Janjira
| Janjira | |||||
| 1489-1948 | |||||
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| Capital | Murud Janjira | ||||
| Form of government | Princely state (11 shot salute) | ||||
| surface | 982 km² | ||||
| population | 71,000 (1935) | ||||
| founding | 1489 | ||||
| resolution | March 8, 1948 | ||||
| State religion: Islam. Dynasty: Sidi |
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Janjira is a historic state in the Indian state of Maharashtra .
Principality of Janjira
Janjira (probably from Arabic djazîra = "island") is today a small town on the Arabian Sea in the Indian state of Maharashtra south of the fishing town of Murud, but was an independent princely state in British India until 1956 . The state, to which Jafarabad also belonged from 1760 (see list of Indian princely states ), goes back to a Muslim - Abyssinian vassal and admiral of the Sultan of Ahmadnagar . The Principality of Ahmednagar took possession of the west Indian Konkan coast in 1489. In 1733 Janjira formed a defensive alliance with the British East India Company . Since 1759, the principality of Jafarabad, founded around 1650, was linked in personal union with Janjira. Janjira was a British protectorate from 1834 to 1947 and in 1935 had an area of 982 km² and 71,000 inhabitants. On August 15, 1947 Janjira became a member of the Saurashtra State Union and on February 15, 1948 it joined India. On November 1, 1956, all princely states were dissolved and Janjira was incorporated into the state of Bombay , later it became part of the Indian state of Maharashtra .
Fort Murud-Janjira
Murud-Janjira is also the common name for a fort in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, which is impressive in terms of location and size, which is only a few hundred meters in front of the town near Murud, a place on the Konkan coast, about 60 km south of Bombay , located in the Arabian Sea. It is known to withstand repeated attacks by the Marathas, Portuguese, Dutch, and British East Indian Society.
origin of the name
The word Janjira has no Indian origin, but could have roots in Arabic, where Jazeera means "island". A variant of the name is Jal Jeera, which means "fort in the water". The name of the fort Murud-Janjira is a combination of the Konkani “morod” and the Arabic “jazeera”, which means “island”. The word “morod” is found in Konkani, but not in Marathi. The state of Murud-Janjira was also called Habsan by the Marathas, which means "Land of the Habshis" or "Land of the Abyssinians" (= Ethiopians).
history
The fort was built in the 15th century by the Koli tribe who live on the Konkan coast and who practice fishing with the consent of the Nizam Shah dynasty in Ahmednagar as a protection against pirates. The state of Ahmednagar - part of the Dekkan sultanate - under Nizam Shah managed to regain control of the breakaway fort in 1490 only by a ruse: 147 Abyssinian soldiers were hidden on a merchant ship under the command of Peer Mohammed Khan to Janjira sent by surprise to the crew of the fort, which was the seat of the Koli king Ram Patil. In 1567–1571 the wooden fort was torn down, expanded and rebuilt in stone. Janjira was an ally of Muslim powers outside of India, such as the Egyptian Mamluks and the Ottoman Empire. The fleet of the Ottoman Admiral Kutoğlu Hizir Reis , which sailed from Suez to Aceh in Sumatra, visited Janjira in 1568. Murud-Janjira belonged to the Muslim principality Ahmednagar, which controlled the Konkan coast at the time. Its prime minister or regent was Malik Ambar (1550-1626), who came from the city of Harar in Ethiopia (Abyssinia). Malik Ambar had reached India as a slave from Harar via Damascus and Mecca and rose to great power. As minister of Nizam Shah, the ruler of Ahmednagar, Malik Amber appointed Siddhi Amber Sahnak, also from Ethiopia, governor of Janjira in 1617. Thanks to his services, Amber Sahnak was made admiral and the land between the Amba rivers near Nagothana village and the Savitri river near Bankot village was given to him as a fief.
