PORTUGUESE ANGLE

The news of the fall of Madras to the French reached Nanasaheb, who had to be in attendance to Shahu at Satara. He wrote to Pilaji Jadhavrao on 9 December 1746, that the French were likely to attack the British on the west coast at Mumbai and then, even the Maratha posts of Vasai or Versova, “In the Carnatic the Firangis (French) attacked and took the place of the British. Anwaruddin Khan sent an army, but this was also given a thrashing. They took a few more places. This means they might attack Mumbai or even Vasai and Vesave (Versova). Hence, I am sending you there. In Vasai, you can put wet wood with a little mud around the fort, do not send the horsemen to fight. You are aware of the powerful artillery of the Firangis. Versova is vulnerable to fire from ships, so strengthen it with brave soldiers. Our guns should fire at the ships, they may not be able to stand it. Once Sardars like you are there, the enemy will not be able to approach. I am sending (Sadashivrao) Bhau on a campaign to the Carnatic to distract the Firangis. I had written in the past that you should accompany Bhau. However, you are required at Vasai at this time… in the past the Firangi British had attacked Khanderi, but they were beaten back as the fort was manned by the brave.”

The moment Shahu dispatched Sadashivrao to the Carnatic, Naik got angry and began venting out his frustrations in front of Shahu. On 7 February 1747 a report read, “Babuji Naik is at Satara. He did not complete the ritual feast. The thinking is, present Rajashree with the feast, complete the ritual, and only then embark on the campaign. In Bhau’s campaign, there are twenty-thousand men. The moment Rajashree asked, where Naik would leave for after seeking farewell, Yamajipant informed, he would go towards the provinces of Shire, Chitradurga, Rajadurga, Harpanhalli. Upon hearing this, Rajashree said, ‘Let us see what happens.’”

We get information from Portuguese correspondence of the time about what was at stake. A letter from Goa to the Secretary of State in Portugal in February 1747, discusses a possible Maratha attack on their post at Daman. The Viceroy also asked for troops to attack Vasai but found that Nanasaheb had already sent additional troops to defend the place, “Nana has been detained in the court of Satara for more than a year now. It is learnt that Shahu was scared of him in his Pune court and wanted, therefore, to keep him away from the said court and near to that of Satara to watch him more closely, on account of the jealousy and caution that originated from his power. The junior and senior queens, wives of Shahu, had great animosity with Nana because of the dispute of some lands that the queens wished to gift to one of their persons. Nana was unyieldingly opposed to that gift. Nana began to corrupt the ministers of the Satara court by payment of money. He bribed all the maids of the queens with large sums of money and finally corrupted Shahu himself with very rich presents. He succeeded and planned everything according to his desire.”

Nanasaheb’s own letter of 22 February 1747 gives us his impressions of the matter. The Peshwa wrote to Ramchandrababa that he wished to restore the forts captured from Bhosales of Sawantwadi. However, at this time, it was not possible and the Firangis were not willing to do so. “The Firangi is untrustworthy, he must be taught a lesson, but it is not possible at the present time. We are, therefore, heading towards Bednoor.” This did not, however, prevent the Peshwa from providing the Bhosales with monetary support.

Nanasaheb was, for the Portuguese, the prime mover in the Maratha state. Many of their letters are written with an embedded animosity for the Peshwa. The letter further discusses the other ministers of the court, “Shripatrao (Pratinidhi), Minister of Shahu and enemy of Nana died. Naro Ram, another minister, has reached the decrepit age of eighty. The lone minister, young and intrepid, is Nana now. He has huge forces and a large amount of money. He can soon be master of the entire dominion of Shahu as well as that of Sambhaji II, which, put together will constitute a formidable potency.”

The Peshwa had been at Satara for over a year and a half. In Shahu’s court, Mahadoba Purandare was a partisan, however, Govindrao Chitnis, who had the king’s ear, was considered capable of an independent opinion. Govindrao played a vital role during this time to sound Maharaj about the real state of affairs.

To be continued…

WESTERN COAST

The Arabs and the Maratha coastal seafarers were perhaps the last to enter the lucrative business of attacking ships with goods for easy money. The Arabs and the Portuguese fought many wars, and once the Arabs even attacked Diu. The anarchic conditions in the second half of the seventeenth century extended to the provinces of Bengal and Bihar, where Mughal Governors came down heavily on the Europeans.

The Marathas were one of the few seafaring people in India who assembled a fleet of warships. The long Indian coastline was difficult to guard and in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the arrival of the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British, and the French led to a chain of ports used by the trading companies, from Chandernagore in Bengal to the ports of Gujarat. The lucrative trade in Indian cotton, silk, pepper, and the market for European goods in India, brought European companies to Indian shores either by acts of Parliament as in the case of England, or through companies managed by the king, as in the case of the French or the Portuguese. Bit by bit, these early adventurers who voyaged over huge distances across uncharted seas, surviving shipwrecks and disease, came to India to make big fortunes through trade. The entire East was open for trade and the goods brought huge profits back home in Europe.

Bit by bit, the Europeans began to build factories and forts, and imported guns to defend themselves. Later, they were drawn into local conflicts, as in the Carnatic. On India’s western coast, the Portuguese were the first and the most pre-eminent of the seafarers and demanded that anybody plying the sea needed to obtain a passport, or cartez, from them. Gradually, this was challenged, and the British and the Dutch began to ply their ships without a Portuguese cartez.

