Kanhoji Angria1690-1731.
About this time the Angria family, who during the eighteenth century rose to high power both in Kolaba and in Ratnagiri, first came to notice. The founder of the family was Tukaji Sankhpal. According to Grose, a well-informed writer, Tukaji was a negro born in an island in the gulf of Ormuz, a Musalman by religion, who in 1643 was shipwrecked near Cheul. He helped Shahji in his war with the Moghals, married the daughter of Shahji's minister, and had a son named Purab who was the father of Kanhoji. [Account of Bombay, II. 214. Mr. Grose, who was a member of the Bombay Civil Service, wrote about 1750. He was well acquainted with the country, and took special interest in matters connected with the Hindu religion and with Hindu castes. The unlikeliness of the story is a strong argument in favour of its truth. Shivaji's coronation at Raygad in 1674 (see below, Places of Interest) is an example of the case of a man of comparatively low caste rising to the highest rank among Hindu warriors by careful attention to Hindu rules and by liberality to Brahmans. Examples of successful foreign warriors being admitted to be Hindus and marrying Hindu wives are given in the chapter on Thana History. Thana Statistical Account, Bombay Gazetteer, XIII 411 note 3. According to Grant Duff (History, 163) Kaahoji's father was Tukaji a distinguished officer in Shivaji's fleet.] Kanhoji, who is said to have got his name
Angria from Angarvadi a village near Harnai in Ratnagiri, was in 1690 appointed second in command of Rajaram's fleet. In 1698, on the death of Sidoji Gujar the admiral of the fleet, Kanhoji succeeded to the command. He soon showed himself a most daring and enterprising leader, plundering the ships of all nations, and sacking all undefended towns from Travankor to Bombay. He made Kolaba, the small island fort close to Alibag, his head-quarters, and established stations at Suvarndurg and Vijaydurg in Ratnagiri.
In 1699 the Sidis defeated the Marathas, overran Rajpuri and Raygad, and, in reward, were presented with Raygad by the Emperor Aurangzeb. [Nairne's Konkan, 77,] In the same year some reverses at sea led the Sidis and Portuguese to join with the Moghal in a league against Kanhoji. But Kanhoji defeated their united forces, took Sagargad, conquered the country round, and forced his opponents to agree that of the revenues of Kolaba, Khanderi, and Sagargad, two-thirds should go to Angria and one-third to the Moghals; that the, whole revenue of Rajkot, the citadel of Cheul, should belong to Angria; that tha revenue of Cheul should be divided equally between the Moghals and Angria; and that the revenue of Parhur, a village near Alibag, should belong to the Sidi.[Rao Saheb Bal Ramchandra Dhonde, Mamlatdar.] In 1705 Kanhoji Angria a Shivaji or Maratha pirate' is mentioned as harassing the trade between Bombay and the Malabar coast. In 1707 he is said to have had a fleet of considerable strength, whose one object was piracy, and to have been to some extent politically distinct from the Maratha government, though he held a port on the Maratha coast.[Bruee's Annals, III. 597, 650.] Between 1707 and 1710, during her struggle with Shahu, Tarabai, the widow of Raiaram, placed Kanhoji in charge of the coast from Bombay to feavantvadi with authority in Rajmaehi near the Bor pass and over the district of Kalyan which seems to have stretched some distance north of Bhiwndi. [Land grants of Angrias are recorded ten miles north of Bhiwndi. Mr. W, F. Sinclair in Ind. Ant. IV. 65.] In 1713 Shahu sent a force under the Peshwa Bahirupant Pingle to protect the inland parts of the Konkan and check the spread of A'ngria's power. On hearing of the Peshwa's advance, Kanhoji marched to meet him, defeated him, and made him prisoner. He took the forts of Lohgad and Rajmachi near Khandala in west Poona, and prepared to march on Satara. All available troops were brought against him and placed under the command of Balaji Vishvanath. Aware of Kanhoji's abilities, enterprise, and resource, Balaji agreed that if Kanhoji set the Peshwa free, gave up his alliance with Sambhaji, supported Shahu, and restored all his conquests except Rajmachi, he would receive ten forts and sixteen fortified posts commanding the whole of the Konkan from Devgad in the south to Khanderi in the north, and would be confirmed as admiral of the Maratha fleet with the titles of Vizarat Mal and Sarkhel. [Grant Duff, 193. The ten forts were Khanderi (Kenery) and Kolaba on the Alibag coast, Avchitgad in Kolaba, and Suvarndurg, Vijaydurg, Jaygad, Yashvantgad, Devdurg, Kanakdurg, and Fatehgad in Ratnagiri.] As Shrivardhan and others of the fortified
posts which the Peshwa had made over to Angria were in the Sidi's hands, the treaty was followed by an outbreak of hostilities between Kanhoji and the Sidi, But as the Peshwa came to Angria's help the Sidi was forced to yield. These concessions made Kanhoji practically independent. He fixed his head-quarters in the strong fortress of Gheria or Vijaydurg, about thirty miles south of Ratnagiri, and his cruisers scoured the sea. [Nairne's Konkan, 79.] Almost the whole coast from Bombay to Goa was in his hand, and there was scarcely a creek, harbour, or river-mouth where he had not fortifications and a boat station.
