A Captain in Sumatra
Rafael served as a captain under Jorge de Albuquerque, the younger cousin of Afonso, when the former was governor of Malacca and battled against the Islamic Kingdom of Pacem in Sumatra in 1514 in order to install a ruler there that was friendly to Portuguese interests. While Rafael Perestrello's crew was aiding Jorge de Albuquerque's siege on a fort and large stockade defended by these Sumatran "Moors", a calafate of Rafael's troops named Marques was—according to the historian João de Barros—the first man to scale the heights of the stockade during the fight. The battle against the well-defended fort and ruler of Pacem (whom the Portuguese called Sultan "Geinal") was a success; Albuquerque saw to the installment of the next ruler and favorable trade demands of low prices for Southeast Asian pepper sold to the Portuguese. During Jorge de Albuquerque's second tour of duty, he defeated Mahmud Shah of Malacca at Bintan in 1524, forcing the latter to flee once again, this time to the Malay Peninsula.
Read more about this topic: Rafael Perestrello
Famous quotes containing the word captain:
“The curse of hell upon the sleek upstart
That got the Captain finally on his back
And took the red red vitals of his heart
And made the kites to whet their beaks clack clack.”
—John Crowe Ransom (1888–1974)