The Weapons, Armies and Battles of India
This thread is all about India, and the factions and weaponry of this splendid theatre of total war - The Mughals, Rajputs, Maharathas, Afghans, Mysore, the Portugese, the French and of course last but most definitely not least... the British (the East India Company).
Discuss battles, weaponry, armies and other historical events of India in this time period (1600s - 1800s) to your hearts content.
Last edited by Miraj; February 27, 2008 at 01:00 AM.
Re: The Weapons, Armies and Battles of India
One word sakram XEna the warrior princess.
SIKH rule
Comes Limitis
Re: The Weapons, Armies and Battles of India
Discuss battles, weaponry, armies and other historical events of India in this time period (1600s - 1800s) to your hearts content.
The Battle of Bassein
At the end of 17th century Bassein reached the height of the prosperity. In 1719, the province of Bassein numbered about 60,000 inhabitants; of these were 2,000 Portuguese and 58,000 Christian Indians.
The Fort of Vasai, enclosing a whole town within the fort walls, included 10 bastions, of these nine were named as: Cavaleiro, Nossa Senhora dos Remedios, Reis Magos Santiago, São Gonçalo, Madre de Deus, and Sam Sebastião; São Sebastião was also called "Porta Pia" or pious door of Bassein. There were two medieval gateways, one on seaside called Porta do Mar with massive teak gates cased with iron spikes and the other one called Porta da Terra. There were ninety pieces of artillery, 27 of which were made of bronze and seventy mortars, 7 of these mortars were made of bronze. The port was defended by 21 gun boats each carrying 16 to 18 guns. This fort stands till today with the outer shell and ruins of churches.
In February 1739, Chimaji Appa, the Maratha ruler Bajirao Peshwa’s younger brother, attacked Bassein with 22,000 men.
He first occupied the Versova, Dharavi and blockaded Bassein Creek. The Portuguese sought help from the British in Bombay but they instead sent ammunition and three of their gunners to assist the Marathas.
They then laid 12 mines, two of which exploded causing a breach in the fort wall. When they mounted an assault on the fort, a third mine exploded killing hundreds of Maratha warriors.
The Portuguese kept up their defenses by throwing hand grenades and throwing huge stones from mortars, causing havoc among the Marathas. The Marathas finally exploded more mines in the breached wall causing the tower of St. Sebastião to collapse. The Marathas secured a position in the fort from where the Portuguese could not longer defend the fort.
The Marathas casualty was about 12,000 killed or wounded while the Portuguese casualty was about 800 killed or wounded, among those killed on the Portuguese side were General Martinho da Silveira, General Pedro de Melo and Lt.-Colonel João Malhão.
After a desperate resistance on 16 May 1739 the Portuguese signed surrender. The treaty of surrender stipulated that all garrison would be allowed to march out of town with full honours of war. Those who wanted to leave had 8 days to take all their movable property and move out.
On 19th May 1739, Captain Caetano de Souza Pereira capitulated and handed over the Court of Bassein. They left Bassein on 23 May 1739.
The Portuguese lost eight cities, four chief ports, twenty fortress, two fortified hills, the island of Salsette with the city and the fortress of Thana, Island of Arnala the island of Caranja, and 340 villages.
The churches and almost all the buildings from fortress were destroyed and looted by the Marathas. The church bells were paraded, carried off on elephant backs as victory souvenirs. One Church bell was carried to and located at Naroshankar Temple on the banks of Godavari river in Nasik, Panchavati area. The other church bell is located at Ashta-Vinayaka temple in Ballaleshwar in Sudhagad, district Raigad.
The Maratha ruler Madhavrao Peshwa offered free land grants to Hindus who would settle in Bassein and imposed a tax system to encourage purification/conversion of Christians back into Hinduism.After 205 years of uninterrupted Portuguese rule, Bassein was progressively neglected, and the neighboring English Bombay assumed importance in trade and commerce.
But even the Marathas could not hold control over Bassein for long.
The English and the Marathas tried not to clash with each other, however when the British heard of Portuguese expedition was being prepared for the recovery of Salsette and Bassein, the British Bombay Government seized that island in 1774.
The British tried to negotiate the surrender of the fort but when negotiations failed, a British force was dispatched to take it by force. On December 28, 1774, the fort of Vasai (Bassein) was stormed, and the greater part of the fort garrison was killed.