His Fleet.
About the same time the decay of Portuguese power and the withdrawal of the Moghal claims to the Konkan (1720) further increased Angria's importance. [In 1720, when the Moghal claims to the
Konkan were withdrawn, Balaji Vishvanath the first Peshwa drew up schemes for collecting and distributing the revenues and for preserving a common interest among the Marathas. Under Balaji's scheme the Angrias paid to the Satara ruler tribute in military stores and in European and Chinese wares. They were also sometimes charged with the duty of executing state criminals. Grant Duff, 204.] The hope of plunder drew to Kanhoji's standard numerous adventurers, including renegade Christians mostly Dutch and Portuguese, Arabs, Musalmans, Negroes, a most daring and desperate band. [Low's Indian Navy, I. 97] Kanhoji's fleet was composed of grabs and gallivats, ranging from 150 to 200 tons burden. The grabs carried broadsides of six and nine-pounder guns, and on their main decks were mounted two nine or twelve pounders pointed forwards through port-holes cut in the bulk-heads and designed to
be fired over the hows. The gallivats carried light guns fixed on swivels.; some also mounted six or eight
pieces of cannon, from two to four pounders, and all were impelled by forty or fifty stout oars. Eight or ten of these grabs and forty or fifty gallivats, crowded with men, formed the whole fleet, and, even with smaller numbers, their officers often ventured to attack armed ships of considerable burden. The plan of their assault was this. Observing from their anchorage in some secure bay that a vessel was in the offing, they would slip their cables and put to sea, sailing if there was a breeze, if not making the gallivats take the grabs in tow. When within shot, they generally gathered as soon as they could astern of their victim, firing into her rigging until they succeeded in disabling her. They then drew nearer and battered her on all sides until. she yielded. If she refused to yield, a number of gallivats, having two or three hundred men on each, closed with her, and the crews, sword in hand, boarded her from all sides. [Bombay Quarterly Review, III. 56]
His Piracies.
In 1717 Kanhoji seized the British ship Success and withstood a British attack on the fort of Vijaydurg. In October 1718 an English squadron attacked Khanderi which was then held by Angria. The English were shorthended and in spite of the offer of extremely liberal terms only forty men wore induced to join the expedition.[ On the evening of the first day of the attack the Governor, Mr Boone, issued a notice that it any one would volunteer for the next day's service, he would be paid £4 (Rs. 40) on returning to Bombay, and that if any one lost a leg or an arm he would be taken to London, paid £30 (Rs. 300) on arriving there, and be employed in the Company's service for the rest of his life. Low's Indian Navy, I, 98.]
Through the treachery of a Kamati who placed the garrison on their guard and of a Portuguese captain who allowed succours to pass to the island, the small British force was driven off with heavy loss. In 1720 Kanhoji's fleet seized a second English vessel and carried her into Vijaydurg. Irritated by these failures and insults, the English and Portuguese fitted out a joint expedition against Vijaydurg. They entered the river and burnt sixteen of A'ngria's vessels, but failed to make any impression on the fort. [Bombay Quarterly Review, III. 57.] Delighted by these successes Kanhoji wrote a taunting letter to the Bombay Government and scoffed at the efforts made to injure him. [The following curious specimen of Kanhoji Angria's letter writing is from Grant Duffs Marathas, 203-204: " I received your Excellency's letter and have understood all your Excellency writes. ' That the differences that continue even until new are through my means; that the desire of possessing what is another's is a thing very wide of reason; that suchlike insults are asort of piracy; that such proceedings cannot continue long; that had I from my beginning cultivated trade and favoured the merchant, the port I now govern might, by the divine favour, have in some measure vied with the great port of Surat, and my name have become famous. 'All this,' your Excellency says, 'is not to be brought about but by opening a fair trade; that he that is least expert in war generally comes off a sufferer thereby; and, that he who follows it purely through a love that he hath thereto, will one time or another find cause to repent; that if I had considered this something sooner, I might have found some benefit and convenience there by. Your Excellency says, 'you are very well acquainted with the manner of my government from its beginning, and for that reason you would not on any account open a treaty with me until I Set at liberty the people of your nation that are prisoners here; after that, you would. receive any proposition from me that was friendly, or might tend to an accommodation.'
