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War of the League of the Indies

Bijapur, Ahmednagar and the Zamorin of CalicutAli Adil Shah I; Murtaza Nizam Shah I; the Zamorin
1570vs
VictorPortuguese Estado da ÍndiaViceroy Luís de Ataíde

Five years after Talikota, Bijapur, Ahmednagar and Calicut agreed to strike the Portuguese forts at the same time. Goa and Chaul withstood long sieges; Chaliyam fell.

Date: 1570–1571Where: Goa, Chaul and Chaliyam on the western coastType: Campaign
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
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Cite

MLA

“War of the League of the Indies.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/league-of-the-indies-1570/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). War of the League of the Indies. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/league-of-the-indies-1570/

Result

Goa and Chaul held out and the sultans made peace; only the Zamorin succeeded, taking the Portuguese fort at Chaliyam.

01A joint attack

The Portuguese controlled the sea trade of the western coast through their forts and their system of passes, and the sultans of the Deccan resented it as much as the Zamorin did. In 1570 the three powers agreed to attack together. Ali Adil Shah led a great army with heavy guns against Goa in December 1570. Murtaza Nizam Shah besieged Chaul, the Portuguese port south of today’s Mumbai. The Zamorin moved on Chaliyam.

02Sieges that failed

The Viceroy Luís de Ataíde refused to strip Goa’s garrison to help the other forts and held the river crossings round the island. Bijapur’s army sat before Goa for most of 1571, losing men to disease and the monsoon, and withdrew. At Chaul the Portuguese also held. Both sultans made peace with the Portuguese in 1571. On the Malabar coast the Zamorin forced the surrender of Chaliyam that year, the only gain of the league.

Why it matters

The failure of the league left the Portuguese masters of the western sea for another generation, until the Dutch and English arrived.

Places near the battlefield 8

Saptakoteshwar Temple, NarveRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Saptakoteshwar Temple, Narve

The family deity of the Kadamba kings of Goa, destroyed twice, by the Bahmanis in the 14th century and the Portuguese in 1560, and raised again at Narve on Shivaji’s order in 1668.

Shri Mangesh Temple, MangeshiRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Shri Mangesh Temple, Mangeshi

The Shiva of the Goud Saraswat families, carried across the Zuari in the 1560s to escape Portuguese demolitions, and housed since the 18th century in the white temple at Mangeshi.

Shri Mahalasa Narayani Temple, MardolRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Shri Mahalasa Narayani Temple, Mardol

The kuladevi of many Goud Saraswat and other Konkani families: Bhagwan Vishnu as Mohini, worshipped as Mahalasa. Her murti was carried out of Portuguese Salcete to safety at Mardol in the 1560s.

Shri Nagesh Temple, BandivadeStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Shri Nagesh Temple, Bandivade

One of the few great Goan temples that never had to flee: it stood in Ponda, beyond Portuguese rule, and an inscription of 1413 already records gifts to it. Its wooden friezes carry the whole Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Shri Ramnath Temple, RamnathiRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Shri Ramnath Temple, Ramnathi

A Shiva temple whose name recalls the linga Shri Rama worshipped on his return from Lanka. It was carried out of Portuguese Salcete in the 1560s and set up in the Ponda hills, where it is a panchayatana of five deities.

Shri Shantadurga Temple, KavlemRebuilt
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Shri Shantadurga Temple, Kavlem

The Devi who made peace between Shiva and Vishnu, carried from Quelossim to Kavlem after the Portuguese sacked her temple in the 1560s. Her present temple was built in 1738 with an endowment from a minister of Chhatrapati Shahu.

Shri Damodar Temple, ZambaulimRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Shri Damodar Temple, Zambaulim

The Shiva of Margao, carried away when his temple in the town was destroyed in the 1560s and set up on the bank of the Kushavati at Zambaulim. His Gulal festival at Shigmo is one of the most colourful in Goa.

Mahadev Temple, Tambdi SurlaStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Mahadev Temple, Tambdi Surla

A small basalt Shiva temple of the Kadamba age, deep in the forest at the foot of the Sahyadris, the only one of its period in Goa to survive the Sultanate and Portuguese demolitions.