Chaul is a former city of
Portuguese IndiaPortuguese India was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de Almeida, then settled at Kochi...
, now in ruins. It is located 60 km south of Bombay, in
Raigad DistrictRaigad District , also known as Raigarh District, is a district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the Konkan region. The district was renamed after Raigad, the fort and former capital of the Maratha leader Shivaji, which is located in the interior forests of the district, on a...
of
MaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located on the western coast of India. Maharashtra is a part of Western India. It is India's third largest state by area and second largest by population....
state in western
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
.
The first Portuguese settlement at Chaul took place in 1521 with the construction of the first fort on the south bank of the
Kundalika RiverThe Kundalika is a small river flowing from the Hills of Sahyadri to the Arabian Sea. This river originates at a small town called Bhira in the Indian State of Maharashtra, 150 km south east of Bombay...
. In October 1531, the Portuguese erected a new square stone fortress, named
Santa Maria do Castello, which contained a church and dwellings for 120 men.
Chaul is a former city of
Portuguese IndiaPortuguese India was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de Almeida, then settled at Kochi...
, now in ruins. It is located 60 km south of Bombay, in
Raigad DistrictRaigad District , also known as Raigarh District, is a district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the Konkan region. The district was renamed after Raigad, the fort and former capital of the Maratha leader Shivaji, which is located in the interior forests of the district, on a...
of
MaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located on the western coast of India. Maharashtra is a part of Western India. It is India's third largest state by area and second largest by population....
state in western
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
.
The first Portuguese settlement at Chaul took place in 1521 with the construction of the first fort on the south bank of the
Kundalika RiverThe Kundalika is a small river flowing from the Hills of Sahyadri to the Arabian Sea. This river originates at a small town called Bhira in the Indian State of Maharashtra, 150 km south east of Bombay...
. In October 1531, the Portuguese erected a new square stone fortress, named
Santa Maria do Castello, which contained a church and dwellings for 120 men. A town developed around the fortress, but a 1558 treaty precluded fortifying the town. The town was destroyed in a 1570-71 siege by the Nizam Shahi Sultan of
AhmadnagarAhmadnagar is loacted in Gujranwala District, Punjab, Pakistan.One more Ahmednagar is situated in the central parts of Maharashtra, India. Some people wrongly spell it as Ahmadnagar, but it is actually Ahmednagar....
, but a treaty was concluded which lifted the siege, and the town was rebuilt and surrounded by walls and bastions. A fort (
Korlai fortKorlai Fort is a Portuguese fortification in the town of Korlai, Maharashtra, India. It was built on an island which guards the way to the Revdanda Creek. It was meant as a companion to the fort at Chaul. At this strategic position the Portuguese could use it to defend their province which...
) was built on the
Morro de Chaul, a rocky promontory on the north side of the river opposite the town. The town withstood several further attacks, and its defense works were expanded in 1613.
Chaul was part of Portuguese India's Northern Province, which by the mid 17th century extended for 100 km along the coast of present-day
MaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located on the western coast of India. Maharashtra is a part of Western India. It is India's third largest state by area and second largest by population....
and
GujaratGujarat is the westernmost state in India. It is home to the Gujarati speaking people of India. The state encompasses major sites of the Indus Valley Civilization such as Lothal and Dholavira. Gujarat played an important role in the economic history of India throughout the history of India...
, from Chaul in the south to
DamanDaman and Diu is a union territory in India.For over 450 years, these coastal enclaves on the Arabian Sea coast were part of Portuguese India, along with Goa and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
in the north. The headquarters of the northern province was at
BaçaimVasai-Virar is a city in Maharashtra state in western India. It is located in Thane District, 50 km north of Mumbai. The city is located on the north bank of Vasai Creek, part of the estuary of the Ulhas River. The newly formed Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation is the civic body that governs...
(modern Vasai) north of Bombay.
During the later 17th and early 18th centuries Portuguese India declined economically and politically, and Chaul lost its former importance. As the power of the
Mughal EmpireThe Mughal Empire was an Islamic and Persianate imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of Hindustan by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century...
declined in the early 18th century, the
Maratha Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste or to the Maratha and Kunbi castes together; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people; historically, it describes the Maratha empire...
s expanded their control of central and western India. The Portuguese colony of
KalyanKalyan is a city in the Thane district of Maharashtra, and a major railway junction in the vicinity of Mumbai, India. It is the capital of Kalyan Taluka, an administrative subdivision of the district. The city has been combined with its neighbouring township of Dombivli to form the City...
was captured by the Marathas in 1720, and in 1737 the Maratha general Angria began a concerted campaign to capture the remaining Portuguese territories. Chaul and the Morro de Chaul came under siege in March 1739, but the siege was raised in October. After the capture of Baçaim in 1740, a peace treaty was concluded, and on 18 September 1740, Chaul was ceded by treaty to the Marathas. The city was subsequently abandoned and left in ruins.
The village of Korlai, near the ruins of Chaul, is still home to speakers of
Portuguese CreolePortuguese creoles are creole languages which have been significantly influenced by Portuguese.- Origins :Portuguese overseas exploration in the 15th and 16th century's led to the establishment of a Portuguese Empire with trading posts, forts and colonies in the Americas, Asia and Africa...
.
See also
- Battle of Diu
The Battle of Diu sometimes referred as the Second Battle of Chaul was a naval battle fought on February 3 1509 in the Indian Sea, near the port of Diu, India, between the Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, the Zamorin of Calicut and the...
- Chaul had a very important role to play in the setup to this critical battle in 1509
- Revdanda
Revdanda is a village near Alibag, India. It is 17 km away from Alibag and 125 km away from Mumbai.Till a few years ago the coastal road that goes south from Alibag used to terminate at Revdanda where it encountered the Kundalika creek. A bridge now spans the creek and the whole stretch...
- Korlai fort
Korlai Fort is a Portuguese fortification in the town of Korlai, Maharashtra, India. It was built on an island which guards the way to the Revdanda Creek. It was meant as a companion to the fort at Chaul. At this strategic position the Portuguese could use it to defend their province which...
External links