"All of this I very greatly admire, especially when I find your Excellency persuaded that I have been the cause of the past differences and disputes; the truth of which your Excellency will soon find when you examine both sides. Touching the desire of possessing what is another's I do not find the merchants exempt from this sort of ambition, for this is the way of the world; for God gives nothing immediately from himself but takes from one to give to another. Whether this is right or no who is able to determine? It little behaves merchants to say that our government is supported by violence, insults, and piracies. The Maharaja Shivaji made war with four kings, and founded and established his power. This was our beginning. Whether by these means this government hath proved durable your Excellency well knows; so likewise did your predecessors. Whether it is durable or no I would have your Excellency consider, it is certain nothing in this world is durable, which if your Excellency does consider, the way of this world is well known."
'' Your Excellency is pleased to say, ' If I had regard to the weal of the people, and favoured commerce, my power would be much augmented, and my port become like the port of Surat.' But I never have been wanting in favour to merchants who trade according to the laws of this country, nor in chastising those who break these laws, as your Excellency well knows. ' The increase of power depends on the divine will in which human diligence little avails.' Until this day I have kept up the power that was necessary: whether I shall continue it or no who can tell? That will be as God is pleased to determine."
" Your Excellency is pleased to write, ' That war proves most fatal to those where the use of the sword is not understood.' But in the Government of His Excellency Charles Boone, nobody can say there was not loss on both sides; for victories depend on the hand of God, and for this reason great men take little notice of such Josses. Your Excellency is pleased to write, 'That he who follows war purely through an inclination that he hath "thereto, one time or another will find cause to repent.' Of this I suppose your Excellency hath found proof; for we are not always victorious, nor always unfortunate. Your Excellency is pleased to write, ' That you well understood the manner of my government, and, for that reason, that you could not enter upon any treaty of peace with me, unless I would first set at liberty the people of your nation, that are
prisoners.' I very well know your Excellency understands the manner of my government from its beginning, therefore this gives me no wonder; but if your Excellency says you will admit any proposition after having your people released, I must then likewise say my people are prisoners under your Excellency: How can I then give liberty to yours? If your Excellency's intent was cordially to admit any overtures of peace for ending our present disputes, and if you really write to me for that end concerning the liberty of your people I am to assure you my intent is cordially the game. It is therefore necessary that some person of character intervene, and act as guarantee between us to whom I will presently send your Excellency's people. Your Excellency will afterwards do the like by mine. The prisoners on both sides, having by this means obtained their liberty, afterwards we shall enter on what relates to our friendship and treaty of peace for the avoidance of prejudice, on both sides. For this end I now write to your Excellency, which I hope will meet with regard; and if your Excellency's intention be to treat of peace and friendship, be pleased to send an answer to this, that, conformable thereto, I may consider on what is most proper to be done. As your Excellency is a man of understanding, I need say no more.]
In 1722 a second joint attack of Portuguese troops and
three English ships of the line under Commodore Mathews was beaten off by the Kolaba garrison, owing to the cowardice or treachery of the Portuguese, and in 1724 the Vijaydurg garrison were equally triumphant in withstanding a formidable Dutch attack with seven ships, two bomb vessels, and a body of troops. Emboldened by these successes in 1727, Kanhoji attacked English vessels and took a richly laden Company's ship.
In 1728 Kanhoji seemed inclined to come to terms with the English. But, in 1729, he captured the Company's galley King William and took Captain McNeale prisoner. This officer, after a fruitless attempt to escape, was loaded with irons and so severely beaten that his life was despaired of. In 1730 the Bombay Government entered into an offensive and defensive alliance with Phond Savant of Vadi against the Angrias. Kanhoji died in 1731. [The date of Kanhoji's death is doubtful. According to Grant Duff (History, 230) and Nairne (Konkan, 80) his death took place in 1728. According to Low (Indian Navy, I. 104) and Grose, quoted by Low, Kanhoji died in 1731. The fact that Kanhoji's name is mentioned in the treaty between the English and the Sayantvadi Chief in 1730 supports Grose's date.] Grose describes him as dark well-set and corpulent, 'quite the opposite of the fair, lean, and wiry Shivaji.' He was full-faced with a sparkling eye and stern countenance, very severe in his commands, and exact in punishing. Otherwise he was liberal to his officers and soldiers with whom he affected a sort of military frankness, not to say familiarity. He
was too like the Marathas to be very careful of keeping faith, and excused himself for not making peace because he knew that his promises could not be trusted. [Grose's Account of Bombay, I. 95.]
