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| Fort St. Angelo, Kerala. S. India hoparoundindia.com |
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| Ft. St. Angelo, Kannur, Kerala state. India fickr.com |
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| Kannur location map. hindustantimes.com |
This historical fort facing the Arabian sea saw several battles over the ownership of this fort and it also silently witnessed the victory and defeat of many rulers just like the ebb and flow of the sea waters in the Arabian bay. The local Indian ruler Zamorin and Kolathiri made a futile attack on the fort - 1507. Alfonso de Albuquerque who superseded Almeda as the Governor General, was arrested by the latter in this fort; however, his arrest did not last till October 1509.
The fort saw a change of ownership in 1663 and the Dutch became the masters of that area. With respect to imperialistic ambition, the Dutch were equally competent to establish their supremacy in commerce in peninsular India, particularly in Kerala, along with other European powers like Portuguese, British and the French. In 1663, the Dutch captured the fort and made some modifications that included horse-stables and ammunition house inside the fort. The main gate is towards the land and is protected by bastions. In the epitaph of Susanna Weyerman, the first wife of Dutch Governor Godfried Weyerman, who died on March 28, 1745 AD, at the age of 17 years, there was a reference to the capture of Ft. St. Angelo by the Dutch. They added bastions such as Hollandia, Zealandia and Frieslandi for better protection.. The Dutch had a small settlement in Tranquebar (Tharangambadi) in Nagapatnam district of Tamil Nadu. Fort Dansborg locally called Danish Fort located on the shores of Bay of Bengal was built in the land ceded by Thanjavur king Ragunatha Nayak in an agreement with Danish Admiral Ove Gjedde in 1620 and acted as the base for Danish settlement in the region during the early 17th century. The fort is the second largest Danish fort after Kronborg.
As the Portuguese tried to dominate the spice trade The Ali Radjas who who had been in this trade in the fifteenth century teamed up with the Dutch to curtail the the Portuguese influence in the trade. The Arrakal dynasty till 1771 maintained a cordial relationship with the Dutch and shared trade in cardamom and ginger. In those days across Europe spices from Kerala (Malabar) were quite popular. At last the Dutch decided to call it quits sold the fort in 1772 to Ali Radja for 100,000 rupees. I
In 1790, the British, who were on a land grabbing spree in south India, laid their hands on this fort by seizing it by force from the local ruler. During this period, the British East India company under the patronage of the British Crown was a major force to reckon with and they had already captured many parts of India, of course, by dubious means!! Till they left the Indian shores for good in August, 1947, the British used this fort as their major military station. They made many modifications to suite their needs
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| St. Angelo’s Fort, Kerala India |
The major attractions in the fort are the adjoining bastions, massive triangular in design, built by the Dutch and the moat that runs around the monument. This protected monument is under the control of the Archaeological Society of India. Though some architectural features were redesigned by the Dutch and the English later, the overall design of this fort is an example of Portuguese architecture. There is a huge thick wall separating the saline sea water of the Arabian Sea from the inland water. The Portuguese built chapels, house of mercy prison, offices and other amenities in the fort.
The small island of Dharmadom, 100 meters off the coast is spread over an area of about five acres in the Arabian Sea, providing a breath taking view of St. Angelo's Fort in the back drop of amazing sunrise and sunset.
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| The Dutch in Kerala dutchindianheritage.net |
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| Arrakal Museum, Kerala, Dutch section. dutchindianheritage.net |
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| St. Angelo’s Fort, moat. Kerala India en.wikipedia.org/ |
This historical fort can be accessed by road, train and air. The nearest railway station is Kannur, just 3 km from the Fort. The nearest airport is Karipur International Airport Kozhikode, 93 kms away from the fort.
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Angelo_Fort
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