Kunjali Marakkar was the title inherited by the Admiral of the fleet of the King Samoothiri / Zamorin, the King of Calicut, in present-day Kerala, India. There were four Marakkars whose war tactics defended against the Portuguese invasion from 1520 to 1600. The Kunjali Marakkars are credited with organizing the first naval defense of the Indian coast.[1] [2]
The Marakkars originate from a branch of Tamil-speaking merchants within the seafaring community who settled in Kochi. They were involved in trade and engaged in collaboration with the Portuguese. The 16th century writer Zainuddin Makhdoom II who wrote the Tuhfat-ul-Mujahideen stated in 1524 that the Marakkars had turned against the Portuguese when the latter disrupted the former's trade networks by purchasing spices and commodities directly from local people in Kochi.[3]
Kutty Ahmed Ali was a Admiral of Zamorin he played a significant role in resisting the portuguese expansion. In 1524 Zamorin Kingdom helped the ceylonese king in his campaign to expel the Portuguese from ceylon and reduced the Colombo Fort with the help of Zamorin navy under the command of ahmed ali.[4] In 1525 Portuguese established a fortress in calicut a fleet of Zamorin ships under the command of kutty ahmed ali bombarded the fort.[5] later that year entered the port of Cochin setting fire to number of Portuguese vessels and returned safely to Calicut.[6] [7] In 1529 Zamorin navy defeated Portuguese navy in the battle of chetwai river.[8]
The Kunjali IV had rescued a Chinese boy, called Chinali, who was said to have been enslaved on a Portuguese ship.[9] The Kunjali was very fond of him, and he became one of his most feared lieutenants, a Muslim and enemy of the Portuguese.[10] [11] The Portuguese were terrorized by the Kunjali and his Chinese right-hand man, eventually, after the Portuguese allied with Calicut's Zamorin, under André Furtado de Mendonça they attacked the Kunjali and Chinali's forces, and they were handed over to the Portuguese by the Samorin after he reneged on a promise to let them go.[12]
Diogo do Couto, a Portuguese historian, questioned the Kunjali and Chinali when they were captured.[13] He was present when the Kunjali surrendered to the Portuguese and was described: "One of these was Chinale, a Chinese, who had been a servant at Malacca, and said to have been the captive of a Portuguese, taken as a boy from a fusta, and afterwards brought to Kunjali, who conceived such an affection for him that he trusted him with everything. He was the greatest exponent of the Moorish superstition and enemy of the Christians in all Malabar, and for those taken captive at sea and brought thither he invented the most exquisite kinds of torture when he martyred them."[14] [15] [16] However, de Couto's claim that he tortured Christians was questionable, since no other source reported this, and is dismissed as ridiculous.[17] [18]
Such a practice also prevailed in Calicut, registering the goods, Pyrard called the system "most admirable". Malabar pirates had four harbours under the ambit of the Samoothiri, there they built their galleys. These harbours were Moutingue (Muttungal), Badara (Vadakara), Chombaye (Chambal), and Cangelotte (Kaniyaram Kottu). They were fortified only on the seas-side under the patronage of Samoothiri, who granted these ports to Marakkar family who fortified them. These ports were two leagues from each other. Portuguese made multiple attempts to conquer these fortified ports, without effect or to their own loss, mainly at Badara.[19]
The film is said to be historically inaccurate.
allied forces the remnants of the garrison marched forth. "First came 400 Moors, many of them wounded, with their children and wives, in such an impoverished condition that they seemed as dead. These the Samorin bade go where they pleased. Last of all came Kunhali with a black kerchief on his head, and a sword in his hand with the point lowered. He was at that time a man of fifty, of middle height, muscular and broad-shouldered. He walked between three of his chief Moors. One of these was Chinale, a Chinese, who had been a servant at Malacca, and said to have been the captive of a Portuguese, taken as a boy from a fusta, and afterwards brought to Kunhali, who conceived such an affection for him that he trusted him with everything. He was the greatest exponent of the Moorish superstition and enemy of the Christians in all Malabar, and for those taken captive at sea and brought thither he invented the most exquisite kinds of torture when he martyred them.
"Kunhali walked straight to the Samorin and delivered to him his sword in token of submission, throwing himself at his feet with much humility. Some say that the Samorin, inasmuch as he had promised him life, had secretly advised the Chief Captain, when Kunhali should deliver himself up, to lay hands upon him, as though he were taking him by force; and so the Chief Captain did. For, as the Samoriu was standing by him, Andre Furtado advanced, and, seizing him by the arm, pulled him aside; while the other gave a great lurch so as to get free. As he was then at the brink of a hole, the Chief Captain was in risk of falling therein, had not his arm been seized by Padre Fr. Diogo Horaen, a Religious of the Order of the Glorious Father S. Francisco, who stood on one side; Diogo Moniz Barreto, who was on the other, fell into the hole and skinned all his leg."
A tumult now arose among the Nairs, which the Samorin with difficulty suppressed. In the midst of it, Chinale and Cotiale, the pirate-chief's nephew, and the other captains, attempted to escape, but were seized and manacled by the Portuguese soldiery. Kunhali himself was led off under a strong guard to the Portuguese lines. Furtado, after entering the fort hand-iu-hand with the Samorin, prudently gave up the place to be sacked by the
. 2 March 2012.withdrew to his camp. All this time the obstructions in the river, and the deficiency of boats, had kept Luiz da Gama a mere spectator of the scene, unable either to direct or to succour. We have, from de Couto, a picture of him standing knee-deep in the mud of the river bar, endeavouring to embark succours in the boats, while ever and anon his attempts thus to rally his forces were frustrated by the sight of the fugitives, some in boats, some swimming down the river, and all shouting, "Treason! Treason!" The body of the brave Luiz da Sylva had been got into a boat, wrapped in his flag, which a captain had torn from its standard, in order to conceal the fact of his fall. This manoeuvre, however, only added to the disorder of the soldiery, who found themselves of a sudden, and at the critical moment of the attack, without a competent leader and without colours. Thus ended the gravest disaster which had as yet befallen the Portuguese arms in India. De Couto gives a long list of noble fidalgos who fell that day, sacrificed by the incapacity of their leaders; and though he confidently asserts that the total loss was 230 men and no more, his own story of the events of the fight gives colour to the statement of Pyrard that the loss amounted to no less than 500 lives. It is further stated by de Couto, who talked the matter over with Kunhali and his lieutenant, Chinale, when they were in the Goa prison, that the loss of the besieged exceeded 500 men.
The sorrow and vexation of Luiz da Gama at the death of his brave captain and the miscarriage of the whole enterprise were unbounded. His next measures, however, were dictated by good sense and humanity. Leaving a small force to blockade the fort under Francisco de Sousa, and despatching the body of da Sylva to Cannanor, where it was temporarily interred with all available pomp,1 he withdrew his shattered forces to Cochin, where the wounded received attention at the hospital and in the houses of the citizens.
The blockading force was insufficient, and Kunhali, who had thirteen galeots ready for action in his port, might easily have forced a way to sea, had not de Sousa, by a skillful ruse, led him
It was afterwards conveyed to Portugal.
. 2 March 2012.