Sakhoji Angria, 1731-1733.
He left six sons, two legitimate Sakhoji and Sambhaji, and four illegitimate Tulaji, Manaji, Dhondji, and Yesaji. [In 1840, when direct heirs failed, a descendant of Yesaji's contended that Yesaji was a legitimate son. But the claim was apparently unfounded.] The two legitimate sons divided their father's possessions, Sakhoji the elder establishing himself at Kolaba, and Sambhaji the younger at Suvarndurg in Ratnagiri. This division greatly reduced the power of the Angrias. In 1731, while Sakhoji the Kolaba chief was helping the Peshwa Chimnaji Appa in an attack on Janjira, Ghazi Khan, a Moghal noble, established himself in Musalman or Upper Cheul, and overran and wasted the lands of Kolaba. Turning from Janjira the Peshwa and Sakhoji marched together against
Ghazi Khan, defeated him, took him prisoner, and destroyed Rajkot the citadel of Musalman Cheul. [Rao Saheb Bal Ramchandra.] In 1732, as their wars were ruining the country, the Sidi, though he kept possession of Raygad fort, ceded the Peshwa half of Rajpuri, including the petty divisions of Tala, Ghosale, Nizampur, Ghodegaon, Birvadi, and half of Govale in the present sub-divisions of Roha and Mangaon. [Jervia' Konkan,
133. According to Grant Duff (233), the date of this cession was 1635.]
Manaji Angria,1733-1759.
In 1733 Sakhoji sent envoys to Bombay to make overtures for peace, but he died before the close of the year (1733). He was succeeded by his brother Sambhaji, who, choosing to stay at Suvarndurg with his half-brother Tulaji, appointed his other half-brothers Yesaji to the civil charge and Manaji to the naval and military command of Kolaba. Shortly after, Manaji quarrelled with his brothers Sambhaji and Yesaji, and unable to
stand against his brothers' superior force, took shelter with the Portuguese at Lower Cheul or Revdanda. Before long he left Revdanda, and, bringing together a few followers, surprised and seized the fort of Kolaba. Manaji was now the undisputed master of Kolaba, and, with the help of the Peshwa, defeated Yesaji and made him prisoner. His eyes were put out, and he was confined at Poynad and then at Alibag. From Alibag he escaped to the Peshwa, who decided that be had no claim on Kolaba, and, on his engaging not again to break the peace, settled ten khandis of rice and £40 (Rs. 400) a month on him and sent him to Revdanda. [Bom. Gov. Rec. Pol. Dep. (1840). 1107, 21.] Manaji successfully resisted Sambhaji's efforts to displace him, and, forming an alliance with Shahu, tried to gain the fort of Anjanvel from the Sidi. The Bombay Government sent some gullies to help the Sidi. But, as they were ordered to take no active part in the contest, they were of little use, and the Marathas increased their power. The Peshwa took possession of Raygad and Mahad, and Manaji seized some vessels and established himself at Revas on the Pen river. As the Bombay Government could not allow Manaji to establish his power in the Bombay harbour, four cruisers were sent against him, but from discord among the British commanders the whole of Angria's fleet except one grab was allowed to escape. Meanwhile the British and the Sidi joined in an alliance against Angria. They agreed that all prizes made at sea should be given to the English, and all prizes made on land to the Sidi; that if Khanderi was taken it should be handed to the English; that the fort of Kolaba should be demolished; and that the revenues of Kolaba were to be equally divided between the Sidi and the British. [Aitchison's Treaties, IV. (1876), 329-330.] In 1736, Sambhaji from Vijaydurg took the richly laden English ship Derby, the armed ship Restoration and several other smaller vessels.