Janjira gained independence over the centuries and was an ally of Muslim states in India. Its anchorage also offered security against the colonizing Portuguese who sought to bring the profitable spice trade under their control. The fort of the Siddhi or Habshi (the Ethiopians) gained strategic importance in securing the trade routes between Africa, the Red Sea and inner-Indian, e.g. Some of the Muslim states ruled by Ethiopian-Abyssinian rulers, similar to that of Malik Ambar, who, as the de facto ruler of Ahmednagar, controlled large parts of the Deccan. After the conquest of Ahmednagar by the allied troops of the Mughals and Bijapurs, the Siddhis of Janjira allied themselves with the Mughals, forming constantly changing alliances with Muslim states on the Indian mainland. Without getting too involved in feuds and intrigues between the inner-Indian Islamic states, the Siddhis maintained their independence and guaranteed and secured access to the sea for pilgrimages to Mecca ( Hajj and Umrah ) and for trade. Thanks to its political independence and strategically favorable position, coastal shipping was very dependent on the favor or disfavor of the Siddhis. In order to break the dominant role of the Siddhis on the sea, there were repeated attempts to conquer the Fort Murud-Janjira, but this was not achieved by the Portuguese, Dutch, English or Marathas. The fort had a reputation for being impregnable, after all. The powerful Marathen ruler Shivaji from Pune commissioned his prime minister, the Peshwa Moropant Pingle, to conquer Janjira in August 1676, but this failed. Four kilometers north of Janjira, Sambhaji Maharaj, a son of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, built the Padamdung Fort, now known as Kasa, in an attempt to counterbalance Janjira. The attempt by the British to curtail the power of the siddhis was answered by a successful counter-attack on the British garrison in Bombay. When the Muslim powers allied themselves with the Marathas against the British, the Siddhis formed an alliance with the British, who recognized the Principality of Murud-Janjira as an independent princely state. The last ruler of Murud-Janjira was Siddhi Muhammed Khan II. In 1947 the state lost its independence and became part of Maharashtra in the Indian Union.
Ruler of Murud-Janjira
- NN, 1490-1617
- Sidi (Siddhi, Siddi) AMBER SANAK, 1617-1642
- Sidi YUSUF KHAN, 1642-1648
- Sidi FATEH KHAN, from 1648–?
- KHARIYAT KHAN, about 1676
- Nawab Sidi KASIM KHAN II (Yaqut Khan), 1676-1703
- Nawab AMBAT YAKUT KHAN, 1703-1707
- Nawab Sidi SURUL (or SURUR) KHAN II, 1706–1732 (Rasul Khan)
- Nawab Sidi HASAN KHAN, 1732-1734
- Nawab Sidi SUMBUL KHAN, 1734-1737
- Nawab Sidi ABDURRAHMAN KHAN (son of Surul), 1737–1740
- Nawab Sidi HASAN KHAN (second reign), 1740–1746
- Nawab Sidi IBRAHIM KHAN I, 1746-1757
- Nawab Sidi MUHAMMED KHAN, 1757
- Nawab Sidi IBRAHIM KHAN (second reign) 1757–1761 (from 1760 also Thanadar of Jafadarabad)
- Nawab Sidi YAQUT KHAN (usurper) 1761-1772
- Nawab Sidi ABDURRAHIM KHAN, 1772–1784 (Abd al-Rahim Khan)
- Nawab Sidi JAHAN KHAN, 1784–1789
- Nawab Sidi IBRAHIM KHAN II, 1789-1794
- Nawab Sidi JAMRUD KHAN, 1794-1803
- Nawab Sidi IBRAHIM KHAN II (second reign), 1803–1826
- Nawab MUHAMMED KHAN I, 1826-1848
- Nawab IBRAHIM KHAN III, 1848-1879
- Nawab Sidi Sir AHMAD KHAN SIDI IBRAHIM KHAN 1879–1922
- Nawab Sidi MUHAMMED KHAN II SIDI AHMAD KHAN 1922–1948 († April 1, 1972)
- Kulsum Begum, royal regent 1922–1933
The Fort
Murud-Janjira is fortified with mighty walls, bulwarks and towers that rise straight out of the sea. The main entrance leads from the east directly from the sea over a ramp, which is secured by towers and gates, into the fort. Two large, open cisterns and a deep well, which - although located in the sea - provided surprisingly good, clear and cool fresh water , secured the drinking water supply. Dozens of large-caliber bronze cannons remain. The building is a bit neglected, much is in decay.
Touristic
The approximately four hectare Fort Janjira can be reached with small sailing boats that can be rented in the port of Rajapuri, a small fishing village on the beach directly opposite Murud-Janjira. In 1888 the palace of Nawab Siddhi was built in the neo-Gothic style on the steep coast above Murud. Currently in poor condition, is not accessible to visitors. In the hinterland there are large mango plantations and an extensive nature reserve.
annotation
The Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum in Pune has an early bird's-eye view of Fort Janjira. It probably dates from the 17th century.
See also
literature
- Janjīra State. In: The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Volume 14: Jaisalmer to Karā. New Edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1908, pp. 57-61 .
- George B. Malleson: An historical sketch of the native states of India. Longmans, Green & Co., London 1875, ( digitized version ).
- Joseph E. Schwartzberg (Ed.): A historical atlas of South Asia (= Association for Asian Studies. Reference Series. 2). 2nd impression, with additional material. Oxford University Press, New York NY et al. 1992, ISBN 0-19-506869-6 .
Web links
- iiNet: Janjira (Princely State)
- www.murudjanjira.com
- Imperial Gazetteer of India
- http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/ips/main.html
- http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_princes_A-J.html
Individual evidence
- ↑ taken from the Janjira article in cat.wiki. There: "Llista de wazirs i (des de 1676) nawabs"