Timoji

Key takeaways

Timoji belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Timoji to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Timoji from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Timoji was a privateer and pirate who served the Vijayanagara Empire and the Portuguese Empire, in the first decade of the 16th century. He claimed to have been born in Velha Goa and escaped the city in 1496, during the conquest by the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapore. After his support in the 1510 Portuguese conquest of Goa, he was appointed aguazil of the city, for a short time.

Background Since the 14th century the Deccan had been divided in two entities: on the one side stood the Muslim Bahmani Sultanate, and on the other stood the native rajas rallied around the Vijayanagara Empire. Continuous wars demanded frequent resupplies of fresh horses, which were imported through sea routes from Persia and Arabia. This trade was subjected to frequent raids by thriving bands of pirates based in the coastal cities of Western India. Timoji acted both as a privateer (by seizing horse traders, that he rendered to the raja of Honavar) and as a pirate who attacked the Kerala merchant fleets that traded pepper with Gujarat. Timoji operated off Anjediva (modern Anjadip) Island, with two thousand mercenaries under his command and at least fourteen ships.

Relations with the Portuguese

Timoji met Vasco da Gama's fleet off Anjediva in 1498, but the Portuguese admiral suspected him of being a spy and refused his advances. In 1505, he attracted the Portuguese Viceroy Dom Francisco de Almeida to an estuary and, after keeping him waiting for three days, appeared before him richly attired and offered him his services and a token tribute. In 1507 Timoji warned the Viceroy of the upcoming siege of Cannanore by Calicut forces and supplied the Portuguese St. Angelo Fort during the siege. In the end of 1507, when a Mamluk fleet under Amir Husain Al-Kurdi (named "Mirocem" by the Portuguese) supplemented the Calicut forces, he became de Almeida's main informant. Soon after the Battle of Diu, Timoji met the Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya and offered him rich tribute. He then prompted the Portuguese to conquer Goa, the main port for the horse trade. The city had been conquered from Vijayanagar by the Bahmani Sultans in 1469, and passed to Bijapur. In late 1509, the remains of the Mamluk fleet defeated in the battle of Diu had taken refuge there. In 1510 the new governor Afonso de Albuquerque wanted to fight the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate fleet in the Red Sea or return to Hormuz. However, Timoji convinced him that it would be easier to fight them in Goa, where they had sheltered after the Battle of Diu, and also of the illness of the Sultan Yusuf Adil Shah and war between the Deccan sultanates. So he invested in the capture of Goa to the Sultanate of Bijapur with the support of Timoji. On November, in a second strike, Albuquerque conquered Goa with a fleet fully renovated and about 300 Malabarese reinforcements from Cannanore. They regained the support of the native population, although frustrating the initial expectations of Timoji, who aspired to gain the city. Afonso de Albuquerque rewarded him by appointing him chief "Aguazil" of the city, an administrator and representative of the native people, as a knowing interpreter of the local customs. He then made an agreement to lower yearly dues and started the first Portuguese mint in the East, after complaints from merchants and Timoji about the scarcity of currency.

Later life and death Timoji was put in command of the native troops loyal to the Portuguese. However, he soon was relieved of his command due to his refusal to follow orders. The command of the native troops was given to a pretender to the throne of Honavar, and Timoji returned to piracy. Timoji was made prisoner after a raid, and died by opium poisoning in 1512 soon after being taken to the Vijayanagar capital. His wife and children, however, returned to Goa where Afonso de Albuquerque arranged for their upkeep.

Notes

References

Further reading Castanheda, Fernão Lopes de História do descobrimento e conquista da Índia pelos portugueses (full text in Portuguese). Geneviéve Bouchon, "Inde découverte, Inde retrouvée (1498-1630) Études d'histoire indo-portugaise" ISBN 972-8462-07-7 Bailey, Diffie, "Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 1415–1580", p. 250-251, University of Minnesota Press, 1977, ISBN 0-8166-0782-6 Bhagamandala Seetharama Shastry, Charles J. Borges, "Goa-Kanara Portuguese relations, 1498-1763" p. 34-36, Concept Publishing Company, 2000, ISBN 81-7022-848-4, Charles Ralph, "The Portuguese Seaborne Empire 1415–1825", p. 47, Hutchinson 1969, ISBN 0-09-131071-7 [2] Duarte Barbosa, Mansel Longworth Dames, (1518) "The book of Duarte Barbosa: an account of the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean and their inhabitants", Asian Educational Services, 1989, ISBN 81-206-0451-2

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Timoji

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Timoji claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Timoji before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Timoji ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Timoji

In research: Timoji appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Timoji in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Timoji is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1512 deaths, Colonial Goa, Deaths by poisoning, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Timoji outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Timoji in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Timoji means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Timoji out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Timoji in simple terms?

Timoji was a privateer and pirate who served the Vijayanagara Empire and the Portuguese Empire, in the first decade of the 16th century. He claimed to have been born in Velha Goa and escaped the city in 1496, during the conquest by the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapore.

Why does Timoji matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Timoji?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Timoji.