Battle of Ponda
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Portuguese tried to attack the Maratha Post on Ponda on 28 June 1756 but it was defeated by the governor of Fort and the attack was repulsed , count se Alva the Portuguese governer was killed along with 14 other officers.[1][2]
| Battle of Mardangad | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Portuguese battles in the East | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Portuguese Empire | Maratha Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Count de Alva † | Yesaji Ram Joshi | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 1500 | 400 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 500-700 killed | 0 | ||||||||
Battle
changeIn 1750, the Prince of Saunde mortgaged a fort to the Peshwa for Rs. 5,50,000. The Viceroy, Conde de Alva, marched to reclaim it but found the Peshwa's forces already in control. After the Peshwa captured Mardangad, Alva prepared for an assault on June 22, bringing cannons and troops. However, during the bombardment on June 28, heavy rain soaked the ammunition, allowing 400 Marathas to launch a successful counterattack. The Viceroy and 14 officers were killed, and Captain Yesaji Ram Joshi Huprikar arranged for Alva’s body to be returned to Goa, expressing concern over the Viceroy's reckless tactics in a letter translated on July 1, 1756.[1][3]
It is said therein that 1500 Portuguese came and attacked the bazar and were about to attack the fort when the garrison of the fort attacked them and killed five to seven hundred Portuguese. The Chief of the Portuguese, the Viceroy, had come but he was also killed.[1]
— A letter from Peshwa Daftar
Legacy
changeBalabaji Naik Pratparao Sardesai Wrote:
Such excesses would not have been committed had it been known that, it was the Viceroy himself. The soldiers did it unknowingly ".[1]
— Dulbaji Naik Prataprao Sardessai
An Well-known Portugese Writes describes this assault on the fort:
Many of them were drowned dead. Many fled away half-naked. All the material remained on the battlefield. Those who could manage to run away took shelter in the Kapileshwari temple at Kavle. Had they not fled away, they would have died there. Three days after the Viceroy's body was searched. It was so hopelessly decomposed that it was difficult to recognise it as his body[1]
While The Captain of the Fort writes to Peshwa :
Portuguese came unexpectedly, the people were frightened but due to the glory of the Peshwa, the Portuguese were completely discomfited. The Viceroy himself fell and his body and ten cannons, big and small, were captured. Arms captured are numerous. The Portuguese were never so utterly defeated before.[1]
— Yesaji Ram Joshi
References
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Bahu Virupaksha (2021-02-14). Portuguese Mahratta Relations. pp. 200–201.
- ↑ Sardesai Govind Sakharam (1948). New History Of The Marathas Vol-ii 1707-1772 (1948). B. G. Dhawale, Bombay. p. 349.
- ↑ Pissurlencar, Panduronga S. S. (1975). The Portuguese and the Marathas: Translation of Articles of the Late Dr. Pandurang S. Pissurlenkar's Portugueses E Maratas in Portuguese Language. State Board for Literature and Culture, Government of Maharashtra. p. 507.