..And Portuguese would have left India 3 centuries earlier..- Part 3
JUVE (ST. ESTEVAM), GOA: 1683
Lady virgin church (Juve island)
In the previous blog, we saw how the Portuguese retreated back to their territory in Goa after facing a crushing and humiliating defeat in their attack on Ponda.
In this blog, let us further witness the total humiliation of the Portuguese which even in their own words is a battle so fierce that they had never faced earlier.
Juve Island or St. Estevam as renamed by the Portuguese is situated near a village called Dhavji (Dongium) in modern day Goa.
It was earlier possible to literally walk into Goa from Dhavji in every low-tide of the ocean. To protect themselves, the Portuguese had built a strong fort on the doors of Goa and named it St. Estevam.
Behind this fort laid the maratha territory and in front of it was the Portuguese territory separated by river Mandavi. It was a fort of importance for the Portuguese as it evidently was the last line of defence before the enemy entered Goa.
As Sambhaji Maharaj had decided to completely crush the Portuguese once and for all, he decided to march to Goa after butchering Portuguese at Ponda. On 24th November, 1683, the Marathas sent a unit of troops to capture Juve Island. The Portuguese army guarding the fort was not alert and no resistance was offered to the Maratha army. The marathas conquered the fort and killed all the Portuguese army present on the fort.
It is said that the people on the surrounding areas of the island were watching this gruesome assault on St. Estevam as they had seldom witnessed such slaughter of the Portuguese.
After some cannon shots were fired by the Marathas to signal their arrival, the Portuguese realized Maratha presence at St. Estevam. The Portuguese army and clergy urged the viceroy to attack the Marathas and bells in churches of Goa rang at 10 PM that night to signal Goa of the danger lurking at their doors and to be prepared for war.
On 25th November, the Portuguese viceroy set out with 300 men to attack Juve island. However, the Marathas offered a stiff resistence. They employed the same technique of retreat and attack as stated in previous blog and Portuguese once again fell for it and were totally annihilated. The viceroy himself again escaped death 4 times in this skirmish. The Portuguese army had to retreat and yet again many Portuguese were killed while retreating. No person in the 300 person army went without any scratch.
Some portuguese got stuck and drowned in the river while retreating.
To stop the marathas, the Portuguese cut off the small structures that were controlling the flow of river Mandavi which led to the flooding of the river. Sambhaji Maharaj had decided to attack Goa on the same day and was so engulfed by war that he barged into the flood and started drowning along with his horse.
At that time Khando Ballal, son of Balaji Avji Chitnis saved his life by dragging his horse out of water.
As per Portuguese documents, 'Marathas caused great havoc on St. Estevam. Every building on the island was destroyed. Even the Lady Virgin church on the island was burnt along with the idols inside, including the idol of Lady Virgin. The head of the idol of baby Jesus and the legs of idol of Jesus on a cross were also cut off as the church burnt.'
This church is rebuilt and is a tourist attraction of the area today.
One may find this contradictory to the otherwise tolerant record of the Marathas towards the places of worship of the areas conquered by them till now.
Indeed it is very rare to see any Maratha general or King follow the principle of Tit for Tat against the Portuguese or any other enemy; in response to the atrocities meted out by them leading to mass killings of common people, forced conversions and destruction of a large amount of temples in Goa.
As the destruction of Juve Island raged on, troops were sent to Bardesh(North Goa) and Sashti(South Goa). The Marathas caused great economic losses to the Portuguese and meted out immense atrocities on the Portuguese men, women and children in these battles while also capturing large amount of Potuguese areas.
The viceroy was living in hell while still being alive as he feared total destruction of their power and trade from India. It is said that he along with his army and clergy in Goa went in the Basilica of Bom Jesus and surrendered at the feet of the body of St. Xavier. He gave his sceptre in the hands of St. Xavier and asked for mercy from God; as he was totally depressed and helpless. The capture of Goa seemed inevitable as the Portuguese were in no position to defend a fierce Maratha attack.
Basilica of Bom Jesus(Old Goa)
However, it seems that God, being merciful, saved the devil and the prayers of the viceroy were answered.
As the battle with Marathas raged on, Potuguese had requested Aurangzeb for urgent help and Aurangzeb had dispatched his son Shah Alam along with 1,00,000 troops in northern Konkan.
Chh. Sambhaji Maharaj, sensing the danger of getting caught between 2 armies on Juve island had to desert the island on 26th November, 1683; leaving behind his cannons and grains while keeping his navy in place to prevent any Portuguese advance in future.
Even though Chhatrapati Sambhaji's dream of totally uprooting the Portuguese and capturing Goa was unfulfiled, the Portuguese faced the most humiliating defeat in their own words. They had never faced an offensive so fierce in India before.
Had this offensive been fully completed, the Portuguese imperialism would have faced a huge blow as complete disappearance of the Portuguese seemed to be on the cards.. and the Portuguese would have left India 3 centuries earlier..
EFFECTS AND AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE:-
After the battle, Sambhaji maharaj decided to continue peace talks with Portuguese and buy time as he faced Shah Alam in north Konkan and a Mughal offensive on Maratha territories. He authorized Kavi Kalash, his loyalist for this. He did not really intend to have a treaty with Portuguese and did this only for buying time.
After 1683, the talks for a treaty were in process till 1685, but there was no final agreement between the parties and the treaty never took place.
In the years after 1683, the Portuguese and Marathas continued having small skirmishes where they continued capturing each other's territories.
The Portuguese themselves have accepted that no one humiliated them in the way Sambhaji Maharaj did in the entire time that they were in Asia.
The main takeaway for the Marathas in this skirmish was delaying the Portuguese and Mughal attack on Konkan and preventing a two front war against the Mughals and the Portuguese at the same time.
Had not Sambhaji Maharaj attacked the Portuguese, the Mughals would have found it way more easier to conquer whole of Konkan with the help of Potuguese. All this was delayed till the year 1689-90, ie, till the death of Sambhaji Maharaj. Hence, one can conclude that this was a strategic move by Chh. Sambhaji Maharaj and was totally justified.
This concludes the story of the missed opportunity of freeing Goa from the Portuguese in 1683 itself, rather than a 300 year delay for the freedom of a beautiful part of India.
Let me know your views and suggestions, if any, on my series of Portuguese- Maratha wars in the time of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.
Stay tuned for the next chapter of history that would be explored in the next blog! Peace!✌🏻✌🏻
Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj (1657-1689)
