ABBAKKA DEVI

INTRODUCTION

While dusting our palms across the Indian map of the colonial times, an observer might notice sprinkles of small yet significantly important territories ruled by the Portuguese empire. Yet, the colonial power suffered a terrible loss during the second half of the 16th century due to the queen of Tulu Nadu.

PORTUGUESE EMPIRE IN INDIA

Vasco De Gama's landing at Calicut marks the beginning of the Portuguese invasions in India. The empire's presence sprouted at Bombay (Mumbai), Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, etc. With an aim to create ports and factories/trading centers at coastal towns to trade, their ambitions rose exponentially. Portuguese gave a tough blow to international trade by gaining a monopoly over the Indian ocean for straight 200 years! Their hands extended from India to the African continent. With the horizon of expansion growing gradually, the shadow of a stiff resistance hovered over them as they progressed to defend their monopoly against other rising colonial powers globally.

RISE OF RESISTANCE

Ullal, a small coastal town near Mangalore was a strategic location for trading. A great amount of international trade with the help of Zamorins of Calicut flourished at Ullal under the Chowta dynasty. Chowta dynasty was a Matrilinear dynasty, hence the most important power of 'ruler' for their territory was vested upon the shoulders of the daughters of the Chowta family. The Chowta dynasty led a powerful resistance against the Portuguese for over a century! Yet, the loss of war made the Chowtas to sign a treaty with the Portuguese that flung their hands off trade globally.

Abbakka, the daughter of the queen of Ullal was born in 1525. During her growing years, she was trained as a diplomat, archer, swordsman, and a powerful leader. Abbakka's father arranged her marriage with the king of Bangher (Mangalore). Mangalore was under the Bangher kingdom which was ruled by Lakshmappa Bangaraja. Quite soon after the marriage, the queendom of Ullal fell in the hands of Abbakka Devi. Lakshmappa expected Abbakka to sell the throne of Ullal to Bangher, but Abbakka showed no sign of giving up. She rather kept her eyes glued to the official document, that threw away the power of trade from Ullal to the Portuguese. The sight of Mangalore fort across the river of Netravati gave her goosebumps. A plan started brewing up in her mind. She arranged talks with her husband, to remove the Portuguese from Mangalore as he was the original ruler of that region. Frightened Lakshmappa replied, "Portuguese are powerful and I do not wish to waste my army on fighting Portuguese for no reason. Banghera has a strong relationship with them and I cannot drop it." Abbakka was annoyed, she returned all the jewels that symbolized her marriage with Lakshmappa and asked him to leave Ullal. Enraged Lakshmappa rode his way to Mangalore fort. He stepped up to the court of Banghera and signed his allegiance to a Portuguese resident.

A fleet of ships rowed their way in front of the Ullal fort. Abbakka was delighted by the sight of the Ullal navy going to the land of Arabs to trade goods after a long time. As the fleet went ahead, a surprise went in for them. The ultimate Portuguese navy hustled their way to block the Ullal navy. Soldiers were bewildered for a moment but regained their consciousness immediately. A huge warcry roared across the Ullal navy as they pounced upon the colonial fleet. Portuguese had to back off after seeing their numbers waning. The whole town of Ullal cheered as the fleet returned with profit and also successfully resisted the Portuguese attack. Behind the fleet, a ship with a different flag docked at Ullal. It was the flag Kozhikode (Calicut). The Zamorin (leader) of Kozhikode thanked Abbakka. She was puzzled for a moment. Zamorin explained to her that during the attack, the Portuguese did not just attack Ullal's fleet but also shot cannons over the Calicut's fleet. But the commander of Ullal successfully drove the enemy away single-handedly.

