01Abhaya Rani
The Chowtas were a Jain ruling family of Tulu Nadu who passed the throne through the female line, and by the family’s tradition Abbakka was made ruler of Ullal by her uncle Tirumala Raya. By the middle of the 1500s the Portuguese held Goa and a fort at Mangaluru and demanded that every ship buy their cartaz. Abbakka traded freely with Calicut and Arab merchants and refused. Portuguese fleets attacked Ullal more than once from the 1550s, and the town was sacked at least once, but she kept coming back to it. The paddana ballads of the coast tell of her night attack on a Portuguese camp with fire arrows, and call her Abhaya Rani, the fearless queen.
02The town and its memory
Ullal lies where the Netravati meets the sea, across the river from Mangaluru. She allied with the Zamorin of Calicut and with Bijapur against the Portuguese. Her end is not certain; the tradition says she was taken through treachery and died in prison still defiant. The town keeps her name at Rani Abbakka circle, where her statue stands, and holds a yearly festival in her honour. The Indian Coast Guard named a patrol ship after her in 2012, and India Post issued a stamp for her in 2023. The Someshwara temple stands on the rocky shore of Ullal.
The life of this place
- 1550s CEPortuguese fleets began attacking Ullal after Abbakka refused the cartaz.
- 2012 CEThe Coast Guard ship ICGS Rani Abbakka was commissioned.
- 2023 CEIndia Post issued a stamp in her honour.
