Kunjali Marakkar was the title inherited by the Admiral of the fleet of the King Samoothiri / Zamorin, the King of Calicut, in present-day Kerala, India. There were four Marakkars whose war tactics defended against the Portuguese invasion from 1520 to 1600. The Kunjali Marakkars are credited with organizing the first naval defense of the Indian coast.

Origins of Marakkar

The Marakkars originate from a branch of Tamil-speaking merchants within the seafaring community who settled in Kochi. They were involved in trade and engaged in collaboration with the Portuguese. The 16th century writer Zainuddin Makhdoom II who wrote the Tuhfat-ul-Mujahideen stated in 1524 that the Marakkars had turned against the Portuguese when the latter disrupted the former's trade networks by purchasing spices and commodities directly from local people in Kochi.

Kunjali Marakkar I

Kutty Ahmed Ali was a Admiral of Zamorin he played a significant role in resisting the portuguese expansion. In 1524 Zamorin Kingdom helped the ceylonese king in his campaign to expel the Portuguese from ceylon and reduced the Colombo Fort with the help of Zamorin navy under the command of ahmed ali. In 1525 Portuguese established a fortress in calicut a fleet of Zamorin ships under the command of kutty ahmed ali bombarded the fort. later that year entered the port of Cochin setting fire to number of Portuguese vessels and returned safely to Calicut. In 1529 Zamorin navy defeated Portuguese navy in the battle of chetwai river.

Against the Portuguese Empire

The Kunjali IV had rescued a Chinese boy, called Chinali, who was said to have been enslaved on a Portuguese ship. The Kunjali was very fond of him, and he became one of his most feared lieutenants, a Muslim and enemy of the Portuguese. The Portuguese were terrorized by the Kunjali and his Chinese right-hand man, eventually, after the Portuguese allied with Calicut's Zamorin, under André Furtado de Mendonça they attacked the Kunjali and Chinali's forces, and they were handed over to the Portuguese by the Samorin after he reneged on a promise to let them go. Diogo do Couto, a Portuguese historian, questioned the Kunjali and Chinali when they were captured. He was present when the Kunjali surrendered to the Portuguese and was described: "One of these was Chinale, a Chinese, who had been a servant at Malacca, and said to have been the captive of a Portuguese, taken as a boy from a fusta, and afterwards brought to Kunjali, who conceived such an affection for him that he trusted him with everything. He was the greatest exponent of the Moorish superstition and enemy of the Christians in all Malabar, and for those taken captive at sea and brought thither he invented the most exquisite kinds of torture when he martyred them." However, de Couto's claim that he tortured Christians was questionable, since no other source reported this, and is dismissed as ridiculous.

Marakkar Kotta

Such a practice also prevailed in Calicut, registering the goods, Pyrard called the system "most admirable". Malabar pirates had four harbours under the ambit of the Samoothiri, there they built their galleys. These harbours were Moutingue (Muttungal), Badara (Vadakara), Chombaye (Chambal), and Cangelotte (Kaniyaram Kottu). They were fortified only on the seas-side under the patronage of Samoothiri, who granted these ports to Marakkar family who fortified them. These ports were two leagues from each other. Portuguese made multiple attempts to conquer these fortified ports, without effect or to their own loss, mainly at Badara.

Legacy

Popular culture

The film is said to be historically inaccurate.