Fort Saint Angelo by Sanand Karunakaran

FORT

Saint ANGELO

SANAND KARUNAKARAN

A publication of SK Publishers. First published October 2015 Copyright ÂŠ Sanand Karunakaran All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission sanandkarun@gmail.com For more photographs by the authour www.flickr.com/photos/sanandk_2009

FORT SAINT ANGELO KANNUR

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SANAND KARUNAKARAN

Fort St.Angelo is one of the most important seashore forts of Kerala .It is situated by the side of Mappila bay on a cliff protruding into the Arabian sea about three kilometers from the town of Kannur., Kerala, India. This fort is one of the earliest Portuguese establishments on the Malabar coast.

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For establishing commercial relations with the Portuguese the King of Kolathunad offered a site to construct a factory at Kannur. The Portuguese navigator Vasco Da Gama first came to Malabar coast in 1498 A.D. and he strengthened more cordial relation with the Kolathiri Raja. The Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral in 1500A.D. made adjacent installations in the factory (ware house). Subsequently in 1501 A.D Joao Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Nova established a small factory at Kannur and he returned back to Portugal. During the second visit of Vasco Da Gama in 1502A.D,he built a palisade with the permission of Kolathiri Raja to construct a fort and it was completed in 1507 A.D. The fort was named as St.Angelo. Later it became an important military station for the purpose of defence in the west coast. As part of colonial imperialism, Dutch were also competent to establish their supremacy on trade in peninsular India particularly in Kerala along with other European powers like Portuguese, English and the French. In 1663 the Dutch captured St.Angelo fort from the Portuguese and made modifications in the fort. Then it was sold to the Ali Rajas of Kannur (Cannanore) in 1772 A.D. Later the British seized the fort in 1790 A.D. and enlarged to become the most important military station in the Malabar coast. The fort St Angelo is a composite feature of the Portuguese, Dutch and the English architecture(colonial architecture) right from the early 16th century A.D. It is massive built of laterite roughly triangular on plan with high ramparts on a rocky promontory surrounded by sea all other sides while a dry moat run from the land side of the fortress on one side. During the period of Portuguese, in order to isolate the fort from the mainland a water moat(running east west),connecting Arabian Sea to the Mapila Bay was constructed. Most of the buildings like chapels, house of mercy prison, offices and other amenities in the fort were built by the Portuguese. The Dutch people built the horse stables and ammunition house inside the fort. The main gate is towards the land and is protected by bastions

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The main entrance The two-leaf door made of teak wood, with iron spikes.

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The water moat on the land side of the fort

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The canons that were used by he Portuguese and the British kept inside the fort. Presently the canons are fixed in the merlons and the bastions of the fort wall pointing towards the sea

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The watch tower

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The Chapel

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The Old Oil Lamp Lighthouse In order to warn ships at sea of land, a system of hoisting a lantern with oil wick lamp was introduced in 1843 by the British. A masonry pedestal was constructed in 1903 on the rampart of the fort and a double wick oil lamp inside the 4th order dioptric lens and lantern with arrangement for occultation was placed on this pedestal. The light was made available during fair seasons only â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from September

to May every year. In 1924, some enhancements were made. The light was shifted in 1939 on to a 16 metre steel trestle erected on the northern bastion of the Fort. The steel trestle can still be seen today at the Fort. The equipment was replaced by a flashing light with 10 second character working on DA gas in 1948. This light remained in operation till the new lighthouse tower was constructed

at the present location during 1975-76.

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The moat, the strong, parallel bastions, the ammunition dumps, the underground jails and the secret tunnels stand testimony to the planning and the meticulous work that went into the construction of this strategic military base. Stables and an old dilapidated chapel can also be seen within the fort.

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The massive structure built of laterite blocks.

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The epitaph of Susanna Wayerman ,first wife of Dutch governor Godfried Weyerman died on 28th March 1745 A.D at the age of 17 years 7 months 16 days recalls the possession and the position of the Dutch on the fort..

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View of Mapila Bay from fort

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The fort offers fascinating views of Moplah Bay, the natural fishing bay, and of Dharmadom Island, in the Arabian Sea.

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