Latest / The Rise of Colonialism: How Europe Divided the World — Fexingo History / The Maratha Navy: The Asian Fleet That Defeated the Portuguese
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about European powers carving up the world from the sea. But there's a lesser-known story that flips the script. In the early 1700s, the Maratha Empire in western India built a navy that actually held its own against the Portuguese, the British, and the Dutch. It's the story of Kanhoji Angre and the Maratha Navy. Luna: Wait, the Marathas had a navy? I thought they were all about land-based cavalry. Lucas: That's the common perception, but the Marathas, especially under Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, understood the importance of naval power. Shivaji built a string of coastal forts and a fleet to protect his kingdom from the Siddis of Janjira and the European traders. But it was Kanhoji Angre who took that navy to its peak. He essentially became the admiral of the Maratha fleet and made life miserable for the European colonial powers along the Konkan coast. Lucas: And you know, it's because of that maritime strength that we can still have these conversations without ads. We deliberately don't run ads on Fexingo History. If you want to support that choice, the link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small gesture that keeps our episodes ad-free and independent. Luna: That's a good reminder, especially since so many history podcasts are sponsored by some random mattress company. Lucas: Exactly. Now, back to the Maratha Navy. Kanhoji Angre wasn't just a pirate, though the Europeans loved to call him that. He was a legitimate admiral of the Maratha Empire, with a commission from the Chhatrapati. He controlled the coastline from Mumbai down to Goa, using a network of forts like Vijaydurg and Suvarnadurg as his bases. Luna: And he actually defeated the Portuguese? That's a big deal. Lucas: He did more than that. He forced the Portuguese to pay him chauth, which was essentially a protection tax. And he didn't just tax them — he captured their ships. In 1720, he took the Nossa Senhora do Cabo, a Portuguese vessel loaded with treasure, right off the coast. That was a huge embarrassment for the Portuguese, who had once dominated the Indian Ocean. Lucas: His fleet was made up of these fast, maneuverable ships called ghurabs and gallivats. The ghurab was a three-masted vessel, and the gallivat was a smaller, faster boat used for boarding. They were perfect for the shallow waters and rocky coves of the Konkan coast, which the big European ships couldn't navigate easily. Luna: So he used the geography to his advantage. That's clever. Lucas: Definitely. And he had a network of informants and spies up and down the coast. He knew every ship that passed, what it carried, and where it was going. He could intercept them almost at will. The Europeans tried to form alliances against him, but he would just switch sides or play them against each other. It was brilliant realpolitik. Luna: But there was also the Siddi of Janjira, right? They were another naval power in the region. Lucas: Exactly. The Siddis were an African-origin community who controlled the island fortress of Janjira, and they were allied with the Mughals. They were the Marathas' biggest rivals for naval supremacy. There were constant skirmishes between the two, and the Europeans often tried to play them off against each other. But Kanhoji managed to keep both the Siddis and the Europeans at bay. Lucas: His most famous battle was the Battle of Suvarnadurg in 1720. The Portuguese, with help from the British, tried to take the fort of Suvarnadurg by sea. Kanhoji's fleet intercepted them, and after a fierce fight, he drove them off. The Portuguese admiral was killed, and the Marathas captured several ships. It was a decisive victory that cemented Maratha naval power for decades. Luna: It's amazing how little I knew about this. The Europeans definitely didn't write the history books on this one. Lucas: That's exactly why we tell these stories. After Kanhoji died in 1729, the Maratha Navy slowly declined. His successors weren't as effective, and the British eventually grew too powerful. But for those three decades, the Marathas proved that Asian powers could not only resist but actively challenge European colonialism at sea. Lucas: It's a reminder that the era of European dominance wasn't inevitable. It was contested everywhere, even on the water. I think that's a story worth remembering. Luna: Definitely. I'm going to look up more about Kanhoji Angre after this.