ABSTRACT
It is difficult to find any reference to the port-town of Cochin before the fourteenth century. After the flood of 1341 the entry to the port became wider thus allowing the ships to come in. The Chinese delegates during the first half of the fifteenth century had referred to this port. Cochin had not attracted the attention of Vasco da Gama at first. But once the Zamorin of Calicut began to oppose the Portuguese, Gama began to encourage Cochin, then a vassal of Calicut, to rebel. In December 1500 Pedro Alvarez Cabral signed a treaty with Cochin. In 1505 once the Portuguese fort at Cochin was completed the town began to develop. In the Portuguese document this was called Lower Cochin. The king of Cochin used to reside in Upper Cochin. The Zamorin had asked the king of Cochin to act against the treaty but Cochin refused. Instead the king of Cochin invited Gama to his kingdom when he was at Cannanore. Gama determined the price of spice after coming to an understanding with the local merchants. The Zamorin attacked Cochin but could not change any thing. It may be stated that the first Portuguese fort in the Indian subcontinent was built at Cochin.
