HISTORICAL OUTLINE:

The region under study, popularly known as the , is

the strip of land on the west coast of . It is about 560

kilometres in length and 64 kilometres width. Its conquest by the

great legendary hero Parasurama from the sea, is one of the famed

myths of the acquisition of land which is symbolised as the

victory of the Mighty and the Good over the Evil.

Amongst the earliest of the references found in the

Mahabharata, this region is referred to as Aparanta. The town of

Aparanta has been mentioned in Dronaparva (. 40) and in Sabhaparva

(47.24). The Aranvakaparva (118.8) talks of the Surparaka

(Sopara) as a famous tirtha (a place of pilgrimage) and its

sanctity. In the inscription of the Asokan era (Vth Rock Edict

c.274-232 b.c). mention was made of the inhabitants of Aparanta.

Aparanta also occurs in the Nasik inscriptions of

Vasisthiputra Pulumari, c.l43 a.d.(Nasik Inc. 3:3 Epigraphica

Indica, I: (67-68); in the Junagarh rock inscription of Rudradaman

I,c.l50 a.d.(Jun. Inc. of Rudradaman I, ASW I, II: 128 f); in the

Junnar inscription of a Buddhist nun, c.l50 a.d. (Junnar. Inc. tr

by Ghokhale, 1985:34); and in the Kanheri inscription c.230 a.d.

(Kanheri Inc. 98:38). The Bhuranakosa Sections of the Puranas also testify that western India was known as Aparanta (Chaudhury, 1969:187).

In the Buddhist literature, Mahavamsa (XII.5) and the

Dipavamsa (VIII.7) Aparanta is referred to as one of the countries to which Asoka sent his missionaries after the Third Council.

IX. Asoka's daughter Vijaya is said to have sailed from Sopara with the first Buddhist mission to Sri Lanka (Mahavamsa VI. 46,47).

Aparanta is also indirectly mentioned when reference is made to a kind of grain called Kumudabandika which is reaped and harvested within a month and constitutes the meal of the slaves and workers while the rice took five to six months to ripen

(Milindapanha 11.121). Kautilaya refers to the fine cotton garments of Aparanta (Arthasastra II, 11.90).

The author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea (c.247 a.d.) states that "beyond Barygaza (Baroach) the adjoining coast extends in a straight line from north to south; and so this region was called Dachinabades, for dachanos in the language of the natives means south (Chattopadhyaya,1980:130). Later he goes on to talk about Ouppara (which is taken as Sopara) between Broach and Kalyan as a local mart along the coast. Ptolemy too refers to the prosperity of the flourishing ports of Ceul and Sopara in the west coast. He mentions (in c.l50 a.d.)a Sopara between Nausaripa (Nav- sari) and Simyla (Ceul), (Chattopadhyaya,1980:137). Thus we have

Ptolemy mentioning Similla,Hippokoura and Balipatna,while in the

Periplus the market towns after Calliena are Semylla, Mandagora and

Palaepatmae (ibid:131). Both the above authors confirm that the

Greek traders sailed from Egypt to the Konkan port.

Konkan or Aparanta does not seem at any time to have been a political unit. It has seen many chiefs and rulers trying to get hold over it for gaining supremacy over trade and trade routes.

The earliest dynasty associated with this tract was that of the Mauryas. What is interesting is that Kautilya talks of Aparanta

as a region known for its elephants, though only of middle quality

(II 2); and for its excessive rainfall. On this basis scholars

like Mookerji (1972:141) have identified Aparanta with the Konkan.

The next rulers who held sway over this region after Asoka

were the Andharbhrtyas, whose inscription at Nanaghat shows that

they were ruling over Konkan around c.lOO b.c. They are said to

have had their headquarters at Paithan near Ahmednagar and at

Kolhapur (Mah.Gaz.Kolaba Dist:57)♦ Under their rule, trade in the

west coast boomed. A number of Buddhist caves were carved out.

Some of the important rock-cut caves in Raigarh district are Ceul,

Pal and Kol near as well as Kuda near Rajpuri.

