How the Battle of Diu Changed World History!

Even if you haven’t majored in history as a subject, you would have heard about the famous battles of Panipat, Tarain, Haldighati, Plassey and Buxar. But did you know that there was another battle, fought around Diu, in the Arabian sea, that changed the course of world history. It was a big battle, that heralded the end of the old world order and the beginning of the new.

The Battle of Diu (1509), was the culmination of a global trade war. On one side were allied forces of the Sultanate of Gujarat, the Zamorin of Calicut, the Egyptians, and the Venetians, the ‘old’ order and on the other, the Portuguese. The decisive victory of the Portuguese in this naval battle heralded the end of the old trading giants and led to centuries of European naval and trade dominance, that shaped the modern world.