MERCANTILISM

How far did European mercantilism help in enriching maritime trade?

Analyze the concept of mercantilism as the impetus behind maritime trade.

Evaluate mercantilism as the concept which acted as the driving force of maritime trade.

Write a short note on Mercantilism.

 

Mercantilism was an economic system followed by England, France and other major trading nations form the 1500s to the 1700s. Under this system, a nation’s government strictly regulate economic affairs to enrich its treasury, specially by ensuring that exports exceeded imports.

Mercantilism was based on two beliefs:

Mercantilists judged a nation’s wealth by its stock of gold and silver rather than by standards of living or other measurements.

The mercantilists believed the world had a limited supply of wealth and so one country could grow rich only at the expense of another.

According to mercantilists, a nation that did not have gold or silver mines had to rely on foreign trade to become rich. They called for an excess of exports over imports, a situation they termed a favorable balance of trade.

To maintain a favorable balance of trade, mercantilist governments imposed high taxes and other restrictions on imports. Governments also encouraged the growth of domestic industries. Many nations established colonies overseas which served as markets for exports and source of raw materials. They also encouraged population growth because a large population provided supply of labor and a market for industrial products. Some nations prohibited the sale of gold and other precious metals to foreigners.

During the late 1700s the mercantilist system of many countries was gradually replaced by a policy of ‘Laisez Faire’. Under Laisez Faire the government played a limited role in economic affairs.

Mercantilism comprises of five central tenets (principles) which are interrelated:

Unification of the territory of the state into an economic unit.

The use of resources of the economy in the interest of the state.

The pursuit of power for the state.

The necessity for the protection of the state.

The accumulation of treasure through a favorable balance of trade and harmony in society.

The most important of all these is the emphasis of the state on defensive measures related to economy of the state. An aspect of this emphasis was the attempt to expel the foreign merchants. The necessary condition for such action was the internal power of the state. Therefore, protection of the activities of the state were given prominence.

English Mercantilism – a stress on production and trade

England and France put more emphasis on the production of agricultural and industrial goods. In the sixteenth century importance was given to production as the basis of national wealth. In the reign of Elizabeth encouragement was given to the manufacture of ammunitions so that England would be more powerful. Foreign workers were encouraged in the metallurgical trades to come to England to teach their arts to local workers. Forest was preserved along the seacoast to guarantee a supply of timber for shipbuilding. It was also insisted that Protestants in England should eat fish on Friday so that the fishing industry, the training ground for sailors would not be impaired.

In the seventeenth century, the whigs, who were representatives of business interest were becoming more powerful in politics so English economic rules became more positive in the direction of developing both output and trade. A protective tariff was introduced to preserve an English market for English producers.

The English placed great importance on the expansion of commerce for which they founded overseas trading companies, for e.g., the East India Company, and they enacted the famous Navigation Acts – 1651, 1660, 1663 and 1673. The acts provided that: No goods produced in Asia, Africa, America or Europe could be brought into England except in English ships, captained by an Englishman and imposed heavy custom duties on goods brought in foreign vessels.

Throughout the eighteenth century, England continued to protect its industry with high custom duties, to preserve its colonial markets for its own industrial goods and direct colonial trade to the shores to have a good supply of raw material for the Entre Port Trade. Such measures contributed to England’s economic growth and to the technological changes which constituted the Industrial Revolution.

French Mercantilism

France had no routes to the far East to carry on trade. Therefore, it decided to follow the policy of a favorable balance of trade a royal ordinance of 1540 forbade the export of bullion (gold). The government also made laws to suppress import of luxury items and give more stress on producing goods and services.

In the sixteenth century, the French government offered subsidies, tax exemptions, grants of monopolies, loans to develop such industries as glass making, sugar refining, wool, silk and linen textile manufacturing.

The French mercantilism reached its climax during the Ministry of Jean Colbart. He introduced various measures, built roads, and canals to improve transport system, founded the French East India Company with a hope to control Indian trade form the Dutch and English. He tried to secure colonies.

In the eighteenth century, France continued the policy of Colbartism i.e., its own brand of mercantilism. It maintained high protective tariffs, encouraged exports and tried to bring new industrial techniques. But several economic theories raised their voices which came to be known as Neo-Mercantilism which believed that ‘since money was the life blood of business activity there should be a large supply of it’ so that there would be a greater exchange of goods and a division of labor. But it did not succeed.

The Mercantilism of Portugal and Spain

The states like Portugal being small states achieved territorial unification and supported the efforts of its Princes to explore unknown lands of the South Atlantic. With the discovery of a water route to India, the Portuguese acquired a very lucrative trade. The Royal house instituted many regulations and collected much wealth by exporting goods of higher value.

During the most prosperous days of its commerce with the East, Portugal established, certain principles of mercantilist doctrine i.e.

The colonies were to be exploited for the benefit of the mother country.

All trade was to be regulated to have an excess of exports over imports.

National wealth was to be measure by the amount o bullion in order to get benefited by its colonies.

Spain also was anxious to be benefitted from her colonies. It issued licenses to visit the new world. Care was taken to bring gold and silver to Spain and it succeeded in acquiring large supplies of bullion. But gold and silver did little to stimulate the productivity of the country. The prices of the commodities went up and thus mercantilism practiced by the Spaniards did not lead to great economic development nor towards material wellbeing.

Mercantilism in Netherland

The economic growth of Netherland was fundamentally based on trade. The Dutch shippers went directly to the East, where they go good profits and could build up a colonial empire.

Netherland was a very small country with little industrial activity. It levied almost no custom duties on imports because international trade was in its interest. The Dutch statesman recognized that mere hoarding of bullion to acquire goods which could be sold at a profit and hence permitted free trade in precious metals. Thus, Bullionism was minimized in Dutch mercantilism in the interest of aiding commerce.

They established the Dutch East India Company gave trade monopoly to it in in order to exploit the colonial empire. From the middle of the sixteenth century, the Dutch had to face the onslaught of the English, French and Portuguese and in the far east their trade fell off.

 

ZAMORIN OF CALICUT

 At the close of the thirteenth century politically India was in a turmoil and the country was divided into several states. There though belonging largely to the same religion had many differences and petty rivalries were rampant. Of these the Mughals, Deccan Sultanate, Vijayanagar and Zamorin were the major rulers in India, but there were other smaller Rajas of Kannore, Cochin, etc. Calicut pursued a policy of encouraging trade with foreign countries. In fact, it was this uniform policy that was followed by successive Zamorins which was responsible for the affluence of the port of Calicut than its advantageous natural location. It was to such a part that Vasco da Gama came with his ships and was granted the permission to trade.

But this meant the interruption of the long-established trade connections of Arabs. They remonstrated by unsuccessfully with the Zamorin into new alliance and left the port thus bringing about its commercial starvation. When Vasco da Gama was asked to pay the usual customs levy he showed his barbarism, unparalleled in Indian naval history. The zamorin took note of it. So far, the dealings of Zamorin with the Arabs had been straight forward and specific. He therefore did not require more than a small naval force powerful enough to deal with them. The Zamorin in the circumstances did not fully realize the grave danger of the coming of the Portuguese and was unprepared for the following events.

Meanwhile, the second expedition of the Portuguese under Cabral was granted to set up a trading establishment by the Zamorin for there was friction between the Arabs and the Portuguese. Cabral tactlessly seized an Arab ship and there was a fight between the Arabs and the Portuguese. Cabral asked for Zamorins help but did not get any. Upon this, Cabral bombarded his citadel for two days before pulling into cochin. The Raja of Cochin, a traditional enemy of the Zamorin gave Cabral all the facilities to establish themselves. Meanwhile, the Zamorin to avenge Cabral’s act fitted out a fleet of some 80 ships to meet him off Cochin. But Cabral escaped unnoticed and called at Cannore where again he received a warm welcome. He finally returned to Portugal. His return marked the beginning of a war of compensation for over a century at the Indian seas.

Cabral was followed by Javda Noua in 1501. He attained and looted a Calicut merchant man. His fleet took the role of raiders, preying on lone Calicut ships plying off the West Coast. The Zamorin therefore sent an armada of 180 vessels to destroy the enemy. Unfortunately the Zamorins fleet was not equipped as high seas fleet and hence could not give chase to the enemy who succeeded in getting away. The Portuguese however were determined to claim the supremacy of the Indian seas. They persisted in their effort and sent armada after armada. The next expedition under da Gama was a formidable one. He gained the goodwill of the authorities on the East Coast of Africa and thus safeguarded his lines of communication to Lisbon. Even on his way to India, he started committing acts of piracy. The policy was evidently to usurp the Indian trade by a show of strength and unfair means as they had no hopes of capturing the age-old trade by peaceful competitive enterprise.

On reaching the Indian waters he established bases at Cochin and Cannore with full assent of the Rajas of respective ports. From these bases, he instituted a systematic blockade and Calicut was subjected to commercial starvation. The unprecedented events led the Zamorin to reinforce and reequip his fleet. Two flotillas were fitted out in 1503 under the Command of Arabs and Admiral and being light had an edge over the Portuguese ships in speed. The Portuguese ships on the other hand, had a definite advantage in fire power. In addition, the Calicut fleet had the endurance at sea when compared to the enemy which could sail long distances and get well away from the shore.