In 1738 Sambhaji arrived at Alibag from Vijaydurg, and tried to oust Manaji from Kolaba. Manaji received help from the Bombay Government in stores and money, and by the aid of the Peshwa drove off Sambhaji. In return for the Peshwa's
assistance Manaji gave up the forts of Kothligad and Rajmachi near Khandala, and agreed to pay a yearly tribute of £700 (Rs. 7000) and to provide European and Chinese articles worth £300 (Rs. 3000) more. [Crant Duff, 237. Mr. Bal adds that under this agreement, besides Kothligad and Rajmachi, the forts of Thal, Tirgad, and Uran vere made over to the Peshwa.] Besides helping Manaji with money and stores, the Bombay Government sent some ships which dispersed Sambhaji's fleet and forced them to take shelter in the Rajpuri creek. [Bom. Quar. Rev. IV. 76.] Little damage was done, and so successful were Sambhaji's raids on English shipping, that he ventured to suggest a peace on condition that the Bombay Government should provide their vessels with his passes and pay him a yearly sum of £200,000 (Rs. 20,00,000).[Bom, Quar. Rev. IV. 76.] These proposals were rejected. Manaji whom the Bombay Government had helped in his wars with his brother Sambhaji turned out a faithless ally. He gave much trouble to Bombay, seizing English vessels and taking possession of Elephanta and Karanja. On a promise to make restitution a hollow peace was concluded. [Bom. Quar, Rev. IV. 77.] In 1739, while the Portuguese were besieged at Bassein by the Marathas under Chimnaji Appa, Manaji blocked the sea approach, thus cutting off all supplies. In 1740 a Portuguese fleet was destroyed by Angria, and on the 14th October of the same year when articles of peace were signed between the Peshwa and the Viceroy of Goa, the Portuguese handed Cheul to the English who had acted as mediators, and in November, after the Marathas had fulfilled their part of the conditions, the English delivered Cheul to them. [Bom, Quar. Rev. IV. 89. The account of the cession of Cheul in the Quarterly
Review based on English records is in harmony with the Portuguese records. (Dr. Da Cunha, 5th Oct. 1882). According to Grant Duff (History, 256), in the beginning of 1741 the Marathas attacked and took Cheul the last place remaining to the Portuguese between Goa and Daman. Grant Duff's statement based on Maratha MSS. is not clear and does not agree with what he states in another passage (247). According to the other passage, in 1740 Sambhaji Angria attacked Manaji's territory and took Cheul among other places. It is hard to understand how in 1741 (January) the Marathas took Cheul' the last place remaining to the Portuguese,' if in 1740 it fell into the hands of Sambhaji as part of Manaji's territory.]
Sambhaji Angria,1740-1748.
In 1740, with the help of his half-brother Tulaji, Sambhaji again attacked Manaji's territory, took Alibag, Thal, and Sagargad, laid siege to Kolaba, and cut off the garrison s supply of fresh water. In these straits Manaji sent to the Peshwa Balaji Bajirav, who calling on the Bombay Government to help, attacked the besiegers, and took Tulaji prisoner. The English ships chased Sambhaji's fleet to the Ratnagiri coast, and forced Sambhaji to retire to Suvarndurg. [Bom. Quar, Rev. IV. 77.] No further steps were taken, as Manaji, finding that the Peshwa's officers were scheming to take possession of Kolaba, patched up a truce with Sambhaji, and the designs of the Peshwa's officers were stopped by the news of Bajirav's death. Sambhaji, free from the risk of attack from the north, spread his power over the greater part of Savantvadi (1740) and shortly after (1744) over the Ratnagiri sub-division of Dabhol. [Jervis' Konkan, 112.]
Tulaji Angria,1748-1755.
Among his fleet were eight vessels of 400 tons each. In 1747 Manaji's districts were unsuccessfully attacked by the Peshwa's commandant of Mahuli fort near the Tal pass in Thana. Shortly after this the Janjira Sidis sent a strong force against Kolaba, but, with the Peshwa's help, the Sidis were completely defeated between Thal and Nagaon a few miles north of Alibag. In 1748 Sambhaji died and was succeeded by his half-brother Tulaji. The new chief proved no less destructive to British shipping than his brother. In 1749 he attacked Commodore James' fleet, and after a hard fight was driven with great loss to Gheria. Next year, in spite of his
defeat, Tulaji was bold enough to attack Commodore Lisle in command of a fleet of several vessels, among them the Vigilant of sixty-four and the Ruby of fifty guns. [Milburn'a Oriental Commerce, I. 296.] Again, in February 1754, he attacked three Dutch ships of fifty, thirty-six, and eighteen guns, burnt the two large ones, and took the third. So great were the strength and activity of Angria's fleet that it cost the East India Company £50,000 (Rs. 5,00,000) a year to protect their trade. [Low's Indian Navy, I. 124.] Elated with this success Tulaji built several vessels, set two large ships on the stocks, and boasted that he would soon be master of the Indian seas.
Siege of Gheria,1755.
