Know
your less known hero:
Kanhoji
Angre, the only known Admiral of medieval India.
The novel “Jala Deepam”
by Chandilyan caught my attention when I was glancing through the library of
the Mylapore Club. It was a historical novel based on the life of Kanhoji Angre
a Maratha navy commander.
India never had a naval
history because of the taboo on crossing the ocean, locally known as “Kala
Pani”. The only recorded naval force was
that of Rajendhra Cholan of Thanjavur in
10th century. His powerful navy
dominated the entire Bay of Bengal right upto the Malacca straits in Singapore.
There are no historical evidences of a strong Indian navy in the western coast in
spite of centuries of overseas trade.
The western coast became
very active ever since Vasco da Gama visited Calicut in 1498 AD. The European colonizers started crowding the
western coast to establish their trade
monopoly as there was no Indian
naval force to control them in the
Arabian Sea. Portuguese and the British
were the dominant forces from Surat to Cochin a stretch of over 3000 KM long.
The eastern coast was wide open and a
cakewalk to the European colonizers .
Rajendra Chola n”s overseas domination Ref: www. Wikipedia.com
Chatrapathi Shivaji the great Maratha Emperor (1627 – 1680 AD) realized the importance of sea
security and developed a coastal navy to protect his large kingdom from Gujarat
to Goa. According to Captain H. Balakrishnan
(Ind. Navy Rtd) Shivaji's acumen in
building forts guarding the entrances to harbours like Vijaydurg, Ratnagiri,
Malwan, Sindhudurg etc along the Konkan Coast, reflects a deep strategic
thought process. One has to actually see the location of the forts to
understand Shivaji's brilliance.
Chatrapati Shivaji, Maratha Emperor
Kanhoji
Angre (1669-1729 AD), a privateer (an armed individual navy
adventurist) from a village near Pune emerged as a powerful and successful naval
commander of the Maratha navy. He was made the Admiral (Sarkhel) by the then King Chatrapathi Rajaram
in 1699 AD. He gained almost
total control over the western coast. He was
challenged by the British, Portuguese, Dutch, and Siddis(immigrants from
Southeast Africa) of Moguls, however, none of them were able to contain his
domination. He became a terror to the
greedy European trading companies and held the Maratha supremacy until his
death in 1729AD.
Following were his
engagements against the Europeans and
Siddis .
1702 -
Seized small vessel in Cochin with six Englishmen.
1706 - Attacked
and defeated the Siddi of Janjira.
1710 -
Captured the Kennery (now Khanderi) islands near Mumbai after fighting the
British vessel Godolphin for two days.
1712 -
Captured the yacht of the British President of Mumbai, Mr. Aislabie, releasing
it only after obtaining a hefty ransom of Rs. 30,000.
1713 - Ten
forts ceded to Angre by British.
1717 -
British ships bombarded Kennery island and Angre signed treaty with Company
paying Rs. 60,000.
1718 -
Blockaded Mumbai port and extracted ransom from English East India Company.
1720 -
British attacked his HQ Vijaydurg (Gheriah), but failed.
1721 –
British led by Commodore Thomas Mathews and Portuguese jointly attacked
Alibagh, with 6000 soldiers but were defeated by Angre.
1723 - Angre
attacked two British vessels, Eagle and Hunter
1724 – The attack
on Vijayadurg by the Dutch with 7 ships and 1000 soldiers was repulsed with heavy loss for the
Dutch.
He did not have well equipped
battle ships like the Europeans; however, with the help of some 150 over grown
fishing boats and his own courage and tactics he was able to remain undefeated
by his enemies. According to Rear
Admiral Satyindra Singh(Retd) the success of the Maratha Fleet against bigger and better equipped ships
of England, Portugal and Holland and those of the Moguls and the Arabs
stretching over several decades was mainly due to Kanhoji's tactics of using a
large number of light, strong and fast craft, adequately equipped, which
surrounded the heavier vessels of the enemy and simultaneously attacked them
from all sides "thus overwhelming the crews of the enemy ships and then
boarding them and putting them out of action by scuttling them or setting them
on fire
Though he was confined to defending the western coast
and did not venture out in the open
sea/ ocean for expeditions, he can be compared with the most adored Lord Nelson
of British navy who had the same qualities of courage and brilliance that gave
him victories in many naval battles against Napoleon. Kanhoji was the only known Indian Admiral who
demonstrated a superior sea power of India to the arrogant Europeans. Frustrated by the humiliations inflicted and their
inability to defeat the valiant hero, the British unleashed their mudslinging by branding him as a pirate and denying
him the dignified status of a naval commander. The same British knighted (Sir) Francis Drake
in 1571 AD, an English privateer and a slave trader who was a wanted pirate by
the Spanish and Dutch governments
Kanhoji’s descendents
however could not continue his valiant deeds and maintain the dominance of the
Maratha navy. The British were able to overpower
the heirs of Kanhoji when the Maratha Chieftains neglected the importance of
naval security. The first Indian naval chief of staff of independent India was Vice
Admiral Ram Doss Katari who took charge
in 1958, 230 years after Kanhoji. Absence
of sea power provided a valuable leverage to the European conquest of
India. A very strong navy is a must to
protect the 7500 km long coast line from Gujarat to West Bengal, a lesson to be
learned from our past.
Conclusion:
The Indian Government
has adequately honoured Kanhoji Angre by naming the Western naval command as
INS Angre, erecting his statues in Mumbai, renaming the old Kennary
light house as Angre lighthouse and releasing postal stamp with his picture in
1999AD.
It is
surprising to find The Indian Encyclopedia edited by Subodh Kapoor mentioning Kanhoji
‘a Maratha sea captain or pirate chief.’
I found that the
history books speak more about the freedom fighters after the Sepaih mutiny in
1857AD and neglect the prior years. As I
do not know about Kanhoji Angre, I feel the people in the North may not know
about Katta Bomman or Mardu Pandiar or Dhalavai Velu Thambi of South. Although the Indian Government has given due
recognition and honour to these regional brave hearts, the history books should
have a holistic coverage as a unifying force to prevent sectarian politics.
Dr. Krishnan Arunachalam
-Ref:
Jala Deepam, Tamil Novel by Chandilyan.
The Indian Encyclopedia (Ed). Subodh Kapoor Vol.13
page 3868, Cosmo Publications, ND
-http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/ Chiefs/132Personnel/
-RD-Katari
-http://www.gatewayhouse.in/kanhoji-angre-indias-first-naval-commander/
-UNDER TWO
ENSIGNS THE INDIAN NAVY 1945-1950 Rear Admiral SATYINDRA SINGH AVSM
(Retd)
indiannavy.nic.in/sites/default/files/under2ensigns.pdf
Horatio Lord Nelson of British Navy. Re: Wikipedia.com
(Published in Mylapore club magazine Aug/2014 by the author)
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