The Zamorins fleet sailed out to meet the threat of the Portuguese fleet. Amber’s and Karim’s fleet were not acting as one which was another error. Eventually the fast moving Calicut ships out maneuvered the Portuguese fleet. In the event, da Gama had to disengage and sail away to Europe.

A few lessons may be learned from this battle. The Calicut navy failed to concentrate their forces until too late and lacked fire power. They also failed to give chase to their enemy and thus nullified the fruits of victory. It came to be known that the Zamorin’s fleet was unsuited to operate in areas far removed from its base. This weakness was spotted quickly by the Portuguese and they exploited this defect later on.

The extraordinary feature of the Portuguese effort lay in the resolute manner in which the fleet in the East was continually replaced or reinforced. Before Calicut could rise from the damages of the battle of Cochin, two squadrons under the Albuquerque brothers were on their way. Meanwhile, the traditional feud between Calicut and Cochin aggravated by the Portuguese intervention, precipitated a war between the two Rajas. In this campaign a large fleet of Zamorin took part in support of the land operations against the territories of the Rajas. The Albuquerque squadron had by then taken position off the shores of Cochin. They reduced the effectiveness of the naval gun support which the Calicut fleet gave to its advancing army. In 1504, a truce was concluded between the Zamorin and the brothers. But as soon as they went back to Portugal, the Zamorin attacked the Raja with his army and navy. But the Cochin base was defended by the shore artillery and few Portuguese vessels that had been left behind.

The Calicut Cochin war dragged as far as about five months. Lisbon, hearing of these difficulties in India promptly dispatched a large fleet in 1504 under Lopa Toares as reinforcement. Hardly had he aimed he evolved a clear plan. The Zamorin expected an attack on Calicut knowing this part would be well defended. Toares launched a surprise attack on Cranganore, the other naval part of Zamorin. The squadron under Manmali was completely taken by surprise and destroyed wholly. This incident shook the Zamorin’s confidence. He had already lost few of his ships in the Cochin battle, and now in this surprise attack. Realizing that his ships were no match to the Portuguese fire power, he looked for an ally outside India. He found the Sultan of Egypt an old associate more than eager to join hands in the common cause of meeting the Portuguese threat. It must be remembered that the old sea routes from Europe to India by passed Egyptian ports. After the discovery of the new trade routes by da Gama, Egypt’s commercial prosperity had been on a decline. The sultan promptly dispatched in 1507 a sizable naval force, equipped with weapons matching those of the Portuguese under an able Admiral Mir Hussain.

Mir Hussain had a well-conceived plan. He set himself the task of reaching and making Diu his base. Then the Calicut fleet would meet him at a particular pre-determined position and in combination would attack the Portuguese fleet. They came upon the enemy fleet at Chaul. They exchanged fire for nearly two days but the battle ended without decision. The Portuguese flagship was badly his and her captain killed. The Portuguese however, redoubled their efforts, formed a fleet and attacked Dabul in November 1508. They lingered on until the arrival of a favorable tide and attacked Diu and fired for a prolonged period. The Indo Egyptian fleet fought a violent battle and stemmed the abundance of the enemy. But during the battle the Governor of the Sultan defected to the enemy’s side and this played an important role in the course of the battle. He cut off the shores supply maintenance and transportation of military material to the Indo Egyptian fleet and the battle ended indecisively Mir Hussain retuned in disquiet over the affairs of defection to Egypt.

K. M. Pannikar ably sums up the effect of the two sea battles of 1503 and 1509. Thus, without a decisive battle the supremacy of the sea passed over to the Portuguese. It showed them the weakness of Indian navies and afforded them the chance for building up a naval empire. It left them free to pursue an oceanic policy of their own, defined and laid the foundations of European mastery of the European has for over 400 years.

But despite these battles the Calicut fleet not only managed to survive but continued to dispute the naval supremacy of the Portuguese for some 80 years. If not in high seas, then at least within the territorial waters. Again in Jan 1510 a formidable Portuguese fleet attacked Calicut softened the beaches by heavy bombardments and landed their troops. The day was one when the Zamorins army was preoccupied in the matters away from the port. Although initially there was negotiable resistance, the local citizens rose to the challenge and inflicted heavy casualties. The enemy retreated in haste and just managed to evacuate in their ships to Cochin. This incident brought home to the Portuguese even more forcibly the dire necessity to find a base for their operations at a safer distance from Calicut. They selected Goa and after an initial setback annexed it in 1510 which they held till 1961.

The Zamorins ability in the constant attempt at disputing Portugal naval power in the Indian waters during eight long decades is primarily attributed to the efforts of hereditary Admirals the Marakkars. He enforced on them the title of Kunjalis. One of the causes of the decline of the Zamorin power was also the drastic policy of the Zamorins which tended to be uncertain. Because of the peculiar law of succession followed by the Royal House of Calicut, the Zamorins were very old when they came to the throne. Frequency of deaths and successors brought to Calicut throne Zamorin’s who were weak and wavering and ready to compromise.

TRANSOCEANIC TRADE

 It is beyond doubt that the Indian merchants had trade monopoly in the Indian Ocean during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. It was only in the eighteenth century that Indian shipping and the trade in the Indian Ocean declined to make way for European traders.

On the whole the trade in the Indian Ocean remained firmly in the hands of Indian shipping merchants with only occasional uncertainty particularly in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Several factors worked towards vitality (power) of Indian shipping:

The higher freight rates (transport charges on goods) charged by the Europeans – The European rates were double that charged by Indian owners.

Indian merchants preferred to stick to the ships owned by men of their own community.

It was a practice of Indian freighters to divide their risk by distributing their freight (goods).

Indian merchants were occasionally embarrassed by private demands made by European naval officers, which was not known to the companies.

Thus, though European ships were better sailed and better protected, over the entire period it made no significant difference.

Not interested in ship owning – The Indian merchants did not invest more in ship owning because it was felt that substantial part of capital was locked into it and the return on it was also poor, where as the profit in the trade was 20% more. Indian merchants did not own more than one or two ships however rich they might be.

Indian merchants who travelled across the sea fell into three different economic categories. They were:

Substantial merchants – who travelled in style with their valuable cargoes and obtained special treatment on board as well as in the Indian ocean ports.

There were merchants who travelled as agents of their principles who were not on board, because they were managers of their business at home or were travelling elsewhere i.e., the Nakhoda on board of an Indian vessel.

Small merchants who provided ships with majority of its passengers.

Men who travelled purely as agents (representatives) of other merchants earned only commission. These small merchants were looked down upon by the rich and influential merchants.

The people on the Indian vessel reflected the nature of the Indian society and in particular the nature of overseas trade. Merchants interested in foreign trade were small men who invested little and profited less, but were never driven out of business. Overseas trade at large was a merciless world leading to competition and degenerating into rivalries.

The social and economic structure supporting Indian overseas trade was based on cooperation and conciliation. The ship owner merchant relied on merchants and brokers specialized in supplying a port with specific commodities. Bigger the business, larger was such reliance upon the intermediaries and there was no difference between an Arab, Persian, Indian or European.

The Indian overseas merchants did not enjoy the patronage of the state.

They lived in a competitive world. Instances of Hindus and Muslims working together in close business relationships were common but the main tendency was to keep business confined within one community for the reason that disputes arising in the course of business could be solved through social consensus.

Gujarati Muslim ship owners were interested in preserving the freedom of high seas navigation bitterly opposed to Portuguese penetration. Hindu merchants on the other hand were less hostile and cooperated with the Portuguese. The Portuguese were inclined to cooperate with the Indians because the trade with the Indian ports was important for Portuguese establishments in their commerce with Europe.

Trade in the 17^th century – By the last decade of the seventeenth century there were significant changes in the European commercial activity and there was a growth in trade between Indian Ocean and outside world. There was an increase in the flow of gold and silver from America and rising demand in Europe and America for large quantities of Indian goods for consumption.

Commercial Revolution – During the eighteenth century there was a commercial revolution in the Indian Ocean. The British dominated major trade routes in the Indian Ocean and established a major territorial empire on the shores of South Asia. The revolution was based on cotton textile, opium, and Chinese tea.

The bulk trade in South Asian cotton textiles and Chinese tea brought about a major chance in the economic relationship between Europe and Indian Ocean resulted into opening of Suez Canal in 1869. Goods from British India were sold in China, cargoes of Indian cloth and Sumatra pepper along with slaves from East Africa found profitable markets in the USA. By the twentieth century the raw materials and manufacturers of India and other countries of the region traded round the world.

INDIAN MERCANTILE COMMUNITIES

 Explain the role played by mercantile communities in the structure of Indian mercantile trade.

Enumerate some of the mercantile communities and analyze their functions and practices.

Fishermen, Sailors and Merchants

The first mariners were drawn from the coastal fishing communities. They are silent actors of history. Though they provided a vital pool of labor and maritime skills, they were dominated politically and economically by merchants and ruling elite.

The long-distance trade at the beginning of the present century was mainly for the luxury products and the number of merchants involved in it was relatively small. The trade was complex but encouraged the formation of the earlies migrant merchant communities.