For long the peshwa and the Bombay Government planned his ruin. At last, in 1755, it was settled that, in the next fair season, the Peshwa's troops should attack Tulaji from land and the British by sea. At the close of the year (Dec. 22, 1755) Commodore James was sent to survey Gheria fort, which was then thought to be as strong as Gibraltar. He found that ships could get within point-blank shot; that, on shore, a diversion could be made by carrying guns to the tope; of two hills; and that the fort was crowded with unprotected buildings. The place was surprisingly unlike what he had heard. [I assure you, Sir, it is not to be called high, nor, in my opinion, strong. It is indeed a large mass of buildings, and I believe the walls may be thick. But that part of the works which fell under my observation and which was three-quarters of their circumference is quite irregular, with round towers and long curtains in the eastern manner, and which discovered only thirty-two embrazures below and fifteen above. Commodore James, 21st December 1755, Ives' Voyages, 80.] The Bombay Government were fortunate in having in their harbour a Royal Squadron under Admiral Watson, and a strong detachment of troops under Lieutenant-Colonel afterwards Lord Clive. On the 7th of April 1756, the fleet of twelve men-of-war, six of the Royal and six of the Company's navy, with 800 European and 600 Native troops, and five bomb vessels with a company of artillery, and four Maratha grabs and forty gallivats, sailed from Bombay. [The details were: Royal Squadron, one 70 guns, one 66 guns, one 60 guns, one 50 guns, one 20 guns, and one 16 guns; Company's Squadron, one 44 guns, four 28 guns, and one 16 guns. Of the Native troops 300 were Portuguese and 300 sepoys. Low's Indian Navy, I. 134. These details differ slightly from those given by Orme. Hist. Frag. 408-417 in Nairne's Konkan, 92.] A few vessels were sent ahead to block the harbour and the fleet arrived off Gheria on the eleventh. The Maratha land force, which had been afield for some time, was camped against Gheria. On the
arrival of the British fleet, Tulaji Angria, terrified by its strength, left the fort in his brother's charge and surrendered to the Maratha general. On the next morning (12th), hearing that the Maratha general had extorted from Tulaji an order for the delivery of the fortress, Admiral Watson summoned the fort to surrender. As no answer was sent, the fleet formed two divisions and sailed in with the afternoon sea breeze, each ship covering a bomb ketch, and protecting the column of smaller vessels from the enemy's fire. They passed the point into the river, and, anchoring fifty yards off the north fortifications, under a heavy fire, battered them from 150 pieces of cannon. Angria's ships were all fastened together under the fort, and a shell setting one on fire the whole were burnt. [One ship of 74 guns, eight grabs of from 20 to 30 guns, and sixty gallivats. Low's Indian Navy, I. 136. Of Angria's ships Dr. Ives (1755) writes; ' They are not unlike the Tartans of the Mediterranean only a great deal lower; they carry two guns in the bow and vast numbers of men. Their music is a plain brass tube, shaped like a trumpet at both ends and about ten feet long and a drum called a tom tom, a skin stretched on a large shallow brass pan, on which they strike with two large sticks and make an amazing noise. Among them are two ketches which they call grabs.' Several of the gallivats had blue or green or white pendants like the Portuguese at the masthead, and one had a white flag with a red cross in the middle. Ives' Voyage, 43, 80.] Another shell set fire to the buildings in the fort, and the tremendous cannonade silenced the guns. [According to another account the same fire which burnt the ships passed to a large vessel lying on the shore, and from her to several smaller craft that were building. From the building yard it made its way to the arsenals, store-house, suburbs, and city, and even to several parts of the fort, particularly to a square tower where it continued burning all the night with such violence that the stone walls appeared like red-hot iron. Ives' Voyage, 85.] Still the commandant held out. To prevent the fort being handed over to the Marathas Colonel Olive landed and held the ground between the Peshwa's army and the fort. Next morning the Admiral again summoned the fort to surrender. The commandant asked for time to consult his brother. A respite was granted, but, as no answer came, the bombardment was re-opened in the afternoon. By live o'clock the garrison surrendered, and Colonel Clive marched in and took possession. [According to Dr. Ives (Voyage, 85), Colonel Clive in making his approaches from the land greatly annoyed the enemy. At a quarter past five he came to the Admiral's ship bringing an officer from the fort with the articles of capitulation. These were agreed to by himself and the two Admirals, and an English officer was sent to take possession of the fort and to hoist English colours. Then Captains Forbes and Buchanan were detached with sixty men to see the garrison lay down their arms, and, on the 14th at sunrise, the Colonel and the whole army marched into the place.]
Full of Gheria,1755.
Though the masonry was destroyed the rock defences were perfect.
A determined garrison need not have yielded to any sea attack.