In the seventeenth century, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj founded his Swarajya and gave a clarion call that the rule of the Bahmani Sultans or the Mughals was anything but ‘self-rule’ and in fact, a period of bondage. The Swarajya of Shivaji Maharaj was etched out from his patrimony in Pune and enlarged to the Konkan coast in 1658, when he captured the town of Kalyan. Here, in the inland waterway of that town, he hired a Portuguese father-and-son surnamed Viegas and some more of their creed to build the first Maratha warships. The Portuguese at Goa did not look kindly at this, and soon asked their countrymen to withdraw. By then, the Marathas had learnt the basics of ship-building. The Maratha Navy was, therefore, founded in 1659. The purpose of the Navy, besides defence, was to protect the merchant vessels that travelled across the Arabian Sea to littoral states. After 1664, many coastal forts were built that gave the Maratha navy safe harbours. The role of the British at Bombay was recognised for the value they brought to goods produced in the Maratha country. Their transgressions were kept in check and from time to time, when they supported either the Mughals or the Sultan of Bijapur, they were punished.

The Navy grew over the next twenty years, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is known to have gone by the sea to attack the port of Basnoor in the Bijapur kingdom in the 1670s. The names of the first captains of the navy that come down to us are men like Daryasarang, Maynak Bhandari, and Daulat Khan. Besides the Portuguese, there were the Siddis or Habshis (Abyssinians) – and these men came from Abyssinia and joined the Bijapur kingdom. They held many sea forts, of which the chief was the island of Janjira. The Habshis had acquired sufficient strength to rule over a contiguous piece of land in the Konkan, and along with the Portuguese, indulged in religious oppression of the local populace. Maratha rule over Konkan could only be secured provided the Siddi, the most powerful of the rulers there, be adequately controlled. Without a navy, this was difficult. Sir Jadunath Sarkar writes, “Without a navy, his subjects on the sea-coast and for some distance inland would remain exposed to plunder, enslavement, and slaughter at the hands of the Abyssinian pirates.”

The naval arm of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was thus necessary to check these foreign elements. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj did not just build ships, but many forts along the coast, chief of these were at Colaba, Vijaydurg, and Sindhudurg. On islands near Mumbai, Goa, and Janjira, he erected forts like Padmadurg, Suvarnadurg, and Khanderi to threaten the alien powers. The Maratha navy could boast of two to three hundred ships with six to eighteen guns each. These small ships were easy to manoeuvre and to navigate, some with two masts and larger ships with three masts. Their speed and manoeuvrability gave them an edge over the well-armed larger ships of the Europeans.

After 1680, Sambhajiraje, the son and successor of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, spent many years battling the Siddis and the Portuguese on the Konkan strip. After the Bijapur kingdom was extinguished by Aurangzeb in 1685, the Habshis went over to the Mughals.

To be continued…

CHRONOLOGY – BALAJI VISHWANATH

A brief timeline that can be drawn for the beginning of the Peshwa era as follows.

Date	Events
Around 1660	Balaji Vishwanath born.
18 May 1682	Shahu born in Konkan near Raigad.
3 November 1689	Shahu falls into Badshah’s captivity.
9 June 1696	Tarabai’s son Shivaji II born.
23 May 1698	Rajasbai’s son Sambhaji II born.
20 February 1707	Aurangzeb dies at Ahmednagar.
5 March 1707	Azamshah assumes throne.
13 March 1707	Azamshah grants protocol robes to Shahu.
4 May 1707	Azamshah arrives at Sironj.
8 May 1707	Shahu returns to Deccan from the Doraha halt. Ambu Pande joins him. Beejagad’s Mohan Singh helps Shahu. Halt for some time at Lambkani. Parsoji Bhosale joins him there.
8 June 1707	Azamshah killed in succession battle and Bahadurshah ascends the throne.
August / September 1707	Shahu arrives at Ahmednagar. Tarabai declares ‘Shahu not rightful heir’.
4 October 1707	Shahu sacks Aurangabad.
12 October 1707	Battle of Khed – Shahu emerges victorious. Dhanaji Jadhav joins Shahu. Balaji Vishwanath follows suit.
27 October 1707	Shahu acquires Rohida, Rajgad, Prachandagad, Vichitragad.
1 January 1708	Shahu takes Satara.
12 January 1708	Shahu coronated.
28 February 1708	Tarabai writes to Khem Sawant.
March-June 1708	Rangna Campaign, Shahu beats retreat.
27 June 1708	Dhanaji Jadhav dies.
20 November 1708	Balaji assumes ‘Senakarta’ office. Bahadurshah arrives in Deccan.
3 January 1709	Kaambaksh defeated and dies.
23 March 1709	Kanhoji Angre writes to Shahu, gets Sarkhel office.
May 1709	Badshah confers protocol robes on Shahu at Ahmednagar.
23 August 1709	Raibhanji Bhosale dies.
1710	Parsoji Bhosale dies.
17 August 1711	Chandrasen’s revolt. Joins Tarabai. Changes side to Daud Khan Panni.
21 August 1711	Balaji conferred upon the benefice of twenty-five lakh rupees.
1 October 1711	Santaji Jadhav assumes ‘Senapati’ office.
20 November 1711	Parashurampant Pratinidhi arrested.
2 December 1711	Khatawkar’s revolt broken.
December 1711	Kanhoji Angre joins Tarabai.
1712-1714	Mansinghrao More as ‘Senapati’. Thorat initially joins Tarabai and then the Mughals.
17 February 1712	Bahadurshah dies.
19 January 1713	Jahandarshah dies.
February 1713	Nizam-ul-Mulk made the Subedar of Deccan.
17 November 1713	Balaji Vishwanath gets the protocol robes of the office of the Peshwa at Manjri.
8 February 1714	Balaji meets Angre and Treaty.
July 1714	Tarabai and Shivaji II arrested. Rajasbai and Sambhaji II set up Kolhapur seat.
July 1714	Sawai Jaisingh made Subedar of Malwa.
1715	Rambhaji Nimbalkar joins the Nizam.
30 January 1715	Siddi surrenders and enters into treaty with the Peshwa.
25 March 1715	Shahu and Kanhoji meet at Jejuri.
19 November 1715	Ramchandrapant Amatya pens down ‘Aadnyapatre’.
26 December 1715	Charles Boone made President at Mumbai.
May 1715-November 1718	Sayyed Hussein Ali made Subedar of Deccan.
December 1718-August 1720	Aalam Ali made Subedar of Deccan.
August 1720-January 1722	Nizam-ul-Mulk made Subedar of Deccan.
1, 2 April 1715	Dabhade and Kanhoji Bhosale enter Malwa. Depalpur destroyed. Another contingent at Kampel.
10 May 1715	Marathas defeated in Malwa. Jaisingh congratulated.
26 August 1715	Daud Khan and Sayyed Hussein Ali fight at Burhanpur. Daud Khan falls.
2 April 1716	Raorambha and Dabhade fight. Rambha’s son dies. Ajit Singh made Subedar of Gujarat.
October 1717	Santaji Bhosale in Malwa. Roopram arrested. Handia Pargana captured.
1718-1724	Angre-British War.
17 April 1718	British armada at Vijaydurg.
18 June 1718	British armada returns defeated to Mumbai.
2 November 1718	Boone attacks Khanderi.
1716-1718	Damaji Thorat’s hooliganism.
13 January 1716	Raoji and other Thorats join Sayyed Hussein Ali.
2 April 1716	Raorambha and Dabhade fight.
5 August 1716	Damaji arrests Balaji at Hingangaon. Released later.
11 January 1717	Khanderao Dabhade assumes ‘Senapati’ office.
24 April 1717	Dabhade defeats the Mughals at Ahmednagar.
28 February 1718	Farrukhsiyar deposed. Mohammedshah assumes throne.
November 1718-March 1719	Marathas at Delhi. Accompanying Sayyed Hussein Ali.
23 February 1719	Badshah and Sayyed Hussein Ali meet at Delhi.
28 February 1719	Some Marathas massacred at Delhi.
3 March 1719	Chauth agreement signed with Marathas.
15 March 1719	Sardeshmukhi agreement signed with Marathas.
20 March 1719	Balaji Vishwanath returns from Delhi bearing the grant-notifications. Queen Yesubai and others released.
September 1719	Fight with the Thorats at Panhalgad.
March 1720	Balaji fights with Karweer Chhatrapati Sambhaji II at Islampur.
2 April 1720	Balaji Vishwanath dies at Saswad.

