Битва при Колачеле: Победа Траванкора над Голландской Ост-Индской компанией (1741)

1741 battle of the Travancore Dutch War

The Battle of Colachel (or The Battle of Kolachel) was fought on 10 August 1741 [O. S. 31 July 1741 ]
between the Indian kingdom of Travancore and the Dutch East India Company. During the Travancore Dutch War, King Marthanda Varma's (1729–1758) forces defeated the Dutch East India Company's forces led by Admiral Eustachius De Lannoy on 10 August 1741. The Dutch never recovered from the defeat and no longer posed a large colonial threat to India. Travancore won the war with the notable military service of the Travancore nair brigadeat the sea and seashore while Anantha padmanabhan Pillai commander in chief of the army at the land.

In the early 18th century, the Malabar Coast region of present day Kerala was divided among several smaller kingdoms. In the 1730s, Marthanda Varma, the ruler of Travancore, adopted an expansionist policy, and conquered several territories from these small states. This threatened the interests of the Dutch East India Company's command at Malabar, whose spice trade depended on procurement of spices from these states. Marthanda Varma and his vassals refused to honour the monopoly contracts that the Dutch had with the states annexed by Travancore, adversely affecting the Dutch trade in Malabar. In January 1739, Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff, the Dutch Governor of Ceylon, visited Kochi, and in a July report, he recommended military action to save the Dutch colonization of Malabar. Later that year, the Dutch organised an alliance of the rulers of Kochi, Thekkumkur, Vadakkumkur, Purakkad, Kollam, and Kayamkulam. Van Imhoff personally met Marthanda Varma to negotiate peace, threatening to wage war against Travancore if the Dutch terms were not accepted, but Marthanda Varma dismissed the threat, and replied that he had been thinking about invading Europe some day. In late 1739, the Dutch command at Malabar declared war on Travancore, without obtaining permission or waiting for reinforcements from Batavia. The Dutch deployed a detachment of soldiers from Ceylon against Travancore, under the command of Captain Johannes Hackert. They and their allies achieved several military successes in the initial campaign. In November, the allied army forced the Travancore army stationed near Kollam to retreat, and advanced up to Tangasseri. The British East India Company chief at Anchuthengu congratulated the Dutch on their victory, and requested them to leave their establishment at Edava in peace. By early December, the Dutch and their allies marched towards Attingal and Varkala. When the Travancore army withdrew to check an invasion by Chanda Sahib of Arcot in the south, the allies achieved further military successes. However, the Dutch decided to wait for reinforcements from Ceylon before waging further war against Travancore. In November 1740, the Dutch command in Malabar asked for reinforcements from Ceylon, and launched a second campaign against Travancore. The Travancore force turned against the Dutch possessions, captured Dutch out posts in Travancore, attacked the factories, and took possession of the goods stored. While matters were thus in the north, small reinforcement force of 105 and 70, which the Dutch Governor called from Ceylon, effected a landing at Colachel .

On 26 November, the Dutch sent two large ships and three sloops to Colachel, bombarding the coast. The Dutch soldiers fortified a place near the port with wooden posts and garrisoned a portion of the Dutch force in it. The rest proceeded and attacked the Travancore out posts on the coast, such as Thengapattanam, Midalam, Kadiapattinam and advanced to Eraniel. On 29 November, the Dutch commander van Gollenesse announced a complete blockade of the Travancore coast around Colachel, directing his forces to seize all ships bound for the coast, with the exception of the English ships carrying goods to Edava. On 13 January 1741, the Dutch ship Maarseveen was sent southwards, to be anchored between Thengapattanam and Colachel. On 10 February, another Dutch expedition comprising seven large ships and several smaller vessels landed just north of Colachel. To effectively control the newly conquered territories, the Dutch were expecting reinforcements to arrive from Ceylon and Batavia, but the Company Government at Batavia could not spare any reserve forces because of the Java War. Faced with an acute shortage of Dutch soldiers in Malabar, Van Gollenesse requested at least 300 400 men from the Dutch Ceylon, and meanwhile, sent a section of the Dutch army to Kanyakumari to attack Travancore. The Mukkuvars Played a major role in defeating the Dutch East India company entering into colachal port. The De Lannoy's research text from the University of Leiden in Netherlands has records of Mukkuvar community and their people who played the Major role in defeating the Dutch Ships and taking hostage of Dutch soldiers.

When Marthanda Varma reached Kalkulam, he adopted measures to arrest the progress of the Dutch who being, at the time, in possession of almost all the villages between Colachel and Kottar, and are intended to attack Padmanabhapuram, the capital of Travancore. The Raja raised a levy of 2000 Nairs reinforced the regular infantry already in service in that part of the country. Marthanda Varma strongly remonstrated with the Dutch Governor of Cochin and wrote to the Government in Batavia a letter of remonstrance and complaint. King Marthanda Varma asked for help from the local Mukkuvar leaders to aid them in the war. They agreed on the kings demand, and many sea divers in Mukkuvars were used to sink the few Dutch ships which were anchored in Colachel at night. After the victory of the Colachel war, a local fishing village was named Marthandam Thura, and King Marthanda Varma helped to construct a new church there. De Lannoy's research text from the university of Leiden in Netherlands had references about the Mukkuvar in Colachel. First, he made it clear that however much the Dutch tried, the 'mukkuvars' did not betray the Travancore king. As the Dutch approached the shore, the Travancore army had made a retreat, and the locals fled the area. It was not enough for the Dutch to bombard a place and then barge in. To continue the war they required fortifications, trenches, and makeshift sheds and storerooms. The Dutch captain wanted his generals to talk to the Mukkuvar community in the most peaceful manner, and get them to their side. They wanted the 'mukkuvars' for the work on the fortifications, and also for local support. Pots of money was offered. The fishermen refused. The Dutch then approached the local Jesuit priests to get the fishermen on board. De Lannoy writes that the Jesuits told the Dutch point blank that the fishermen would not betray their king. This marked the beginning of the end of Dutch influence in India.

The Indian government has built a pillar of victory in Kulachal to commemorate the event. The Indian Post Department released a Rupee 5 stamp on 1 April 2004 to commemorate the tercentenary (300th anniversary) of the raising of the 9th Battalion of Madras Regiment. The Parade Ground of Pangode Military Camp is named as Kulachal Ground.