In 1545, Martin Alfonso de Sousa became exceedingly dissatisfied with his situation as governor-general in India, being threatened on every side by a combination of the native princes, and having no adequate means of defence either in men or money. Only a few days before the arrival of his successor, he declared to Diego Silveyra who was going to sail for Portugal, that if the king did not immediately send out a successor, he would open the patents of succession, and resign the government to whoever he might find nominated for that purpose. He was soon afterwards relieved by Don Juan de Castro, whose journal of the expedition into the Red Sea we have laid before our readers in the preceding chapter, and who arrived at Goa in August or September 1545, to assume the government of India.

Khojah Zofar, who was now chief minister and favourite to the king of Cambaya, though he continued to keep up a fair correspondence with the Portuguese, yet, with the perfidy so natural to a Moor, never ceased persuading his sovereign to endeavour to shake off the yoke by a second attempt to reduce the castle of Diu. For this purpose he collected a powerful army, yet endeavoured in the first place to attain his ends by the most infamous means of secret policy. With this view he gained over a Portuguese of a base character, named Ruy Freire, to poison the great cistern or reservoir of water, to set the magazine of the castle on fire, and to admit him by a concerted signal into the place. But this treacherous design was frustrated by the information of an Ethiopian, a Turk and a female slave, who revealed the plot to the commander, Don Juan Mascarenhas, who had succeeded Emanuel de Sousa. As Mascarenhas became aware of the storm that was gathering against him, he prepared to meet it as well as possible, and sent notice of his danger to the governor-general, Don Juan de Castro, and to all the neighbouring Portuguese commanders. The garrison in the castle of Diu at this time amounted only to 210 men: Of these Mascarenhas assigned 30 for the defence of each of the four bastions; his lieutenant had charge of a tower or bulwark over the gate with 20 men; other 20 were placed in a small detached work; and he retained 50 men as a body of reserve under his own immediate command, to act wherever the greatest danger might call for his presence.

By this time a considerable number of men were collected by the enemy in the city of Diu, among whom were 500 Turks sent from Mokha by the king of Zabid, and Khojah Zofar came on with all his power, resolving to attack the sea bastion by means of three castles well stored with cannon and ammunition, which were built upon a ship of vast size; within the castles were 200 Turks, who were intended to distract the attention of the defendants by continually pouring in all sorts of artificial fireworks. This device was however abortive, as Jacome Leite went by night in two small vessels with twenty men, and though discovered he succeeded in setting the floating castle on fire, a great part of which blew up with all the Turks, and the remainder of the ship burnt with so great a flame that the enemy was seen in whole battalions running to quench the fire. Seeing the enemy in clusters, Jacome pointed his cannon among them and killed many: After this exploit, he proceeded to the mouth of the river, where he took some vessels loaded with provisions belonging to the enemy, with which he returned to the fort to the great admiration of the whole garrison, having seven of his men wounded in this gallant and successful exploit.

Though frustrated in this design, Khojah Zofar persisted in his intentions of besieging the castle, for which purpose he began to rebuild the wall which had been destroyed by De Sousa.364 This could not be prevented, though many of the workmen were killed by the cannon of the fort, and being at last brought to perfection Zofar planted upon it sixty pieces of large cannon, besides many of a small size. One of these cannons was of such extraordinary magnitude that it shook the whole island every time it was discharged, and it was managed with much expertness by a renegade Frenchman in the service of Zofar. At this time Don Ferdinand de Castro, son to the governor arrived with a reinforcement. Mascarenhas having expressed a desire of acquiring some intelligence from the enemys camp, one Diego de Anaya Coutinno, a gentleman of note and of great strength, put on a helmet with a sword by his side and a spear in his hand, and let himself down from the wall under night. He soon discovered two Moors at some distance from the fort, one of whom he slew with his spear, and taking up the other in his arms ran with him to the gate of the fort, calling out for admission, and threw him in, to the great surprise and admiration of his companions. Coutinno had borrowed a helmet, which he had engaged his word to restore or die in its defence. It happened to fall off in the scuffle, and he did not miss it till demanded, by its owner. He immediately let himself down again from the wall to look for the helmet, which he found and restored.

Shortly afterwards an extraordinary movement was observed in the besieging army, of which Mascarenhas was desirous to know the cause. On this account six men sallied out at night from the castle, and fell upon an advanced party of sixty Moors, some of whom they killed; but the rest awaking, and being joined by others, the Portuguese were forced to retreat after losing two of their number; but the remaining four brought in a prisoner along with them, who reported that the king of Cambaya was arrived from Champanel with 10,000 horse, on purpose to see the capture of the castle, which he was assured by Zofar must soon fall. This exploit so incensed the king and Zofar, that they pressed the siege with the utmost fury, and did much harm to the works of the castle by incessant discharges from their numerous artillery. But the renegade Frenchman, who managed their greatest gun, was slain by a chance shot, and the gunner who succeeded him was so ignorant that he did more harm to his own party than to the Portuguese. All the neighbourhood continually resounded with the incessant noise of the cannon, mixed with the cries and groans of dying men; when a ball from the fort happened to go through the kings tent, and sprinkled him all over with the blood of one of his favourites, who was torn to pieces close by him. This so terrified the king, that he immediately abandoned Diu, leaving the command of the horse to Juzar Khan a valiant Abyssinian.

Khojah Zofar continued to press the siege, and there was much slaughter and destruction on both sides; but this was more evident and prejudicial in the castle, owing to the small space and the weakness of the garrison. Mascarenhas on his part exerted every means for defence, always repairing to wherever there was most danger, as desirous of gaining equal honour with Silveyra who had so gallantly defended the same place only a few years before. He was no less fortunate in courageous women than Silveyra, as those now in the castle encouraged the men to fight valiantly, and both assisted and relieved them in the labour of repairing the walls. On one occasion that some Turks had got within the walls and had taken post in a house, one of these valiant females ran there with a spear and fought against the enemy, till Mascarenhas came up with his reserve and put them all to the sword. Zofar used every effort and device to fill up the ditches and to batter down the walls of the castle; but equal industry was exerted by the besieged to repair the breaches and to clear out the ditches, the prime gentry doing as much duty on those occasions as the private soldiers and masons; repairing every night such parts of the walls and bastions as had been ruined in the day.