INS
Angre Pays Tribute to Its Namesake
INS
Angre, a shore establishment at the headquarters of the Western
Naval Command is getting ready to spruce up for the International
Fleet Review. Few are aware of the years of history trapped inside
its walls. INS Angre, once a Fortified Bombay Castle (part of it
still remains, much of it could not stand against British imperialism),
is named after the naval hero Admiral Kanhoji Angre. It is
within these walls that the Portuguese built their Manor House over
400 years ago and the British fortified the Bombay Castle a century
later. For the first 100 years after the Portuguese handed over
Bombay to the British in 1666, the castle was home to 20 governors
of Bombay, including Messrs Oxinden, Child and Hornby. The mighty
walls of the fort held buccaneers at bay, it crumbled withstanding
British imperialism.
Sometime
between the two World Wars, the Bombay Castle which had witnessed
years of trade and defence activities by the British was handed
over to the Royal Indian Navy. These castle barracks were commissioned
as HMIS Dalhousie in 1940 and renamed INS Angre September 1951.
The establishment has housed the headquarters of the Western Naval
Command since 1994.
The Naval Hero - Angre
The Admiral was feared as a pirate by Britishers and worshipped
as a local hero by Mumbaiites. Angre who came to power in 1700 has
his name deeply engraved on the history of this city and its once
existent Fort. The Fort area in Mumbai, with its three gates, the
Bazaar Gate, Churchgate and Apollo Gate, was constructed in 1722
to protect the island city of Mumbai from invaders at sea. The invaders
were mainly European pirates and patriots like the Maratha admiral
Kanhoji Angre, who was at the forefront of the fight against the
East India Company. He defied alien rulers and plundered their ships
at will.
Angre's
fame can be traced back to heroics at the Arabian sea, the Andaman
& Nicobar islands and the great Marathas of Western India. Yet
few are aware of this naval hero and his contributions to Indian
soil.
Admiral Angre, had his Naval base just a few miles south of Bombay
at Khanderi Underi, from where he controlled the entrance to Bombay
harbour and levied taxes on the East India company's ships entering
it.
Why was Angre associated with the Andamans? The Marathas
had captured the Andaman & Nicobar islands in the early 18th
century. The islands formed his naval base from where he frequently
captured British, Dutch and Portugese merchant ships. In 1713, he
captured the yacht of the British governor of Bombay, releasing
it only after obtaining a hefty ransom. Angre remained undefeated
by the combined British and Portuguese naval task force, till his
death in 1729. In the 17th century, along the Konkan coast, the
Maratha Navy gained prominence under the Admiral.
Vijaydurg connections: The sea fort of Vijaydurg was silent
witness to the rise and fall of the Maratha naval power. It was
one of the three forts along with Sindhudurg and Kulaba, strengthened
by Shivaji to counter European activity on the Indian coast between
Mumbai and Goa. Vijaydurg grew in fame as a seat of power of Kanhoji
Angre, the admiral of the Peshwas. Tulaji Angre, a worthy successor
of Kanhoji Angre, was equally formidable, but had to inevitably
succumb under British pressure. On February 14, 1756 the fort of
Vijaydurg was surrendered leading to the fall of the Maratha navy.
Paying a fitting tribute
The Western Naval Command has taken upon itself the task of
restoring the surviving three walls and four bastions of the old
fort, repairing their gun-ports to install 30 cannons and have even
commissioned a ten-foot bronze statue of Kanhoji Angre in battle
gear.
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