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.