St. Angelo Fort (also known as Kannur Fort or Kannur Kotta) is a fort facing 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 Channe ...

, situated 3 km from Canannore (Kannur), a city 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 Ca ...

state,

south India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union terr ...

History

Cannonore fort & Bay'; a watercolor by John Johnston, c

In 1498, during

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

's visit to India, the local

Kolathiri Kolathiri or Kolathiri Rājā (King of KolathunāduA. Shreedhara Menon (2007), ''A brief History of Kerala'', DC Books, Kottayam or King of Cannanore in foreign accounts) was the title by which the senior-most male along the matrilineal line of ...

king granted the land to

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 ...

to build a settlement in present-day Kerala. On 23 October 1505, he gave the Portuguese leader

Francisco de Almeida Dom Francisco de Almeida (), also known as the Great Dom Francisco (c. 1450 – 1 March 1510), was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against ...

the permission to build a fort at the site. The construction activity began the very next day, on 24 October 1505, when Goncalo Gil Barbosa - the Portuguese

factor Factor, a Latin word meaning "who/which acts", may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, suc ...

of Cannanore (Kannur) - laid the foundation stone. The construction of the wooden fort was completed on 30 October 1505: its first Captain was Lourenco Britto, who led a garrison of 150 Portuguese men, and controlled two ships in the sea. After the fort was completed, Almeida began using the title "Viceroy", and in 1507, he started the construction of a stone fort at the site. The fort was later attacked in vain by the local Indian ruler Zamorin and Kolathiri in the

Siege of Cannanore (1507) The siege of Cannanore was a four-month siege, from April to August 1507, when troops of the local ruler (the Kōlattiri Raja of Cannanore), supported by the Zamorin of Calicut and Arabs, besieged the Portuguese garrison at St. Angelo Fort in C ...

In August 1509 Almeida, refusing to recognize

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

's as the new Portuguese governor to supersede himself, arrested him in this fortress after having fought the naval Battle of Diu. Afonso de Albuquerque was released after six months' confinement, and become governor on the arrival of the grand-marshal of Portugal with a large fleet, in October 1509. The fort provided naval supplies for the

Portuguese conquest of Goa The Portuguese conquest of Goa occurred when the governor Afonso de Albuquerque captured the city in 1510 from the Adil Shahis. Goa became the capital of the Portuguese State of India which included possessions such as Fort Manuel, the territ ...

and the Portuguese battles against Mamuluk. As the local Portuguese settlement at Kannur had no sources of revenue, the fort's expenses were met with funding from Goa, the seat of Portuguese rule in India. On 15 February 1663, 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 ...

captured the fort from the Portuguese. They modernised the fort and built the bastions Hollandia, Zeelandia and Frieslandia that are the major features of the present structure. The original Portuguese fort was pulled down later. A painting of this fort and the fishing ferry behind it can be seen in the

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Ste ...

. The Dutch sold the fort to king

Ali Raja The Sultan Ali Raja or Ali Raja or Adi Raja was the title of the Muslim king of Arakkal kingdom from the sixteenth to early nineteenth century. Arakkal dynasty Reigning rajas and beebis * Ali Raja Ali I (1545–1591) * Ali Raja Abubakar I (1591– ...

Arakkal Arakkal Kingdom was a Muslim kingdom in Kannur town in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, South India. The king was called Ali Raja and the ruling queen was called Arakkal Beevi. Arakkal kingdom included little more than the Cannanore ...

in 1772. In 1790 the British seized it and used it as their chief military station in Malabar until 1947. The fort is in the Cannanore Cantonment area. It is fairly well preserved as a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India. St Angelo's fort is a most important historical monument and a popular tourist attraction. Six Tourism Policeman are posted here for protection duty. In 2015, thousands of cannonballs weighing several kilos were discovered from the Fort premises. The

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...

, which led the excavation, believes these were buried as part of military preparedness.

Present status

The '' Moppila Bay Harbor'' and ''

Mosque'' are near the fort. The fort is now well-maintained under the supervision of the

. Tourists are allowed entry to the fort every day of the week between 8 AM to 6 PM. File:St.angelo fort side view.jpg, St. Angelo Fort File:Kannur Fort gate.jpg, The Fort Gate File:Kannur-Fort-22.jpg, Kannur fort, inside view File:Kannur-Fort-10.JPG, The Grave stone of Dutch commandents wife and two children with Dutch inscriptions File:Kannur-fort-27.jpg, The watchtower File:kannur-fort-19.jpg, The

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

inside the fort after the restoration File:Kannur fort chapel.jpg, Chapel inside the fort different view File:Kannur-fort-6.jpg, The stairway leads to the top of the fort wall. Note that the entire fort is made with

laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

material. File:Kannur-Fort-8.jpg, Remains of the early oil lamp

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...

inside the fort File:Kannur-Fort-13.jpg, Inside view of the army barracks File:kannurfort9a.jpg, Another view from the top of the stable File:Kannur-Fort-16.jpg, The old entrance to the fort File:St. Angelo's Fort (4334331332).jpg, Entrance to the fort File:Kannur-Fort-and-Arabian-Sea.jpg, Kannur Fort and Arabian Sea File:Kannur fort gun.JPG, A

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

at Kannur fort File:Kannur fort.jpg,

Cannons A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder dur ...

at Kannur fort File:Kannur fort entrance.JPG, Main entrance File:Kannur fort aerial view.JPG, View from the top File:St. Angelo Fort, Kannur.JPG, St. Angelo Fort, Kannur

References

{{Kannur , state=expanded Forts in Kerala Portuguese forts in India Colonial Kerala Buildings and structures in Kannur Portuguese in Kerala Archaeological sites in Kerala Infrastructure completed in 1505 1505 establishments in India 1500s establishments in Portuguese India Tourist attractions in Kannur district 16th-century forts in India Monuments of National Importance in Kerala