Publication Date
2009
Categories
Related entries
City and port of the Indian littoral of Deccan, situated in the northern bank of the bay formed by the estuary of the river Kundalika, about 40 Km south of Bombay (18º 33' N e 72º 55 E). Once a busy port, especially due to regional commerce with other ports of the Indian littoral and to traffic with the Far East, the number of ships in its harbor decreased through the centuries, as a result of the progressive blocking of the estuary due to sedimentation, and the numerous sandbanks existing there. Fortunately, its history is reasonably well documented. Called Champavati (Sanskrit) by the Hindus, its name assumed the form Chemuli in Prakrit, a term that the author of The Peryplus of the Erythrean Sea (1st century) and Ptolomy in his work, Geography, would convert to Symola and Chymola. The Prakrit form, meanwhile, gave rise to the modern names, Chewal or Tsewal, which the Italian Varthema transformed into Çevul, while the Portuguese chroniclers turned it into Chaul or Cheul. Descriptions or references to Chaul are also found in the works of Persian and Arab writers. At the time the Portuguese arrived in India, due to the desintegration of the Bahamanid Sultanate, this city belonged to Nizam-ul-Muluk, the Sultan of Ahmadnagar, with whom they maintained friendly ties.
In January 1508, the port of Chaul was the site of one of the most significant events in its history, which is reported by all chroniclers and is related to the first Portuguese actions in the Malabar Coasts: the naval battle between the squadron belonging Dom Lourenço de Almeida, son of Dom Francisco de Almeida, and the Turkish fleet commanded by Mir Hussein and reinforced with help from the captain of Diu, Malik Aiyaz. In the end, the Portuguese fled the Port of Chaul, with heavy losses, including captain Dom Lourenço de Almeida himself. On the eve of the Diu naval battle, where he would avenge his son´s death, Dom Francisco de Almeida stopped over in Chaul and demanded that Nizam-ul-Muluk pay tribute to the King of Portugal. Nizam-ul-Muluk agreed, believing that he was securing Portuguese support against his neighbor and rival Hidalcão, Sultan of Bijapur, protection against the piracy based out of Dabul, as well as the passage of the profitable commerce of horses through his harbor. There were Portuguese administrators residing in Chaul at least since 1515.
In 1521 after it was determined that constructing a fortress in Diu was not viable, Governor Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, with the approval of Nizam-ul-Muluk, decided to have it erected in Chaul. The supply of raw cotton was thus guaranteed, as was the production of cotton fabrics, namely the so called "black clothing of Chaul," which was heavily utilized in East African Coast commercial exchanges of gold and ivory; above all, he secured a strategic base for the Portuguese fleets, almost at the entrance to the Gulf of Cambaia, and a military presence a few leagues south of the Kingdom of Guzerat. The 1521 contract with Nizam-ul-Muluk was renewed and expanded in 1539, 1542, and 1548. Later, however, Nizam-ul-Muluk decided to join the great Muslim coalition against the Hindu kingdom of Bisnaga or Narsinga, a Portuguese ally, adding his troops to the forces of the Sultans of Bijapur, and Golkonda. After the last worthily-titled sovereign of Bisnaga, Ramaraja, had been defeated and killed during the Talicota siege in 1565, the allies turned against the Portuguese: Hidalcão attacked Goa, while Nizam-ul-Muluk attacked Chaul (1569), at the same time that the Zamorin attacked the Portuguese fortress of Chalé and Achin forces sieged Malacca. However, under the command of Dom Francisco de Mascarenhas, Luis Freire de Andrade, and Dom Jorge de Meneses Baroche, Chaul withstood the siege, so that Nizam-ul-Muluk asked for peace and accepted anew the suzerainty of the King of Portugal, paying tribute again. As prevention against any future eventualities, Chaul was completely fortified.
