The 16th century saw the sinking of one of the world’s greatest treasures due to a shipwreck in the Indian Ocean. Yes, we are talking about the lost treasure of Flor de la Mar that occurred on the stormy night of November 20, 1511.
Let us look into the window of the past and see what happened when this greatest treasure disappeared from the face of the earth and was buried in the depths of the sea never to be found again.
Flor de la Mar, the largest ship of its time
Flor de la Mar means “flower of the sea”. It is a Portuguese Nau built around 1502 in Lisbon. It was a great carrack and considered the largest carrack of its time. The carrack stood for nearly nine years before finally being sunk along with a large treasure brought back from the Sultan of Malacca in present-day Malaysia.
Flor de la Mar was said to be twice the size of the largest barracks of the time. Due to her large size and shape, she is known as the flower of the sea. 118 feet long, 111 feet high and weighing 400 tons, this nau was built for the voyage to India because Portugal was very interested in India’s wealth.
India was the center of attention of Portugal, which ruled the region for nearly a hundred years without sharing its wealth with England, France or any other kingdom.
Flor de la Mar’s journey
Flor de la Mar participated in voyages and wars and witnessed the conquest of Malaysia, then Goa until its final destruction. It is believed to weigh 400 tons, twice the size of the trucks of her time. It was originally built to transport goods and spices, but its weight caused problems.
The ship’s first captain was Estevao da Gama, cousin of Vasco da Gama, a great navigator and explorer of his time. It was a risky and risky journey and leaks on the ship stood in her way, but she returned to its waters. The second voyage was again in 1505 to India and encountered mainly similar problems in the Mozambique Channel.
Later, the sea flower participated in historical conquests starting with the conquest of Socotra by the Cunha people, Albuquerque led the conquest of kuriyat Muscat, Khor Fakkan and Ormuz.
The sunken treasure of Flor de la Mar
It was the year 1509 when in India, the ship Flor de la Mar was requisitioned as the flagship of D.Fransisco de Almeida in the battle of Diu. He wanted to take the ship back to Portugal but was stopped by Afonso de Albuquerque because of the ship’s condition. Remaining in India, flor de la Mar participated in the conquest of Goa and then Malacca.
Malacca was then considered the commercial center of East India. After the conquest in 1511, Albuquerque decided to bring the huge treasure looted from the King of Malacca back to Portugal. On the way back to Portugal, the train faced heavy storms along the state of Pase in Northeast Sumatra. The ship was punctured in many places, causing many casualties. It was such a strong storm that the ship could not survive and sank into the deep sea on November 20, 1511, off Timia Point in the kingdom of Aru, Sumatra.
Albuquerque was somehow saved but the treasure was lost and never found again.
Attempts to recover the lost treasure of Flor de la Mar
For more than 500 years, navigators, explorers and even states have searched for lost treasure in Flor de la Mar. The value of the treasure is estimated at about three billion dollars.
According to research documents at the Malaysian museum, one of the components of the treasure is 4 large sitting lions cast from pure gold. Other statues and pure thrones are also said to be among the sunken treasure along with countless gold, silver and precious stones.
Many people have tried to discover the lost treasure of the ship. Some people have claimed to have found it over the years but there has never been any proof. Most believe that the treasure is still lost.
Salvaging the ship will not be an easy task. Even if the wreck is found, at least three different countries will still claim to own the treasure.
