Colachal
|
Colachel കുളച്ചൽ குளச்சல் |
|
|---|---|
| Town | |
Colachel harbour
|
|
 Colachel
|
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| Coordinates: 8°10′N 77°14′E / 8.17°N 77.24°ECoordinates: 8°10′N 77°14′E / 8.17°N 77.24°E | |
| Country |
 India
|
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Kanniyakumari |
| Government | |
| • Type | First Grade Municipality |
| • Body | Colachel Municipality |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 23,227 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Tamil |
| • Spoken | Tamil Malayalam |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
Colachel (Tamil:குளச்சல்) is located within the administrative jurisdiction of Kanyakumari District. Colachel is a second grade Municipal town situated on the west coast of Kanyakumari District. It is a port on the Malabar coast, 20 km north-west of Kanya Kumari (Cape Comorin), the southernmost tip of peninsular India. As of 2011, Colachal had a population of 47007.
It is an ancient port town, Vasco da Gama called it ‘Colachi’. Before the State re-organization in 1956, it was part of the Travancore State. After the defeat of the Dutch by King Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma in 1741, a victory pillar had been erected near the beach in commemoration of the victory. The town is bounded on the south by Arabian Sea. It has Pampoori Vaikal in its Western side. Nagercoil the headquarters of Kanyakumari District is 20 km away from this town in the North East Direction.
Colachel was the location 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 Eustachius De Lannoy on August 10, 1741. It was the first time in Indian history that an Asian country defeated a European naval force.
The Dutch marines landed in Colachel with artillery and captured the land up to Padmanabhapuram, the then capital of Travancore. The arrival of Marthanda Varma's Nairs (the warriors) from the north forced the Dutch to take up defensive positions in Colachel, where they were attacked and defeated by the Travancore forces. Twenty-eight 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. 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 same status like a Nair lord. 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 kilometres north of Padmanabhapuram (about 14 kilometres from Nagercoil).
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