To be continued…

ANGRE DISPUTE

We must step back a little to see how Bajirao had previously tried to settle the dispute between two Angre brothers who managed the most important arm of the kingdom. Western coast had always been an important boundary of the Maratha kingdom, and the kingdom’s benefit lay in taking good care of the same. Since after Kanhoji, disputes arose amongst his sons, it began hurting the kingdom. The Peshwas tried to stop this as much as possible. In this intervention, or partly because of it, the relations between the Angre family were destroyed. All this history is memorable and eminently readable in many respects.

While Shahu’s Siddi campaign was going on, the dispute between Sambhaji and Manaji Angre intensified. Due to this, the Angres were not able to perform much in this campaign. Kanhoji Angre had three wives, Mathurabai, Lakshmibai and Gahinabai. Out of them, Mathurabai and Lakshmibai seemed to have some kind of capability and intention to preserve the prestige of their family, on the basis of available correspondence. Sekhoji and Sambhaji born to Mathurabai; Manaji and Tulaji to Lakshmibai; and Yesji alias Appasaheb and Dhondji to Gahinabai; were the Angre sons. The family went into self-destruct mode mostly because of the disputes amongst these brothers. After Sekhoji’s death, Sambhaji began looking after the administration. Due to that, a dispute arose between him and Manaji. Many of the court officials at Shahu’s court like Naro Ram Shenvi etc. favoured Sambhaji, while Manaji had the support of the Peshwas. At the beginning of 1734, Sambhaji took Tulaji along and attacked the Siddis to capture Anjanvel from them. Before beginning the campaign, Sambhaji gave the responsibility of Colaba to Dhondji, while that of the navy to Manaji. But after coming back, Sambhaji did not like the way these two had run the affairs. Manaji had deviously brought the Portuguese into Colaba, gave the position of the Dewan to Tulaji, came to Colaba during the night, and blinded Yesji. Sambhaji came to know that Manaji was conspiring against him upon the advice of the Peshwas and Brahmendra Swami, and had begun to align the British and the Portuguese to his cause. Due to this, he was incensed. Nagaon’s Parasnis (Farsi interpreter) Mahadaji Ram was dispatched to the British at Mumbai by Manaji, fearing that Sambhaji would kill him, and he himself had gone to live at Revdanda in the Portuguese realms. The two brothers had been acting against each other for quite some time this way. Sambhaji’s nature was impatient and short-tempered, due to which he became unacceptable to many. The British took the advantage of this dissension in the ranks and planned to remove Sambhaji. While Sambhaji’s project to capture Anjanvel and Gowalkot stations from the Siddis (Abyssinians), the British provided some help to the Siddis (Abyssinians). Due to that, Sambhaji’s project failed, and he was even more angry at Manaji. On 27 November 1734, Manaji wrote, “Due to Sambhajibaba’s indiscretion, we intentionally left the property, recognising the crisis, and came to Chaul within Revdanda. The Portuguese captain accorded respect and welcome, and has provided much support. Sabaji Prabhu came and met us, due to which we were happy. At this time, both of you should come and meet us along with your sons. The plans will get firmed up. Earlier we had thought about moving to the plateau, thinking we were refugees. But after Sabaji Prabhu came, many of our thoughts were found to be beneficial upon our orders. Holding on to them for the time being, we have dispatched letters at the service of Rajashree Swami at Satara, Rajashree Jiwaji Baba, Govindrao Chitnis, Yashwantrao Potnis, others there, Rajashree Bajirao Pandit Pradhan, and Appa Daji. We need to convince the British and the Shyamal (dark-skinned) to join us at this time. It is not beneficial to hold enmity against the British at this time. The plan to align them to our cause cannot come to fruition without Mahadaji Aaba and you. At the time of late father, you remained loyal and participated in many of the activities. Considering that, we deeply respect you. Apart from Sabaji Prabhu, Krishnaji Prabhu and you, there is nobody who could look after the administration. This is the truth. We are confident that you will trust this, and immediately come to join us. Therefore, we have dispatched the Mahagiri (ship) through the Palava creek. So, leave no family members behind there, and bring everyone here with you.”

