Cite
MLA
“Kanhoji Angre and the Maratha navy.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/samudra/kanhoji-angre-maratha-navy/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Kanhoji Angre and the Maratha navy. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/samudra/kanhoji-angre-maratha-navy/
What defines it
- 01
Sarkhel of the Maratha fleet from c. 1698
- 02
Bases: Kolaba, Suvarnadurg, Vijaydurg
- 03
Joint English–Portuguese attack on Kolaba repulsed, 1721
- 04
Died at Alibag, 4 July 1729
- 05
Vijaydurg taken by the English and the Peshwa, 1756
01Sarkhel of the coast
During the hard years of the Mughal war, when Rajaram held out at Jinji, Kanhoji Angre was made Sarkhel, admiral, of the Maratha fleet, in about 1698. From Kolaba off Alibag, Suvarnadurg and Vijaydurg he commanded the sea from Bombay to Vengurla. He made foreign ships buy his dastak, a pass, just as the Portuguese had made Indian ships buy theirs, and seized those that refused.
02Unbeaten
The English at Bombay called him a pirate and sent expedition after expedition. In 1721 a joint English and Portuguese force attacked Kolaba by land and sea and was driven off. His fleet of gurabs and galbats used the shallows and the creeks he knew, struck fast and withdrew under the guns of his forts. Under Shahu he kept his post, and he died at Alibag on 4 July 1729 still holding the coast.
03After Kanhoji
His sons divided the command, and the Angre family quarrelled with the Peshwas. In 1756 an English fleet under Admiral Watson, with Clive on board and with Peshwa forces attacking by land, took Vijaydurg (Gheria) and burnt Tulaji Angre’s ships. The Maratha navy did not recover its strength. The Indian Navy’s shore establishment at Mumbai is named INS Angre after him.