Nahapana who is described as an independent ruler and the

founder of the Katrapas extended his hold over northern Konkan in

C.lOO a.d. Soon after conquering the Andharbhrtyas, the ksatrapas

ceased to be foreigners, married Hindus, and gave up their foreign

names (Fernandez 1927:75). By about c.l25 a.d. Gautamiputra

Satakarni drove the Ksatrapas out of Konkan. In the inscriptions

found in the caves at Naneghat (near Junnar) this king is

described as"Khakharatvamsaniravsesakala" or the person who

uprooted the entire family of Ksatrapas and Sakavavanapallavanisudana,

the destroyer of Sakas,Yavanas and Pallavas(Mah.Gaz.Kolaba Dist;58).

Soon after the decline of the Satavahanas, the Traikutakas took

over the Konkan. These kings are said to have derived their names

from the Trikuta hills in Aparanta, or northern Konkan (ibid : 63).

A copper plate found in the relic mound in front of the Kanheri caves is dated to the 245th regnal year of the Traikutakas.

'M- This is ascribed by Burgess to c.l76 a.d. of the Gupta era and thus dates the copper plate to c.421 a.d (Bugess:1964).

The Mauryas and the Nalas must have ruled the northern

Konkan coast during the sixth century as Kirtivarman (c.550 to 567 a.d.), the first Calukyan king who conquered the Konkan, is described as the Night of Death to the Nalas and Mauryas (lA. VIII

:24). A stone inscription found in the village of Veda near Thana belonging to the fourth or fifth century talks, of a Mauryan king

Suketuverma as ruling over the north Konkan. The existence of the family name More, (interpreted as a derivative of the Mauryan) in the island of Elephanta and Karanja are proof in themselves. It is interesting to note that 'More' is a common name amongst the

Marathas, Kunbis and the Kolis of Raigarh. In fact 'More' is a

fishing village near Karanja in Raigarh district - about 14km from

Bombay.

Some silver coins discovered in the islands of Bombay and in

Salsette have the legend of Krishnaraya, giving proof of the

Rashtrakuta king Krishna's influence over Konkan (Fernandez,

1927) .

The Shilaharas rose to power in the Konkan during the later

half of the eighth century a.d. and held on until 1265 when

Someshwar, the last of the Thana Shilaharas was crushed by

Mahadeva of Deogiri. And by the end of the fourteenth century, the whole of the Konkan came under the domain of the Musalmans.

From the beginning of their rule in 1318 the Deccan

15-. Musalmans seemed to have held the ports of Kolaba (Raigarh) of which Ceul was one (Briggs II, 1909;295). Under these Bahamani rulers their capital was shifted from Daulatabad down south to

Gulbarga thus leading to a concentration of traffic to the

Ratnagiri ports of Dabhol, Ciplun and Rajapur. By about 1489 much of the Konkan including and Ceul came under the control of the Gujrat kings. In 1502 the Italian traveller Varthema

(Badger's Varthema:114) placed Ceul in Gujrat; and in 1508 according to Mirat-i-Ahmadi (Bird,214) Mahmud Begada established a garrison at Nagothana and sent one army to Ceul. The author of

Mirat-i-Ahmedi also makes a mention of Sopara among the ports which yielded revenue to the Gujrat kings.

In 1509 the Portuguese who then held the position of 'Lord of the Sea’ entered into a treaty with Burhan Nizam Shah, the

Ahmadnagar king by which the Portuguese promised to protect the

Shah's port provided they (the Portuguese) were acknowledged as the rulers of the sea and received a yearly payment of 600 (2,000 gold paidaos (Da Cunha 1900:32). Thus a Portuguese representative was appointed at Ceul whose main duties entailed supply of goods

to Goa and the Portuguese fleet.

After this, however, by 1516 the Portuguese managed to establish a factory at Ceul with the permission of the Nizam Shah and thus had free access to the harbour than before. Amongst the ruins that still stand amidst the shady cocoanut palms of

(or lower Ceul as it was known then), stands the mute proof of long gone days. To give one example, "This building known as the

Chavkoni Buruj was built by the Portuguese for their factory in 1516 a.d. and fortified between 1512 and 1524". Ceul by this time

(Fifteenth Century a.d.) was a flourishing port and a capital on the west coast.

