Colachel

குளச்சல்

The harbour where Travancore defeated the Dutch

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You arrive

You come into Colachel, an old port town on the Arabian Sea, and head for the water. It looks like an ordinary working coastal town now, and that makes the history harder to believe. Near the beach stands a victory pillar. You walk over to it with the sea on your left and the salt wind in your face, in the town where an Indian king once beat a European trading power in open battle.

Colachel · Photo: SAJEEVJINO · CC BY-SA 4.0

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The victory pillar

You stand in front of the pillar raised near the beach to mark Marthanda Varma's defeat of the Dutch in 1741. Read whatever inscription or plaque you find there, then turn and look at the water. Dutch East India Company ships and troops once came ashore on this coast, and fishermen fought alongside the Travancore army. It is a small monument for such a large moment.

Colachel town · Photo: Suresh Babunair · CC BY 3.0

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The natural harbour

You walk along the shore to look at the harbour itself. Wikipedia describes Colachel as an ancient port and the only natural port on Tamil Nadu's west coast, one Vasco da Gama called 'Colachi'. The fishing boats pulled up today are doing what boats have done here for centuries. You watch them for a while, and the reason anyone wanted to fight over this bay becomes clear.

Being here

You see

A modest pillar, a working beach and boats drawn up on the sand.

You hear

Surf and the sounds of a fishing town.

You smell

Salt and fish.

You feel

A steady wind off the Arabian Sea.

Look around

The story

On 10 August 1741, Marthanda Varma's Travancore forces defeated the Dutch East India Company at Colachel, with the Travancore army fighting on land and local fishermen at sea. The victory began a long chain of conflicts and negotiations known as the Travancore-Dutch War. A pillar near the beach commemorates it. The Dutch commander, Eustachius De Lannoy, later entered Travancore's service and rebuilt its forts, including Udayagiri and Vattakottai. Colachel itself is much older than the battle: an ancient natural harbour that Vasco da Gama is recorded as calling 'Colachi'.

Sources: Wikipedia: Colachel · Wikipedia: Battle of Colachel

Close by

Beach

Muttom Beach

Dark rocks, a British-era lighthouse and working fishing boats

Temple

Mandaikadu Bhagavathi Amman Temple

An anthill goddess, known as Sabarimala for Women

Palace

Padmanabhapuram Palace

The wooden palace of the old Travancore capital

Fort

Udayagiri Fort

Barracks and gun foundry of the Travancore army

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ThengapattanamVerified photograph to be added

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