Fortaleza Sao Sebastio and the Portuguese settlement at Bolar, Mangalore, 1569-1650

Following Vijayanagara’s collapse in 1565, Goa constructed four forts along the Kanara coast in order to secure its rice and pepper supplies: Mangalore (1568), Onor (Honavar, 1569), Barcelor/ Basrur (Kundapur, 1570), Gangoly (Cambolim, 1633).

Fortaleza Sao Sebastio was built in 1568 by Viceroy António de Noronha. The story is told by Manuel Faria y Sousa (Oriente Conquistado II, 18-19). A Portuguese army of 3,000 men led by the viceroy anchored off Ullal’s shores in January 1568. A landing party was attacked and soundly defeated by Rani Abbakadevi Chauta’s soldiers that night. The following morning, 5th January, the Portuguese counter-attack routed the rani’s men. Her city was ransacked and burnt.

Finding the sands of Ullal unsuitable for the construction of a fort, the Portuguese crossed over to Bolar, and laid the foundation stone on 20th January, the feast of St Sebastian; hence the name. This land belonged to the Bangher raja, who not only allowed the Portuguese to build the fort there, but also supplied timber and stones, and paid the labourers. The motivation for the Bangher chief allying with the Portuguese was to counter the constant insults he faced from Muslim merchants who dominated the bazaar. The fort was built on a flat elevation and commanded the entrance to the mouth of the two rivers, Netravati and Gurupur. It was located a one falcon shot away (approximately 2 km) from Bangher city to the north and one falcon shot away from sea to the west. The fort was a square structure with four bulwarks at each corner. Each wall was 22 metres long, 8.8 metres high and 6 palms wide. The viceroy’s brother-in-law, Antonio Pereira, was appointed captain. The fort was garrisoned by 200 soldiers.

Views from the site of Sao Sebastio

The settlement beyond the fort consisted of 35 casados (married settlers of Portuguese origin). It was surrounded by a 4.4 metres high wall, and had a residence for the captain, a warehouse, and a chapel. António Bocarro provides details of the officers and staff manning the fort in 1635:

	xerafin tanga reis
Captain and factor	1,333 1 40
Registrar	133 1 40
Judge	60 0 0
Judge’s clerk	40 0 0
Sobrerolda (superintendent of sentinels)	60 0 0
Surgeon	28 4 0
6 gunners and their soldiers
Portuguese gate keeper	64 0 0
Constable	80 0 0
Translator to captain	48 0 0
Naique (in charge of foot soldiers)	18 0 0
Vicar	54 2 0
?	50 0 0

 1 xerafin = 300 reis; 1 tanga = 1.25 reis

The rani had been married to the raja of Bangher but had divorced him. Sao Sebastiao was located between the two kingdoms and the continuing hostility between the two affected trade. The viceroy unsuccessfully attempted a reconciliation. In 1570, the rani instigated the samudri of Calicut’s navy to attack the fort. It failed due to the alertness of a servant of the captain. He threw a chest of coins at the attackers as they climbed the wall. They abandoned the attack, collected the coins, and withdrew to their ships. The courageous Rani made repeated attempts to free herself from Portuguese control but did not succeed.

Meanwhile, Venkatappa Nayaka of Ikeri had begun increasing his influence and control over the Mangalore region. The Bangher raja, in 1617, concluded an alliance with Goa to strengthen his position. Goa sent soldiers to garrison his fort at Urwa. The Bangher raja appears to also have had a fort at Kodialbail. This led to increased tension and confrontation with the rani of Ullal. She allied with Venkatappa Nayaka, who, in 1618, sent 12,000 soldiers to her aid. The Bangher fort was destroyed. Sao Sebastio was besieged in November 1619, and the starving garrison surrendered soon after. Venkatappa, however, allowed Goa to retain Sao Sebastiao as the fort protected the entrance to the harbor, and the Goan trade enriched the Ikeri Kingdom.

In 1623, the Italian traveler, Pietro Della Valle, visited Mangalore, Bangher, and Ullal. He describes Mangalore as being situated between Bangher and Ullal, and surrounded by water on three sides. The Sao Sebastio itself was small and badly built, and, as its Captain, an elderly man named Pero Gomes Pasagna, said, was more like a house than a fort. The settlement was also small, contiguous to the fort, and protected by weak walls. There were three churches. The “Cathedral” of our Lady Del Rosario was located inside the fort, and the other two, La Misericordia and San Francisco, were outside. There were three priests, two Franciscans, and the vicar.

Bangher lay 2 km or so north of Mangalòre, along the river. It was separated from the Portuguese settlement by a small stream which was crossed by a “ruinous stone bridge”, and cultivated fields. Bangher had one straight lengthy street, lined on both sides by houses and shops, and many coconut trees. Houses were constructed of earth and thatch. The raja's house, destroyed by Venkatapa Nayaka, stood upon an elevation. Apart from provisions, the bazaar also offered goods like areca, knives, scissors, toys, and jewelry.

Pietro della Valle visited Ullal where he met both the rani and her son. Ullal was located across the Netravati about the same distance away south from Mangalore as Bangher was to the north. Its bazaar, besides stocking provisions, sold an abundance of coarse white and striped linen cloth. It was inhabited both by Gentiles “who burn themselves” and by Muslims.