At the same time in 1453, the Turks had gained full control of Constantinople and this turned the commerce between Europe and

Asia to the Red Sea route. Sopara was slowly being deserted and fell into insignificance. Trade under Portuguese flourished at

Ceul, Dhabol and Malabar ports. In 1586.a Venetian traveller noticed the two cities of Ceul, the lower Portuguese city at the mouth of the harbour very strongly walled, (after 1577 the

Portuguese had strengthened their defences and raised fortification along the southern shore), and a Moor upper Ceul, 240 kilometres up the river, both being sea ports with great trade

(Haklut, 1907:344).

Thus the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw constant rivalry between the Portuguese, the Gujrat kings, the Nizamshahi kingdomes and the Adilshahi kingdoms for the control of the Konkan in and around Ceul, and thus subsequently capture the western seas

(through trade).

Simutaneously, another power arose in South Konkan. These were the Sidis of Janjira who were originally said to have come from Abyssinia (Briggs III, 1909:284). By intermarrying first with the natives and later among their own families, there arose a separate community, distinct from the other Musalmans of India.

Traces of African blood can be seen even today among the Salsette Christians and the Konkani Musalmans, and among the Hindus. The

\T- Katakaris to have a sub-division named Sidi. Some of the Thakurs have frizzled and curly hair and Talheri Kunbis possess a deep blackness that suggests a part African origin (Mah.Gaz. Kolaba

Dist:77). They were also named amongst the most skilful and daring sailors and soldiers in western India (Orme, 1905:56-57).

Whilst most of the Hindu kings of western India owed their allegiance to either the Bhamini state ^ the Mugals at Delhi,

Sivaji, a son of a Maratha Chieftdiq^t’^jptrse to power to form an independent kingdom and declared hifliselfyis the 'Raja of Raigad' in 1676. Earlier in 1636, Shahaji Bhosle, Sivaji's father, entered the service of Bijapur (Sarkar, 1929:17-18). He is credited with laying down the foundation of the Maratha navy which was nurtured under the leadership of Sivaji. Sivaji organised a formidable fleet and was helped by Tukoji Angray who was 'the head of the Koli community of Ali Bagh’ (Mookerji, 1957:170). Thus, the Konkan by this time was divided into two divisions: one,between Bhivandi and Nagothana with headquarters at Kalyan, and the other, under the Sidis of Janjira, from Nagothana to the

Savitri.

Soon Sivaji was bent upon the conquest of Janjira. There followed bloody battles in the years 1657 and 1659 where the

Marathas faced defeat. Fateh Khan proved to be a strong opponent.

For nine continuous years, Sivaji battered Janjira with all his might (1661-70) but with little success. But he finally managed to isolate the island of Janjira. Their supplies from the mainland totally cut off, the Sidis took to piracy and plundering of the coastal villages.

Meanwhile, within twenty-five years, Sivaji started capturing, building, restoring and strenghtening a chain of fortresses, some of the important ones being Suvarnadurg and

Vijayadurg (in 1674) and (in 1680). These forts were strategically placed atop hillocks and mountains, with commanding view of important approaches, river vallyes, sea inlets and esturies. And now the battle was more for the control of forts rather than of terrain or territory. These forts become the watchdogs of the movements of the enemy, as well as safe shelters against adverse situations, i.e. a superior army. Kolaba later became the principal rendezvous of the Maratha navy and maritime enterprise (Grant Duff, 1912:172).

By putting pressure on the Bijapur government, Sivaji also obtained the territory, south of Kalyan. And by about 1672,

Shivaji had defeated and captured Musalman Ceul and reduced the city to ruins (Elphinstone, 1841:566).

Sivaji's fleet were manned by Captains who were mostly

Muslims, and the Kolis and Bhandaris formed the bulk of the crew.

The latter were a hardy race of fishermen of the coast, who were employed by the British in Bombay due to their courage and endurance. Thus while the Marathas dominated the army, the navy was definitely not their area of excellence (Khobrekar, 1979:107).