Named "Lower Chaul", the Portuguese city was situated on the estuary of the river, across from Chaul Hill. This site was chosen by the Portuguese to erect a fort which protected the small city and assured the defense of the harbor entrance. Above the Portuguese settlement, in a location designated "Upper Chaul", the Muslim and gentile populations resided under the jurisdiction of Nizam-ul-Muluk. Up to 2,000 Portuguese from mainland Portugal as well as Indian-Portuguese resided in the city and suburbs. They did not receive revenues from renting land, as did the Portuguese in Daman and Bassein, relying mostly on commerce for their income, and maintaing ties with the surrounding ports, the Persian Gulf (Basra, Muscat, etc.), Mozambique, Manila, and China. Besides the buildings needed for administration, justice, and defense of the harbor, Chaul also had a hospital and a Casa da Misericordia [Mercy House], as well as some churches and five convents belonging to the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustines, Jesuits, and Capuchins, the grand ruins of which remain nowadays. The city´s most important and influent inhabitants owned haughty abodes. In a letter to Father Gonçalo Vaz, Father Gonçalo da Silveira, who visited the city in 1557, pointed out that "a gente daquella cidade [era] muito honrada e riqua" [the people of that city were quite honorable and rich], being surprised at "ver a multidão de homens e mulheres portuguesa" [seeing the crowd of Portuguese men and women], imbued with such religious fervor that they became "mais e melhores devotos que os de Lisboa" [better and more devout Catholics than the ones in Lisbon].
Tomé Pires and Duarte Barbosa accentuate the role of the harbor as an intermediary in the circulation of products in a wide network of coastal commerce established by several hundred zambucos [small Asian vessels], which flocked to it during the "time of navigation", between the months of December and March. At that time, numerous ships would dock in Chaul, coming mainly from "the land of Malabar and many other parts", namely Mecca, Cambay, and Persia, loaded with "spices, sand, coconuts, many drugs, palm sugar, wax, emery," taking in return cotton, cloths, "much wheat, grains, rice, corn, and sesame."
In 1581, the annual income of the fortress was 30,629 pardaus and tanga [Asian coins], of which 7,000 pardaus came from páreas, the tribute paid by Nizam-ul-Muluk in recognition of his vassalage, while its expenses did not exceed the 12,518.5 pardaus and 360 reis. In 1634, the balance was still positive, with 10 contos and 924,883 reis, not including the páreas payment, which should have amounted to 2 contos and 520 reis, "per que anda aquele reino [de Nizamaluco] levantado" [because of the uprise in Nizam-ul-Muluk´s kingdom]. We know through Charles Dellon that in 1687 Chaul remained strong, resisting attacks by the Indian and Dutch, who sought to secure the monopoly of the spice trade. In 1740, following the great Maratha invasion of the North Province, which led to the loss of Bessein (1739), Portugal ceded Chaul to obtain the retreat of the Maratha allies, the Bhonsles, from the territory of Goa, which had been invaded. The Christian population that remained in Chaul was transferred to Corlaim village, at the base of the Morro Fortress, on the opposite side of the river. Thus, in the decade of 1770, Franciscan missionaries found that the area was still quite sought after by "...indivíduos de de naçoens diversas, e de ambos os sexos a celebrarem o Sacramento do Matrimónio" [persons of various nations and of both genders, who celebrate the Sacrament of Matrimony]. They indicate the existence of about 1,300 residents in Chaul. A Catholic population of Creole Portuguese speakers, numbering about 800 inhabitants remains there to this day.
