Colachel
Template:Infobox Indian urban area Kolachal (Colachal) is a city and a municipality in Kanniyakumari district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a port on the Malabar coast, 20 km north of Kanya Kumari (Cape Comorin), the southernmost tip of peninsular India.
History
Before the Indian union came into being , Kaniyakumari was part of the erstwhile Princely state of Travancore, which presently is a component of the state of Kerala of the Indian union (the other two components being Kochi (Cochin) and Malabar). A Travancore fort still exists in Kolachal.
Battle of Kolachal
This place was the scene of the battle between the Travancore (Anglicised form of Thiruvithaamkoor) forces led by King Marthanda Varma (1729–1758) and the Dutch East India Company forces led by Admiral Eustatius De Lennoy on August 10, 1741. It was the first time in Indian history that an Indian kingdom defeated a European naval force.[1]
The Dutch marines landed in Colachael with artillery and captured the land up to Padmanabhapuram, the then capital of Travancore. The arrival of Marthanda Varma's army from the north forced the Dutch to take up defensive positions in Colachel, where they were attacked and defeated by the Travancore forces. 28 high level Dutch officers, including Admiral D'lennoy, were captured. The defeat of the Dutch in Colachael was the turning point of the Travancore-Dutch war which had started in 1739, when Marthanda Varma annexed the domains of the native allies of the Dutch. D'lennoy went on to serve Marthanda Varma for the next two decades and was promoted to the post of the Valiya kappithan (Senior Admiral) of the Travancore forces. He modernised the Travancore army, and built the Nedumkotta, a line of fortifications in the North of the kingdom, which held up the army of Tipu Sultan in 1791, during his ill-fated invasion of Travancore. D'lennoy is buried in the Udayagiri Fort, also known as Dillanai kotta (D'lennoy's fort) which is located 7 Km north of Padmanabhapuram (about 14 Km from Nagercoil).
The Indian government has built a pillar of victory in Colachel to commemorate the event. Colachel is currently in the Kanya Kumari District of the Tamil Nadu State of India, and is an important port on the West Coast of that state.
Geography
Kolachal is located at 8°06′N 77°08′E / 8.10°N 77.14°E.[2]
Demographics
As of 2001 India censusTemplate:GR, Kolachal had a population of 23,535. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Kolachal has an average literacy rate of 76%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 75%. In Kolachal, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
References
External links
- Global Security.org — Madras Regiment
- Tribune India — A historic battle
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