the 16th century the Portuguese – now commanding the spice traffic on the Malabar Coast – had succeeded in replacing the Muslim merchants in the Arabian Sea. The Dutch supplanted the Portuguese in the 17th century, only to be followed by the English.[6]

In 1766 Haider Ali of Mysore defeated the Samoothiri of Kozhikode – an English East India Company dependant at the time – and absorbed Kozhikode to his state.[4][7] After the Third Mysore War (1790–1792), Malabar was placed under the control of the Company. Later the status of the Samoothiri as independent rulers was changed to that of pensioners of the Company (1806).