![Fortrelic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Fortrelic.jpg)
The Fortaleza da São Tomé, also known as Cranganore Fort or Kottapuram Fort, is situated in
Kodungallur
Kodungallur (; also Cranganore, Portuguese: Cranganor; formerly known as Mahodayapuram, Shingly, Vanchi, Muchiri, Muyirikkode, and Muziris) is a historically significant town situated on the banks of river Periyar on the Malabar Coast in Th ...
of
Thrissur District in
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
, India.
It was of 18 feet in thickness and was made of
laterite. The stone fort was built by the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
in 1523 and was named after
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle ( arc, 𐡀𐡌𐡅𐡕𐡌, hbo, תוֹמא הקדוש or תוֹמָא שליחא (''Toma HaKadosh'' "Thomas the Holy" or ''Toma Shlikha'' "Thomas the Messenger/Apostle" in Hebrew-Aramaic), syc, ܬܐܘܡܐ, , meaning "twi ...
. The fort was enlarged in 1565 and passed into the hands of the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
in 1663, who destroyed the fort.
Kottapuram Fort was an important part of the
Nedumkotta
Nedumkotta or Travancore lines was a wall built as a protection against consistent invasions from Mysore during the (de facto) rule of Tipu Sultan. It was built by the Dharma Raja Karthika Thirunal (d.A D 1764), King of Travancore with the re ...
fort built by
Travancore
The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...
under the leadership of
Eustachius Benedictus de Lenoy to defend against Tipu Sultan.
History
![Description at the site](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Description_at_the_site.jpg)
Kottappuram Fort, also known as Crangannoor (Kodungallur) Fort, was built by the Portuguese in 1523 and was named after
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle ( arc, 𐡀𐡌𐡅𐡕𐡌, hbo, תוֹמא הקדוש or תוֹמָא שליחא (''Toma HaKadosh'' "Thomas the Holy" or ''Toma Shlikha'' "Thomas the Messenger/Apostle" in Hebrew-Aramaic), syc, ܬܐܘܡܐ, , meaning "twi ...
. it was later enlarged in 1565. It is located at a strategic location on the entrance of the
Periyar River
Periyar, , (meaning: ''big river'') is the longest river and the river with the largest discharge potential in the Indian state of Kerala. It is one of the few perennial rivers in the region and provides drinking water for several major towns. ...
before it joins the
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...
. Therefore, from the fort, it was easy to control the ships and boats passing to Kodungallur through this river. The fort was constructed under the supervision of Pedro Álvares Cabral and was under the command of Urbano Fialho Ferreira after the completion.
![Remains of the Wall of fort](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Remains_of_the_Wall_of_fort.jpg)
In 1663 Dutch Army conquered the fort after much struggle. In 1662 the Dutch besieged land and sea and began to build a tunnel near the fort. But they could not hold their own against the artillery of the Portuguese. The Dutch demanded a truce, but Fialho who was holding the fort, intensified the attack.
Later when
Paliyattachan betrayed the Portuguese things became easy. Paliyattachan, who had strategically left the fort, met the Dutch and told them the easiest way to enter the fort. On January 15, 1662, the Dutch resumed their offensive. They were able to crack the fort with artillery and get in through it. After the Dutch army captured important parts of the fort, the Portuguese boarded boats and escaped to the
Ambazhakkad seminary. Fialho, 200 Portuguese soldiers and about 100
Nair
The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histo ...
soldiers were killed. After taking over the fort, the Dutch destroyed it and used it as an outhouse to guard their trade ships.
However, during the reign of
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He i ...
, when he conquered
Malabar
Malabar may refer to the following:
People
* Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India
* Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion
Places
* Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...
and targeted Travancore, Travancore began to fortify the fort. The king of Cochin was the feudatory lord of
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
. On July 31, 1789, he bought the Kodungallur fort and the
pallipuram fort
Pallippuram Fort or (Paleport Castelo em Cima) is a fort in Pallippuram, Vyppin, Ernakulam district of Kerala, south India. It was built by Portuguese sailors on 27 September, 1503 using just timber wood, and later renovated in 1505 by replaci ...
from the Dutch for Rs. 3 Lakhs. The agreement was executed between
Raja Kesava Das, the Diwan of Travancore and
John Gerard Van Angelbeck, the Dutch governor. At the same time, Tipu Sultan was claiming the fort from the King of Cochin. The construction of Nedunkotta or the Travancore Lines is considered to be a unique and unparallel episode in Indian History by historians.
Before moving on to a war, he wrote to Governor Holland to make a decision on the forts with the governor of Madras, an ally of Travancore, and sent Governor Powni to speak with the King. The Maharaja requested the Madras governor (Mr. Holland) to issue orders to the British contingent to co-operate with him in case of an attack from Tippu Sultan which was expected every moment. Aid was promised but not rendered. However, when things could not be settled amicably, the Mysore army attacked the upper part of
Nedumkotta
Nedumkotta or Travancore lines was a wall built as a protection against consistent invasions from Mysore during the (de facto) rule of Tipu Sultan. It was built by the Dharma Raja Karthika Thirunal (d.A D 1764), King of Travancore with the re ...
in December 1787 and captured a part of it. The Travancore army were initially dispersed but retaliated with increased vigor. The Mysore army suffered heavy casualties and retreated. Army commanders like
Semal Beg were killed on the Mysore side.
English historians consider the attack to be unwarranted and unnecessary. Mark Wilks records that the Sultan was directly involved in the attack, that he suffered a leg injury and was crippled for life, and that his valuable jewelry was confiscated. However, based on the Mathilakam documents, A. P. Ibrahim Kunju evaluates that the Sultan was not directly involved. The Madras governor, Mr. Holland, refused to help Travancore, because he thought that the Maharaja had acted unlawfully in purchasing the Dutch forts
Unable to influence the King of Travancore in any way, from 12 April 1790, the Mysore army again attacked Nedumkotta. In many places they broke through the walls and advanced. The East India Company, on the other hand, refrained from aiding the king.
The Kodungallur fort was captured and destroyed by the Mysore army on May 7, 1790. Mysore troops captured
Aikotta,
Paravur and
Kuryappilly one by one and advanced towards
Aluva.
At the same time, however, the Sovereign Government of Bengal considered declaring war on the Sultan's Company through this war and considered another alliance with the
Nizam
The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...
and the
Marathas
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 ...
in Mysore. The Company declared war on the Sultan in May 1790. This was the beginning of the
Third Anglo-Mysore War
The Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792) was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, the Kingdom of Travancore, the Maratha Empire, and the Nizam of Hyderabad. It was the third of four Angl ...
. Upon learning of this, the Mysore Army withdrew from Kerala and went back to
Srirangapatnam.
See also
*
Mysore invasion of Kerala
The Mysorean invasion of Malabar (1766 –1792) was the military invasion of the Malabar region of Kerala, including the territories of the Zamorin of Calicut, by the then-''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, Hyder Ali. After the invas ...
*
*
References
{{Authority control
Forts in Kerala
Portuguese forts in India
Buildings and structures in Thrissur district
Colonial Kerala
Dutch India
History of Thrissur district
Mysorean invasion of Malabar
Portuguese in Kerala
Infrastructure completed in 1523
1523 establishments in India
1520s establishments in Portuguese India
16th-century forts in India
Tourist attractions in Thrissur district
1523 establishments in the Portuguese Empire
1661 establishments in the Dutch Empire