Sensing the resentment, Trimumpara Raja had the Portuguese factor Diogo Fernandes Correia and his assistants, Lourenço Moreno and Álvaro Vaz, stay at his own palace, and ensured they were always escorted by loyal guards when walking around the city's markets.

The Portuguese factors were disappointed at the spare findings on Cochin's spice markets, and the Trimumpara Raja was painfully aware of their increasing interest in other more promising cities, notably Quilon.

Narayan's brave stand gave his father and his Portuguese guests enough time to flee Cochin across the water to Vypin island (Vaipim) with a small core of loyal guards.

[Before burning down Cochin, the Zamorin of Calicut removed an ancient sacred stone, upon which the old Chera Kings of Malabar were traditionally ceremonially esconsed as lords of the sea and overlords of all the Malabari states.

The Zamorin and his Malabari allies were in the process of preparing assault boats against the island, when they spotted six armed Portuguese ships under Francisco de Albuquerque – the vanguard of the arriving 5th Armada – racing towards Cochin.

In the meantime, the Portuguese commanders persuaded Trimumpara Raja to allow them to erect a fortress on the edge of the Cochinese peninsula (an area now known as Fort Kochi), just a little to the west of the old city of Cochin proper (around what is now Mattancherry).

He co-opted a few of their leaders (notably, a certain Muhammad Marakkar) and, just in case, held some leading Muslim families hostage, shipping them over the outlet under guard to Vypin island for the duration of the hostilities.

Being fully informed of the Zamorin's plans, Duarte Pacheco Pereira determined that the Portuguese-Cochinese forces needed to block the passage of the army at Kumbalam ford (Passo de Cambalão).

Cochinese workers had also been quietly producing a large number of 3.5-metre-tall (12 ft) poles, sharpened at one end, hardened by fire on the other, with pre-cut grooves to allow them to be snapped tight with crosspoles.

Navigating carefully through the thin brackish narrows and straits of Vembanad lake, Duarte Pacheco's three ships (and accompanying Cochinese boats) arrived at the Kumbalam ford, a mere 100 m of shallow water.

The drawbacks to Kumbalangy is the idea of the Calicut fleet sailing there passes even closer to Cochin than before; Aroor does not really point to Palluruthy, and it is difficult visualize where Palignard ford would have been by comparison.

The next day, rather than resting and recuperating, Duarte Pacheco launched a surprise attack on some small villages on nearby islands, which were said to have furtively supplied paraus to the Calicut fleet.

Not only did the cannon batteries begin to move out of their shielded positions, the Calicut fleet which had been idling at the mouth of the strait, warily watching the Portuguese, decided this was a golden opportunity.

Already after the second assault, the Zamorin is said to have realized the pointlessness of repeated attacks on the Kumbalam ford, and had even half-made up his mind to dissolve the campaign and start peace negotiations, rather than subject himself to further humiliations.

The location of Palignar (alternatively given as Palinhar, Palinhard, Palignard, Pallinganad, Palimbão) is Panangad an island east of Kumbalam, south of Ernakulam, studded in the Vambanad River.

This is not outlandish – as Aroor is indeed behind Kumbalangy and it does accord with occasional suggestions (e.g. Castanheda, p. 228) that the main encampment of the Zamorin's army between these assaults were in the 'lands of Porquá' (probably Purakkad, thus a reference to the southern end of the Vembanad lagoon).

So Pacheco ordered the two caravels (under Pêro Rafael and Diogo Pires) to anchor in at Palurte with iron cords, while he proceeded with the two smaller bateis on to Palignar ford.

The near bank of the ford was to be held by a 600-strong force of Cochinese Nairs dispatched by the Trimumpara Raja, under the command of his nephew and heir, Unni Goda Varda (Candagora).

The factor's assistant, Lourenço Moreno, apparently bored of Fort Manuel and wanting some action, showed up at the ford and was assigned to either take command of a land entrenchment or aboard some Cochinese canoes.

But perhaps the most critical step, Duarte Pacheco ordered the troops and crews to clear the opposite banks of vegetation, so as to deprive enemy archers and cannons any form of protective cover.

As the tide was high during the morning, Palignar was impassable to Naubeadarim's infantry, so Pacheco left the bateis with only a small crew under the command of Andrade and Jusarte, and rushed most of his forces on longboats down to Palurte.

The clearing of the vegetation on the opposite banks immediately paid off as, upon reaching Palurte, Pacheco easily noticed a number of Calicut cannons being rolled into position, aiming to sink the anchored caravels.

[Apparently, the Nairs of the Cochinese vassal lord of Mangate (Alangad), assigned to man the palisade, unexpectedly abandoned their posts during the night, leaving only this small number behind.

But Trimumpara Raja sadly reminded him of the general faithlessness of all his vassals, and assured Pacheco that it would not happen again, that his heir, the prince Cadangora, would move to the ford permanently, and supervise the maintenance of the stockade.

Against Palurte, Elacanol of Edapalli repaired and prepared the fleet anew – the vanguard led by 110 well-armed and well-shielded paraus, tied together, followed by some 100 boat transports, packed with soldiers for the grapple.

Essentially, a 'floating castle' was a wooden siege tower, about 18 hands tall, with heavily reinforced sides, capable of carrying 40 armed men, mounted on two paraus lashed together.

The situation seemed bleak and Duarte Pacheco is said to have desperately uttered his famous line: "Lord, don't make me pay for my sins just yet", before focusing concentrated heavy fire on the nearest approaching castle and finally breaking its sides.

Many of the Zamorin's vassals, having lost hope of seizing Cochin by then, figured it was best to negotiate their own peace terms with the Trimumphara Raja before the Portuguese arrived, lest their dominions be slated for vengeful punitive raids.

Pereira may have also been the first person to have done a scientific study of the relationship between tides and lunar phases, and this allowed him to predict when each ford would be passable and to shuttle his few forces accordingly to meet points of attack.

Duarte Pacheco Pereira was given a hero's welcome back in Lisbon, receiving a grand reception and royal pension from King Manuel I of Portugal and public festivities were held in his honor.