This dispute between the Angre brothers went on escalating with time. Manaji called Bajirao urgently for his help. In one-and-a-half day, Bajirao travelled from Pune to Pali. From 4 February to 3 April 1735, full two months, Bajirao stayed in Konkan near Colaba. Bajirao was fully aware of the nature and ability of the two principals, Sambhaji and Manaji. Siddis, British and Portuguese had been waiting for an opportunity to destroy the Angres. Shahu and Bajirao intended to remove the obstacles in the path of the Maratha kingdom on the western coast too, like the north. Discussing deeply over these things at court, they had planned to distribute two separate regions to the two brothers Sambhaji and Manaji and resolve the dispute between them. The moment Bajirao arrived in Konkan, he captured the two forts, Khanderi and Kothala. After that, he conferred upon Manaji the new epithet of ‘Vajaratmab’, and established him at Colaba. He decided that Sambhaji should be granted the epithet ‘Sarkhel’ and should stay at Suvarnadurg. This helped resolve the dispute between the two temporarily. Some people accuse Bajirao of dividing the total Angre realms in two parts this way, and giving rise to a permanent discord in their household. This should be kept in mind with respect to the affairs that unfolded hereafter.

To be continued…

GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY

One cannot understand the details about the movements of both the parties and their significance, unless we clarify the area of its operation at the regional level. One should keep in front of them, the map depicting the western coast of the Thane district to study this campaign.

(Map Source: This file is from the Mechanical Curator collection, a set of over 1 million images scanned from out-of-copyright books and released to Flickr Commons by the British Library. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43871601).

Besides, one more thing should be kept in mind. The erstwhile sea-lines-of-communication and land-lines-of-communication have been completely transformed nowadays due to trains, bridges etc. The basic nature of land itself has been transformed nowadays because of the landfill used between erstwhile islands and creeks. Therefore, the region from Chaul to Daman where this war was fought in those times, if one does not have in front of them that time’s islands, creeks, forts, attack positions, and main roads, then one cannot perform a study of this campaign in the right context. The strongly fortified fort of Vasai stands at the centre of the region from Daman to Colaba. When we leave Alibaug’s Colaba fort, and the two islands Khanderi and Underi in front of it, and begin moving northwards, we see many big and small islands near Mumbai. The first big island is Mumbai itself. Right towards its east was Karanje. To Karanje’s north, a smaller Gharapuri (Elephanta). Moving on from there, we encounter the recent Trombay or Turambe. Kind of attached to Mumbai’s north is the Sashti island, whose southernmost point is Bandra, and northwest separation from the Indian mainland being near Thane at the village of Kalwa. The estuary which meets the sea near Bandra, comes from the northeast from up to Thane, and later merges with the creek that has passed Vasai. Mumbai harbour lies at the mouth of this estuary that comes down to Bandra from the northeast. Thane creek and the creek which comes down from Vasai encircle the Sashti island. Since this island had Sasasht (Sahasasht, or sixty-six in English) villages on it, it was named Sashti. This island is narrower in the south and broader in the north and bounded by the Vasai creek there. The Vasai creek branches off one more estuary near Thane towards Kalyan, which is called Kalyan creek. Sashti had fortified ports on the sea coast at Bandra and Versova besides an isle fort at Dharavi at its northern end.