Centuries before industrial revolution (1750 AD), the commerce – both maritime and land bound in Europe and Asia was in the hands of small businessmen. There were merchant princes, who were similar to the eighteenth-century Muslim magnet of the Gujarat Port of Surat, Mullah Abdul Gafar who owned seventeen vessels.

By the early sixteenth century, Gujarati merchants were in the trade network on the Bay of Bengal trading with East Africa and the Middle East. Next to them were the merchants from the Malabar Coast and the Port of Bengal. Many of these South Asians were Muslims, Hindus, and Jains. Gujaratis were prominent in the coastal trade of India and the trade linking Southern India with SriLanka and Maldives.

The merchants of the period 1500 to 1750 were quite rich and their wealth could be compared with the merchant princes of Europe. The Surat merchant Virji Vora was the wealthiest man of his time. Hirnanda Sahu a Marwari banker from Amber came to Bihar in the seventeenth century as a banker of Maharaja Mansingh. His son Manik Chand, the first Jagat Seth (Banker of the World) acquired enormous wealth and power.

There were also small traders whose activities were confined to a particular locality. They were the Banjaras – divided into four tribes, dealing with corn, rice, pulses and salt. They lived in camps or dandas.

The social base of the trading community was confined to a small group of caste – banjas, bohras and Parsis in Gujarat, Hindu and Jain Marwaris in Rajasthan, Chettis and Komatis on the East Coast, Muslim merchants mostly of foreign origin but settled in India were important in the trade of Gujarat, Deccan and Bengal. The majority of the Hindu traders established in Bengal were Gujaratis. By eighteenth century, Marwaris were found in most ports of India as bankers and financers. Hindus act as bankers for Muslim merchants and employed their ships for overseas trade. The other social groups that moved form other occupations into commerce because of opportunities were weavers, parawas, pearl divers and boatmen who took small scale commerce.

The backbone of the seaborne traders were ship owners and operators. Some magnets owned fleets of vessels based mainly in Surat and Masulipatnam. In another category of overseas merchants who did not own ships but hired space in ships of others to transport goods and sold them in overseas market. In the third category of overseas merchants there were kings, princes, the members of the royal family, administrative and military officers, nobles who took to trading. The Malabar state rulers were traditionally traders. They invested heavily in ship building. The rulers of Malabar ran several coastal and ocean-going vessels. Mughals used ships for prosperous freight traffic. Prominent merchants were brought to help the commercial operations.

The Nachodas played an important role in overseas commerce. They were specialist sailors, a sea captain and navigator. Initially they did not concern themselves with trade but gradually the owners of goods who could not sail in the ships and had no agent, entrusted the task of handling goods to the Nachodas. They were available in large numbers in Gujarat and Coromandel.

Another major category of merchants were financers – shroffs. they came from the Hindu and Jain Baniya caste and formed great financial houses throughout India. In the seventeenth century, Indian merchants were a remarkable mobile group.

Among Indian trading region, the most powerful concentration of merchants was in Gujarat. Muslims of various ethnic groups were united by long domicile in Gujarat. These were Turks, Arabs, Khorasans, Pathans, Sunnis, Shias, Boras and Ishmaelites. There were also Parsi merchants. The others were baniya Hindu and Jain merchant caste communities who were active in commerce. Parsis were becoming more important in the state of Surat in the second half of the seventeenth century as ship owners and ship builders.

When the Dutch established factory int eh Port of Vengurla, they dealt with a number of Hindu merchant suppliers of the neighborhood. Hindu merchants – konkanis and Saraswats were located southwards in the Kanarese Ports and Goa. They traded in the Bijapur ports of Vengurla and Raybagas tradaers of pepper and rice.

Large number of Hindu, Kannada and Komatti, Chettiers, Konkani and Saraswats, Mapilla, Muslims came from Malabar to trade in the ports of Bashrus, Bhatkal, Honvar, Konkani merchants were involved in coastal trade upot Surat and Sri Lanka with pepper, rice and coconut produce.

The Saraswat Brahmins of Goa also entered into land based activities. The Hindu merchants of Malabar engaged in small boat coastal traffic, southwards upto Madura and Tanjavur. They were mainly Tamil and Telugu Chetti class.

Jews were another group of merchants settled in the port of Cochin. They traded under the Dutch protection.

The Malabar rulers of the large and small principalities had themselves been merchants owning and sailing ships on their own behalf.

In the Coromandel coast, Hindus in great majority were engaged in trade though Muslims were significant in the key sectors. In the beginning of the seventeenth century, long distance shipping was in the hands of Hindus. Hindus of various Chetti subcaste dominated the trade of all sectors. Three Telugu caste dominant in overseas and coastal trading in this period were balija chetties, berry chetty and Komatties. The Tamil Chetties had concentrated themselves in south Coromandel and Madura bay ports and were busy in overseas trade.

Coromandel Muslims of diverse origin were a flowing force in the trade. They were mainly busy in overseas trading. The Chulia Muslims i.e., the Tamil Muslims were the descendants of Arab settlement, were prominent traders in South Coromandel.

Coromandel Muslim merchants were mainly dealing with cotton textiles, the major export of the region. They were the most mobile groups and sometimes even migrated for short term settlement overseas particularly in South East Asia.

Thus, all the above accounts show that various Indian communities settled on the coastal lines of India, were busy in Coastal and seaborne trade right from ancient times till modern times. It is also here that many indigenous mercantile groups survived the impact of western economic and political penetration right from the seventeenth to nineteenth century. European trade within the Indian Ocean depended mostly upon indigeneous collaboration. The economies of colonial India, Burma, Singapore, Mauritius, Aden, Malaya, Indonesia, were sustained by the vital activities of Indian mercantile groups engaged in the age-old commercial activities of their ancestors.

PORTUGUESE MARITIME TRADE IN INDIA

Give an account of Portuguese maritime trade in India.

The appearance of the Portuguese on the Coast of Malabar in the closing year of the fifteenth century was one of the rare events in history, whose future implications were fully perceived by contour parries, Vasco da Gama’s ships reached Calicut in 1497. The first voyage was merely exploratory. Gama had expressed to the Zamorin as the King of Calicut is styled only a desire to trade with him, but his refusal to pay the customs of the Port was an indication of the Policy he had in mind.

The second expedition under Cabral was on a much larger scale. Cabral had definite views about the rights of the Portuguese on the seas. As Barros states, ‘It is true that there exists a common right to all to navigate the seas and in Europe we recognize the rights which others hold against us, but this right does not stand beyond Europe and therefore the Portuguese as lords of the sea are justified in confiscating the goods of all those who navigate the sea without their permission’.

Cabral was instructed to inform the King of Calicut of the ancient enmity which existed between Christians and Muslims, which imposed on every Catholic King the obligation to wage war on these enemies of holy faith. The moor merchants who resided and traded in Calicut could not clearly be exempted from that duty and the King must know that if the Portuguese encountered their ships at sea, they would take possession of them, of their merchandise and property and also of the moors who were on the ships.

During the first two decades of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese planned only individual attacks on Muslim shipping trade between the Red Sea and Western Coast of India with the aim of getting control of the spice trade. The two essential conditions for the success of the Portuguese plan were a clear Naval Supremacy over Asian ships and the reestablishment of few key outposts on land which could act as strategic basis for the naval fleets and men left in charge of the teaching operations.

To realize their goals the Portuguese bombarded Calicut in 1502, when it became clear that its King the Zamorin was not prepared to cooperate in expelling the Muslim traders from his port. Calicut’s natural enemy and rival on the Malabar Coast the Raja of Cochin proved pliable and the first Portuguese Fort on the Indian soil was constructed in his territory during 1503. In the year 1509, Francesco de Almeida had defeated and destroyed at Diu, an armada sent by Mamtuk, ruler of Egypt. But the foundation of Portuguese Maritime Empire was truly laid with the capture of the Island of Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510 which was followed by the capture of Malacca in 1511 which controlled the sea route to the far east with the conquest of Ormuz in Persian Gulf (1515), the Portuguese plan was virtually compete. In the coming years a number of settlements and trading stations were added to the list such as Chittagong in Bengal, Macau in China and Colombo in Ceylon.

This maritime empire later acquired the name of Estado da India.

The activities of the Estado da India in Indian subcontinent represented several institutional innovations and the general framework of Asian trade a complete state monopoly of an important commodity or commercial products was not unknown, but it was a rare phenomenon. For Indian merchants and political rulers, it was a novel experience to encounter an imperial scheme that was being directed from a center of power which was situated thousands of miles overseas, in another continent. It must have been even more disturbing to discover that pepper and spices were the main commodities on which the Portuguese founded their imperial ambitions.

Long distance trade was an object to invest to indigenous rulers and governments in Asia primarily for the revenue they could derive from taxing the merchant. From the Merchants’ point of view, the taxes paid to the political authorities was necessary in order to secure protection. Indian rulers had for centuries exercised such control over trade which passed through their territories. The whole practice may be described under the term ‘redistributive enterprise’.

The Portuguese introduced a new concept and claimed to control exclusively the sea routes and the maritime trade of states and empires in India and Asia. The absence of or inferiority of naval forces belonging to Asian powers greatly aided the polices of Estado da India.

