The Battle of Vijaydurg was fought between Tulaji Angre, the Admiral of the
Maratha
The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...
Navy and the combined forces of the East India Company and the Marathas led by Nanasaheb Peshwa in early 1756.
Sarkhel Tulaji
After the death of
Kanhoji Angre
Kanhoji Angre (Marathi: कान्होजी आंग्रे, Help:IPA/Marathi, anʱod͡ʒiː aːŋɡɾe, also known as Conajee Angria or Sarkhel Angré (August 1669 – 4 July 1729) was a chief of the Maratha Navy in present-day Ind ...
, there were two short tenures of Sarfoji and Sambhaji Angre. Following it, the two brothers Manaji and Tulaji started fighting for the post of Sarkhel.
Nanasaheb Peshwa
Baji Bajirao (8 December 1720 – 23 June 1761), also known as Nana Saheb I, was the 8th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy in India. He was appointed as Peshwa in 1740 upon the death of his illustrious father, the Peshwa Bajirao I.
During ...
had intervened in the disputes between Manaji and Tulaji. This created two spheres of influence, Manaji in the north at Kulaba and Tulaji in the south at Vijaydurg.
[Naravane, M. S.; Battles of the Honorary East India Company: Making of the Raj, op cit page 103, New Delhi, 2006] Tulaji was brave and a much more skillful seaman than Manaji. In a brief span, he had surpassed the record of his predecessors in the number of English ships captured: ''Charlotte'' of Madras, ''William'' of Bombay, ''Svern'' of Bengal and, ''Darby'', ''Restoration'', ''Pilot'', ''Augusta'' and ''Dadabhoi'' of Surat. He had also captured
Anjanvel from the
Siddis of Janjira.
The Rebellion of Tulaji Angre
Tulaji Angre's tenure was marked by frequent raids into the territories under the Chhatrapatis of Kolhapur and Maratha nobles like the Peshwa, the Pratinidhi, the Sawants of Wadi, etc. These raids led to a feeling of insecurity among the common people and traders of Maharashtra. Tulaji also allied with the Portuguese against the Marathas. Due to Tulaji's unfortunate actions, Nanasaheb Peshwa was forced to ally with the British to defeat Tulaji Angre. A treaty was signed according to which a ground force under command of the Peshwa and a naval force under command of the company would attack and destroy Tulaji. Among other articles, the treaty provided that Fort Vijaydurg, when captured, would be given to the Peshwa.
Fall of Suvarnadurg
In 1755, Commodore James of Bombay attacked the fort
Suvarnadurg
Suvarnadurg ( mr, सुवर्णदुर्ग - translation: ''Golden Fort'', also spelt ''Severndroog'' in English, a spelling sometimes also used for Savandurga) is a fort that is located between Mumbai and Goa on a small island in th ...
while the Peshwa's army started capturing land and other coastal forts of Angre. This isolated Suvarnadurg from landward. Commodore James first bombarded the fort from the west. 800 shots and shells were expended at a range of 100 yards, but the walls did not collapse. He then entered the channel between the fort and the coast and fired on the eastern face as well as the main gate. Both gave way. Some of the garrison tried to escape from the fort by a tunnel running into the sea, but were discovered and killed.
[Keay, I., op cit page 268] Considerable damage had been caused inside the fort by the bombardment and the garrison, finding no hope of relief or reinforcements, surrendered. Commodore James returned to Bombay for the monsoons.
Attack on Vijaydurg
After the fall of Suvarnadurg and all other forts of the Angre, Vijaydurg was the only fort left under the command of Tulaji. In 1756, a large force under
Admiral Watson converged on Vijaydurg. Watson had arrived at Bombay from eastern waters and had with him
Colonel Clive with 500
topasses
Topasses (Tupasses, Topas, Topaz) were a group of people led by the two powerful families – Da Costa and Hornay – that resided in Oecussi and Flores. The Da Costa families were descendants of Portuguese Jewish merchants and Hornay were Dutch ...
and other troops. The English ships took station with Watson flying his flag on . Two bomb vessels were in the extreme east. The Maratha ships were anchored at the mouth of the creek, close to the fort and bunched up, almost hull to hull. Amongst these was the company's ship ''Restoration'', which caught fire. The fire spread rapidly till the entire Angre fleet was destroyed, The bombardment of the fort had caused considerable damage inside the fort and magazine had been blown up.
Fall of Vijaydurg
Tulaji, meanwhile had left the fort and gone to the Peshwa's camp seeking a negotiation but was promptly arrested and sent to one of the inland forts as a prisoner. The garrison was asked to surrender and in the absence of any response Clive landed his marines on 11 February 1756, entered and captured the fort. A huge amount of booty was captured. 250 pieces of cannons, stores and ammunition, 100,000 Rupees and 30,000 in valuable items fell into English hands.
Vijaydurg was not handed over immediately to the Peshwa as per the terms of the treaty. It was eventually given up after some months.
[Naravane, M. S.; Battles of the Honorary East India Company: Making of the Raj, op cit page 104, New Delhi, 2006] Following Tulaji's arrest, Rudraji Dhulap was given the position of the Admiral of the Maratha Empire.
References
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Maratha Navy
Vijaydurg
History of Maharashtra