Fifteen hundred prisoners were taken eight Englishmen [Ives (Voyage, 88) gives the names of ten English.] and three Dutchmen were rescued; and plunder, amounting besides stores to £125,000 (Rs. 12,50,000), was divided among the captors. [Milburn's Oriental Commerce, I. 296. In Gheria were found 250 cannon, six brass
mortars, an immense quantity of stores and ammunition, £10,000 in silver rupees, and 430,000 in valuable effects (Ives' Voyage, 86). According to Dr. Ives (Voyage, 81-82), a council of sea and land officers which was held before setting out on the expedition, to avoid disputes, had settled that Admiral Watson as Commander-in-Chief of the king's squadron should have two-thirds of one-eighth of the spoil, and Bear Admiral Pocock one-third of one eighth, while Lieut.-Colonel Clive and Major Chambers were to share equally with the captains of king's ships. The captains of the Company's ships and captains of the army were to share equally with lieutenants of men-of-war and subaltern officers of the army, and lieutenants of the Company's ships with warrant officers of the navy. Afterwards, as the officers of the army objected to their Commander-in-Chief sharing with Captains of men-of-war. Admiral Watson undertook to make Colonel Olive's portion equal to Admiral Pocock's. Under this arrangement, after Gheria fell, a sum of about £1000 was found due to Colonel Clive from Admiral Watson. This Admiral Watson sent with his compliments, but Colonel Clive was generous enough to refuse it, saying that he would not deprive the Admiral of the contents of his. private purse, and that he had appeared to accept of the terms only for the good of the service.] The
ruin of Angria's navy was completed by the destruction of two sixty gun ships on the stocks. Four of the Company's vessels and a detachment of 600 European and Native troops wrere left to guard the harbour and fort. [Nairne'a Konkan, 95.] Tulaji Angria remained a prisoner till his death. [According to one (Grant Duff, 292; Low's Indian Navy,I. 136) account, he was first confined near Raygad in Kolaba; according to another account he was kept in Vandan near Satara, and afterwards in Sholapur. His tomb and those of his six wives, one of whom became a sati, are shown at Vijaydurg.] According to the agreement made in the preceding year (1755) Bankot, with eight surrounding villages, and Dasgaon were made over to the British. [Aitchison's Treaties, V. 17.] The Bombay Government were very anxious to keep Gheria, and offered to give Bankot in exchange. But the Peshwa would not agree and Gheria was handed over in the following October. The Peshwa made it the head-quarters of a district and the seat of his Admiral Anandrav Dhulap, whose descendants are still settled at Vijaydurg. Under the Peshwa piracy flourished as vigorously as under Angria. [In 1780 Anandrav attacked and captured an English ship carrying despatches to the Court of Directors, and imprisoned an officer in Rasalgad near Mahabaleshvar. Again in April 1782, in spite of a gallant resistance, he captured the Ranger, a ship of the Bombay Marine. In 1800 Lieutenant Hayes was sent to harass the pirates, but, though he punished them severely, they were soon as troublesome as ever. In May 1818 Colonel Imlack, attempting to take Vijaydurg, was met by so heavy a fire that his ships were forced to cut their cables and run.. But the whole of the district had now passed to the British, and in June of the same year the commandants, two brothers of the Dhulap family, surrendered. In the river was taken the Admiral's ship, 156 feet long, 33 beam, and 430 tons burden.]
Death of Manji, 1759.
In 1757 when Manaji was in the Deccan helping the Peshwa against the Nizam, his lands were invaded and plundered by the
Sidis. On his return (1758) Manaji drove them out of his territory, but failed in an attack on Danda-Rajpuri.[Rao Saheb Bal Ramchandra.] Manaji died in 1759. In spite of the troubled times in which he ruled, Manaji, with the help of his brother Dhondji, is said to have added to the revenue and improved the condition, of his state. [Mr. Dunlop, 15th August 1824, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 121 of 1825,13-14.] He was succeeded by Raghoji, the first Angria of that name, the eldest of his ten illegitimate sons. [The names were Raghoji, Mahimaji, Chimnaji, Dhondoji, Krishnaji, Tulaji, Hiroji, Takoji, Sambhaji, and Ramaji.]
Raghoji Anaria 1759-1793.
On Manaji's death the Janjira troops attacked the Kolaba territory, destroyed many temples, and laid waste many villages, but with the
Peshwa's help Raghoji succeeded in driving them out. He attacked
the Sidi fort on the island of Underi near Khanderi, took it after
a severe struggle, and presented it to the Peshwa in return for
the help given by the Peshwa's troops. Raghoji, though little
more scrupulous than other Angrias in his raids on trading
ships, was a good ruler and did much to improve his territory by
free grants of salt-marsh at Cheul, Akshi, Thal, and other coast
villages. Forbes, who visited Alibag in 1771, found Raghoji living
in the island fort of Kolaba, though his palace, treasury, stables,
and gardens were on the mainland in Alibag. He was a man of
comely person, pleasing countenance, and princely manners. He paid
the Peshwa a yearly tribute of £20,000 (Rs. 2,00,000), and held his
lands on military tenure furnishing a supply of troops. The district
seems to have been fairly prosperous. It was barren and rocky in
parts, but there were cultivated plains enlivened by a busy peasantry.