Bibliography | Sources: Livro de Duarte Barbosa; Livro de Toda a Receita , de Pêro Barreto de Resende; Livro das Cidade e Fortalezas (edição de Mendes da Luz); Regimentos das Fortalezas da Índia (edição de P. Pissurlencar); Charles Dellon, Inquisition de Goa (edição de Charles Amiel e Anne Lima); Documentação para a História das Missões do Padroado Português do Oriente (coligida e anotada por António da Silva Rego); Annual Reports of the Portuguese Franciscans in India 1713- 1833 (coligidos e anotados por Fr. Achilles Meersman OFM); O Tombo de Chaul 1591-1592 (prefaciado e anotado por Artur Teodoro de Matos). Estudos: Joseph Gerson da Cunha, Notes on the History and Antiquities of Chaul and Bassein, Bombaim, 1876; Artur Teodoro de Matos, Estado da Índia nos anos de 1581-1588 - Estrutura Administrativa e Economia: Alguns Elementos para o Seu Estudo, Ponta Delgada, 1982.
Translated by: Maria João Pimentel
In January 1508, the port of Chaul was the site of one of the most significant events in its history, which is reported by all chroniclers and is related to the first Portuguese actions in the Malabar Coasts: the naval battle between the squadron belonging Dom Lourenço de Almeida, son of Dom Francisco de Almeida, and the Turkish fleet commanded by Mir Hussein and reinforced with help from the captain of Diu, Malik Aiyaz. In the end, the Portuguese fled the Port of Chaul, with heavy losses, including captain Dom Lourenço de Almeida himself. On the eve of the Diu naval battle, where he would avenge his son´s death, Dom Francisco de Almeida stopped over in Chaul and demanded that Nizam-ul-Muluk pay tribute to the King of Portugal. Nizam-ul-Muluk agreed, believing that he was securing Portuguese support against his neighbor and rival Hidalcão, Sultan of Bijapur, protection against the piracy based out of Dabul, as well as the passage of the profitable commerce of horses through his harbor. There were Portuguese administrators residing in Chaul at least since 1515.
In 1521 after it was determined that constructing a fortress in Diu was not viable, Governor Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, with the approval of Nizam-ul-Muluk, decided to have it erected in Chaul. The supply of raw cotton was thus guaranteed, as was the production of cotton fabrics, namely the so called "black clothing of Chaul," which was heavily utilized in East African Coast commercial exchanges of gold and ivory; above all, he secured a strategic base for the Portuguese fleets, almost at the entrance to the Gulf of Cambaia, and a military presence a few leagues south of the Kingdom of Guzerat. The 1521 contract with Nizam-ul-Muluk was renewed and expanded in 1539, 1542, and 1548. Later, however, Nizam-ul-Muluk decided to join the great Muslim coalition against the Hindu kingdom of Bisnaga or Narsinga, a Portuguese ally, adding his troops to the forces of the Sultans of Bijapur, and Golkonda. After the last worthily-titled sovereign of Bisnaga, Ramaraja, had been defeated and killed during the Talicota siege in 1565, the allies turned against the Portuguese: Hidalcão attacked Goa, while Nizam-ul-Muluk attacked Chaul (1569), at the same time that the Zamorin attacked the Portuguese fortress of Chalé and Achin forces sieged Malacca. However, under the command of Dom Francisco de Mascarenhas, Luis Freire de Andrade, and Dom Jorge de Meneses Baroche, Chaul withstood the siege, so that Nizam-ul-Muluk asked for peace and accepted anew the suzerainty of the King of Portugal, paying tribute again. As prevention against any future eventualities, Chaul was completely fortified.
