The KunhaliMarakkar or KunjaliMarakkar was the title given to the Muslim naval chief of
the Zamorin
(Samoothiri) , Hindu king of Calicut, in present day state of Kerala, India during
the 16th century. There were four major Kunhalis who played a part in the
Zamorin's naval wars with the Portuguese from 1502 to 1600. Of the four Marakkars,
KunjaliMarakkar II is the most famous. The Marakkars are credited with
organizing the first naval defence of the Indian coast, to be later succeeded
in the 18th century by the Maratha Sarkhel KanhojiAngre.
Kunjali Marakkar Memorial |
Inscriptions on the Kunjali Marakkar Memorial
at Kottakkal, Vadakara
The title of Marakkar was
given by the Zamorin. It may have been derived from the Malayalam language word marakkalam meaning ‘boat,’
and kar, a termination,
showing possession.
The four key KunhaliMarakkars:
1.
Kutti Ahmed Ali –
KunhaliMarakkar I
2.
KuttiPokker Ali – KunhaliMarakkar II
3.
PattuKunhali – KunhaliMarakkar III
4.
Mohammed Ali – KunhaliMarakkar
IV
Origins of Marakkar
According to tradition, Marakkars
were originally Muslim marine
merchants of port Kochi who
left for Ponnani in
the Zamorin's
dominion when the Portuguese fleets came to Kingdom
of Cochin. They offered their men, ships and
wealth against the Portuguese to the Zamorin of Calicut-the king took them into
his service and eventually they became the Admirals of his fleet.
Another version suggests that they
were merchants of Cairo, Egypt who settled in Kozhikode and joined the Samoothiri's
navy.
Against the Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese initially attempted to obtain trading privileges in
1498, but soon had troubles because the pressure from the Muslim Arabs over the
Zamorin, since they had traditionally been trading in his ports, and did not
want to lose the monopoly in trading spices. The Zamorin resisted these
attempts which resulted in the Portuguese trying to destabilise his rule by
negotiating a treaty with his arch enemy, the Kingdom
of Cochin in 1503. Sensing the
Portuguese superiority at sea, the Zamorin set about improving his navy. He
appointed KunjaliMarakkar to the task.
The fight between the Zamorin and
the Portuguese continued on until the end of the 16th century, when the
Portuguese convinced the Zamorin in 1598 that Marakkar IV intended to take over
his Kingdom. The Zamorin then joined hands with the Portuguese to defeat
Marakkar IV, ending in his defeat and death in 1600.
The Kunjali IV had rescued a Chinese
boy, called Chinali, who had been enslaved on a Portuguese ship. The Kunjali
was very fond of him, and he became one of his most feared lieutenants, a
fanatical Muslim and enemy of the Portuguese, terrorizing them crushing them in
battle. The Portuguese were terrorized by the Kunjali and his Chinese right
hand man, eventually, after the Portuguese allied with Calicut's Samorin, under
Andre Furtado de Mendoça they attacked the Kunjali and Chinali's forces, and
they were handed over to the Portuguese by the Samorin after he reneged on a promise
to let them go Diogo do Couto, a Portuguese historian, questioned the
Kunjali and Chinali when they were captured. He was present when the Kunjali
surrendered to the Portuguese, and was described: One of these was Chinale, a
Chinese, who had been a servant at Malacca, and said to have been the captive
of a Portuguese, taken as a boy from a fusta, and afterwards brought to
Kunhali, who conceived such an affection for him that he trusted him with everything.
He was the greatest exponent of the Moorish superstition and enemy of the
Christians in all Malabar, and for those taken captive at sea and brought
thither he invented the most exquisite kinds of torture when he martyred them. However,
de Couto's claim that he tortured Christians was questioned, since no other
source reported this, and is dismissed as ridiculous.
Key events
·
December 24, 1500 – Portuguese
(led by Pedro Álvares Cabral) take refuge at port of Kochi, where the King offers them spices.
·
1501 January – Portuguese
conclude a treaty with Tirumulpad,
the King of Kochi,
allowing them to open a feitoria there.
·
1503 – Portuguese crown the new
King of Kochi, effectively making him a vassal of the King of Portugal.
·
1503 – Portuguese Afonso de Albuquerque arrives in
Kochi to find it destroyed, and after helping in the defense of the king,
manages to obtain permission to build a fort. Thus the first European fort is built in India by 1505 called Fort Manuel or Manuel Kotta.
·
1505 November – murder of the
Portuguese factor António de Sá,
the other Portuguese men and the destruction of the church of St. Thomas in Kollam.
·
1506 – Samoothiri Raja
approached Raja of Kolathiri. The Portuguese had behaved contemptuously to the
Muslims at Kannur,
and so Raja of Kolathiri also intended to teach them a lesson. The Raja laid
siege the St. Angelos fort at
Kannur. But the Portuguese won this battle, and the Raja of Kolathiri was
forced to plea for peace.
·
1506 – Raja's naval forces join
the Turkish and Arab navies to defeat the Portuguese navy led by D. Lourenço de Almeida, son of the
Portuguese Viceroy. However, Portuguese repel the attack.
·
November 14, 1507 – Portuguese
under Almeida attacked Ponnani.
·
1508 March – Sultan of Cairo's
navy defeats Portuguese at Battle
of Chaul, killing D. Lourenço de Almeida
·
1509 February – Portuguese
counterattack and defeat the Samoothiri's forces and the Mamluk
Egyptian/Turkish Navy
at the Battle of Diu.
Turks and Egyptians withdraw from India, leaving the seas to the Portuguese.