In the process of establishing their naval supremacy, the Portuguese became absorbed in the existing structure of redistributive enterprise’.

A tribute was demanded form Asian traders and their ships which took the form of cartage system. Every Indian ship sailing to destination not reserved by the Portuguese for their own trade had to buy one of these passes from the Viceroy of Goa, if it was to avoid for seizure and confiscation of its merchandise. As a result of the Portuguese naval watch at the end of the sixteenth century few Indian ships could venture to East Africa, the spice islands or to China, Japan, unless of course the shipowners entered into direct partnership with Portuguese officials or merchants in Goa. There is little doubt that the prosperity and wealth of the Portuguese in the Indes depended greatly on the revenue earned through the redistribution enterprise.

But the view that Estado da India was wholly a practical and parasitic state which grew rich by ruthless plunder of unarmed Asian merchants has not gone without challenge.

While the Portuguese were reaping immense benefits from Eastern commerce, the defeat of the Spanish Armada at the hands of the British swing the pendulum of power in the West and paved way for the entry into India and other maritime nations of Europe. The Dutch and the English were now in no mood to pay the exorbitant prices demanded by the Portuguese for Indian goods and were preparing themselves for carrying on direct trade with India.

These were not the only reasons that led to the downfall of the Portuguese in India. They failed to maintain their aim – achievement of sea power in the Indian Ocean. When Brazil was discovered, the Portuguese were distracted from the Indian scene and were lured by the lucrative lands of the South American Continent. The Portuguese, therefore, could not give undivided attention to the Indian Ocean and they had difficulty in deploying their forces in two widely separated theatres of operation.

The amalgamation of Portugal with her more powerful neighbor, made Portuguese toe the Spanish line. Although in 1640 she regained her independence it was too late. The Dutch and the British were entrenched in India by then.

KUNJALIS

 The Portuguese system of permits for the plying of Asian vessels afforded no safety or advantage to the owners, for the captains of the Portuguese patrol ships fell upon all vessels indiscriminately, whether they held permits or not. In some ways the taking out of a permit was a disadvantage, for the owners had to declare their freight and destination. This information was used to the bets advantage by the Portuguese pirates to rob them. It should not be supposed that Indian and other Asian nations who were affected submitted themselves meekly to these impositions. Ponnani, one of the most important ports and naval dockyards of the Zamorin proved particularly troublesome to the Portuguese. When the Moplas of Calicut under Koya Pakki who had been friendly to the Portuguese saw them in their true colors, they broke away from their former alliance and decided to fight them. It was about this time that we begin to hear of the famous Kunjali Marakkars. According to Mopla tradition, they were originally marine merchants of Cochin. The Rajas favored the Portuguese. The Moplas found Cochin uncomfortable and settled in Ponnani, on one the ports of the Zamorin. The Zamorin who had vainly counted on help from the foreign Muslim merchants of Calicut now took the Marakkars into his service and supported them with men and money to wage war against he Portuguese.

During the 1520s, India produced a naval leader whose reckless courage and genius afforded the country a brief respite in her distress because of the Portuguese. He was an officer of the Zamorin’s fleet – Captain Kutti Ali and served under Mohammed Kunjali Marakkar. The word Kunjali was a title conferred by the Zamorin on Mohammad. In Malayalam, Kunju is an enduring term. The office of the admiralty was hereditary. That both Mohammad and his brother were men of considerable influence and wealth is clear from the fact that Menezes and Sampaio feared the consequences of an alliance between the Zamorin and them and made a furious attack on Pannani to destroy the Marakkars fleet. Thereafter Kunjali Marakkar took to the sea and attacked the Portuguese vessels whenever he fell in with them. He chose able and brave captains like Kutti Ali and Padri Marakkar. To their vigilance and valor, the Zamorin owed all that remained of Calicut overseas spice trade.

Kutti Ali was greatest. He was the captain of a ship belonging to a squadron based at Tanore. He realized that Calicut ships had no chance of victory in naval battles and resolved a course of guerilla tactics which proved eminently successful. He also constructed war paroes, - fast boats rowed by 30-40 men, navigable even in shallow waters. These boats presented a difficult target to the enemy’s cannon. Under the cover of these engagements he managed to send out to sea Indian and Arab ships freighted with merchandise. He also provided them with escort. Thus, while he destroyed Portuguese vessels, he aimed at maintaining the spice trade of Calicut with foreign countries.

The new zamorin was hostile to the Portuguese. Though there was no declaration of war them, and a treaty was nominally in force, there were frequent encounters between the two fleets. Among the leaders of naval guerilla warfare were two other distinguished captains, Pattu Marakkar and Balia Hassan. The new zamorin proceeded to attack the Portuguese fort in Calicut. Menezes acted quickly and struck the first blow on the Zamorin’s shipping at Ponnani. Captain Ali paid the Portuguese back in their own coin. The siege dragged on for five months and the Portuguese were compelled to abandon the fort. A year later Menezes died of a wound and was succeeded by Sampaio. He undertook vigorous measures to put an end to the menace of Captain Ali’s sea guerilla and appears to have met with greater success than his predecessor. In the month of September 1528, Chetwar, one of the ports of Zamorin was attacked by the Portuguese. The blockaded the river mouth in an attempt to bottle up several ships of Kunjalis fleet. This proved to be a fatal step as Calicut vessels counter attacked and destroyed several Portuguese ships and massacred the crew.

The activities of the Kunjali and his captains were so effective that for several years the sea communication between Goa and Cochin was interrupted seriously curtailing Goan trade. When the Portuguese reached Ceylon, the events developed in the same patters as in Calicut. The Moors of Ceylon watched the new development with anxiety. What happened at Calicut, happened at Ceylon. The zamorin resolved to fight the Portuguese wherever they were to be found, extended his interest to Ceylon. The Arab merchants, the last of the few who traded with the far East were threatened at Colombo. They requested the Zamorin to send a powerful force to Ceylon. The people of Ceylon hostile to foreigners could be counted upon to help the Zamorin. The Moors of Ceylon, though small in number were wealthy and powerful and their assistance would be valuable. Cairo, they assumed the Zamorin was getting ready to fight the Portuguese the Zamorin needed no further prompting. The Portuguese had bent both his dignity and trade and got ready a fleet for an attack on Colombo.

In Ceylon, the Portuguese made themselves unpopular. In 1520, the King Wijayabaliu besieged the Colombo fortress, Mayadunne. The broterh of the king had the ambition to become the King and was also hostile to the Portuguese. He was helped by the Zamorin. The king found himself obliged to seek Portuguese aid, but all plans failed because Mayadunna unfortunately repented and withdrew all his forces. This process was repeated three times in the following years which led the Kunjalis to disbelieve him. Meanwhile, the Kunjalis did not actually leave the island and hovered near it concealing themselves in shallow creeks and keeping out of Portuguese reach. The Zamorin was annoyed on the failure of this expedition but he resolved to fight the Portuguese on sea. In 1573, a large fleet was readied in Ponanni and the Calicut army landed and entrenched themselves in the palm grooves of Vidulai. He carried on an effective blockade of the parts of Ceylon. He was lulled into a false sense of security. He was taken by surprise when D’Souza suddenly appeared at Vidulai. On 30^th Jan 1538, just before dawn D’Souza began his offensive with a furious bombardment from the sea. A long and terrible fight followed but in the end the Portuguese won a great victory. Of the three Calicut chiefs, Ali Ibrahim was killed and both Pali and Kunjali lost all their treasures. To the Zamorin it was a severe blow. Next year again another force was sent to Ceylon and agians ti was defeated. Kunjali it was believed was killed. The Zamorin did not send any more fleets to Ceylon. His treasury and trade was ruined and he died a broken man in 1540. After his death peace was concluded with his successor in April 1540.

The jail of Vijayanagar Empire in 1565 affected Goan trade so adversely that there was a fresh attack of piracy. Most famous for his cruelty was Captain Don Paula who was commissioned by the Viceroy to commit piracy along the coast. These acts were done when the Portuguese were officially at peace with the Indian Princes. In 1564, Mosquit activities compelled the Zamorin to send his Kunjali to fight the enemy. Don Paula was sent against the Admiral. The Kunjali defeated three such fleets sent one after another. In 1556, the war ended with the Portuguese suing for peace. The prestige of the Kunjali rose in confidence. Their success inspired several petty chieftains along the coast to fight the enemy whenever fortune favored them.

In 1570, the determination of the Indian people drive out the Portuguese took final shape when the Zamorin Adil Khan of Bijapur and Ahmed Shah of Ahmednagar formed a confederation to drive out the Portuguese. A few Kings, Princes and Queens joined them. But as these wars failed to oust the Portuguese from Indian soil. On the other hand it checked the enemies plan of political expansion.