The Sidis and Sivaji, both started appealing to the foreign powers for arms and shelter. In 1673 the English who established themselves at Surat and Bombay remained neutral, whereas the

\q French sold 80 guns, 2,000 maunds of lead to Sivaji's fleet. The

Dutch too promised help. In 1679, when Sivaji found that the

English were giving shelter to the Sidis in Bombay,from the stormy monsoon seas, he was enraged and occupied the island of Khanderi off Bombay, and started reconstruction of the fort there. The importance of Khanderi lay in the fact that no ship could enter or leave Bombay harbour, without being noticed from Khanderi

The oncoming monsoons nullified the British attempts of driving the Marathas away, as they (the British) had to with-draw from the island. Alongside, Sivaji also established a strong-hold at Thai and started firing at the small English crafts, sheltered at

Bombay harbour to escape the havoc of the monsoons.

Under Sambhaji (Sivaji's son,c.1680 - 1689 a.d.) the Maratha stronghold on the coast became unpopular and weak, whereas that of the Sidis of Janjira strenghtened. Finally with the execution of

Shambaji, Ceul along with the other ports fell into the hands of the Moghul by c.1689 a.d.

While the tug of war was going on between the Sidis, the

Marathas, the British and the Portuguese, (who were by now also established at Bassein, Thana dist.) to gain supremacy of the various vital islands and forts on the coastline of the Konkan, there came to power in the eighteenth century, the Angre family in the Kolaba and Ratnagiri districts of Raigarh. The founder of the family was one Tukoji Sankhpat in 1690. Tukoji is at times described as a negro, born in an island in the Gulf of Hormuz, a

Musalman by religion who, in 1643, was ship-wrecked near Ceul

2.0 (Grose, 1772). But as to the truth of this statement, there are no corroborating evidences to support this. 7

It was at Suvarnadurg,that Kanoji received the basic training of seamanship from the Koli sailors (Dighe, 1938:101).He was then appointed sar-subha of Maratha navy. Making use of his position

Kanoji got a reputation through his daring and enterprising leaderlship, plundering and sacking all defenceless ships and towns from Travancore to Bombay. He established Kolaba, the fort of Alibag, his headquarters, and two other outposts at Suvarnadurg and Vijayadurg. His aim was mainly to drive away the sidis who represented the hated Mongols and establish sovereignity over

Arabian sea.

In 1699, Kanoji turned out ot be such a threat that the

Sidis, the Portuguese and Moghuls joined hands against him. But

Kanoji defeated their united forces by which the Angres got to receive two-thirds of the revenues from Kolaba, Khanderi and

Sagargad;as well as the citadel of Ceul and half of Ceul's revenue.

Kanoji s o o n became a menace to the European trade on the west coast, coming up against the Portuguese, the Dutch, the

French and particularly the English. His ship blew up the frigate

'Bombay' in 1707 (Mookerji, 1957:172). In 1713 Kanoji dented the

British pride by fortifying Khanderi and made it the base for his war-ships. All these concessions made Kanoji independent and he established a headquarter at Vijayadurg. Thus the whole stretch from Goa to Bombay was in Angre hands,fully fortified and equipped with a strong navy . Kanoji was now in a position to defy the

2-1 western powers.

In 1712, 1716 and 1719 Kanoji fought back and captured a

number of European ships.This led to the Portuguese and the British

allying together against Kanoji,burning his sixteen ships lying in

the Vijayadurga river, but could cause no harm to the fort. It is

stated that this Angre’s piracy caused the East India Company

an annual expenditure of Rs.50,000 for protection of their trade

(Ibid : 172).

Kanoji died in 1729 resulting in the break up of his posses­

sions between his six sons. This also weakened the Angres. Earlier

in 1733 the Marathas under Sahu, grandson of Sivaji,finally were

able to defeat the Sidis. The Pesva rule ended in 1817, and the

Konkan slipped into the hands of the British. In 1839 Kanoji II

died without leaving a heir to succeed him. So this kingdom which

had dwindled down to the Kolaba fort, was annexed into the British

empire. And in c.1858 a.d. the British government created the

Alibag taluka,of what was then the Kolaba fort and its surroundings (KALE, 1952:25).

The Angreys had their ship building yards at Kolaba,

Suvarnadurga and Vijayadurga and later in 1735 at Bombay. They

employed the craftsmanship of the carpenters of Bombay who had

worked with Europeans. As late as 1811, a French traveller

described the Indian built ships as 'combining utility with elegance and being models of patience and fine workmanship'

(Mookerji, 1957:175).

