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Maratha Navy | |
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Active | 1654–1818 |
Country | Maratha Empire |
Type | Navy |
Role | Naval warfare |
Commanders | |
Sarkhel (Admiral of the Mahratta Fleet) [1] | Supreme commander |
Notable commanders |
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The Maratha Navy was the naval wing of the armed forces of the Maratha Confederacy, which existed from around the mid-17th century to the mid-18th century in the Indian subcontinent. [2]
Historian Sir Jadunath Sarkar noted:
Nothing proves Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's genius as a born statesman more clearly than his creation of a navy and naval bases. [3]
In early Modern India, significant Muslim powers such as the Mughal Empire had paid less attention to building the naval arm of their military forces. This scenario changed, however, when the Portuguese arrived in India and started monopolizing and controlling trade on the western coast of the continent. Shivaji realized the importance of a strong navy and commissioned the building of the first Maratha naval vessel in a creek near Kalyan around 1654. He did this to mainly check the power of the Siddis of Janjira. [4]
Shivaji took up the task of constructing multiple naval bases along the coast of present-day Maharashtra. He organized two fleets – one under the command of Admiral Maynak Bhandari and the other under Dαutαt Khan. The Maratha Navy consisted mostly of native Konkani sailors; however, it was commanded mostly by mercenaries, including Siddi and Portuguese. [5] Circa 1659, the Maratha Navy consisted of around 20 warships. Hiring mercenaries was relatively common in Maratha military culture and the Navy was no exception to this practice. The Portuguese naval officer Rui Leitão Viegas was hired as fleet commander, in part because the Maratha wanted to get insight into the Portuguese naval technology and capabilities. The Maratha knew the Portuguese had a powerful navy. The Portuguese convinced their mercenary officers to leave the service of the Maratha; however, the Portuguese allied with the Maratha when the latter went to war against the Mughals. [6]
In 1679, Shivaji annexed the island of Khanderi, which was 11 miles (18 km) off the entrance to Mumbai. In response the English and the Siddi repeatedly attacked the island, but they were unable to oust the Maratha from the islands. [7]
In 1674, the year of Shivaji's coronation, the Portuguese at Goa acknowledged the Maratha naval power and sent their emissary to Shivaji with gifts; they signed a treaty of friendship. Around this time, the Maratha Navy's strength was around 5,000 men and 57 warships. During its expedition to Karwar (present-day Karnataka), the navy possessed around 85 assorted Gallivats (warboat) ranging from 30 to 150 tons and 3 three-masted Gurabs/Grabs (warship). [8]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(October 2023) |
The Maratha Navy fought many battles during Sambhaji Maharaj's reign from 1680 to 1689. Maynak Bhandari, Darya sarang and Daulat Khan were the admirals of the Maratha Navy in Sambhaji's reign.
The Siddis of Janjira formed an alliance with Aurangzeb and started to raid Maratha villages in Konkanin 1681. Aurangzeb had planned to blockade Sambhaji's territories from all sides and raids by the Siddis was part of that strategy. On his part, Sambhaji wanted to capture the strategically important fort of Janjira to dominate trade in the Arabian Sea.In late 1681, Sambhaji launched an amphibious siege on Janjira with 20,000 soldiers from the army and navy, commanding the force personally. Sambhaji planned to win the fort by deceiving Siddi. He sent a party led by senior Maratha Commander Kondaji Farzand to Siddi under the pretext of a fake quarrel with him.
The Mughal sardars Rahullakhan and Ranmastakhan had captured Kalyan and Bhiwandi in the year 1682. They destroyed the Durgadi fort near Kalyan. Sambhaji immediately wanted to capture the cities back and arrived in the region quickly. He immediately ordered the construction of Parsik fort on the Parsik Hill overlooking the Thane Creek as the Portuguese ships were using the Thane Creek to supply the enemies. Sambhaji Maharaj ordered his forces at Parsik to bombard any Portuguese supply ships crossing the Thane Creek. Sambhaji Maharaj later on defeated Rahullakhan and Ranmastakhan in the Battle of Kalyan-Dombivali and recaptured Kalyan and Bhiwandi. He immediately ordered repairs of the Durgadi fort at Kalyan. Kalyan was an important naval base for the Marathas.
