For the viceroy, however, the picture was darkening. All of Manuel’s expansionist plans depended on maintaining a stable base on the Malabar Coast, and this rested not only on a disciplined naval force, with its unanswerable bronze cannons, but also on prestige. It was essential that the perceived advantages of trading with the Franks remained high among the network of city-states. During 1506, confidence in the Portuguese was starting to falter.