The above was a brief introduction to the history of the

2 2 .

Konkan, from the ancient to the modern period. A small area of

Raigarh district in was selected for research. The fishing community, known as the 'Kolis' were studied. The main concentration of the research was carried out in and around

Revdanda and Ceul, which flourished as one of the major ports of western India till the beginning of the eithteenth century.

RAIGARH DISTRICT:

Kolaba or Raigarh district, with a length of about 160 kilometres, is sandwiched between Thane district in the north and

Ratnagiri in the south. These three form the coastline border districts of the Konkan. Raigarh district varies in breadth from about 24 kilometres to about 48 kilometres and lies between lat.

18'' and 19^N, long.70^and 1035^E. It covers an area of 2,715 sq miles and supports a population of 9,09,083 (according to 1951 census) with a density of 355 persons per square mile. There are in all 1,776 villages and 13 towns.

The Raigarh district has fourteen talukas out of which only three have a vast area exposed to the Arabian sea and thus support a large fishing population. These are Alibag, Murud and

Srivardhan. Maximum work for this thesis has been carried out in

Alibag, in which falls the towns of Ceul and Revdanda. Korali and

Borli Mandla form a part of the Murud taluka.

ALIBAG; Alibag since ancient times has been an important capital and has been referred to as the headquarters of Kolaba district.

This taluka lies 41.6 kilometres from Bombay. According to 1951 Census, it covered about 0.7 sq, km, and the population was 8,181. visible. On its southern face there are a row of Buddhist hills and the south-eastern peak contains a shrine of Dattatray where a huge jatra assembles for five days around Marqasirss suddha(in

December) every year.

CEUL: Ptolemy talks of the prosperity of the flourishing ports of

Symulla and Sopara on the west coast of India (Mah. Dnyankosh

;704). Semylla, the Symulla of Ptolemy,has been taken to be the

Chimole of Yuan Chwang; the Saimur or Jaimur of the Arab travellers (tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries) and the modern

Ceul (18” 34'N, 72”65' E) which today lies about 40 km south of

Bombay.

Pliny (Lib.VI, c.54) during almost the same time mentions an

Indian promontory called Perinula where there was very productive

pearl fishing. Campbell's subsequent identification of it,

however, with Simylla (Jaimulla) where there was both a cape and a

great mart of trade ... is quite satisfactory (Sastri, 1927 :201).

Ceul today lies two kilometers from the sea and two and a

half kilometres away from the west end of the northern bank of the

Kundalika river or the creek. This town is backed by a

steeply sloping hill with about 650 metre elevation, surrounded by

narrow tidal flats and marshy land (GHATE,1985 :5).

There are various descriptions of Ceul. *It was described as a place where 'the air was good, the climate cool and most healthy in the whole of India' (Navigation,17:20,21,73). The living was

described as cheap (De Pyrad, 1862 :223). There were a lot of

2-5- trees of fruits and cocoa covering beautiful wide roads with delightful shade (this is true even today, especially between

upper Ceul and lower Ceul which at present is known as Revdanda with its thick clusters of coconut palm and beetlenut).

Local Hindu traditions mention this place as early as c.

1200 b.c i.e. Mahabharata period, as Campavati and Revatikshetra

corresponding to Krisna’s reign in Saurashtra (Da Cunha, 1900:4).

Da Chuna is of the opinion that the name Champavati is derived

either from the Champatree, the Champa fishing net or from a king

named Champa. Revatikshetra is supposed to have been the name of

Revati the wife of Balaram, Krisha's brother.

According to the accounts of the Arab travellers, Saimur was

a cosmopolitan place inhabited by Musalms, Christians, Jews and

Parsees. It was further described as'a great strong city with

abundance of mangoes, coconuts, onions and rice, but no dates’

(Ibn Haukl,:943-976).