The Maratha Navy reportedly raided Bharuch, an important trading center in Gujarat in 1687.
Sambhaji purchased Elephanta island to check the influence of the English East India Company (EIC) near Mumbai.[ citation needed ]
Sambhaji Maharaj wanted to modernize the Maratha Navy. Hence he allied with the Arab naval commander Jange Khan. Sambhaji Maharaj invited him to Konkan to train the Maratha Navy in quick ship building and usage of artillery. Jange Khan accepted the offer and stayed with his troops in Konkan for six months in 1681. His men trained the Maratha Navy in various aspects of shipbuilding and artillery usage.
Sambhaji Maharaj was captured, tortured and then executed by Mughal forces under Aurangzeb in the year 1689. In his nine year reign the Maratha Navy had increased in size. He continued Shivaji Maharaj's policies to strengthen the navy. During his reign the Maratha Navy firmly held the control of coastline from Tarapur In North Konkan to Karwar in North Karnataka barring the regions of Mumbai, Janjira and Goa. He was well aware of importance of naval warfare and navy. [9] [ citation not found ]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(October 2023) |
After the death of Admiral Sidhoji Gujar around 1698, the Maratha Navy survived because of the extensive efforts of Koli [10] Admiral Kanhoji Angre. Under his leadership, the influence of European trading companies was checked along the western coast of India. Kanhoji owed allegiance to supreme Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shahu and his first minister Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath. He gained their support to develop naval facilities on the western coast of India, or Konkan. Under the leadership of Kanhoji, the Maratha developed a naval base at Vijayadurg featuring dockyard facilities for building vessels, mounting guns, and making the ships sea-worthy. Their naval fleet consisted of ten gurabs/grabs (warship) and fifty gallivats (warboat). A gallivat had a displacement lower than 120 tons, while a grab could go as high as 400 tons. [11]
Another ship type used was the Pal (Maratha Man-of-war), which was a cannon-armed, three-masted vessel. The grabs had broadsides of 6- and 9-pounder guns, and carried two 9- or 12-pounders on their main decks. These guns pointed forward through port-holes cut in the bulkheads. The gallivats were mostly armed with light swivel guns, but some also mounted six or eight cannons, either 2- or 4-pounders. These boats were propelled by forty to fifty oars. [12] Even during the reign of Kanhoji Angre, the Maratha Government signed a treaty of friendship with the Portuguese in 1703. As per the treaty, the Portuguese agreed to supply cannon and gunpowder to the Maratha, supplies which they needed as they had only a few cannon foundries producing their own armaments. The Marathas signed a treaty with the Siddi as well, thus concentrating all their forces against the English East India Company.
By the beginning of the 18th century, Kanhoji Angre controlled the entire coastline from Sawantwadi to Mumbai, which is the entire coastline of present-day Maharashtra. He built fortifications on almost all creeks, cove, and harbours, such as a fortress or citadel with navigational facilities. Any ship sailing through Maratha territorial waters was to pay a levy called Chouth, which expressed Angre's dominance. [13] Between 1717 and 1720, the EIC made at least two attempts to defeat the Maratha Navy, but were unsuccessful. In response to a EIC ship being captured by Kanhoji's seamen, the British attempted to capture Vijayadurg and Khanderi, but these attempts were unsuccessful.
The Maratha Navy was primarily a coastal "green water" navy, compared to an ocean-going or "blue water" navy. Their ships were dependent on land/sea breezes. The Maratha did not build ships large enough to engage European ships out at sea far from the coastal waters. [14]
Some of the battle tactics of the Marathas (during the reign of Admiral Kanhoji Angre) were as below:
By the mid 1700s, especially when compared to the Bombay Marine, the Maratha Navy declined in power rapidly. Unlike Kanhoji Angre, his successor Admiral Tulaji Angre resisted the authority of the ruling Peshwa (the de facto chief or the First Minister of Maratha Empire). The Peshwas (under Nanasaheb) (in concert with the British) engaged in a war against Tulaji, in which the British managed to get an opportunity to capture and burn a portion of the Maratha naval fleet.
