The Portuguese felt none of the hatred which they showed to the disciples of Islám towards the Hindus. They had found to their great delight that the Christian religion flourished on the Malabar coast, and that the native Christians[1] were a prosperous and thriving community. They inclined to believe that the Hindus or Krishna-worshippers believed in a form of Christianity. The grounds for their belief were very {66} slight, but sufficient to impress ardent Christians like Albuquerque himself. One of the first designs of the great Governor was to strike up a cordial alliance with the Hindu rulers. The friendship which the Rájá of Cochin had consistently shown to the Europeans gave him confidence, and one of his earliest measures was to send a Franciscan friar, Frei Luis, on a special embassy to the Rájá of Vijayanagar. The aim of this embassy was to induce the Rájá to attack the Zamorin of Calicut by land while the Portuguese attacked him by sea, but there was also a general desire expressed to make an alliance with the Rájá. [Footnote 1: On the early history of Christianity in India, see Hunter's _Indian Empire_, chapter ix, pp. 229-241.] Frei Luis was directed to state in the name of Albuquerque: 'The King of Portugal commands me to render honour and willing service to all the Gentile Kings of this land and of the whole of Malabar, and that they are to be well treated by me, neither am I to take their ships nor their merchandise; but I am to destroy the Moors [Muhammadans], with whom I wage incessant war, as I know he also does; wherefore I am prepared and ready to help him with the fleets and armies of the King, my Lord, whensoever and as often as he shall desire me to do so; and I likewise, for my part, expect that he will help us with his army, towns, harbours, and munitions, and with everything that I may require from his kingdom; and the ships which navigate to his ports may pass safely throughout all the Indian sea, and receive honour and good treatment at the hands of the fleets and fortresses of the King of Portugal.' Albuquerque goes on to say-- 'And so I intend to drive out of Calicut the Moors, who {67} are the people that furnish the Zamorin with all the revenue that he requires for the expenses of war, and after this is over I shall give my attention forthwith to the affairs of Goa, wherein I can help in the war against the King of the Deccan.' Albuquerque then adds that Ormuz now belongs to the King of Portugal, and that-- 'the horses of Ormuz shall not be consigned except to Baticala [Bhatkal] or to any other port he [the Rájá of Vijayanagar] pleases to point out where he can have them, and shall not go to the King of the Deccan, who is a Moor and his enemy.'[2] [Footnote 2: Instructions to Frei Luis; Albuquerque's _Commentaries_, vol. ii. pp. 74-77.]