The eleventh century copper plate grant of the fourteenth

Silahara king Anantdev (1094), Cemuli to the ports of Shurparak

(Sopara) and Shristhana (Thana) (lA IX :38) is the earliest

archaeological proof of Ceul being a port. But information about

the exact nature of a port, its ship accommodating capacity and

other details regarding types of ships in use etc.are absent

(Ghate,1985:11). Ceul next saw the rule of Devgiri family of Yadavas in the first century who attacked and defeated the ruler of Mahim. In 1312 the Yadava empire in the Konkan fell in the hands of Alaud-din 2-6 Khilji (Briggs, 1909:379).

These Musalmans were unable to hold on to Ceul for long. The

Kanarese inscription in Ceul near the Rameshwar's temple bears mute witness to the passing of southern Konkan along with Ceul under Goan Viceroy of Vijaynagar (Mah.Gaz.Kolaba Dist:722). By the beginning of the fourteenth century, Ceul was the chief port of the Konkan from where the Bahamini King Firuz sent ships to bring the manufacturers and curious wares of all parts of the

world. By 1490 the Ahmadnagar dynasty came to power at Ceul and by sixteenth century, lower Ceul passed into the hands of the

Portuguese. Thus Ceul surfaced as a major sea port and thus never

long under a single rule.

According to Barbosa who visited Ceul in 1514, there was

always a Portuguese representative here to send supplies to Goa

and the Portuguese fleet. Ceul according to him was not a large

town and the houses were strong with thatched roofs. It was quite

deserted during the rainy season but by December, people poured in

burdened with their goods in caravans. It was like a fair during

December, January, February and March. From sea there was trade

with Persian Gulf and Arabia. During this time Ceul was the only

main centre between Surat and Goa, with Thana being troubled by

pirates; and Dabol and other Bijapur ports being opressed by the

Portuguese (Stanley’s Borbosa:16,28,31,42,68). It was more of an encampment with temporary structures rather than a permanent town.

The main items of trade were: coconuts, beetlenuts, spices,

drugs, palm sugar and emery from Malabar; copper, wheat, silver.

Z7- Vermillion and cotton from Gujrat; wheat, vegetables, millets, rice, sesame oil, muslin and special cotton material more popularly known as beranis to Malabar; and mainly muslin and cotton cloth to Arabia and Persia (Ibid:60,69,72). All this time

Ceul's prosperity was at its zenith. Ships docked here from

Mediterranean countries, East Africa, Ormuz, Red Sea coast and other parts of India.

The skermishes went on between the Nizam Shah in the Upper

Ceul and the Portuguese in Lower Ceul. In 1577, the Portuguese strengthened the fortification along the southern shore. In 1586,

the Venetian Traveller Caesar Frederick (Hakluyt II, 1907:344) noticed the two cities of Ceul, the Portuguese city at the mouth of the harbour very strongly walled, and the Moor city about 2.5km

up the river. Both were sea ports with great trade. These were

amongst the earliest of the permanent structures to be

established.

In 1623 to 1625 the Italian traveller Pietro Della Valle

twice visited Ceul. He described it as a safe roomy port with

deep water so close to the bank that from a small galley you could

step ashore by a gangway (Valle,1667:133,136). He further

describes two ways of going from lower to upper Ceul. These two

roads are still operating even today. One is a long road (about

three kilometres) between palm trees, meadows and forests of fruit

trees. The shorter one is across 'a tongue of water that runs

inland from the main creek'. At high tide, a canoe or almadia,

dug out of a single piece of timber was required. (This could

correspond to the present day Ceul bund). At low tide one had to cross on a man's shoulders who were stationed there for this purpose and were called florses. (Today the shorter route connects Revdanda Koliwada to the abandanoned Ceul Koliwada. It is a make-shift bund on which one can walk during low tide, but which gets submerged in parts during the high tide).

The main temples that Pietro Della Valle mentions are of

Jagadamba; Amrtesvar which is taken to be the same as Mahadev,

Narayan and the most esteemed temple of Ramesvar. The twin city of Ceul Champavati was said to have more than three hundred temples large and small.

As the prosperity of the town grew and rich cargo started coming "*in,it started attracting pirates. Apart from the Malabar

pirates, there were the Marathas, the Angreys, the Sidis and the

Gujrat Kolis. They plundered and sank numerous European ships who

were forced to spend a substantial amount of money for protecting

their trade. This also turned out to be one of the causes for decline of trade. By this time the sea also was infested with the

Malabar pirates who crowded around the mouth of the Ceul river

(Mah.Gaz Kolaba Dist. :138).