There were many travellers and droves of oxen. The valley of the
Cheul river between Kolaba and Roha was populous and cultivated.
Alibag also was pleasant and well-tilled. [Forbes' Oriental Memoirs, I. 207, 209, 811, 223.]
Manaji Angria,1793-1817.
Raghoji died in 1793, leaving by his wife Anandibai, a lady of the Bhonsle family, two legitimate sons Manaji and Kanhoji both of them children, and an illegitimate son of mature age Jaysing. Jaysing appointed the infant Manaji to the chiefship, but by failing to refer the matter to Poona, incurred the displeasure of the Peshwa. [Grant Duff, 607.] At the same time Anandibai, Manaji's mother, jealous of Jaysing's influence over her son, laid a plot for his destruction. Hearing of the plot, Jaysing arrested and executed two of her chief advisers, threw four of them into prison, and banished all the members of the Bhonsle family from the territory. On this the Peshwa sent troops against Jaysing under the command of Madhavrav Phadke and Jivaji. Jaysing met them at Sangam near Khandala. The result of the fight was doubtful, but the Poona troops pushed on to Sakhar and burnt Angria's fleet. At Sakhar they were again attacked by Jaysing and completely defeated with the loss of their leader. Disappointed in her hope of further help from the Peshwa, Anandibai gathered troops, besieged the Kolaba fort, imprisoned Jaysing, and executed his chief adviser. After four months Jaysing escaped, and collecting some followers besieged Hirakot in Alibag. Anandibai led an army against the besiegers, and, in a bloody and hard-fought battle, defeated Jaysing with such loss that he fled to Poona. In Jaysing's absence his wife Sankuvarbai collected some troops and succeeded in taking Nagothna. On hearing of his wife's success Jaysing returned from Poona, won several battles, and (1796) so utterly defeated the rival army near Cheul, that Manaji with a few followers fled to Mahad and Anandibai died of vexation. Jaysing marched to Alibag and took the forts of Hirakot, Sagargad, and Khanderi.
Hearing that the Peshwa had promised to help Manaji, Jaysing applied for aid to Baburav, Sindia's commander-in-chief who was
a relation of His own, a son of Yesaji who was blinded by Manaji I. in 1733. Baburav agreed to come to Jaysing's assistance. But as he had much influence with Sindia, he arranged that any attempt of his to gain possession of Kolaba would have the Peshwa's support. With this understanding Baburav set out for Alibag and picking a quarrel with Jaysing, with the help of Daulatrav Sindia and his general Haripant, took the Alibag fort of Hirakot, and treacherously seized Manaji, Kanhoji, and Jaysing. Sankuvarbai, Jaysing's wife, once more came to her husband's help, and took the fort of Khanderi. In 1799 Manaji, who with his brother Kanhoji had fled to Poona, returned with a few followers. But after two defeats, at Cheul and at Nagothna, both he and Kanhoji were again made prisoners. Baburav, who was now undisputed master was invested with the chief ship by the Peshwa Bajirav. Soon after he attempted without success to take Khanderi from Jaysing's wife. On the failure of his attack Baburav promised to set Jaysing free if Sankuvarbai gave up the fort. Khanderi was handed over, but instead of releasing Jaysing, Baburav put him to death and threw his wife and children into prison. Jaysing's eldest son escaped to Bombay, and in 1807, collecting a force of 2000 men, placed it under the command of one Bachaji Shet, a goldsmith of Revdanda. Bachaji captured the fort of Hirakot in Alibag and Sagargad. But Baburav, getting help from the British by sea and from the Peshwa by land, and bribing Bachaji's officers, captured him and some of his leading supporters and either hanged them or hurled them down the Sagargad rocks. In 1813 Baburav died, and for a year after his death the state was managed by his widow. Then Manaji proclaimed himself chief and his claim was recognised by the Peshwa, who, in return for his support, received the island of Khanderi and twenty villages yielding a yearly revenue of £1000 (Rs. 10,000).[These villages were restored to Angria in 1818, a few days before the outbreak of hostilities between the Peshwa and tne English.] These troubles and disorders caused such injury to Kolaba, that the yearly revenue fell to about £30,000 (Rs. 3,00,000). Manaji died in 1817.