Thane was the central location of Sashti that time, at the mouth of the creek. Kalyan creek goes up to Bhiwandi. There is a place called Kambe beyond it. To the east of Turambe at the mouth of the Panvel creek, there was a check-post named Belapur, housing a fort. Near Thane beyond the creek, Anjur, Kalwa etc. villages became famous in the battle afterwards. The creek was shallow near Thane, and it used to be possible to walk right across it to the Sashti island. Ahead from Bandra, to Parle’s east, the Marol station used to be a strong one at the time. From Andheri up to Vasai, on the western coast there were many big and small islands. To Goregaon’s west, there was a fort at Vesave, and Malad ahead of it. Malad’s Inamdar Sardesai brothers Antaji Raghunath and Ramchandra Raghunath strove really hard with Bajirao and Chimaji Appa to check the Portuguese. To Borivali’s west and at the mouth of Vasai creek, there was a long and narrow island, which had a fortified station named Dharavi. At the northernmost point of the creek there was the fort of Vasai. There is a narrow access from the north. Beyond the creek there existed Vasai Tehsil and beyond it there were recent Tehsils of Mahim, Dahanu and Umbargaon. To the north of Vasai on the coast there is a village named Agashi. Beside it, there is a water-fortress named Arnala. Following the coast further to the north, two stations of Mahim and Kelwe, to their east, Tandulwadi, and to the northeast Manor and Asherigad forts were also strong in those times. Following the shoreline further north, we find Shirgaon, Tarapur, and Chinchni harbours. Beyond them, Dahanu and Umbargaon harbours lie. To the north of the Umbargaon creek, it is important to keep in mind two villages named Nargol and Khatalwad from the perspective of the Vasai campaign. The Daman harbour further north remained in Portuguese hands till the end. To Vasai’s east, Kamandurg and the villages nearby Rajaval, Gokharve, Achole, Chinchoti, Takmak, Mandavi etc. are mentioned at various places. Near Vasai on the south banks of the creek there is a place named Ghodbandar. While reading the stories of the campaign, the above locations are named as per the narrative, and at most of these places, the Marathas and the Portuguese clashed against each other passionately for twenty-five-and-a-half months. The forts like Asheri, Tarapur, Mahim, and warehouses and places of worship like Manor, Versova and Bandra formed a defensive ring around the Firangan. Once the Thane fort was complete, it would have become even more difficult to enter Sashti.

To be continued…

REASON BEHIND FAILURE

Making the best of the situation, in consultation with the British, Sheikhji and Siddi Abdul Rehman reconciled with other Sardars, and the treaty of permanent friendship between the Siddis and the British came about. There were clauses like, both the parties to help each other attack their enemies, Angres were to be annihilated, the Khanderi fort was to be captured from the Angres and was to be handed over to the British, and Colaba was to be destroyed completely, in the agreement. Even though this treaty did not immediately harm the Angres, Bajirao pulled himself out of the campaign. At the beginning of December 1733, somehow agreeing to terms with the Siddis, Bajirao lifted the Janjira siege and came back to Satara. This treaty occurred at Navdare near Alibaug and has been described as, “Siddi Abdul Rehman was installed on the Janjira’s throne, and some forts were taken from them. Out of those, Raigad and Mahad were retained by Maharaj himself, and the remaining forts were secured by Bajiraosaheb. Five-and-a-half Mahals were given to the Siddis (Abyssinians), and the remaining were taken under the control of the government.”

Bajirao had spent seven months in the Konkan and felt he had other matters to attend to. Habshan was largely won and Janjira itself rendered safe. The fragmented command structure in the Konkan, with Shahu sitting in distant Satara led to a dilatory campaign against the Siddi. However, mutual antagonism and jealousy between the Peshwa and the Pratinidhi were equally the cause.

Bajirao had come to the Konkan region and after taking a few forts camped opposite Janjira. When Shripatrao Pratinidhi came later, Bajirao called him for a meeting so a campaign could be planned. However, the Pratinidhi camped at Chiplun, and ignoring the Peshwa, began an independent campaign wherein he obtained the possession of Raigad.

The Peshwa’s annoyance grew when he found the Pratinidhi conducting a negotiation with Siddi Saat. Bankaji Naik was carrying out a siege at Gowalkot near Chiplun and in a couple of engagements had got the better of the Siddi. These reverses forced the Siddi to talk to the Pratinidhi, who felt it was yet another opportunity to win a fort by negotiation. Bajirao at this time wrote to Bankaji to withhold his cooperation with the Pratinidhi. Bankaji quotes Bajirao in his letter of 11 July 1733, “You wrote that I have not written about the siege at Anjanvel and that I will make all the efforts and the Pratinidhi will take all the credit; therefore, I should not do such a thing. I agree with this thought of the Swami.”

Eight days later, Bankaji wrote to Bajirao that he had a disagreement with the Pratinidhi and had returned to Suvarnadurg. On 18 July 1733, he once again quoted Bajirao’s orders, “You have written, ‘Shripatrao Pratinidhi has come there while I have laid siege to Anjanvel. It seems you two are operating in unison. This is not good. One should not allow another person to take advantage and enter the political field one operates in.

“I have never allowed it to happen before this. I took up this campaign by your orders; I have now informed the Pratinidhi that I will not stay and have come away. I will join you in four or five days and will consider your orders as well as those of the Sarkhel.”

Sekhoji ordered Bankaji to return from Gowalkot and follow Bajirao’s instructions. Further, Sekhoji wrote to his brother Sambhaji not to join the Pratinidhi. It is a matter of debate, whether the Peshwa’s moves caused the Pratinidhi to return with failure, or the Pratinidhi showed poor judgment and chose the wrong tack when he accepted Siddi Saat’s word and asked Bankaji Naik to stop the war against the Siddi. Events of the period show that the success in the Konkan in 1733 accrued from the combined effort of Sekhoji and Bajirao. The Pratinidhi captured Raigad but let the Siddi escape and paid the price when Siddi Saat returned and attacked him.

The death of Sekhoji Angre was a severe setback to completing the mission at Janjira. Sambhaji and his brother Manaji were always at odds with each other. Although a division of their patrimony by awarding Vijaydurg to Sambhaji and Colaba to Manaji was attempted, it did not quell the dissensions. For the British, it was a heaven-sent opportunity. They had feared that with the Siddi’s defeat, Angre would be all powerful on the coast and their trade would become extinct.