The first sign of the decline of this port is mentioned by Antonio Bocarro (Bocarro, 1634:17,21). He talks of the formation

of a sand bank, blocking the northern part of the river, just

allowing a channel to the south-east which at low tide had a depth

of not more than two metres and at high waters about four and half metres. But small boats could enter , close to tKe. sk ove ,

without fear of damage. 2.q F i g . 2 - - ^ In 1672, Sivaji overran the Konkan, reduced Musalman Ceul to ruins and took possession of it. They could not succeed with lower Ceul as the fortification of the fort held out. Ceul's shape was fifteen sided and it had eleven bastions and four outworks. It was armed by fifty-eight, three to forty pounder guns besides the pedreiors which threw stone shots. The garrison consisted of three companies of sixty-two men each. These were normally soldiers but there were many fishing boat captains

(Kolis), palm tappers (Bhandaris) and artillery men (Bruce, :241).

The Portuguese power by this time began to decline. With the British establishing themselves at Bombay, Bombay was slowly being groomed to becoming a successful harbour. One of the relics of Portuguese times at Ceul was the weaving of silk which fell into decline since 1668. With this the migration of weavers took place and the first streets to receive them were those in Bombay

(Imp.Gaz.Ind.I :102). From the middle of the seventeenth century

there began a slow silting of the spit on which C^ul is situated.

This spot was then transformed into a marshy land and thus from

the eighteenth century Ceul could not function as a port (Ghate,

1985 :11). This marshy land or salt swamp today lies extreme west of Revdanda shore, covered with mangrove bushes.

Today's Ceul bears a lot of scars in the form of relics of the past. The Portuguese fort. Cathedral, Jesuit monastry and the sea gate stand in the shadows of the palm groves of Revdanda. The various sieges laid on this fort left it in ruins by the time the 31 English acquired it. The western wall is almost disappearing due to the constant attack from the sea. There is also an ancient jetty which could be the similar one as described by Pietro Della

Valle in 1623, now 1.5 km inland (Gaz.Bom.Pres.XI, 1883).

KORLAI Or KORLE; Southwards from Ceul lies the fortified

Korlai rock in front of the river mouth. Sheltering Ceul from the south-west storms Korlai is almost an island in itself and this rocky ridge rises to about 82.6 metres. The crest of the ridge is flanked by walls, defences strengthened by an outwork on the rocks just above sea level, and by three cross walls and towers between the outwork towards the sea and the main fortification on the top

(Mah.Gaz.Kolaba Dist. :833). Nairne considered it the most interesting of the Portuguese fortification in the Konkan (Nairne,

Konkan:61).

During the sixteenth century this place was more popularly known as Ceul Rock, ^ Morro de Ceul” and saw many battles between

the Portuguese and Musalmans. In 1623 Della Valle described it as

'on the right, crowned by a Musalman fort, which the Portuguese had greatly strengthened'.

This fort was built on the top of the hill and was

surrounded by a wall rising from 2.4m to 4.5m in accordance to the

nature of the ground. The chief form of defence was a number of

stones, ready to set rolling down the steep slopes of the hill.

The number of stones stacked was so great that if they were set rolling, nothing would remain unhurt to the very end of the sea

shore. The seven bastions which were erected by the Portuguese

32. and named after their saints, were re-named in Marathi when captured by the Marathas (1739-1818).

During the Portuguese occupation a ferry was arranged between Ceul and Korlai. It was managed by one captain and six sailors. The rent for hiring of the boat for a month was Rs.1.75, each sailor was paid 15 annas per month and was also given a maund of rice. The captain was paid twice this amount.

In 1959, a light house was constructed at the foot of the hill to guide the various fishing boats and trawlers.

The Korlai village at the foot of the hill is mainly divided into two parts; the Koli fishing village on the sea shore'and the

Portuguese Christian village inland.

BORLAI MANDLA: Two kilometres south of Korlia is another important Koli settlement which has been taken for study. A large fish trade is carried from here.