Having landed in Ullal and walking towards the bazaar, Della Valle met the rani walking with an escort of foot soldiers. One of them held an umbrella made of coconut leaves above her head. The rani was of dark-skinned complexion, corpulent, but of nimble stride. To della Valle she seemed around 40 years of age, though she was said to be much older. If this was the same Rani who had confronted the Portuguese in 1568, she would have been closer to 70 years, not 40.

Seeing della Valle, she stopped and asked him who he was and many other questions about the lands he had traveled. Some questions were of a personal nature which della Valle attributed to her tender affection and compassion as a woman. She was barefooted and wore a plain piece of thick white cotton cloth around her waist. She was naked above the waist, save for a cloth tied around her head, breasts, and shoulders. Despite her unassuming appearance, the rani bore a graceful mien, and her speech was prudent and judicious. Rumour had it that she had no teeth since she covered her mouth with a cloth. It was said, in her younger days, that she was beautiful and majestic, more stern than gentle. Of such character were the people in these parts, Della Valle reflected, who defeated the Portuguese.

Pietro della Valle was unable to talk to the rani again, though he tried to. Instead, he was invited to the house of the prince, where he was given a sumptuous meal which included meat. The prince was 17 years old, stout, and of a fairer complexion than his mother. He was extremely curious and asked many questions, all the time coaxing della Valle to eat more.

Four contemporary maps help to put Portuguese Mangalore in a proper perspective during the period 1569-1650. The earliest, dated 1569, wrongly attributes the foundation of the fort to Viceroy Luis de Ataide. Only the wall facing Bangher has been built. There are three churches, all outside the fort. Faria’s map of 1674 and Teixeira Albernaz’s map (1600-1650) do not add any significant detail except for more buildings outside the fort. Strangely they do not show the completed wall protecting the settlement as does Bocarro (1635). In addition to this detail, Bocarro shows a two-storey church, Rosario as per della Valle, within the fort. Possibly, the other maps may have used details from the 1569 map, and the church inside the fort complex may have been built later, before della Valle’s visit. Bocarro’s map shows another interesting detail, a pillory. Here, criminals were whipped and exposed to public humiliation. His maps of other forts also show pillories suggesting they were commonly used as a deterrent to crime.

1 Mangalore in 1569, 2. Faria e Sousa, Manuel de, Asia Portuguesa, 1674. 3. Antonio Bocarro, Fortaleza de Mangalore, 1635. 4. Livro das cidades, portos, e fortalezas da conquista da India Oriental (ca. 1700)

These maps reveal Mangalore consisted of a very small area surrounding the fort extending to a distance of a falcon (a small canon) shot, about 2 km. In length, it would have extended along Bolar’s coastline from the stream adjacent to the present-day Albuquerque Tile Factory to Lobo’s River View, about 2.5 km. Here, the maps show a small landing place for boats which appears to still exist. A tank located outside the walls on the maps may be Gujjar Kere.

1 Portuguese Mangalore , 1568-1652 2. Stream separating Sao Sebastio from Bangher

The area is still known as “Hallekote” (old fort). It suggests the name originated after 1768 when Haidar built his fort at the present District Collector’s Compound. Apart from this remnant of oral history, two tombstones have been recently discovered in the area which confirms the existence of the cemetery nearby. The church, Nossa Senora del Rosario, was the first one to be built in Kanara and was known as the See or Cathedral. It was also known as the Factory Church, and locally as Poyyeda Igreji, the Church on the Sands. Fr Jose Vas, who was in Mangalore in 1684, writes it was built of mud had a thatched roof, and was in a dilapidated condition. It was pulled down on Tipu Sultan’s orders in 1784.

These documents also help us clear some myths about Mangalore. One enduring one relates to the Franciscans building three churches as early as 1524, Rosario, Milagres, and Omzur. This is clearly wrong as the Portuguese had no physical presence in Mangalore until Sao Sebastio was built. Another identifies Mangalore with its modern extent. As della Valle clearly states Mangalore was the name given only to the small Portuguese settlement around Sao Sebastio, perhaps 5 sq km in extent, and was surrounded by other small kingdoms which included Bangher, Ullal, Caderete, and Manel.

Sao Sebastio remained under Goa’s control for 85 years, until 1653, when it fell to Shivappa Nayaka’s forces. Under Shivappa’s offensive, Goa lost Kundapur in 1652, Gangolly in 1653, and Honavar in 1654. Goa was allowed to establish a small presence in the form of a fortified warehouse only 60 years later at an elevated site which was appropriated by Haidar Ali in 1768 to construct his own fort. That was the end of the Portuguese physical presence in Mangalore.

References:

• Bocarro, Antonio. O Livro das Plantas de todas as Fortalezas, Cidades e Povoacoes do Estado da India Oriental, 1635.

• Livro das Cidades e Fortalezas, n.d.

• Moraes, George. Mangalore, A Historical Sketch, J J Rego, Codialbail Press, 1927

• Pietro della Valle. The Travels of Pietro della Valle in India, Vol II, The Haklyut Society, 1892

• Shastry, B. S. Goa-Kanara Portuguese Relations 1498-1763, Concept Publishing House, New Delhi, 2000.