By late 1580s the vessels of other European nations appeared in the Indian Ocean. The end of the Portuguese navigation was near. The European rivals gave Indian seamen every help to fight the Portuguese. Meanwhile Admiral Patel Marakkars activities alarmed Goa and taking advantage of the weak Zamorin the Portuguese began to negotiate to secure a site at Ponnai to build a fortress. The Admiral warned the King of the dangers of the demand. But the king wavered. To mend the ruin the admiral asked the kings permission to build a fortress at Kolta. The zamorin granted both the demand. It was well that Kolta was built for it was the admirals reply to Ponnani. Two years after the building of the fort Patel Marakkar died with a heavy heart. His nephew Mohammed Kunjal Marakkar IV succeeded him. A few years after the building of the Ponnani fort in 1586 he began a mighty offensive war but was defeated by Kutti Mossa. But the Portuguese under Don Andre Furtado defeated him. But the admiral operating along the west coast made certain notable captures and for a while paralyzed Portuguese shipoing. The viceroy who had some idea that the Kunjali and the Zamorin were not on the best of terms sent an enemy to conclude a peace treaty. The Kunjali had grown indifferent to the zamorin. The bends of the old feudal order had become loose. The zamorin estranged, the Kunjali acted on his own. He took measures to protect himself both against the zamorin and the Portuguese. In his pride and arrogance, he conducted himself like a tyrant, making many enemies. The close of the century proved fateful to him. He styled himself the King of Kolta which brought about his and Kolta’s end.

Meanwhile the Zamorin and the Portuguese prepared for war against the Admiral. The zamorin took up ground for his army on the landward side and began to batter the town. Later he was helped by the Portuguese. Because of the mistake of firing a rifle too early, the Portuguese was thrown into a confusion. The kunjali but directed his fire with skill and made the enemy more confused. He defeated them dan killed their leader. This made the soldiers desert the war. This proved to be the greatest disgrace the Portuguese received in Asia. The zamorin who had hoped for an easy victory saw the defeat of the Portuguese. He knew that it would be dangerous to allow the Kunjali to rest and reinforce so he attacked from the landward side with an army of 20,000 men. But they were forced to retire. It was some time before the Portuguese could appoint a new leader. He was Andre Furtado. Soon preparation began for a war and Furtado reached Kolta in December 1599. But an attack was made only the next year. when Fort Blamo an outer Bastian was attacked, the rebel admiral found himself in a difficult position and reopened negotiations with eh zamorin. But the Portuguese spoiled the relations between them as it was not their desire that the admiral and Kunjali should come together. They succeeded but temporarily. Furtado knew that Kunjali would make further moves for peace. An amiable settlement between the zamorin and the admiral had to be prevented at any cost as his own reputation and Portuguese interest would suffer. Furtado acted quickly. He proposed to lead an attack on the town, called upon the zamorin to help him and broke off the negotiations. The final assault was delivered on 7^th March 1600.

The zamorin wanted Kunjali’s surrender, but not his death. Furtado wanted both. Kunjali wouldn’t surrender to anyone but the zamorin. The zamorin and Furtado hit upon a solution. It was arranged that the zamorin should agree to reveive the surrender of Kunjali. At the surrender, the Kunjali was to be seized by Furtado by a show of Jeer and taken off the zamorins hands to be dealt with as he please. It was agreed that the surrender should take place on the 16^th of March. The treachery was revolting to the code of honor of the Nayar soldiers who would not have the Portuguese lay hands on their brave countryman in violation of the well-known terms of surrender. But they were seized, and man riled by the Portuguese when they attempted to save the admiral.

Kunjali in manacles was secretly led to Tornio, which was a notorious prison. Here within its cold walls were witnessed acts of horror for which the annals of man’s tyranny offer few parallels. It is not clear how long the Kunjali was shut up in Tornio. But he was destined to see his beloved country again which the blood and sacrifice of his dynasty had protected from the Portuguese for a century. Kunjali’s body was quartered and exhibited on the beach at Bardis and Panjim. His head was salted and conveyed to Cannormere, there to be stuck on a standard for a terror to the Moors. Thus ended the last of the successors of the great admirals of Calicut – the Kunjalis.

MARATHA NAVY AND MERCHANT SHIPS

Assess the significance of the Maratha Navy and Merchant Ships.

Evaluate the contributions of Shivaji in the making of the Maratha Naval power.

Evaluate the growth and significance of the Maratha navy and merchant ships.

When Shivaji began his career of independence, the coast of Konkan was infested with alien powers. The Siddi was very powerful and a sworn enemy of the Maratha state. He carried fire and sword everywhere on the Maratha coast. He was a standing nuisance, ‘troublesome like a mouse in the house’. The Portuguese had many a strong outpost all along the coast. The sovereignty of the Arabian Sea rested with them. The English too had made their appearance.

The Siddi was a very dangerous enemy. To put him down, large Maratha armies had to be employed now and then, which deprived him of his hinterland and so of the resources. He was reduced to dire straits and had to subsist (exist) by boldly roving (roaming) on the sea. To prevent his depredations (plunders) on water and to starve him out, a navy was essential. This was direct cause of the emanation (beginning) of the Maratha Navy.

The Navy has been considered as an independent limb of the Maratha state by Amatya in his ‘Rajniti’ a work on Maratha polity. Shivaji understood that sea trade could be exercised only by an armed navy. Trade could prosper only under the shadow of armed protection. Sovereignty of the home seas, therefore, was the first objective of the Maratha navy and the economic factor was its corollary. But the corollary was not properly understood by the Marathas.

About the year 1657 the Mughals attacked the kingdom of Bijapur. The important for Bidar fell in the hands of the Mughals. Aurangzeb, the Mughal prince hastily withdrew from was to attend some important matters in the North. The defeated Bijapur nobles developed confusion. This baffling political situation offered an excellent opportunity for Shivaji. He crossed the ghats and descended into North Konkan. The town of Kalyan fell into his hands. He took the Fort of Mahuli. Shivaji proceeded southward int eh district of Kolaba and conquered Surgadh, Birwadi, Tala, Ghosalgad, Sudhagadh, Kangori and Raigad. He selected Raigad as the seat of his capital. By 1659, Shivaji became the master of north Konkan excluding the ports and the adjacent lands on the coast which belonged to the Siddi, the Bijapur Kingdom and the Portuguese.

Between 1661 and 1663 in his conquests of South Konkan, Shivaji attacked Dabhol, sacked Rajapur. Almost the whole of Ratnagiri district came under him.

When master of such a long coastal strip, he felt it necessary to undertake the construction of a navy. Sometime before 1659, Shivaji had set afloat the keel (backbone) of his first ship in the creek of Kalyan. This was the early beginning of the Maratha navy.

The first successful achievement in Shivaji’s life after having built a small state navy, was the loot of Basrur in South Kanara in 1665, with 85 ships and brought home immense booty (loot). This expedition stands as a landmark in the history of Shivaji’s naval career.

His expeditions against the island fort of Jangira form a major part of his maritime activities. But his navy was not powerful enough to overpower the Siddis.

The last days of the Maratha chief witnessed a crowning naval success. In 1679 (October) he landed on the island of Khanderi. The quickness of his navy, their superior manpower and strategy won the battle against the British.

Shivaji’s relations with the English were not good. He looted Rajapur factory of the English. Their factory at Hubli was also looted.

Shivaji had a regular May fleet trading in salt. He fitted three masted vessels especially meant to trade with Muscat and Mocha.

The numerical strength of Shivaji’s navy has been estimated by scholars at 200 ships, big and small.

Daulat Khan and Mal Nayak Bhandari were the noted admirals of Shivaji.

 

SAMBHAJI

The career of Sambhaji though short was eventful. Personally he was more adventurous than his father. Sambhaji had 50 gurabs and 120 galbats mainly intended to curb the activities of the Siddis. He threatened to punish the Portuguese and the English as they observed neutrality towards him.

In 1682, the Island of Jangira was besieged by Sambhaji but two months later he had to suffer a defeat.

Sambhaji and the Portuguese – The breach (difference) between the Portuguese and Sambhaji began by July 1682 when Sambhaji’s admirals captured some merchant ships belonging to the Portuguese subjects. He entered into an alliance with the Arabs and admitted into an alliance with the Arabs and admitted them in his service. The Arabs were the permanent enemies of the Portuguese. The allies captured Portuguese ships and divided the spoils. In retaliation the Portuguese arrested Maratha vessels. But by April 1683, the hospitality began again when the last of the Mughal troops withdrew from Konkan.

On 15^th April 1683, Sambhaji invaded the Northern possessions of the Portuguese and laid the country waste. Chaul was his next target which led to the battle of Phonda and the Invasion of Goa. These were all land operations.

In 1684, the Treaty was concluded between the two and the right of equality on the sea was established. with the execution of Sambhaji ended the early part of the history of the Maratha navy.

 

ADMIRAL KANHOJI ANGRE

Admiral Sidhoji Gujav was succeeded by Kanhoji Angre, an admiral of outstanding ability. His fleet disputed British naval power along the west coast of India. Kanhoji had the hereditary background of a family of seafarers. His father Tukoji had distinguished himself in Shivaji’s fleet.

Kanhoji secured the support of Balaji, the first peshwa of the Marathas in 1699, and by this he succeeded in getting governmental support to his naval policy of establishing mastery of the Konkan seas. He established his base at Vijaydurg in Ratnagiri – a natural harbor – but a shallow port. The harbor suited him perfectly. Whenever his small ships could enter and take shelter in the Ratnagiri harbor, his European enemies with their big ships could not give chase upto the shallow rivers. He adopted a policy of recruiting professionally best seamen irrespective of caste, creed or even nationality. He had ten grabs and fifty gallivants with guns ranging from 4 to 10 each. Some of the grabs were as big as 400 tons and the gallivants of 120 tons.