The Peshwas reconfigured and re-established the navy under the leadership of the Dhulap family, in particular Rudraji Dhulap, as he succeeded Tulaji as the Admiral or Sarkhel of the Maratha Navy. The British were easily able to overpower the declining Maratha Navy during the First Anglo-Maratha War. [16] Through the 1760s and 1780s, the Maratha Navy was commanded by Rudraji Dhulap and by Anandrao Dhulap. In the late 1700s, whenever the Marathas were engaged in battles or conflicts with either the British or Hyder Ali of Mysore, the Maratha Navy undertook operations against enemy ships.
In 1818, after the end of the third and final Anglo-Maratha War, the Angre family became a vassal of the British however a small Angre state lingered on till 1840, after which it was finally annexed to British India. [17]
The 2007 Hollywood film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End portrays a character named Sri Sumbahjee, which is a purported reference to Sambhaji, son of Maratha Naval officer Kanhoji Angre.
Kanhoji Angre, also known as Conajee Angria or Sarkhel Angré was a Maratha Navy officer. Kanhoji became known for attacking and capturing European East Indiamen and collecting jakat, seen by Europeans traders and colonists as ransoming of their crews. British, Dutch and Portuguese ships often fell victims to these raids.Despite attempts by the Portuguese and British to put an end to his privateering activities, Angre continued to capture and collect jakat from European merchant ships until his death in 1729. Kanhoji's naval prowess in capturing dozens of European trading ships and avoiding capture has led to many historians to appraise Kanhoji as the most skilled Indian navy chief in the maritime history of India.
Shahu I was the fifth Chhatrapati of the Maratha Confederacy founded by his grandfather, Shivaji I. He was born into the Bhonsle family, and was the son of Sambhaji I and Yesubai. At a young age, he was taken into custody at the Siege of Raigad by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, and held captive. He was released from captivity after the death of Aurangzeb in the hope of engineering an internecine struggle among the Maratha factions of Tarabai and Shahu. Shahu emerged victorious in the bloody Battle of Khed and was crowned as Chhatrapati.
Balaji Vishwanath Bhat was the first of a series of hereditary Peshwas hailing from the Bhat family who gained effective control of the Maratha Confederacy and other Mughal vassals during the early 18th century. Balaji Vishwanath assisted a young Maratha king Shahu to consolidate his grip on a kingdom that had been racked by civil war and persistently intruded on by the Mughals under Aurangzeb. He was called the Second Founder of the Maratha State. He secured a grant from the Mughal court that confirmed Shahu as the legitimate Mughal vassal, at the expense of his rival Sambhaji II. Later, his son Bajirao I became the Peshwa.
Murud-Janjira is the local name of a famous fort and tourist spot situated on an island just off the coastal town of Murud, in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. Malik Ambar is credited with the construction of the Janjira Fort in the Murud Area of present-day Maharashtra India. After its construction in 1567 AD, the fort was key to the Sidis withstanding various invasion attempts by the Marathas, Mughals, and Portuguese to capture Janjira.
Suvarnadurg is a fort that is located between Mumbai and Goa on a small island in the Arabian Sea, near Harnai in Konkan, along the West Coast of India, in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
Murud is a town and a municipal council in Raigad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated at a distance of 150 km (93 mi) from Mumbai, Murud is a tourist destination. The Palace of Nawab is located in Murud. The palace was built in 1885 for administration purposes. The palace is still owned by the descendants of the Nawab and is a private property.
Kolaba Fort located at Alibag beach is an old fortified maritime base in Alibag, Konkan, India. It is situated in the sea at a distance of 1–2 km from the shores of Alibag, 35 km south of Mumbai, in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, India. It is a popular tourist destination and a protected monument.
Padmadurg, also known as Kasa fort, is one of five historical sea forts built by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and located in Raigad District Maharashtra, India. It was built by the Shivaji Maharaj to keep an eye on the bigger one I.e Janjira fort as it was attempted many times by the Portuguese, Marathas and other invaders Janjira which was controlled by the Siddis.
