Siege of Hooghly

The siege of Hooghly was a military engagement between the Mughal Army and the Portuguese garrison of Fort Hooghly, the result was the capture of the fort and expulsion of the Portuguese.

Siege of Hooghly (1632)
Part of Mughal–Portuguese conflicts
Siege of Hoogly, Mughal depiction
Date 24 June-24 September 1632[1] Location Hugli-Chuchura, West Bengal Result Mughal victory
Belligerents
Mughal Empire	Portuguese Empire
Commanders and leaders
Qasim Khan Juvayni	Manuel de Azevedo
Strength
150,000 men 90 Elephants 14,000 Cavalry	300 Portuguese 700 Indian converts 300 ships
Casualties and losses
1,000 killed	1,000 killed 4,000 enslaved All ships but 3 captured

Background

The Portuguese founded the town of Hooghly-Chuchura in 1579, but the district has thousands of years of heritage in the form of the great Kingdom of Bhurshut. The city flourished as a trading port and some religious structures were built. One such structure is a Christian church dedicated to a statue of Mary, brought by the Portuguese.

in 1628, Shah Jahan became the new emperor of the Mughal Empire, in the same time, news reached from Qasim Khan Juvayni, the Governor of Bengal that the Portuguese were committing acts of piracy, smuggling, kidnapping, and the slave trade, Shah Jahan resolved to curb the Portuguese acts.^[2][3][4][5] It is reported by Om Prakash that the Portuguese become brazen and confident as they though they are superior than the Mughals in open wide naval conflict like Ganges river while also boosted by the Arakanese allies.^[6] Thus in bolster the Portuguese act of raids which so sever that causing the Nawabs of Bengal grew worried.^[6]

Siege

In 1632, Shah Jahan ordered Qasim Khan to attack the Portuguese and expel them totally. The Mughal Army consisted of 150,000 men, 90 war elephants, and 14,000 cavalry.^[7] In June, they arrived and besieged the fort, the Portuguese garrison consisted of only 300 Portuguese and 700 Indian converts, they also had 300 vessels, the fort was heavily fortified,^[8][9] they were led by Captain Manuel de Azevedo,^[7] the Portuguese held out for 3 months, the Portuguese tried to negotiate with the Emperor by offering him a huge sum of money and promised to pay tribute, but at the same time they were making a great effort to complete their war preparations to resist the Mughal Army, so they prepared a division of artillery to fight the enemy.^[10] until when Mughals dug a mine and blew a portion of the walls,^[9] the Mughals swiftly entered the fort and defeated the garrison,^[11] The Mughals only lost 1000 men during the siege^[9] while the Portuguese lost 1000 men, 4000 were enslaved including women and children, all ships were captured except 3, only 3000 escaped the sack^[11][12] and around 10,000 native Indians were liberated.^[9]

See also

• Mughal–Portuguese War (1692–1693)

References

1. Alexander Mikaberidze, Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia, Vol.1, p. 455
2. Saugata Bhaduri, Polycoloniality: European Transactions with Bengal from the 13th to the 19th Century, p. 61
3. John Clark Marshman, History of India from the Earliest Period to the Close of the East India Company's Government, p. 138
4. Calcutta Review, 94-95, p. 264
5. Thomas Spencer Baynes, The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature, Volume 12, p. 151
6. Dasgupta, Biplab (2005). European trade and colonial conquest (Paperback) (Vol 1 ed.). Anthem. pp. 263–267. ISBN 9781843310297. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
7. Saugata Bhaduri, p. 61
8. Alexander Mikaberidze, p. 455
9. Calcutta Review, 94-95, p. 265
10. الشيال، جمال الدين (2001). تاريخ دولة أباطرة المغول الإسلاميَّة في الهند, p. 139
11. John Clark Marshman, p. 139
12. Saugata Bhaduri, p. 62