Maratha Navy

During the second half of the seventeenth century, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (b. 1630) founded the Maratha Empire in the Deccan region of the Indian subcontinent. The nascent empire was carved out of the territories belonging to the Mughals and other Deccani sultanates, against whom Shivaji constantly waged wars. Shivaji was aware of the nature of challenges his empire was going to face in the near future. Hence, while he carried out daring cavalry attacks on his enemies, he also laid foundations of a seagoing navy. We have very little idea about the visionary Chhatrapati whose naval fleet, at its peak, consisted of about two hundred assorted vessels of various sizes—some having three masts, and equipped with artillery. The use of the navy facilitated the Marathas to achieve two-fold objectives: projection of power in the adjoining stretch of the Arabian Sea along the Konkan Coast; and, providing an alternative option of a temporary escape to the sea, in case the military pressure from land couldn’t be gainfully negotiated. The navy was supported by coastal and island forts with guns mounted on their ramparts. During the early eighteenth century, Kanhoji Angre, the Maratha admiral, raised his naval capacity in such a manner that the Maratha navy became one of the key contenders for the control of the western coast of India. To enforce navigational parity in the adjoining sea, he issued navigational passes—the possession of which was mandatory for all. This brought the Maratha navy into conflict with the Europeans and the Mughals. The Europeans usually supported the Mughal fleet captained by the Siddi of Janjira. Realizing that a direct naval confrontation with the Europeans would be asymmetrical, the Marathas resorted to small-scale engagements where tactics, based upon their appreciation of geographical realities, played important role. They preferred coastal surroundings to offer battles where their medium-sized, flat-bottomed rowing vessels could maneuver effortlessly. Disengagement under duress, to escape to the nearby shallow creeks, was another way to evade destruction. For the deep-hulled European sailing vessels, maneuvering during wars was extremely difficult in the costal vicinity because of the absence of sufficient breeze. The Maratha navy, thus, successfully maintained its hold over the Arabian Sea along its marine front. In 1755, however, the Maratha Peshwa invited Bombay Marine, the naval arm of the English East India Company (EIC), to fight against his own admiral. In 1756, with the support of the Royal Navy, the Anglo-Maratha combination defeated and destroyed the Maratha navy near Vijaydurg. The main heroes of the action, Admiral Charles Watson and Robert Clive went on to inaugurate a new era of British imperialism in India at Plassey in 1757. The Maratha navy constitutes a glorious chapter from the perspective of local history. However, this subject has largely remained unexplored. Recent research has helped place the Maratha navy and the persona of Kanhoji Angre in the right perspective. Attempts have also been made to assess the wider implications of the Maratha navy by linking it with Indian Ocean studies.