The Sea lion of India- Part 1
In this series of blogs, let us know about the Indian admiral who ruled the seas in 1700s till the 1730s. He is called as "The Shivaji of the seas". Such was the power of his naval fleet that the English and the Portuguese navies along with the power of the Siddis of Janjira could not stand against the Maratha navy. He was practically the ruler of the seas in his times.
Janjira fort
His name is Kanhoji Angre. Before diving into Kanhoji's heroics, let us understand the power equations that existed in medieval India on the western coast of the country.
THE PORTUGUESE -
As discussed in previous blogs, the Portuguese sailed to India in 1498 and started spreading their legs along the western coast from Malabar to Maharashtra.
The Portuguese with their naval fleet and the concessions brokered with the coastal rulers, became the most powerful naval force on the western coast over the 16th century. Such was the increase in their dominance on the Indian coastal exports that they controlled most of the goods being exported from India through the western coast.
Eventually, almost all of the coastal rulers had to come to terms with the Portuguese influence in the maritime trade and in the later half of 16th century, they had started issuing naval passes on the goods being exported from India through them known as the "Cartaz".
The Portuguese had started from the Malabar but had gradually established strongholds of trade and navy in Goa and North Maharashtrian coast. The Stronghold of North Maharashtrian Coast was destroyed by the Marathas in 1739 at Vasai as discussed in previous blogs.
However, in the 16th and 17th century, the Portuguese were one of the strongest naval and maritime trade powers of the country.
THE ENGLISH-
The English east India company was formed in 1600 and given a charter by Queen Elizabeth I. The English east India company ships had anchored on the Indian coast in the year 1608 in Surat. From that time onwards the English trade had gradually flourished on the Indian coast. They obtained concessions from the Mughals and set up their main headquarters in Surat, Gujarat which was an important centre for trade in the Mughal era.
The second centre of power for the British in India was Mumbai. Mumbai, being a part of the North Maharashtrian coast was controlled by the Portuguese. However, in a marital alliance, it was gifted by the Portuguese Empire to the British Empire in 1675. The English were then only interested in the Maritime trade and had maintained a naval force for the protection of their trade interests on the western coast.
Over the decades, Mumbai became their main power centre after the decline of the Mughal empire and multiple Maratha raids on the city of Surat.
English naval fleet and trade was also a formidable power that existed in the equation of power.
THE SIDDIS OF JANJIRA-
The Siddis are said to have arrived from the African continent mainly Abyssinia. Thus they were also known as "Habshis" in Marathi which was a corruption derived from their Abyssinian descent.
They were initially the slaves of the traders that had arrived on the western coast and later were employed as mercenaries by the Ahmednagar sultanate or Nizamshah. After the fall of Nizamshah, the Siddis were feudatories of Adilshah or the Bijapur Sulatanate. However, they were mostly autonomous.
The Siddis had built their stronghold on Janjira, a strong sea fort. During the time of Shivaji Maharaj, the Siddis were in constant conflict with the Marathas. In late 1670s, Shivaji Maharaj had captured the island of Khanderi and threatened the Siddis. However, the dominance of Siddis in the area of Janjira, the coastal area of Danda Rajpuri and Murud was unchallenged. The campaigns of Sambhaji Maharaj on Janjira were left unfinished and the Siddis were another major player in coastal Maharashtra.
THE MARATHAS-
Shivaji Maharaj, being a visionary leader had established a strong naval fleet on the coast and built powerful sea forts such as Padmadurg, Vijaydurg and Sindhudurg which had strengthened the Maratha Navy. The Marathas through their strong naval fleet and sea forts kept a watch on the Portuguese, British and Siddis. Shivaji Maharaj had the vision that the one who has an army rules the land but the one who has a navy rules the seas.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
Many strong naval admirals of the Marathas such as Darya Sarang, Maynak Bhandari and Daulat Khan were the ones who kept a strong hold of the coast kept foreign powers in check.
After Kalyan was captured in 1656, the Marathas started issuing their own certificates of maritime sea trade to curb the dominance of the Portuguese Cartaz.
In the following decades till the 1710s, the Marathas, Siddis, Portuguese and British naval fleets were in a constant strife with each other for dominance of the coast and maritime trade.
During these years, Kanhoji Sankpal, later Kanhoji Angre, was being trained and groomed for being the head of the Maratha navy in the future years. By 1713, Kanhoji Angre was the head of the Maratha Navy.
By the time Kanhoji became the head of the Navy, the Portuguese had control over the 170 kilometre patch extending from Daman to Sashti(near Mumbai). The British were strong in Mumbai and the Siddis were breathing fire in Janjira.
However, in the coming 2 decades of 1710s and 1720s, Kanhoji Angre was to establish the Maratha stronghold on the sea so strong that all the foreign powers were to fear him and call him a 'pirate'.
The Maratha stronghold on the seas was so strong at the time of death of Kanhoji Angre in 1729 that no other established power could pose a significant threat to the Maratha dominance.
Let us see how the Maratha navy became the paramount naval force in India under the leadership of Kanhoji Angre in the next part of this series of blogs where we will explore a skirmish of Kanhoji Angre with the British navy where the English were astronomically humiliated and never dared to challenge the Maratha navy till the death of Kanhoji Angre.
Till then, peace!!✌🏻✌🏻
Source-
1) The Era of Bajirao by Dr. Uday S. Kulkarni