The main contenders to Angre were the British. In 1699, the Siddis, the Portuguese and Moghuls together decided to end the Maratha naval power. But Angre emerged victorious and annexed Sagargadh.

By the beginning of the eighteenth century, admiral Kanhoji was in possession of the entire coast from Sawantwadi to Bombay. He levied a tax termed ‘Chauth’ on all ships entering into Maratha territory and introduced a system of passes.

In the years 1717 and 1718, the British attacked Kanhoji’s base at Vijaydurg and Khanderi but failed miserably.

By 1727, Kanhoji’s naval supremacy in the coastal waters was at its peak.

 

SEKHOJI alias JAYSING ANGRE

Sekhoji succeeded his father Admiral Kanhoji Angre. He was made Sarkhel by the Peshwa. Immediately after getting the Sarkhelship he faced the challenge of the British and the Siddis. In 1730, Sakhoji sank two British vessels off the shore of Kolaba.

In 1733, Sakhoji’s squadron of eleven Gale bats fearlessly obstructed the movements of ships in the Goa harbor. Sakhoji was equally successful in solving household problems. He was able to control the rivalry between his brothers Sambhaji and Manaji. He died in 1734.

SAMBHAJI ANGRE

The premature death of Sakhoji Angre was a great loss to the Maratha navy. The differences between two brothers Sambhaji and Manaji reached the highest point and resulted in a bloody war immediately after Sukhoji’s death. The English sided with Manaji. Bajirao Peshwa had to settle the differences between the two brothers by force.

The Portuguese negotiated with Manaji. Sambhaji always proved to be victorious and Manaji was forced to flee for life from place to place. But by the Peshwa’s timely mediation a treaty was concluded between the two brothers in February 1735. The coastal region was divided between the two brothers with their headquarters at Kolaba and Suvarnadurg. The title ‘Vajarat-Mat’ was conferred upon Manaji while Sambhaji continued to hold the hereditary title ‘Sarkhel’. But the treaty proved to be short lived.

Sambhaji’s sea exploits were as daring as those of his father. He continued to harass the English. In 1735, he captured their vessels i.e., the Derby, the Ann and several small vessels laden with valuable cargo. On 19^th Nvoember 1739, he entered into Bombay harbor and carried away 14 fishing boats with a crew of 84 on board.

Sambhaji’s relations with Portuguese were also not happy. He was very tough on them.

Sambhaji lacked wisdom in political matters. He did not render any service to the Peshwa. He died on 12^th January 1742 after a short illness.

MANAJI ANGRE

Manaji had the backing of the Peshwa against his brother Sambhaji. He was posted at Kolaba and kept Karanja in his occupation.

Manaji’s relations with the English were friendly in the beginning but like his brother he started capturing the vessels of the English and the Portuguese. In November 1739 he captured Elephanta and Gharapuri. He also took Rewari on the river Pen. All this posed a threat to the British and the Portuguese. He died in 1758.

TULAJI ANGRE

Tulaji became Sarkhel after the death of his brother Sambhaji with his headquarters at Vijaydurg. He was the most dreaded buccaneer (pirate, robber) on the west coast by mid eighteenth century. Ships of all nationalities purchased his passport. He broke the record of his predecessors in capturing foreign ships. The ships taken by him were ‘Charlotte’ of Madras, the William of Bombay, the Severn of Bengal, the Derby, the Restoration, the Pilot, the Augusta, The Dadabhai of Surat, the Rose of Mangalore, the Ann, the Benjimalli of Malabar and Phatedaulat of Muscat.

Tulaji was defeated by the Peshwa and the English in the Battle of Vijaydurg in 1756. His armada was burnt, and he was made a prisoner of war for life.

Tulaji was a terror to the alien sea powers on the Konkan coast. His defeat at Vijaydurg in 1756 by the combined armies of the Peshwa and the English practically put an end to the Maratha naval power. Consequently, it helped the English to plant their power on the west coast.

Though the peshwa and Tulaji were not good to each other, with Tulaji’s defeat the glory of the Maratha navy faded away and the Marathas were reduced to a mere maritime community.

THE NAVY UNDER THE PESHWAS

The Peshwas established their independent naval subha after the conquest of Bassein in 1739. They tried to establish their sovereignty by capturing foreign ships and issuing permits.

MADHAVRAO I

His navy was under the command of Rudraji Dhulap. The last and most glorious achievements of the peshwa’s fleet was the occupation of the island of Shimpi in 1791.

Dhulap also succeeded in capturing the English ship ‘Rangar’, but had to return it after the treaty of Salbai.

The Navy of the RAJA of Kholapur, the savants of Wadi and the Gayakwads:

Feudalism was the principle feature of the Maratha State in the eighteenth century. The Maratha confederacy was divided into a number of states. These states on many occasions acted independently irrespective of the interest of the Central Government. In the absence of absolute and effective control from the central authority the component parts fought among themselves and on many occasions challenged the center. This naturally helped the foreigners. Therefore feudalism was harmful (detrimental) to the Maratha navy.

After Tulaji’s death, the whole of the Ratnagiri district came under the control of the Peshwas. The charge of admiralty was given to the Dhulap family. A branch of the Angrian family ruled at Kolaba.

The Port of Malwan was under the rulers of Kolhapur since 1731 by the Treaty of Varn. The rulers of Kolhapur had a small navy of their own at Malvan. In those days the pirates of Malwan were notorious. They were a dread even to the European powers.

South of Malwan, the coast between Goa and Malwan belonged to the servants of Wadi. They had their small navy. They enjoyed their semi-independent position.

North of Thana, in Gujarat, the Gayakwad had their independent navy. Danaji Gayakwad had his own fleet. It boldly and fearlessly attacked the ships of English and the Dutch factory of Surat. In 1757, Danaji captured one boad and one balbat ‘shark’ of the English. The navies of the Peshwa and the Gayakwad never acted in cooperation even in critical conditions.

In the Maratha period there was no hard and fast distinction between a war ship and merchant ship. The latter was designed to carry cargo and as such was mostly round in built. For self-protection or defense it had to be equipped with a few guns. Its speed was however hampered by its rotundity compared to a long ship constructed specially to gain speed in war.

In the source material of the Maratha period a merchant ship is often called Sahukari Tarandu. Sahukari means a merchant and tarandu a vessel. Similarly, machava, jahaj, batela, taru, shibad and mahogiri generally denoted merchant ships.

In the nineteenth century, the phatemau attained eminence as a cargo carrier on the Konkan coast.

The following were merchant ships in the Maratha period:

The Balav or Balyava – was a small fishing craft peculiar to the Konkan coast. In build it was similar to the machava but was lighter. Its costs varied form Rs.500 to Rs.1000. Its overall length was about 35 feet, depth of hold 4 – 5 feet and tonnage 20-32 khandes. Its stern was round and the stern post slanted forward at an agle of 15 to 20 degrees. The whole vessel was open to facilitate the casting of nets, except for a small roofing at the stern. The balav went for deep fishing all the year round except in the stormy monsoon. The crew on an average numbered 15.

The Batela – is a merchat batela (ship) with 30 crew. For strong the cargo more than half the batela has roofing. It has a high deck with a flag fluttering at its back. No guns could be seen in the batela.

The Hodi (Canoe) – is propelled by two men, one at the stern and the other at the stem. It is generally used for transporting light goods or for the people from one side of the shore of a river to the other.

The Khotaya – was a sharp straight-keeled vessel with two masts. Its tonnage vared from 100-400 khandes. Its overall length was about 60 feet, breadth of beam 45 and depth of hold about10 feet. The kothayas were painted above the water line. They cost Rs.4000-5000. They were built and owned by the merchants of kutch.

The Khotaya had a crew of 12 – 16 men who were either Hindu Kharavas or Muslims or both. The captains belonged to the ports of Kathiawar. The sailors were skillful and adventurous and crossed the Indian Ocean westward to Zanzibar, Mozambique, Seychelles Islands and Southward to Lakhadiv and eastward to Nicobar Islands and Chittagoong. Along the west coast, the Kathaya covered the whole strip from Karachi to Cape Comorin.

Rich owners placed their Kothayas with copper sheets, while others applied lime and grease mixture to the part under water. The Kothayas frequently visited the Konkan coast.

The Machava – The Machava of the Maratha period seems to have changed its function according to its size. The smalles Machava was employed for fishing was known as Kola or Koli Machava. The biggest one with guns on board could be tuned into a war ship. In 1739, the machava is described to have six guns and powder in its stock. It could carry fifty men. With the passage of time, the machava fell into disuse as a fighting vessel. Its tonnage varied from 10 to 12 Khandis (2 ½ to 3 tons).

By the turn of the nineteenth century, the machava was a round built two masted craft of 3 to 4 ½ tons. It costs Rs.700-1500. Its overall length was about 50 feet.

