.. And Portuguese would have left India 3 centuries earlier..- Part 1
GOA: 1681-1682
However, they do not realize that the same Goa was a fortè of the imperial Portuguese for 4 odd centuries!
After Vasco da Gama sailed to India in 1498, the Portuguese gradually became a formidable "trading" entity in India and their power concentrated in the parts of Goa, northern parts of Konkan, Daman and Diu over the next century.
Their power grew so much that in the 17th century the Marathas collaborated with the Portuguese to help build their navy. Gradually as the influence of the Marathas grew, relations between Portuguese and Marathas started straining. These relations remained bitter until the death of Chh. Shivaji Maharaj in April 1680.
Just 3 years after his death, the Marathas launched an offensive against the Portuguese that would have wiped the Portuguese off from India 3 centuries earlier than 1961, when they were actually made to leave India. Let us have a look at the relations between Marathas and the Portuguese in this blog.
The Maratha- Portuguese relations post the death of Shivaji Maharaj-
After the death of Shivaji Maharaj, a struggle for succession ensued between Soyrabai, the coronated queen of Marathas and Chh. Sambhaji Maharaj, the coronated prince of the Marathas.
Chh. Sambhaji Maharaj eventually seized power in January 1681. He had desired friendly relations with the Portuguese initially as the kingdom was facing instability due to the succession struggle. This was even before he was coronated in 1681.
The Portuguese were pleased with this and talks for a peace treaty started between the two parties.
However, as these talks were going on, the 'Subhedar' of Dicholi (Bicholim), a village near modern day Kudal looted some of the Portuguese area and imprisoned some Portuguese men.
Dicholi was present very close to the border of Portuguese area and Swarajya.
This enraged the Portuguese viceroy and he requested Sambhaji Maharaj to take action to continue peace talks.
Sambhaji Maharaj replaced this Subhedar of Dicholi.
However, later in January 1682, Sambhaji Maharaj himself captured the Island of Anjdeev(Angedeva) which was very close to the Portuguese area of South Goa and started building a fort there.
Francisco de Távora, Count of Alvor, the then viceroy of the Portuguese in India had a meeting with his advisors and started building their own fort in the vicinity of Anjdeev.
Moreover, Sambhaji Maharaj had started building relations with the Arabs to counter the Siddis of Janjira. Arabs were competitors and enemies of the Portuguese. This was another reason for a crack in the Maratha-Portuguese relations.
Even with the above irregularities the relations with the Portuguese were not completely destroyed.. yet.
Descent of Aurangzeb in Maharashtra and its effect on Portuguese- Maratha relations-
One might be wondering that why Sambhaji Maharaj himself did activities like building forts near the Portuguese territory and disturb the peace talks?
Was he so illiterate in politics? The answer was Aurangzeb's war on Deccan!
Aurangzeb invaded deccan in 1681. Initially his focus was on the Maratha empire, which irked in his eyes the most.
When he invaded deccan, he started reaching out to the enemies of the Marathas and Portuguese were one of them.
The Portuguese had started talks with Aurangzeb and promised to help him against the Marathas.. all while the peace talks with the Marathas were going on!
The Portuguese also allowed the Mughal supply and navy ships to go through their territory.
In short they were double dealing with the Marathas and supported Mughals from the inside.
Due to this the relations between Portuguese and the Marathas were now officially sour and Marathas now started invading the Portuguese areas in northern Konkan.
The Portuguese forts of Chaul and Revdanda in northern Konkan were attacked by the Marathas. The siege of Chaul lasted for 5 months. The Portuguese could not withstand this siege and neither could they send any help from Goa.
Marathas also captured Karanja and Elephanta islands which frightened the Portuguese even more.
Some Portuguese letters state that "Marathas attacked a big Portuguese area in northern Konkan and imprisoned a lot of people including men, women and children. They have cut hands, noses, legs or ears of the prisoners. They have also captured and destroyed many forts and churches in our areas."
To counter the Maratha raids in north Konkan, the Portuguese decided to attack Ponda, a fort in the control of the Marathas in 1683.
This decision of the Portuguese was to lead to an offensive by the Marathas which demoralized the Portuguese to such an extent that they themselves thought that their time in India is now over!
To know about this offensive and why the Portuguese were totally demoralized stay tuned for the Part 2 of this relatively unknown part of history!