Anderson, a British official wrote, “Emboldened by success, and looking for support from the Raja of Satara, the Angres aspired to bring all the Siddis’ territories under their subjection and possess themselves of every port on the coast between Bombay and Goa. Nor, in all probability, would their efforts have been fruitless, if family dissensions, which so often thwart the best matured designs of Native powers, had not intervened. Manaji and Sambhaji became estranged from each other to the great satisfaction of the President of the Council, who at once resolved to foment their disputes.”

To be continued…

BRITISH TO THE RESCUE

By June 1733, Sekhoji had taken Chaul’s Rajkot, the fort of Rewas on the Pen river near Mumbai, and the fort of Thal. He was poised to mount an attack on the Siddi’s island of Underi which stood at the centre of these three forts. The British became extremely frightened that if Angre captured Underi, their trade at Mumbai would permanently collapse. The power of the Angre would increase and the British would not survive in the neighbourhood of Mumbai. They used to always nurse ultimate hatred towards the Angres. Therefore, the British supplied the Siddis with force, ammunition and provisions. The moment they saw their enemy would enter their own house, they decided to establish their own station at Underi. Underi, which was under the control of the Siddis (Abyssinians), was handed over to the British by them at this time. The British sent their troops under Captain Thomas Holden with a battleship named ‘Mary’ and abundant equipment in July 1733 to Underi. Captain Inchbird and McNeal met the Siddi and prevailed upon him to fly the British flag on the island. Although the Marathas fired on Underi from the fort of Khanderi, the island could not be taken.

Shahu began thinking of teaching the British a lesson for this trespass. He began his efforts on the lines, “What do the British have to do with the moneylenders at each harbour? If the Shyamal (dark-skinned) have sold them Underi, they should take the money and hand it over and agree to terms.” Due to this, the Maratha efforts slackened a bit.

In the month of September, the British provided a huge battleship to help the Siddis, and they also dispatched other big and small battleships to Janjira. Due to this, the Siddis got a big fillip. The Siddis at Janjira had also sought help from the Mughal Badshah and the Nizam. Khan Dauran sent an appeal to the British at Mumbai to help the Siddi. The British, as businessmen, asked the Mughal Badshah to defray the expenses and send an army to help them. They also added that it was their main business to trade and, “not to increase our charges, we keep up such number of troops only as are capable of defending and protecting our commerce.”

The Nizam began his discussions on behalf of the Siddis. He sent robes of honour to Siddi Saat and began planning a diversionary raid on Shahu’s territories. Conspiracies and rivalries are the essence of politics, and the British felt that Siddi Masood of Surat was actually on the Peshwa’s side and acting against the Siddi of Janjira, his grouse being against Siddi Yakub of Underi. In a letter of September 1733, Henry Lowther, the governor of Surat, wrote that Masood had confessed to him that the report of his treaty of friendship with Bajirao was true to fact. The British wrote that it was, “now clear that Siddi Masood being for a long time at variance with the Siddi Yakub,” had been chiefly instrumental in first stirring up the Marathas against his own countrymen. It was practically due to him that the Siddis had lost their fleets and many of their forts.

In July 1733, Shahu heard that the Nizam planned to invade him from the west and had begun with an army from his capital. To keep an eye over the Nizam, Chimaji Appa went back to Pune. In August, Shahu wrote to Bajirao asking him to return and face the Nizam. Bajirao replied to Shahu that Chimaji, Pilaji or Ambaji Purandare, who were with Shahu, could replace him in the Konkan, in which case he would come up the Ghat to fight the Nizam. Alternatively, he would remain in the Konkan, and the Nizam’s army could be stopped by any of the three Sardars at Satara.

A news came that Siddi Masood will come for helping the Siddis from Surat. Shahu dispatched urgent orders to Umabai Dabhade and Damaji Gaikwad to block him. Since Dabhade and Gaikwad held the grudge against Bajirao, they did not obey these orders, and in September, the Surat help reached Janjira. Due to all these accretions, the strength of Janjira was increasing. It seemed like the campaign would fail due to internecine disputes and the help that the Siddis had been getting all around from outside.

Bajirao was until this time keen to complete the campaign in the Habshan and win the battle. Sambhaji Angre from Vijaydurg was also keen to join forces with Bajirao, but eventually did not come. He wrote on 11 August that he was prevented from coming due to torrential rain.

Finally, fate lent a hand to the Siddi and Janjira was saved. In August 1733, the Janjira campaign received its death blow. Suddenly, Sekhoji Angre died on 28 August 1733. This was a huge calamity for the running campaign.

To be continued…

THE ELUSIVE JANJIRA

It was time; time to delve into affairs of the Konkan. Shahu himself took the lead and the reins of the campaign in his own hands. No longer did the king wish to wait for news of battles fought far away, for the Konkan was near his capital. Brahmendra Swami, the seer, once lived in the Konkan and became the prime mover of the campaign against the Siddi.

In war, in politics, and in the lives of nations, the campaign has to be fought when the opportunity is right and the year 1733 gave the right mix for just such a move. The Peshwa and many other chiefs spent long months in the Konkan, braving its monsoon, the sea, the hills, and rivers.

Bajirao did not have the time to move north that year, and did not cross the Narmada. In the beginning, they did not achieve the result everybody wished for. Long months and valuable resources were poured into the campaign. The end was a long time coming. And when it came, surprisingly, the man at the helm of the campaign was not Bajirao.

Yet, the success that came finally liberated a long-oppressed people; as it emerged, for evermore.  

