The Rachol Fort is a historical Portuguese era fort located in the village of Rachol,

Salcette Salcete ( Konkani: ''Saxtti''/''Xaxtti''; pt, Salcette) is a sub-division of the district of South Goa, in the state of Goa, situated by the west coast of India. The Sal river and its backwaters dominate the landscape of Salcete. Hi ...

concelho Concelho () is the Portuguese-language term for municipality, referring to the territorial subdivision in local government. In comparison, the word ''município'' () refers to the organs of State. This differentiation is still in use in Portugal ...

'', in the state of Goa on the west coast of India.

History

It was originally erected by the

Sultanate of Bijapur The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim Firishta's ...

, then ruled by Ismail Adil Shah, to defend the left bank of the

Zuari river The Zuari River ''Zuvari,'' pronounced ) is the largest river in the state of Goa, India. It is a tidal river which originates at Hemad-Barshem in the Western Ghats. The Zuari is also referred to as the Aghanashani in the interior regions. It f ...

. Conquered in AD 1520 by Krishnadevaraya, the emperor of the Vijayanagara Kingdom; he handed over this fort in the same year to the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...

in exchange for protection of southern India against the northern India

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

. Occupied by Portuguese forces, it was renovated and rebuilt, and two bastions were added in AD 1604. Between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it had a hundred pieces of artillery, a significant number for those times. After the siege that was imposed by the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Sh ...

leader

Sambhaji Sambhaji Bhosale (14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689) was the second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire, ruling from 1681 to 1689. He was the eldest son of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. Sambhaji's rule was largely shaped by the ongoing ...

in AD 1684, it was remodeled as decided by the

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

of Portuguese India, Dom Francisco de Tavora, 1st

Count of Alvor Count of Alvor (in Portuguese ''Conde de Alvor'') was a Portuguese title of nobility granted by king Peter II of Portugal on 4 February 1683, to Francisco de Távora, second son of António Luís de Távora, 2nd Count of São João da Pesqueira ...

, as epigraphic inscription, which reads: It underwent a new reform campaign in AD 1745, on the order of

Pedro Miguel de Almeida Portugal e Vasconcelos Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning " ...

, the first

Marquis of Alorna {{Use dmy dates, date=March 2012 Marquis of Alorna was a Portuguese title of nobility granted, on 9 November 1748, by King John V of Portugal, to D. Pedro Miguel de Almeida Portugal e Vasconcelos, 3rd Count of Assumar and 44th viceroy of India. ...

. The fort's cannons were later sent to other forts and abandoned as a military post. This fort is currently severely ruined, but one can still see the old gate of arms surmounted by the coat of arms of the

Portuguese monarchy This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Through the nea ...

, and some sections of the walls and the moat. Its gate has been a monument protected by the government of

Goa, Daman and Diu Goa, Daman and Diu (, ) was a union territory of the Republic of India established in 1961 following the annexation of Portuguese India, with Maj Gen K P Candeth as its first Military Governor. The Goa portion of the territory was granted fu ...

since 1983.

References

{{Coord, 15.309, 74.001, display=title Portuguese forts Forts in Goa