·
1513 – Raja and Portuguese sign
a treaty giving Portuguese right to build a fort at Kozhikode, in return for their assistance in the Raja's fight with
the Kingdoms of Kochi and Kolathiri.
·
1520? – Assassination attempt
on Raja
·
February 26, 1525 – Portuguese
navy led by new Viceroy Menezes raids Ponnani, but the Raja defeats them with
assistance from Tinayancheri,
and Kurumliyapatri.
·
1530 – Formation of Chalium (also known as Challe, now Chaliyam)
fort by Portuguese – the Raja of Tanur (Vettattnad)
enabled the Portuguese to erect a fort at Chalium at the mouth of the Beypore river.
Chalium was a strategic site, for it was only 10 km south of Kozhikkode.
Raja of Chaliyam or Parappanad also helped the Portuguese. Kunhali Sword
·
1540 – Samoothiri Raja entered
into an agreement with the Portuguese and stopped the war. Treaty allows the
Portuguese a trade monopoly at Kozhikode port.
·
1550 – Portuguese attacked,
pillaged and plundered Ponnani. They set fire to several houses and four
mosques, including the ValiaPalli.
·
1569–1570 – War between the
Portuguese and Samoothiri's forces at Chaliyam fort. The battle of Talikota in
1565 in which Vijayanagar, the ally of the Portuguese, was defeated, emboldened
the Samoothiri to start large scale operations against the Portuguese.
·
1571 September 15 – Portuguese
lose the war and surrender Chaliyam fort. Samoothiri Raja destroys the fort.
·
1573 – PattuMarakkar (Kunjali
III) obtained permission from Samoothiri to build a fortress and dockyard
at Puthupattanam. This
fort later came to be called the MarakkarKotta(Marakkar
Fort).
·
1584 – Samoothiri Raja needed
free navigation without the passes of the Portuguese, to the ports of Gujarat,
Persia and Arabia, to continue his trade. So an agreement with the Portuguese
is made. The sanction to the Portuguese to build a factory at Ponnani is given.
By now the Raja has clearly shifted his policy towards the Portuguese.
·
1586 – Marakkars defeat the
Portuguese in a naval battle.
·
1588 – The Portuguese settle
again in Kozhikode with the Samoothiri's permission.
·
1589 – Marakkars inflict a
crushing defeat on the Portuguese.
·
1591 – Samoothiri Raja allows the
Portuguese to build a factory at Kozhikkode. He lays the foundation stone of
their church and grants them the necessary land and building materials. His
commanders like Kunjali III who were sworn enemies of the Portuguese were
ignored again. Kunjali III begins to distance himself from Samoothiri.
·
1595 – Kunjali IV becomes the
Chief of the Marakkars. Marakkar, who had been given the powers and privileges
of any Nair noble in the Samoothiri's service, strengthens the fortress at
Kottakal and openly challenges his master by styling himself as the "Lord
of the Indian seas". He cuts off the tail of one of Samoothiri's elephants
and ill treats a Nair noble and his wife, who had been sent to get his
explanation for the deed.
·
1598 – The rebellion by his
vassal exasperates the Samoothiri, who joins up with the Portuguese and fights
KunjaliMarakkar IV. The first joint operation goes very bad for the allies,
owing to a lack of communication between the Portuguese and the Samoothiri.
They suffer heavy losses.
·
1600 – In the second battle,
the Samoothiri attacks MarakkarKotta from the land with an army of 6000 and the
Portuguese navy under André Furtado bombards it from the sea. Left with no choice,
KunjaliMarakkar surrenders to Samoothiri on a solemn promise of pardon, but the
Samoothiri breaks his word and hands his former Admiral over to the Portuguese,
who executes him and his men, after taking them to Goa.
Tributes
·
Cochin University of
Science and Technology in
Cochin, Kerala, India, has got its new Marine Engineering department named
after Kunjali II as 'KunjaliMarakkar School Of Marine Engineering'.
·
The Indian
Navy shore-based naval air training
centre at Colaba, Mumbai is named Naval Maritime Academy INS Kunjali II in
honour of the second Marakkar.
·
The Indian Department of Post issued a Rupee 3 colour stamp commemorating the
maritime heritage of KunjaliMarakkar on 17 December 2000 on the 400th
anniversary of the end of the Marakkars. The stamp design shows the war-paroe,
a small craft used by the Kunjalis, which, manned by just 30–40 men each, could
be rowed through lagoons and narrow waters. Several of these crafts were
deployed at strategic points and they would emerge from small creeks and
inconspicuous estuaries, attack the Portuguese ships at will, inflict heavy
damage and casualties by setting fire to their sails and get back into the
safety of shallow waters. In these guerilla raids, the Marakkars had shown
remarkable prowess.
·
At Iringlal, a village about
35 km north of Kozhikode,
a small museum has been built in a hut that used to belong to the Marakkar
family, with collection of ancient swords, cannonballs and knives. This is
maintained by the State Archeology Dept
·
The KunjaliMarakkar Centre for West
Asian Studies at Calicut University is
named in honour of KunjaliMarakkar
·
In 1967 a Malayalam movie
named KunjaliMarakkar was released in which
depicted KunjaliMarakkar's heroic life
In
popular culture
In 1968, S. S. Rajan made a film
based on the lives of KunhaliMarakkar. The film, titled KunjaliMarakkar itself,
starred KottarakkaraSreedharan Nair in the
title role. That year the film won the National
Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam.
A later plan by Jayaraj to remake the movie with Mammootty in
the title role was dropped. In 2011, national award winning director
SalimAhamed announced a film in which Vikram is
expected to play the role of KunhaliMarakkar.
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