The Konkan coastal strip had been the landing place for many trading communities from across the Arabian Sea. It had many trading ports from time immemorial. India was a giant medieval economy and a rich trading partner for Europe and Africa as well as Arabia. The Abyssinians, present-day residents of Ethiopia, were also among those who came by sea to trade with India. They were excellent sailors but perhaps not quite as good traders. In the course of time, they found better employment in the army and administration of the Bahmani kingdoms of Bijapur and Ahmednagar, and rose to powerful positions by their ability as well as loyalty to the monarch. Followers of Sunni Islam, they were labelled Siddis; a name that may or may not have arisen from the Sayyeds. Remarkable men like Malik Ambar in Ahmednagar and Ikhlas Khan in Bijapur rose to fame and left their mark on the administration of their kingdoms. When Akbar, Shahjahan, and finally Aurangzeb annexed the Bahmani kingdoms, the Siddis joined the Mughals.

The Siddis ruled over the Konkan from their sea-fort of Danda-Rajpuri, often just called Janjira, derived from the Arabic word ‘Jazira’, or an island. The entire region they controlled came to be called ‘Habshan’ after ‘Habshi’, the name they were called by in that region. The fort of Janjira was separated from the mainland and surrounded by fairly deep water, making access difficult at all times of the year. The fort was originally built probably during the rule of the Yadava dynasty between the ninth to the fourteenth centuries. legend has it that around 1489, a few Siddi traders sought permission to stop at the fort with their cargo which was in the form of some three hundred crates. Permission granted, the cargo was brought in, and from each of the crates emerged a fully armed soldier.

Once the island was taken, the Siddis did not let go. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj tried to capture Janjira for most of the 1660s, when even the British took a liking for it; at one time preferring it to Mumbai which they got in 1668. However, an attack from the sea was always difficult and a blockade from land would not work otherwise. A cannonade was not quite enough due to its strong walls and distance from the shore. The Dutch, the Marathas, and the British – all failed to win the place. From here, the Siddi ruled not just the island but also a good part of the coastal strip and a few forts; prominent among them the erstwhile Maratha capital Raigad. Siddi Yakut’s petition to Aurangzeb to be appointed as Mutsaddi (diplomatic official) of Danda-Rajpuri had the Mughal Badshah write on it, “For a long time I have known of this aggressive and self-willed spirit of Siddi Yakut Khan.”

In the 1690s the Siddi spread his wings in the Konkan, and Chhatrapati Rajaram appointed Kanhoji Angre as the Sarkhel to deal with them. The ‘Habshan’ was a stretch of two hundred kilometres of broken coastline in the Konkan. It began just south of Mumbai harbour with the tiny island fort of Underi near Alibaug and extended to the southern bank of the river Vasishthi where Siddi Saat ruled from his stronghold of Anjanvel. Underi was close to Colaba and Khanderi, two forts held by Kanhoji. From here coming south along the coast one came to the fort of Chaul at the northern end of the mouth of the River Kundalika. Upstream of this river, around the town of Roha were the four forts of Avachitgad, Birwadi, Tala and Ghosala. Going further south, the coast once again makes way for the broad creek of Danda-Rajpuri river. The island fort of Janjira is to the north of this creek but separated by half a mile of deep water from the coast. Further south, the fourth puncture in the coast is where the River Savitri joins the sea. On its northern end lie Shrivardhan and Harihareshwar, the native places of the Peshwas and on the southern bank likes the fort of Bankot. Going upstream from the Savitri, one encounters the fort of Mandangad. The last break in the coastline comes from the River Vasishthi. Anjanvel lies on its southern bank, and upstream, the fort of Govalkot is surrounded by the river on three sides. Not far from Govalkot is the town of Chiplun. The terrain in the Konkan was not just broken by rivers but also several hills and forts making cavalry operations nearly impossible. The heavy rains from June to September were a further deterrent to continue operations in this period. into this region, suited for operations of the infantry, the Peshwa was soon dispatched to deal with the Siddi.

To be continued…

ANGRE-BRITISH WAR

The Portuguese signed a treaty to support Boone, but eventually did not do so. Seeing that the British were on their way to attack him, Angre suddenly captured three of their big ships named, Success, Robert and Otter. Angre peddled the argument that even though these ships were carrying goods owned by the Company, the vessels were not owned by the Company. The British too captured similar such vessels belonging to the Angres near Mahim. With this, they entered into open warfare. On 17 April 1718, a huge British armada attacked Vijaydurg. British opened up a great barrage over the fort, but since Kanhoji too protected the fort with equal vigour and skill, the British ended up with two hundred dead and three hundred wounded at the end of this battle, and earning a big failure they had to return back to Mumbai (18 June 1718).

Boone felt he was strong enough to declare a war on Angre and even plan an attack on the Angre sea-fort Vijaydurg. At the same time, he wrote to Kanhoji,

“The condition of my Government is to observe the orders and interests of my sovereign and Rt Hon Company, and in this again, yours is different from us, since though you acknowledge a prince (Shahu), who is actually in peace with us, you act in opposition thereto, following the dictates of your ambition…”

The letter emphasises the dual nature of the Maratha state and the relations between the sovereign and his confederates – who did not entirely follow the king’s orders, and also acted on their own account. Kanhoji, first pronounced Sarkhel as early as 1698, had always followed a policy of opposing the British, and his alliance with Shahu in 1713 was not sufficient reason to deviate from past practice.

Boone was not broken due to this failure, and made strenuous efforts to counter Angre. Immediately after the monsoon, on 2 November 1718, he again personally took his huge armada of six grabs, a gully, three ketches, and forty-eight gallivants and attacked Khanderi. Being very close to Mumbai it was a constant irritant to the British. The British had to face failure there as well. They mounted many attacks but all of them were broken successfully by Angre. An intense assault on Khanderi from 3 to 8 November, and a chase in the high seas, failed to yield a result. British marines who attempted to land on the island were forced to leave. Kanhoji unfurled his ‘red flag’ as a sign of victory. The British had an untrained army under a civilian leader and failed.

