Rani Abbakka Chowta

The Queen, who made Portuguese Colonisers miserable for four decades

Yet, little is written about her or her incredible story in the history books.

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Rani Abbakka Chowta born in1525, first Tuluva Queen of Chowta Dynasty in Ullal (Mangalore), Karnataka who fought Portuguese in 16th century n defeated them to be later betrayed by her own husband captured n killed while trying to escape in 1570.

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The only woman in history to confront, fight and repeatedly defeat the Portuguese, Rani Abbakka’s unflagging courage and indomitable spirit are at par with the legendary Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi, Rani Rudramma Devi of Warangal and Rani Chennamma of Kittur.

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From a young age, Rani Abbakka Chowta was trained to be a good ruler. She was taught how to wield a sword and how to fight with one, military strategies, archery, diplomacy and other subjects on what was needed to make a kingdom run.

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Though she was a Jain, her administration comprised all communities. The diversity of her army knew no bounds and immensely in her all battles with the Portuguese.

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After the Portuguese discovered a new trade route to India with Vasco Da Gama’s help and with European colonialism at its peak, they ended up having a monopoly of the Indian Ocean within twenty years of Vasco Da Gama’s discovery.

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This was after setting up a number of forts in regions that outlined the Indian ocean, namely India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and even Macau in China. This went undisputed by other

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European traders, who only arrived on the scene during the 17th century and further strengthened their hold on all the spice routes to India.
The Indian ocean, which was once a free trade zone, required that traders pay a permit to the Portuguese.

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Adding to this, the Portuguese had superior naval skills and a large army which helped them in controlling local rebellions against their tax policies – rendering them somewhat indestructible.

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Rani Abbakka’s small kingdom was situated in the western coastal region of India, which caught the attention of the Portuguese after they captured Goa and set up various ports along the Mangalore coastal line.

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Ullal was a fertile region and an important port for the export of spices and textiles, which was flourishing under the leadership of Rani Abbakka Chowta.
The Portuguese could not extort money from Ullal, even after repeated attempts at threatening Rani Abbakka.

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She refused to accede to their ridiculous demands and continued to defy them by letting her ships continue trade with the Arabs, despite being attacked ferociously by the Portuguese.

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Ullal being a strategically placed port was the Portuguese’s next target to conquer after conquering other ports on that coastal region. The non-compliance of Rani Abbakka Chowta only fuelled their want for capturing her territory.

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Their first attempt at capturing Ullal was a failure, as the Portuguese didn’t think much of a thirty-something-year-old queen being able to drive out their highly skilled soldiers. However, she skillfully deflected the attack and won battles against the Portuguese.

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The next major attack against her took place in 1556 when the Portuguese sent a large fleet commanded by Admiral Don Alvaro de Silveira to capture Ullal, she once again fought valiantly and ended up beating them. The Portuguese came back defeated and embarrassed.

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Battles between the two only kept on intensifying after that period. The Portuguese, however, could never win a battle against her. Her army consisted of people from various castes, religions and sections of society. With this diversity,

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she ended up mobilizing her people to persistently oppose the Portuguese. For this, she was given the name ‘The Fearless Queen‘.
The battles that occurred next were fought by forging alliances with Tulunadu – which helped her retaliate further.

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As the attacks grew drawn out and longer, her resilience to the cause only strengthened. In 1568 when João Peixoto, the Portuguese general managed to take over Ullal with his fleet, entering her royal grounds. She was resilient as ever, and escaped, taking refuge.

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She was enraged by their actions, and with that set forth to get Ullal back from the foreigners. Gathering two hundred of her best warriors, she attacked them that same night, killing the General Peixoto and seventy of his soldiers.

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Her strategic military attacks enabled her to take back her city and she ended up killing Admiral Mascarenhas. She took back the Mangalore fort, which the Portuguese were forced to vacate.
However, that was not the end of the attacks against her.

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The Portuguese soon tried to attack her again. Rani Abbakka Chowta was skilled in diplomacy and formed an alliance with the Bajipur and Calicut immediately.

She was however betrayed by her husband (unproved) who conspired with the Portuguese to topple her from power.

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When the Portuguese finally defeated her, she was immediately imprisoned, yet she still managed to head a single-handed revolt within bars and was eventually killed in the revolt itself.

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Her legacy now lives on through memory in Dakshin Karnataka in the form of folk songs, stories and performances of Yakshagana – a form of local theatre. In a local ritual dance, a person recounts the brave and heroic actions of Rani Abbakka Chowta.

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Source: Various

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