Cite
MLA
“Siege of Anjediva.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/siege-of-anjediva-1506/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Siege of Anjediva. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/siege-of-anjediva-1506/
The small Portuguese fort held out until relief arrived, and the attackers withdrew.
01The island fort
Anjediva, a small island off the coast near Karwar, had long been a watering place for ships. Francisco de Almeida fortified it in 1505 as a station between Cochin and the northern ports. In 1506 the Adil Shahi governor of Goa sent a fleet of light craft with soldiers to take it. The Portuguese chroniclers say the garrison, short of men, beat off repeated assaults from behind its walls until Lourenço de Almeida’s ships came up and the attackers withdrew.
02Toward Goa
The Portuguese abandoned the Anjediva fort soon afterwards as too costly, but the episode showed them the value of Goa, the island city just up the coast. In 1510 Afonso de Albuquerque, with the help of the Hindu captain Timoji, took Goa from Bijapur. Anjediva remained Portuguese territory until 1961, part of the territory of Goa. Today it is an Indian naval base, close to the Karwar naval station.
A small action in itself, it was part of the run-up to the Portuguese seizure of Goa in 1510.
