The Mauryas of Konkan - 7th century AD

Most of the naval battles along the coast of the Indian subcontinent came into light during the Maratha reign where various commanders, kings and warriors battled European forces across the coast of Konkan. Going back to the medieval era, the Chola Empire was a naval supremacy that battled forces all across the islands of Sri Lanka, Indonesia and coasts of Malaysia and SE Asia while having it's base in southern India. But if we go further back, at the time when Deccan or Dakkhin was bombarded with numerous Hindu empires and kingdoms, we see several odd naval battles of whom people are less-heard of. And it's surprising when the region talked about is about today's giant megapolis of India - Mumbai. 

As we all know, Mumbai came into picture mostly during the colonial era when the British developed it into a harbour. But much to their ignorance, the islands that comprise today's Mumbai, were once home to an ancient lineage of the Mauryas (or at least it is believed so) who existed on this tiny strip of Konkan between 4th to 7th centuries AD. The Maurya Empire had ended centuries ago and had nowhere linked to the islands of Mumbai, but it did exist here, on the tiny island of Gharapuri or how we famously know it as the Elephanta Island. 

The characters of this battle are the great Chalukya Dynasty's King Pulakeshin II and Suketuvarman of the Mauryas. Pulakeshin has displaced his uncle from the throne who was legally placed by his father, thus putting the entire Dakkhan in a chaos. Allegiances are rattled, allies have pulled their hands out, and there is a disruptive civil war across the country. The Kadambas, Alupas, Gangas, Kalabhiras, Pallavas, Vishnukundins, Matharas and Mauryas - entire stretch from western to eastern India needs to be brought under one bigger umbrella of the Chalukyas and no other than Pulakeshin can do this. For the entire tenure of his in the mid-7th century AD, Pulakeshin had to fight numerous battles and skirmishes to establish his dominance. And one of them, was the naval battle at Puri or Gharapuri, that got the Mauryas finally under his vassalage. 

But what was the need to do this? Why did Pulakeshin wanted to unite everyone under one Chalukyan blanket? For centuries, emperors and kings had always desired to have their dynasty be the single-ruling clan in the country. This dominating ambition is the root cause of every war, battle and successions. The core emotion drives from greed or else every kingdom would have prospered individually. Then the other factor is, of course, naval trade that lead to exploration - an ambition that has driven hundreds of kingdoms for centuries. The Southeast Asian lands were a fragmented city-states populated on Sumatra, Borneo, Java and Sulawesi islands of today's Indonesia. While the thin Kra isthmus was densely populated with Malay, Burmese and Thai origin states. Trading with them would give a lot of strength to Chalukyan economy and culture, for these states were Buddhist and Hindu in their natures. On the west, it would introduce the Chalukyas to trade with the great Rashidun Caliphate - the first Islamic Caliphate the world has ever seen. It would also have opened gates to strengthen ties with the Axum Empire of Ethiopia and Eritrea placing the Chalukyas as a centrepiece of trade, culture and commerce in whole of Asia. 

The Mauryas among all others, surprisingly, did stand a chance and although being an extremely small residual dynasty, did not easily surrendered. And so, Suketuvarman prepared for a battle against the mighty Chalukyas. And not on any mainland fortress, but at the island of Puri. Naval battle that too in the creeks and bays around the islands of Karanja and Nhava, comprising more than 10,000 villages, was a bigger challenge for Pulakeshin as the Mauryas had survived his father Kirttivarman's attack years ago. The Mauryans put up a tough fight and their fleet of gigantic triremes looked like a herd of 100 elephants marching. The fight went on for days and at one point Pulakeshin was indeed worried about making a safe exit from the harbours. An additional fleet was called from Gove-Gopakapattana (Goa) to backup Chalukyan force, which is when Suketuvarman felt overpowered. And at this time, Suketuvarman called on his allied forces of the Bhojas (belonging to Chandrapura or Chandor, Goa) that were stationed at Surparaka (Nallasopara) who rushed to help their Mauryan allies. And the battle intensified for days but this time more than the maritime strength of the two forces, it was the geography of the islands that possessed a major challenge to the battle. 

As the fact goes, the harbours at Puri, Nhava and Karanja were not as hospitable as they are now. There were shallow waters, rocky coastline, extreme monsoon winds much stronger than today creating stronger gusts making it difficult to control ships. The vessels suffered heavy losses as being too close to the shore and larger vessels faced difficulties in entering the coast. On top of that, a range of marine attackers such as crocodiles, sharks, stingrays and land animals such as leopards, venomous reptiles and snakes and mosquito infested vegetation created another set of obstacles during the battle. Even if someone comes out alive from such harsh inhumane conditions, it would have been a bigger victory nevertheless. 

Towards the end of the battle, the Mauryan-Bhoja alliance weakened and although they fought bravely, the time taken for the help to arrive from the allied stations slowed down the fight. The Mauryans were well-equipped but it was a matter of time that the Chalukyan forces toppled their joint efforts. Suketuvarman succumbed to defeat but was spared on the condition that both Mauryas and Bhojas shall pay their vassalage to the Chalukyas. Pulakeshin was thus able to mend the chaos in the Aparanta - from Bharukaccha to Konkana, bringing all under the Chalukyan supremacy.  

And thus, after the battle, the lingering Mauryan clan on the Konkan coast vanished and was soon taken over the Chalukyas who ruled various parts of India till the 13th century.