Named "Lower Chaul", the Portuguese city was situated on the estuary of the river, across from Chaul Hill. This site was chosen by the Portuguese to erect a fort which protected the small city and assured the defense of the harbor entrance. Above the Portuguese settlement, in a location designated "Upper Chaul", the Muslim and gentile populations resided under the jurisdiction of Nizam-ul-Muluk. Up to 2,000 Portuguese from mainland Portugal as well as Indian-Portuguese resided in the city and suburbs. They did not receive revenues from renting land, as did the Portuguese in Daman and Bassein, relying mostly on commerce for their income, and maintaing ties with the surrounding ports, the Persian Gulf (Basra, Muscat, etc.), Mozambique, Manila, and China. Besides the buildings needed for administration, justice, and defense of the harbor, Chaul also had a hospital and a Casa da Misericordia [Mercy House], as well as some churches and five convents belonging to the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustines, Jesuits, and Capuchins, the grand ruins of which remain nowadays. The city´s most important and influent inhabitants owned haughty abodes. In a letter to Father Gonçalo Vaz, Father Gonçalo da Silveira, who visited the city in 1557, pointed out that "a gente daquella cidade [era] muito honrada e riqua" [the people of that city were quite honorable and rich], being surprised at "ver a multidão de homens e mulheres portuguesa" [seeing the crowd of Portuguese men and women], imbued with such religious fervor that they became "mais e melhores devotos que os de Lisboa" [better and more devout Catholics than the ones in Lisbon].
Tomé Pires and Duarte Barbosa accentuate the role of the harbor as an intermediary in the circulation of products in a wide network of coastal commerce established by several hundred zambucos [small Asian vessels], which flocked to it during the "time of navigation", between the months of December and March. At that time, numerous ships would dock in Chaul, coming mainly from "the land of Malabar and many other parts", namely Mecca, Cambay, and Persia, loaded with "spices, sand, coconuts, many drugs, palm sugar, wax, emery," taking in return cotton, cloths, "much wheat, grains, rice, corn, and sesame."
In 1581, the annual income of the fortress was 30,629 pardaus and tanga [Asian coins], of which 7,000 pardaus came from páreas, the tribute paid by Nizam-ul-Muluk in recognition of his vassalage, while its expenses did not exceed the 12,518.5 pardaus and 360 reis. In 1634, the balance was still positive, with 10 contos and 924,883 reis, not including the páreas payment, which should have amounted to 2 contos and 520 reis, "per que anda aquele reino [de Nizamaluco] levantado" [because of the uprise in Nizam-ul-Muluk´s kingdom]. We know through Charles Dellon that in 1687 Chaul remained strong, resisting attacks by the Indian and Dutch, who sought to secure the monopoly of the spice trade. In 1740, following the great Maratha invasion of the North Province, which led to the loss of Bessein (1739), Portugal ceded Chaul to obtain the retreat of the Maratha allies, the Bhonsles, from the territory of Goa, which had been invaded. The Christian population that remained in Chaul was transferred to Corlaim village, at the base of the Morro Fortress, on the opposite side of the river. Thus, in the decade of 1770, Franciscan missionaries found that the area was still quite sought after by "...indivíduos de de naçoens diversas, e de ambos os sexos a celebrarem o Sacramento do Matrimónio" [persons of various nations and of both genders, who celebrate the Sacrament of Matrimony]. They indicate the existence of about 1,300 residents in Chaul. A Catholic population of Creole Portuguese speakers, numbering about 800 inhabitants remains there to this day.
Bibliography | Sources: Livro de Duarte Barbosa; Livro de Toda a Receita , de Pêro Barreto de Resende; Livro das Cidade e Fortalezas (edição de Mendes da Luz); Regimentos das Fortalezas da Índia (edição de P. Pissurlencar); Charles Dellon, Inquisition de Goa (edição de Charles Amiel e Anne Lima); Documentação para a História das Missões do Padroado Português do Oriente (coligida e anotada por António da Silva Rego); Annual Reports of the Portuguese Franciscans in India 1713- 1833 (coligidos e anotados por Fr. Achilles Meersman OFM); O Tombo de Chaul 1591-1592 (prefaciado e anotado por Artur Teodoro de Matos). Estudos: Joseph Gerson da Cunha, Notes on the History and Antiquities of Chaul and Bassein, Bombaim, 1876; Artur Teodoro de Matos, Estado da Índia nos anos de 1581-1588 - Estrutura Administrativa e Economia: Alguns Elementos para o Seu Estudo, Ponta Delgada, 1982.
Translated by: Maria João Pimentel