Diu Fort, Daman
About Diu Fort
History
Siege of Diu (1538)
In 1538, the Turks, who were ill-disposed towards the Sultan of Gujarat and the Portuguese, mobilized a strong naval force comprising sixty-six ships and 20,000 soldiers. Starting from Egypt in 1538 they laid siege to the fort, repeatedly assaulted and intensely bombarding it. When the fort's forces were about to collapse, the Turks, for unknown reasons, lifted the siege and turned back to the Red Sea. Only 40 out of 400 men in the fort's Portuguese garrison had survived. This ended Turkish attacks on Portuguese India. In June 1538, the Sultan also attacked Diu, since during the previous year the Portuguese had occupied the fort as well as the city. The rulers of Gujarat (Mahmud III, nephew of Bahadur Shah) also tried to take control of the fort in 1545 and 1546. However, they were repeatedly thwarted by the Portuguese under the military leadership of Dom João Mascarenhas and Dom João de Castro. After this, the Portuguese enjoyed uninterrupted control over the fort and Diu island, along with Daman and Goa.In 1670 an armed group of bandits from Muscat pillaged the fort and the town.In 1960, there were only 350 Portuguese soldiers garrisoned in the fort. "Operation Vijay" was launched by India on 19 December 1961 to end Portuguese colonial rule in Goa, Daman and Diu. After Diu had fallen, the Martyrs Memorial was erected close to the Collectorate office in Diu to commemorate the Indian soldiers who were killed in the capture of Diu.