MURUD JANJIRA: This was once the capital of the Sidis of Janjira and their palace still stands in very good condition. Murud is surrounded on three sides by the sea and a shallow Rajapuri creek.

Two copper plate inscriptions of Anantadeva of the Silhara dynasty pushes back the history of Murud to eleventh century a.d. Today it is a favourite tourist spot due to its beautiful beaches and extensive palm groves.

The whole town lies detached except for the main market area and the Son Kolis village. A brisk sea trade is carried on where the fish is taken directly by boat to the harbour of Bombay. 33 There are also a number of boat building centres in Murud.

Janjira on the other hand lies out in the sea. This fortified island lies at the entrance of the Rajapuri creek, the mainland being one km away in the east and about three km to the west. During low tide the water recedes leaving the rock foundations exposed on which these walls are built. It is in the east that the gateway of the fort which was ruled and captured by

Sidis is situated on the east side opposite Rajapuri creek. This wall was finished in 1707 by Sidi Surul Khan (1707 - 1733).

Inside the fort, the debris of stones indicate the existence of some buildings.

The Sidis who fled and arrived here with the help of Kolis, established power at Janjira. Whether there was already a Koli hold on this island is not clear. But reference is made to five stones in a shrine which are referred to as old Koli deities.

Another story says that it is a tomb built over the grave of five bodies that were found floating in the sea.

Bitter battles were fought between the Marathas and the

Sidis but the Marathas found it very difficult to capture Janjira.

The Sidis were isolated at Janjira and hence were forced to take to piracy for their daily necessities.

The Kolis have a large settlement in Murud and may be once they had a large kingdom of which Janjira was a strong-hold. Janjira as it is placed, has an excellent command of the Arabian sea. It is situated not that far from the land to be totally

3>l4- isolated, nor too near to have an obstructed view of the coast.

Thus it was ideal for fishing, for sea warfare and for habitation.

THAL: Lies five kilometres north of Alibag and the majority of the inhabitants here are Kolis. The concentration of Kolis here is more than the other coastal villages in . Till recent times it was a major fishing centre. It is difficult to approach Thai during low tide as the creek dries up and allows only small boats. Vessels of more than six tons have to drop anchor a couple of kilometres away from the shore.

Today not much remains of the Thai fort but for a square wall about twelve feet broad with corner towers. The enclosed inner space (250cmx235cm) today is kept smooth and divided into squares for drying fishes. Most of the outer part of the enclosure has stakes erected. Earlier they used to be connected by rice straw ropes and today by nylon ropes. These are used either for drying fish on hanging nets. This enclosed space lies three feet below the level of the present wall and six feet below the corner towers. These walls are of massive undressed stones laid with considerable skill without mortar.

UNDERI AND KHANDERI; Off the shores of Thai about twenty kms away

from Bombay, lie the islands of Underi and Khanderi. They have

been variously referred to as Hundry, Ondra, Hunare, Henery and

Kundra, Cundry, Cunarey and Kenery or Kenary in the pages of history. At Khanderi stands a light house (the centre of the

lantern being 48.4m. above sea level) built in 1867. This warns seamen of the dangers lying seaward of Alibag and Revdanda.

35“ The earliest mention of these islands were made by the

Portuguese Viceroy Dom Joao da Castro in 1538. He described it as the Island of Ceul. Khafi Khan in 1693 mentioned Kolaba and

Gandiri as Sivaji's strongest fort among the newly built coastal forts. In 1813 Manaji Angre handed Khanderi to the Pesvas for the support given, and later with the downfall of the Pesvas, it came

into British hands in 1818.

The best adavantage of possessing these islands were having

a clear view of the Bombay port and of the Arabian sea. The one having the twin forts of Underi and Khanderi had a very strong out

post towards the sea. The temple of the sea God Vetal is also at

Khanderi.

Thus these two talukas of the Raigarh district play a very

important part as regards the Son Kolis. These Kolis have played

an important role in the perspective of this region. And the

historical events have also manipulated the Son Kolis and other

communities for their adavantage. These have been examined here.

A further perspective of the political affiliation and growth of

the Son KOlis will be dealt with in Chapter Nine. Here we have

tried and presented the information preserved of the role played

by the Kolis in the different phases of history.