The statue was majestic, almost life-like. It was of Chimaji Appa, brother of Peshwa Bajirao. Astride a horse, sword raised in the air — a moment in time from May 1739 frozen for perpetuity. The sword was raised towards the fort of Vasai, which Chimaji Appa had conquered from the Portuguese and annexed to the Maratha empire.
An earlier trip to the beautiful fort on the seashore — strategically guarding North Konkan — had spiked my interest. Who indeed was this person ? And why did the conquest of this fort make him so important? As I delved deeper, I found that the “Vasai Campaign” stretched across all of today’s suburban Mumbai!
It is difficult to imagine the thundering of a thousand horses’ hooves and the clang of swords when one mentions Bandra, Versova, Thane, Belapur, Kalyan, Uran etc! These places only bring to mind urban chaos. But back in 1738, they were part of the theatre of war between the Marathas and the Portuguese!
The Portuguese had been dilly-dallying over the grant of a trading outpost to Peshwa Bajirao on Salsette Island — or Sashthi in today’s suburban Mumbai. Moreover, Bajirao was insulted by the Portuguese. What made matters worse was the Portrugese support to the Siddi of Janjira earlier. Hence, Bajirao decided to teach the Portuguese a lesson and the responsibility fell on his brother Chimaji Appa’s shoulders.
I went inside the fort and in my mind’s eye I could see Chimaji Appa begin the campaign — by attacking the forts at Kalyan and Thane. Multitudes of Maratha soldiers had poured into the then forested sprawl of suburban Mumbai, attacking Versova, Marol and Bandra on the western coast. Interestingly, I read, the British garrison in today’s “Fort” area had helped the Portuguese hold Bandra and Versova. Tandulwadi, Kamandurg, Takmak and Belapur to the north of Vasai, fell.
But reinforcements soon arrived for the Portuguese via Goa enabling Antonio Cardim Froes and Pedro De Mello, the Portuguese officers resisting the onslaught, push back the Marathas from Vasai and recapture Thane.
And then suddenly Chimaji Appa had to leave the campaign and head north to the Tapi river to help Peshwa Bajirao in his campaign against the Nizam. But soon enough, the Peshwa won decisively against the Nizam and once more Maratha troops swooped down on Vasai.
Bajirao sent Chimaji Appa to attack Salsette Island and the forts on it in November 1738 along with seasoned warriors like Malharrao Holkar, Pilaji Jadhav and Baji Bhivrao Bajirao. He also sent Shankarji Keshav Phadke to the Portuguese colony of Daman & Diu to prevent provisions and reinforcements reaching Vasai from the north. In January of 1739, Bajirao sent 16,000 troops under Vyankatrao Joshi and Dadajirao Bhave-Nargundkar to Goa to prevent supplies from reaching Vasai from the south.
As I imagined all these places in my mind , I couldn’t help but marvel at Peshwa Bajirao and Chimaji Appa’s ingenuity. The campaign to conquer Vasai began in right earnest once again. The forts at Bandra, Versova as well as at Thane and Tarapur were quickly taken. A prominent Maratha general, Baji Bhivrao Rethrekar, was killed in the capture of Tarapur. Yes, the same Tarapur that is today famous for the atomic power plant. Manaji Angre captured the small fort at Uran and the noose around Vasai was complete!
Now Chimaji Appa moved in to free it from Portuguese rule on May 1, 1739. A force of more than 1 lakh soldiers was assembled and the fort was attacked with mines and canons.
I looked around the now quiet environs of Vasai Fort. But during those four days of fierce fighting in 1739, the clashing of swords and the boom of cannons had filled the air. The two bastions were brought down and Maratha soldiers had poured into the fort in just three days! Eventually, the Portuguese surrendered on May 5, 1739. Thus the whole strip of land from Daman in the north to today’s Bandra in the south became free of Portuguese rule.
The writer is the author of the book Sahyadris to Hindukush