In 1741, the Marathas invaded Bardez and Salsete and threatened the city of Goa itself.
Fortunately for the Portuguese, a new Viceroy, the Marquis of Lourical arrived with substantial reinforcements and defeated the Marathas in Bardez.
But the valuable Portuguese territory of Bassein further up the coast was lost to the Marathas.
During this period, the Portuguese got involved in several frontier wars which enabled them to extend their control over Ponda, Sanguem, Quepem, Canacona, Pernem, Bicholim and Satari. Hence, although Portugal lost a large number of its asian territories, Goa itself expanded.
This second (and final) phase of Portuguese expansion was rather different from their initial conquests. By the time these territories were added, the zeal for religious conversions had died down. In fact, the Portuguese mistrusting the Jesuits whom they viewed as being puppets of the pope in Rome, banned the order in 1759. By 1835, all religious orders were banned, while the hindu majority were "granted" the freedom to practice their religion. As a result, the "New Conquests" retained their hindu identity, a characteristic that persists until today.
The Mandapeshwar caves, Bassein, Maratha /Portuguese/ British Wars:
The caves are situated in the northernmost part of Mumbai, a kilometer or two north of Borivili station. Though Mandapeshwar was popularly called Mont Pezier by the Portuguese, it is now better known as Mount Poisnur.
Historian Brazilian A. Fernandes in his book titled “A Historical Sketch of Mount Poisnur" (1923) presumes that these caves were excavated between 750 and 850 A.D.
The Buddhists of Western India had close ties with the Persians whose supremacy in commerce then was unmatched in the eastern part of the globe. Hence it is believed that the Mandapeshwar caves were planned and sculpted by the Persian artists. Their works depicted the mythical tales of the Hindu gods and goddesses. Even today an elaborate sculpture representing the marriage of Shiva with Parvati may be viewed from the large square window at the south end of these caves.
When the Portuguese came to India in the beginning of the sixteenth century and conquered Bassein and other places along the western shores of Maharashtra, they also gave profound importance to the establishment of the Catholic faith in the region.
The Franciscan priests were the first to spread the Gospel in Salsette under the guidance of Fr. Antonio do Porto. In about 1544, these missionaries built a church near the caves and dedicated it to the Lady of Immaculate Conception. A monastery was raised over a rock for the education of the children of the converts.
This went on until the middle of the eighteenth century when the Marathas ravaged the place during the Battle of Bassein.
After the desecration of the church, the Marathas uncovered the Brahmanic sculptures in the caves, which the monks had covered with plaster and worshipped them again.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century, the British defeated the Marathas and conquered Bassein. Instead of repairing the desecrated church, the Catholics of the neighbourhood fitted the caves with a statue of Mother Mary, a cross and a pulpit and used it as a cave chapel from 1818 for about seventy years. In 1888, a few gentlemen from Bandra rebuilt the church as it stands today.
Today these caves and the open stretch of land in front of them are in a mess. Mandapeshwar has undergone many changes. But a firm conviction still fosters that no dispute, no suit and no battle can overthrow her past glory.
Source : " Vasai History"
Last edited by Ludicus; March 02, 2008 at 09:50 AM.
Comes Limitis
Re: The Weapons, Armies and Battles of India
Some images of the Ruins of Bassein:
Old Church:
The raveged Fort:
The Portuguese Seal (entrance)
The Outstanding cave:
Re: The Weapons, Armies and Battles of India
Awsome stuff Ludicus! I never knew about that Portugese battle or this awsome fort. Will read more about it after midterms finish this thursday, thanks for the info.
Another interesting Portugese fort from this time period: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Aguada
Goa was one of the most important Portugese possesion in India too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...rtuguese_India
Last edited by Miraj; March 04, 2008 at 03:33 PM.
ز آفتاب درخشان ستاره می
Re: The Weapons, Armies and Battles of India
edited
Last edited by Babur; May 28, 2008 at 08:57 AM.
Re: The Weapons, Armies and Battles of India
akalis is fun !!
ز آفتاب درخشان ستاره می
Re: The Weapons, Armies and Battles of India
lol thanks jo, well to the Sikhs , Maharaja Ranjit Singh is remembered as a great ruler.What is also interesting is that he managed to get back the Koh-i-Noor diamond as well.
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