Khanderi is an island with a fort, located south of Mumbai, along the coast of Maharashtra, India.
Mayaji Bhatkar, popularly known as Mayank Bhandari was one of the first Subhedar or Admiral of the Maratha Navy under Shivaji, and helped in both building the Maratha Navy and safeguarding the coastline of the emerging Maratha Empire.
Vijaydurg, the oldest fort on the Sindhudurg coast, was constructed during the regime of Raja Bhoja II of the Shilahar dynasty and restructured by Shivaji.
Gowalkot is a small fort located on the southern bank of Vashishti River, about 10.0 km from Chiplun in Maharashtra, India. This fort is guarded by the river on three sides and a trench on the fourth side. Its population which includes Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists. According to old natives of Gowalkot, the history of Gowalkot goes back to a King, who was Hindu and finally was converted in Muslim, his surname was "Chougle", and most of the land in Gowalkot is owned by the Chougle family. All other owner of land in Gowalkot must have either received the land as gift [or bought] from Chougle family must have lost in "kul kaida" a rule by the government.
Janjira State was a princely state in India during the British Raj. It was governed by the Siddi Khan dynasty of Habesha descent and the state was under the suzerainty of the Bombay Presidency.
The Battle of Vijaydurg was fought between Tulaji Angre, the Admiral of the Maratha Navy and the combined forces of the East India Company and the Maratha Confederacy led by Peshwa Balaji Bajirao in early 1756.
Tulaji Angre, called Tulajee Angria by English historians was the grand admiral of the Maratha Navy and ruler of Colaba State in modern-day India. Similar to his famous father Kanhoji Angre, he too was an extremely skilled admiral and attacked several European trading ships. His achievements and naval prowess are considered to be greater than that of his father by some scholars and chroniclers. On various occasions he fought against the English, Dutch, Siddis And Portuguese maritime Powers. However, he alienated himself from the Maratha Peshwa, Balaji Baji Rao which led to his capture by the East India Company and Peshwa's forces at the Battle of Vijaydurg in 1756.
Colaba State, also known as Culaba State or Angria's Colaba was a Kingdom and later princely state in India. It was founded by the famous Maratha Navy admiral Kanhoji Angre in 1698. The ruling family of the state, the Angre, were skilled seafarers who controlled the western coast of India from the late 17th century- to the first half of the 18th century, until the Maratha Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao destroyed the major portion of their navy in the Battle of Vijaydurg.
The Dhulap family was a Maratha noble family of the Maratha Empire in the late 18th century-early 19th century who were hereditary sarkhels or supreme commanders of the Maratha Navy during its decline. They came to power after the Angre family's downfall and Tulaji Angre's defeat at the Battle of Vijaydurg by the East India Company. Rudraji Dhulap and his son Anandrao Dhulap successively served as grand admirals of the Maratha Navy.
Yesaji Angre was a military commander and the youngest son of Kanhoji Angre, the famed Maratha Navy admiral from his wife Gahinabai Bhonsle. He spent his naval career under the service of his elder half-brother Sambhaji Angre. The Gwalior branch of the Angre family was descended from him.
The siege of Janjira was a military campaign undertaken by the Maratha Confederacy, commanded by Sambhaji, the second Maratha ruler, against the Siddis of Janjira in January 1682. The Maratha forces, led by Sambhaji, withdrew from Janjira to the Konkan region in response to Mughal attacks, leaving a contingent behind under the command of Dadaji Raghunath Deshpande. Despite their efforts, the Marathas were unable to capture the fort, and the Siddis pursued the retreating forces, plundering Maratha territories.
The Shivaji's invasions of Janjira were a series of military campaigns launched by the first Maratha ruler, Shivaji, against the Abyssinian rulers of the sea fortress of Janjira named Siddis between 1661 and 1676. The Marathas attacked the Janjira fort annually, and during the final siege of 1676, the Maratha Peshwa Moropant faced a counterattack by the Siddis, forcing the Marathas to retreat with heavy casualties.