Manuel Kotta, Ayacotta, and Cranganore Fort
Contact with Malabar, and later Goa, was established by Portuguese armadas sailing to western coastal ports such as Calicut, Cochin, and Goa. The ships sailed along the west coast with the mawsim, or monsoon winds, and took shelter in these ports from May to September, when the winds were strongest. Interestingly, this was the period when the eastern coast was busy with ships plying the Southeast Asian ports and countries. As the West Coast opened for business between November and March, the seas bustled and churned with boats, dhows, and other vessels filled with sailors, traders, and supercargo dignitaries. Vasco da Gama was the first to complete the voyage between Lisbon and Calicut in 1498 and learned of the vagaries of the winds, or the lack thereof, as his ships arrived late and departed late, facing numerous problems.