Commodore J. T. S. Hall C.I.E. - Journal of The Royal Central Asian Society (assortment), Australian Outlook(assortment)

THE ROYAL INDIAN NAVY

By COMMODORE J. T. S. HALL, C.I.E., R.I.N.

Lecture given to the Royal Central Asian Society on November 22, 1944, General Sir John Shea, G.C.B., in the Chair.

THE subject of my lecture this afternoon is the Royal Indian Navy.

I should like to give you a short description of what it has done and what it is doing.

before talking about present-day developments I should like to give you a brief historical survey.

As you are probably aware, Queen Elizabeth granted a Royal Charter to the Honourable Company of Merchants Trading to the East Indies on December 31, 1600. The first two voyages of the Companys ships were to the East Indies; on the third voyage the Hector, Captain Hawkins, went to Surat.

Captain Hawkins went to Agra, arriving there on April 16, 1609, bearing a letter from King James to the Emperor Jehangir requesting permission to trade. Jehangir promised trading facilities, but the Portuguese, who were by that date well established in India, made it clear that they would resist any encroachment on what they considered their special preserves, and the Companys ships on their subsequent voyages to India were prevented from trading by the presence of the Portuguese in all the principal ports and the Portuguese fleet at Surat.

As a counter-measure the Company sent a squadron of four vessels Dragon, Hoseander, James and Solomanunder the command of Captain Thomas Best, which arrived off Surat on September 16, 1612. This may be regarded as the foundation of the Indian Navy.

Best obtained a firman confirming Jehangirs permission to trade, and on September 29 the Indian Marine engaged in its first action with the Portuguese fleet, which had aj-rived to challenge their right to trade. A battle of several days duration ensued, which, though not decisive, nevertheless left the British masters of the situation, and the Companys first factory was established at Surat.

Best remained on the west coast of India for three months without further challenge from the Portuguese and then sailed for Sumatra; the Indian Marine was then established, the Company having received permission to open other factories and to maintain a fleet of small craft known as " grabs and galivats to protect the Companys commerce from the Portuguese and the pirates of the west coast.

Grabs were craft of about 300 tons mounting up to six nine- or twelve-pounder guns; galivats were smaller craft of up to 70 tons mounting six two- and four-pounders. They were manned by volunteer officers from

Note.An acknowledgment is due to Commander G. E. Walker, R.I.N.V.R., from whose booklet, Historical Background of the Royal Indian Navy, I have quoted freely in the early part of this paper.

the Companys ships and Konkani fishermen, the first Indian employees of the Company.

Four of the Companys ships under Captain Downton arrived at Surat in 1614, and these ships, together with the grabs and galivats, inflicted a decisive defeat on the Portuguese *fleet. The Emperor Jehangir was well pleased with the result of this action, for the Portuguese had been endeavouring to force him to break off relations with the English, and though powerful on shore Jehangir had no navy, and had therefore been at the mercy of the Portuguese at sea.

The Indian Navy has continued in existence ever since the arrival of Thomas Bests squadron in India. During the 330 years that have elapsed it has operated under various titles, and though at times it has been reduced to small proportions it has invariably been found necessary to maintain a sea service.

From 1612 till 1686 it was known as the Honourable East India Companys Marine; from then until 1830 it was the Bombay Marine; from 1830 to 1863 the Indian Navy; thenge until 1877 again the Bombay Marine; from 1877 until 1892 His Majestys Indian Marine; from 1892 till 1934 it was the Royal Indian Marine; and from 1934 onwards the Royal Indian I'Javy.

Almost continuous warfare was waged against the Portuguese from 1612 until 1630, when, following their defeat at Ormuz in the Persian Gulf in 1627, the Portuguese were again defeated at the third battle of Swally. Four years later a truce was declared, followed by a formal convention under which a limited number of the Companys ships were admitted to Portuguese ports.

On the marriage of Charles II to the Infanta Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguese ceded to Charles the Port and Island of Bombay as part of Catherines dowry. In 1668 Bombay was leased by the Crown to the Company at a yearly rental of 10. Bombay was far superior to Surat as a port and soon replaced the latter as the Companys headquarters.

After settling its differences with the Portuguese the Marine turned its attention to the pirates. By this time the west coast of India and the Persian Gulf were happy hunting grounds for these gentlemen of fortune, and the rich Indiamen proved a lucrative source of profit. Among the most notorious were Captains Kidd, Avory and Chivers; they operated under British colours, which naturally led to misunderstanding.

Aurangzeb demanded indemnity from the Company for the depredations of the pirates, and when Avory took a Mogul ship with a cargo valued at 26 lakhs of rupees the Emperor threw the president and 63 of the Companys servants into prison. Thus encouraged, the Company took active steps against the pirates, both renegade British and native.

The most formidable of the west coast pirates were the Mahrattas, of whom the Angria clan was notorious. They held sway over the whole coasdine and had no hesitation in attacking the Companys ships. The first outstanding success against the Angria pirates was won by Commander (afterwards Commodore Sir William) James when a convoy from Bombay to Tellicherry under his command was attacked by the pirates, who were repulsed with heavy loss.

Subsequently, in 1755, James, in conjunction with thePeshwa, attacked the Angria stronghold of Severndrug and reduced it. The following year a squadron of the Royal Navy under Admiral Watson arrived at Bombay, and the opportunity was taken to attack Gheria (Viziadrug), the main base of the pirates. After a personal close reconnaissance by Commodore James, a combined Royal Navy, Bombay Marine and Mahratta force, with 1,400 infantry under Lieut.-Colonel Clive, carried out the attack, in conjunction with a Mahrattan army operating from landward, and reduced the fort, which had until then been considered as strong as Gibraltar and regarded as impregnable.

During the protracted wars with the French in the latter half of the eighteenth century Marine ships, serving with the Royal Navy under Admirals Bqscawen and Pocock, fought in many engagements; they also took part in successful actions against Hyder Ali and the Mahrattas who were operating with the French. There were constant actions against French privateers, and when Holland was absorbed into the new republic the Marine assisted at the capture of Ceylon and the Dutch East Indies. Five of the Companys ships took part in the capture of Mauritius and eight in the reduction of Java in 1811.

The Marine next turned its attention to the Joasmi pirates, a powerful Arab tribe who had established themselves in the Persian Gulf with their headquarters at Ras-el-Khaima. At first the Company, in an endeavour to avoid hostilities, issued instructions to captains that they were not to attack the Joasmis but only to act in self-defence. The pirates soon took advantage of this state of affairs, and, sending a fleet to Sind and the Gulf of Kutcn, captured twenty Indian ships. The Captain of the Fury, having beaten off a strong attack, was reprimanded for disobeying the Companys instructions not to molest the unoffending Arabs. At last the depredations of the pirates compelled the Company to take action against them: Their force by this time comprised thirty-six large ships and eight hundred odd small ones manned by 19,000 men.