Boone again went back to Mumbai on 24 November dejected. For a short while after this, both the parties engaged in conciliatory negotiations. The support Kanhoji might obtain from Shahu always intrigued the British. Relations between Shahu, the Peshwa and Kanhoji, was another matter they wanted to know more about. The British therefore, sent an emissary to Shahu in August 1718 with detailed instructions. One of these said,

“You will also note whether Balaji Vishwanath, and his other favourites unreservedly obey him (Shahu) or there is misunderstanding between them; also observe whether Balaji and Angre have friendly relations or they pretend to be friends and ascertain whether Balaji will or will not send Angre any succour if he asks for it… and if you find Balaji happens to be Angre’s friend, you will conduct your business with all care and prudence.”

At this time, Balaji Vishwanath was preparing to join Sayyed Hussein Ali’s march to Delhi and he had little time for any interaction with the British emissary.

But both the parties were preparing for battles ahead. The British had not dumped their dream of capturing Vijaydurg. On 19 September 1719, under the command of Walter Brown, the British navy in full preparation again attacked the fort. Brown was completely incapable of handling such battles. He was able to sink many of the Angre vessels, but Vijaydurg remained unbroken. While returning, the whole British naval convoy was plundered and Brown himself went empty handed to Mumbai. This way, seeing that they alone could never win against Angre, Mumbai’s British negotiated with Goa’s Portuguese and agreed to attack Colaba together (on 20 August 1721). The above treaty also decided that once they defeated Angres, the Portuguese were to get Colaba, and the British were to get Vijaydurg, but for that both parties were to join forces at Chaul and attack Colaba suddenly.

To be continued…

FACILE TREATY

Kanhoji did not intend to increase hostilities with the British on purpose. The moment he finalised the treaty with Balaji Vishwanath, with a view to establish friendly relations with the British, he invited their emissaries to Colaba, and tried to resolve the disputes. Since the European powers arrived in India, with the Portuguese in the 1450s, they had imposed a strict rule on anybody else who would want to navigate Indian waters. All other vessels plying over the seas would need to apply for a permit to do so from whoever was the pre-eminent power in those parts of the sea, initially the Portuguese, but soon afterwards followed by all other Europeans. The Angres had just emulated them in the regions under their control as the right of the Maratha kingdom. The punishment for not applying for the permit would be that they would confiscate and plunder the goods carried by any vessels plying without such signed permits. Since they firmed up their station at Mumbai, the British had imposed their permits on the vessels which berthed at their harbours. Of course, since the primary question of the dispute was, who was the master of the western seas, British or Angre, the result would always favour the more powerful of the two. Papering over differences and deep-rooted animosity, a treaty was signed with the British in 1713. The British emissaries agreed for a treaty upon reaching Colaba as follows – Kanhoji should not trouble any British vessels in his harbours; similarly, any Angre vessels travelling to the Mumbai harbour, and in the region from Khanderi up to Mahim, should not be troubled by the British. Each party was to pay the customs duties in the other’s harbours. If any other Maratha Sardars were to cause any trouble to the British, Angre should resolve such matters.

This agreement was extremely vague. Angre had never troubled the trading vessels belonging to the British. The British began hiring local vessels to carry their freight to avoid paying Kanhoji’s levies. The Siddis and many other traders, working under British protection, would secure British permits, and avoid the customs duties imposed by the Angres. He did not accept this at all. Kanhoji argued that country crafts hired by the British would be captured if they did not have his permits. There was a huge difference between selling the articles imported from Europe, and trading the goods produced locally along the coast. Angres did not like the efforts of the British to establish their control over the local trade as well. Their main enemy and neighbour was Janjira’s Siddi. He would seek support from the British and attack the Angres. Kanhoji opposed this too. By entering into friendly relations with the British, he had already taken care of the Siddis.

But the agreement with the British was on weak foundation. On 26 December 1715, a scheming gentleman Charles Boone arrived as the Governor of Mumbai, and the fierce nature of the British began troubling Kanhoji at every step.

This new governor immediately expressed his resolve, “I will teach an apt lesson to whoever obstructs our unrestricted movement on the western coast.”

Within two years, he built a defensive wall and commissioned nine excellent battleships in the Mumbai harbour. Their names bear witness to this strict and uncompromising nature of the westerners. They were, Britannia, Victory, Defiance, Revenge, Fame, Hunter, Hawk, Eagle, and Princess Amelia. These nine together were equipped with 148 cannons and twelve-hundred-and-fifty warrior sailors. Besides this, the British especially trained an army consisting of two-and-a-half thousand European and one-and-a-half thousand local soldiers, especially to capture the Angre forts like Vijaydurg etc. through landward battles. The British were not that afraid of Colaba. But the Angre power was huge at Vijaydurg and they could project that naval power over the whole western coast from there. The governor Boone declared a resolve to permanently put an end to this ‘piracy’. A sample below depicting the erstwhile British utterances, and their scheming nature. “These Angres who plunder the seas did not just stop at capturing Vijaydurg. He has become an independent king on the western coast by driving away the Portuguese and other traders. Once he captured a vessel-full of excellent Arabian horses quite easily. He created an army using those horses. The standard of this thief painted in blood is respected by Hindus, Muslims, Dutch, Portuguese, French etc. everybody.” Such accounts give us an idea about the utmost jealousy that the British had begun to feel about the Angre power.

To be continued…