FINAL WARCRY ECHOES

After the incident, Kozhikode and Ullal developed a better political relationship. Regular rounds of a trade by Ullal were carried out with Kozhikode traders accompanying them. But they were also attacked regularly by the Portuguese. Portuguese were disappointed by their regular defeat. Lisbon asked Goa to go for a full-fledged invasion of Ullal to stop them, once and for all. Admiral Dom Álvaro da Silveira led a huge army marching towards Ullal in 1556. Abbakka was baffled by the sight of colonists preparing for an attack at Ullal. Yet, she considered it as an opportunity to drive away from the pest from the soil. In a powerful speech at dawn, she filled the Ullal army with a will to fight. They strategically attacked small units of the Portuguese army one by one. This weakened them. Silveira was shocked, he immediately flung the white flag asking for a truce in front of Ullal. Abbakka rejoiced. This was one of the first victories of an Indian queendom against a colonial power! They repeatedly attacked and Abbakka stopped them every time in years that followed. Infuriated Portuguese of Goa sent Joao Peixoto in 1568 to invade Ullal. Joao prepared a fleet that would attack over Ullal via water and also created a ground force to surround Ullal. The navy blew away the wall of Ullal fort. The colonial army jumped inside the fort. Abbakka and the Ullal forces backed off as soon as the wall was destroyed. Joao advanced his way to the royal palace of Ullal. The Ullal army and the queen hid under a Mosque near the town. The army lost their hopes to fight. Abbakka was dejected, yet anger-filled inside her as she saw the Ullal fort at distance under the cloak of fire. The blanket of darkness fell as the night approached. Abbakka sent a spy to Ullal fort who returned and reported, "They are celebrating their victory around a campfire." She asked, "Are they consuming alcohol?" The spy nodded. She stood up with a plan orbiting her head.

With the strength of 200, Ullal forces tiptoed back to the fort observing a huge campfire. Abbakka asked the commander to get control of the navy unnoticed. The small unit of the army stayed with the queen as they waited for the signal. BOOM! firing rained over the drunk Portuguese army. Most of the men unconscious; were not able to repulse back. They killed Admiral and even captured Mangalore. The Ullal army threw the Portuguese off the shore, thus gaining victory. Goa felt this was a breaking point for them. Anthony D’ Noronha, the Portuguese viceroy now went across Karnataka to remove the thorn of Ullal. A huge army of 3000 soldiers that followed their path to Ullal crafted a plan to eliminate the queen. Abbakka was returning from the Durga temple of Poolani to her way back home. Some men came out of nowhere and surrounded Abbakka. Yet they did not dare touch her. The leader simply said, "We do not wish to inflict damage. We are doing this under the orders of Raja Lakshmappa. He wishes to meet you" Abbakka agreed to meet the king of Banghera. Lakshmappa ordered her to surrender Ullal to the Portuguese as Banghera has joined hands with them. Abbakka was infuriated. She drew her sword out and a backdrop of 100s of Ullal soldiers trampled above Banghera(n) forces scared Lakshamappa. The queen escaped and thanked the far-sighted commander of Ullal to protect her. Lakshmappa was humiliated and joined Anthony's forces. As soon as spies informed her of an upcoming Portugal invasion, she allied with Moors, Zamorin, and Bijapur. As the sun rose with the Ullal army at the gate of the fort awaiting orders from Queen to fight the Portuguese, she swore her will to drive the colonists away and said

“Save the motherland. Fight them on land and the sea. Fight them on the streets and the beaches. Push them back to the waters from where they have come.”

The skilled archers of Ullal shot bow with fire tipped on them at the enemy's fleet and hounded over the Portuguese. The shining yellow fire of destruction under the crimson of dusk saw the ambition of the Portuguese to rule over Mangalore sinking. But, Abbakka was caught and imprisoned by the Viceroy. Her restless mind lighted her strength to revolt even inside the jail! Yet she was killed as she tried to escape...

LEGACY

Portuguese suffered heavy damage and could not resist rebellion led by Abbakka's daughter. Already wounded, Mangalore coast was captured by an alliance of Venkatappa Naik of Keladi and Ullal. Finally, Shivappa Naik of Keladi kicked the Portuguese out of Malabar and Karnataka. Abbakka's legacy is still popularly celebrated in South Karnataka. The unstoppable Tulu sword is yet unknown to many, and this article collects your attention to the Indian braveheart.

“Save the motherland. Fight them on land and the sea. Fight them on the streets and the beaches. Push them back to the waters from where they have come.” ~Abbakka Devi Chowta