It sailed as well as it was lightly built. It carried passengers and commodities, going as far as Goa. Its crew was recruited from the Hindu Kolis and Muslims of Ratnagiri.

The Mahagiri or Mahangiri – The term Mahagiri includes both the warships and the cargo ships of the Maratha period. It functioned as a mail carrier and ferried the creeks. It transported building material like mortar (a cement of lime and sand), sand, bricks and stone. It sometimes surveyed the sea.

The Mahangiri was a large bottom boar of 20 – 35 tons. Its cost varied from Rs.1500 – 2500. The overall length of the vessel was about 60 feet. It generally carried a mizzen mast.

The Mahangiris in the later period transported building material from Panvel to Bombay. In times of emergency, the mahangiris with armed men onboard accompanied the warships like the galbat or the gurab. Smaller Mahagiris were used for towing large ships, because of their build, they could easily enter narrow creeks.

A Mangi – belongs to a merchant of Comorin. It is a merchant ship. Its construction makes it sea-worthy.

The Pandav – in the Maratha period had been engaged as a cargo carrier. Small Pandavs plied between big vessels for loading and unloading the cargo. The pandav was generally known as the cotton boat frequenting the Bombay harbor. It cost Rs1000-2000. The Pandav was remarkably quick in going round.

The Phatmar or Phatemari – was used as a mail-carrier. It attained importance as a cargo carrier in the early decades of the 19^th century. Since then it has maintained its supremacy as the best freight vessel on the Konkan coast. In early as 1833 AD, the Phatemar is described as the best type of vessel on the Indian coast. It was owned by the merchants of Bombay and carried the whole trade of the coast.

The smaller phatemar was of about 60 tons. The phatemar generally exported salt from Bombay to the other places and brought home coir, rice, coconuts, copra, oil, timer, pepper, sandal wood. It was skillfully navigated by the Moplas and other native Muslims. The crew on board was about 12.

The phatemar was built at Bombay, Thane and Ratnagiri ports. It was manned by Hindu, Muslim and Christian men.

The phatemaris came into prominence in the Angre period. They accompanied the warships.

PORT CITY OF BOMBAY | BOMBAY MARINES

Trace the rise and development of the port city of Bombay.

Account for the rise and development of the port city of Bombay.

Trace the development of the port city of Bombay in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

During the early years of the advent of the British in the East, the Indian seas were infested by corsairs and privateers of numerous belligerent nations as well as those of India. It was customary for the maritime nations involved in sea borne trade to take the precaution of arming their merchant ships against depredations at sea. The British East India Company commissioned armed trading vessels, capable of fighting at sea, in addition to being carriers of merchandise. The earliest such vessels to arrive at Surat on September 15, 1612, consisted of the Dragon and Hose Ander, the squadron being under the command of Captain Thomas Best. Soon after the arrival of Captain Best’s ships in India, they faced incessant attacks from Portuguese ships. The East India Company realized that the opposition of the belligerents in India was stubborn and that the simple precaution of arming their merchant men, manned by sailor-cum-traders on board, would not meet the situation adequately. They also appreciated the fact that when their armed merchant ships were away from the Indian shores on their mission of delivering goods in England, the port settlements were without seaward defense. These reasons led to the formation of the Indian Marine in 1613. The practice of using the East India Company’s Marine, consisting of armed merchant men, for shipping, however continued. 1613 should be noted as the historic year marking the beginning of the Navy in India. It should be of interest to mention that the first regular regiment of the British army in India was raised only in 1660, 47 years after the establishment of the navy in India.

A humble beginning was made in 1613 when the nucleus of a naval force consisting of grabs and gallivants was commissioned by the company. The service which came to be popularly known as the ‘grab service’, attracted enough British officers from the armed merchant vessels. These ships were manned by Hindu fishermen of the Konkan coast who were the first Indians to be employed as sailors by the company. The initial role of the Indian Marine was equally modest: it was to protect the Company’s shipping in the Gulf of Cambay, in the navigable estuary of the Tapi discharging at Surat, and in the river approaches of the Narmada at Broach. Soon after its formation, the Indian Marine was called upon to act in consort with Downtowns British Squadron against the Portuguese attacks. In these actions the Marine acquitted itself creditably. By 1615 the services of the Indian Marine were considered indispensable; the marine was reinforced attaining a total strength of ten grabs and gallivants.

In 1622, the Indian Marine was pressed into service to mount an expedition on Ormuz in the Persian Gulf in the possession of the Portuguese. The naval expedition, consisting of the ‘London, Jonas, Whale, Dolphin, lion’ and four pinnacles, set sail on December 23, 1621 and arrived off Ormuz on 19^th January 1622. The squadron acting in consort with the Persian army, stormed Ormuz. After protracted fighting with the Portuguese, Ormuz, which controlled the trade routes between the Persian Gulf and India, fell into British hands. In this operation the officers and men of the Marine earned well-deserved praise for their gallant action to devotion and duty. The morale of the Marine was very high.

The Marine steadily expanded. In 1635, four indigenously built pinnacles were added to the squadron. Its administration was improved, and it became a disciplined service. The Commander of the Marine was vested with disciplinary powers and was legally empowered to request for a court martial. The first court to assemble in India was the one to be held on board ‘Charles’ at Surat to try on Gregory Lillington who was accused of murder.

On the rise of the Maratha naval power in 1664, the Marine was constantly engaged in fighting Shivaji’s fleet. Paradoxically their first engagement was against the Maratha land forces. When on 5 January 1664, Shivaji made surprise attack on Surat, the grabs and gallivants of the Marine took their stations on the river Tapti and opened up at the horsemen attacking the factory. They put up such a barrage that the factory was saved.

With Shivaji’s fleet active on the Konkan coast and the Malabar corsairs still in operation on the West Coast, it became increasingly necessary for the Indian Marine to be reinforced to cope with the escorting of convoys in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. In 1669, orders were placed for the construction of two pinnaces and two brigantines at the Bombay dockyard.

The operations of the Siddi in Bombay area and the increasing activity of the Marathas around Bombay drew much of the attention of the Indian Marine to this region in 1679. In the same year, the financial position of the Company having deteriorated owning to excessive expenses in maintaining the armed forces, the Marine was retrenched considerably. This was a retrograde step from the point of view of the British as this was the crucial time when the Maratha fleet was in the ascendant and Shivaji had occupied Khanderi. A few engagements ensured between the Marine and the Maratha fleet off Khanderi, in most of which Shivaji’s forces emerged victorious.

While the Indian marine was grappling with Shivaji’s fleet, a small group of military officers under the misguided leadership of Captain Richard Keigwin, commander of the Bombay garrison, revolted in 1683 against the Surat administration. The rebellion was gathering momentum and would have resulted in an ugly mutiny but for the timely intervention of Sir Thomas Grantham, acting under authority from the King of England. The Marine was in no way involved in this episode, except that some of the ships lying in Bombay harbor were seized by Keigwin.

With the increasing facilities at Bombay and the advantage of an excellent sheltered harbor there, Surat was losing its importance and in 1668, the seat of the British colonial government was transferred to Bombay. With this change, the Indian Marine came to be based at Bombay.

With the transfer of the base of the Indian Marine to Bombay in 1686, the force was redesignated the Bombay Marine. It continued its operation of the West Coast, convoying the British shipping; in the process it had a prolonged struggle with the Maratha navy. A little over a decade after being commissioned as the Bombay Marine, the force had to face stiff opposition at sea against Kanhoji’s fleet. The main function of the Bombay Marine during its existence was to protect Bombay from the naval threat by the Siddis and the Marathas. The Bombay Marine was, therefore, manned even at the peril of withdrawing seamen from the trading ships of the company.

For nearly fifty years the struggle with the Maratha fleet continued. There is no doubt that without the backing of the Royal Navy’s heavy ships, the Bombay Marine could not have wiped the Maratha fleet off the West Coast.

By 1716, the Bombay Marine had come to be of great use to the East India Company. The fleet was by then sizable. It had a 32-gun ship, four grab ships, each mounting 20-28 guns and twenty grabs and gallivants with guns ranging from 5-12 each. The whole was under the command of Commodore Mathews, who was designated by the Commander-in-chief of the Bombay Marine.

In 1722, it undertook operations against the Maratha Naval Power in collaboration with the Portuguese. The Europeans suffered heavy losses. The British suffered losses in ships not only in action but also due to a calamity of nature, in which it got destroyed many of its grabs. The Marine had good number of ships, grabs and was officered with good number of officers with almost 2000 men with which it was defending the trade interest of the company at sea from Persian Gulf to China. In the war with European powers it almost acted as a naval power of the company in connection with the Royal Squadron.

In 1742, the strength of the marine was reduced considerably on ground of economy despite the mounting threat at sea and there were only two principal ships – ‘the Restoration’ and the ‘Neptune’s Prize’. There was corresponding reduction in officers and men. The rank of the admiral was abolished. The Portuguese sailors were employed as Topasses.

In 1742, the promotion of officers was regulated by seniority and not by favoritism. The reduction in the strength of the marine resulted in exposing the fleet of the merchantmen to dangers at sea. As a result of which there was immediate downward trend in the volume of trade as a risk of running merchantmen with inadequate or no escort was not acceptable to the traders. The British realized the repercussions of the retrenchment of the Marine and were quick to restore some of the cuts earlier imposed. The only problem was the recruitment of crew, because men from Britain did not relish long service in the east and they mutinied in March 1748 on board of a marine ship Bombay. They had become homesick since they were away from their homes for quite a long period of time. since the whole crew could not be punished, their ring traders were tried by court martial.

When the British found that with the prolonged struggle with the Maratha Navy, they could not subjugate it, the improved their administration of the Bombay Marine and imposed strict discipline in the ranks of the service to enhance the moral of the Marine. By 1751, the East India Company was spending 50000 pounds annually for the maintenance of the Marine, but even then, they could not defeat the Maratha Naval Power. They realized that it could be defeated only by destroying the impregnable Naval bases at Colaba, Swarnadurg and Vijaydurg, and supporting smaller fortresses in the region. In order to do so they launched their first attack on the fort of Colaba which was one of the highly fortified bases of Kanoji Angre. But the British could not capture int in the life of Kanoji Angre and succeeded only in 1840.

In 1755, the British in collaboration with the Peshwas could capture Swarnadurg and Vijaydurg. When the Bombay Marine was occupied on the West Coast, the French naval forces were active on the East Coast. The Bombay Marine had gained valuable experience in the combat operations against the Marathas and were shaping into a well-knit naval organization. It had developed itself into a disciplined service and reached a stature of a small navy.

Two years before the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession, the apparent fall in hostilities led the British to reduce imprudently the Bombay Marine to a very small size, the ‘Restoration’ and ‘Neptune’s prize’ were the only two major ships apart from a few grabs and gallivants. They realized their gave error early when they found that the ever-increasing merchant fleet was inadequately protected. Consequent to the threat of war with France, the Bombay Marine was enlarged at the eleventh hour, and the expanded force now consisted of three 28 gun ships, one 20 guns ship and about 14 grabs and gallivants.

During the long series of Anglo-French wars, the ships of the Bombay Marine took an active part in the operations at sea, side by side with the Royal Navy Ships ‘Revenge’ and the ‘Protector’ participated under Pocock’s fleet int eh struggle against the French naval forces. The natural outcome of the participation of the Bombay Marine in these wars was the steady progress of the service.

When Commodore James assumed the office of the commander-in-chief of the Bombay Marine in 1751, the composition of his flotilla was as follows: ‘Protector (Flagship) – 44 guns capital cruiser’, ‘Bombay’ – 32 guns ‘frigate’, ‘Guardian’- 28 gun frigate, ‘Revenge’ – 28 gun frigate, ‘Drake’ – 14 gun grab, ‘Prince Augustus’ – 14 gun grab, ‘Resource’ – 14 gun grab, ‘Success’ – 14 gun grab, ‘Defense’ – 14 gun Ketch, ‘Swallow’ – 14 gun Ketch, ‘Triumph’, ‘Viper’ – Bomb Ketch and over a dozen gallivants.

These ships were officered only by Europeans, but the complement of the crew was mixed and contained in some ships up to three fourths of locally recruited sailors. Thus, the Marine was getting into a well-organized service primarily for defending the company’s trade interests at sea. So long as there was peace with European powers it undertook the whole burden of defense from the Persian Gulf to China. When war with European powers occurred, it dealt with the lesser navies of the country powers either singly or in conjunction with the Royal Squadron.

A series of improvements in the service were introduced in 1761. Till that year the personnel int eh Marine Service were free to wear any kind of clothing, but now a regular uniform was prescribed which reform was conducive to discipline.

In 1756, the Naval expedition of the Bombay Marine successfully eliminated the Malvan Pirates who were operating from a strong fort of Malwan in Kolhapur district and had become a menace to merchant vessels. The services of the Bombay Marine were also utilized in the consolidation of British power in India.

In 1772, with the help of Bombay Marine, the British annexed several places of strategic and commercial importance in India. For e.g., Broach, Islands of Salsette, Elephanta, Karanja, Port of Bassein. Thus, Bombay Marine was capable of giving support in local operations to the Royal Navy in Indian waters.

The Bombay Marine, from its humble beginnings, gradually grew into a disciplined service and reached the stature of a small navy, although its designation remained the same. No doubt, the presence of their ‘big brother’, the ‘Royal Navy’ overshadowed the activities of the Bombay Marine and stole the thunder of the Marine’s glory to a great extent. As admiral Sir H. W. Richmond observes, ‘The fact that no spectacular battles were fought at sea by that force must not blind our eyes to the importance of the work of this detached flotilla; for though in normal times when no European naval forces were in the eastern seas, it was a navy in itself, with its own capital ships and lesser classes, in this was it was strategically a flotilla’.

The Bombay Marine was called upon to undertake a sea borne assault on Hyder Ali’s ports on the Malabar Coast, which ended in a complete success. The Marine was utilized int eh capture of Trincomalee from the Dutch, in annexing Perim in 1799 and during the Napoleanic Wars, in the sea borne assault on Java and Sumatra. In these operations the Bombay Marine established supreme devotion to duty and earned commendations for their action.

In 1798, the Marine regulations underwent thorough revision. Till then the officers had been allowed to take part in trading ventures. This undesirable practice in a disciplined service was put to an end and the pay and pensions of the officers were revised to compensate for the loss in income. A Marine Board was constituted which comprised a Superintendent (Civil Servant), a Master Attendant (Senior most Marine officer) and the Commodore at Bombay. A directive was issued to the Marine which stipulated the following board duties required of it, defense of shipping, suppression of piracy, convoying of merchantmen, carrying of troops, execution of marine survey in Eastern waters, piloting in Bombay harbor and other general duties of men-of-war.

The Marine’s contribution towards the charting of the oceans and the sea approaches to harbors. Despite its preoccupation with operational duties, it found it possible to initiate a surveying expedition as early as 1772, not only for the survey of Indian ports but also for some of the ports outside India. Their survey was headed by Lieutenant Robinson and a team of officers consist of Lt. Porter and Midshipmen Blair and Mascall. The team set out to make a coastal survey of ‘Mekran, scind, Katiawar’, a portion of Persia and some of the coastal areas, though their instruments were not of any high standard. These surveys were of immense value to the navigators of that period. From such humble beginnings in 1772, the Marine Survey of India has progressed in the two centuries since. It is still conducted by the Indian Navy through a separate branch of the Service under the chief Hydrographer.

Suppression of piracy – The Bombay Marine was engaged throughout its career in tracking and destroying corsairs, not only in the Indian seas but beyond in the Persian Gulf. The Marine dogged the Joasmi pirates and finally annihilated them by 1830.

The last of the operations undertaken by the Bombay Marine before it was redesignated, was that of the Burma Campaign. In 1824, war broke out between the British government in India and the King of Burma; in the conflict the Bombay Marine was inextricably involved in the close support of the land battle. A squadron of the Bombay Marine sailed up the river Bassein. Throughout the prolonged operations this squadron cooperated with the British army in the capture of Tenasserim, Arakan, Cheduba, and Ramree. Only when the Burmese king sued for peace in 1826 did the units of the Bombay Marine return to their normal operations in India.

During the course of hostilities with Burma a program of ship building was initiated which however came to fruition only at the end of that war. Four ships were launched in succession from 1824 – 1826. A few more of lesser class of ships were added by 1828 and the Bombay Marines strength in that year stood as follows:

Hastings – 32 guns

Elphinstone, Amerst, Clive, Coote – 18 guns

Ternate, Benares, Aurora, Nautilus, Antelope – 14 guns

Thetis – 10 guns

Palinururs – 8 guns

Discovery – 6 guns (survey vessel)

Vigilant, Zephyr – 6 guns

And eight small crafts.

From 1827 to 1830, the service witnessed some desirable changes in its organization. By 1827, representations were received in London for improving the conditions of service, pay and pension and the status of the Bombay Marine. The first step taken that year to ameliorate the conditions in force was to confer on the officers of the Bombay Marine a status equivalent to that of the officers int eh Royal Navy of corresponding rank, with the provision that the Royal Navy officers would have precedence over the Marine officers. The other prudent measure introduced was that of command and control; neither service was vested with any powers of command over the other, unless agreed to between the respective government. So far, the units of the Bombay Marine had been only ‘Red Ensign’ Ships. On June 12, 1827, the King of England was pleased to grant the ships of the Marine the privilege of wearing the Union Jack and the pennant of St. George’s Cross. In the same year it was also decided to appoint a service officer, Captain Charles Malcolm, R. N. as superintendent of the Bombay Marine, an appointment hither to held by a civil servant.

Another extraordinary change took place in 1829, in regard to the discipline of the Bombay Marine. Though there was a system of instituting a Court of Inquiry, the naval court could not pronounce judgement and mete out any punishments which were the prerogatives of the government. To improve upon this system, martial law, already applicable to the British Army in India, was introduced into the Bombay Marine. To overcome the legal implications, a curious formula was devised by giving the naval officers army commissions, in addition to the naval commissions held by them and by naming the service ‘Marine Corps’.

The curious name ‘Marine Corps’ was to last only a year, for in 1830 in acknowledgement of its remarkable services at sea for over two centuries, the force was called the Indian Navy.