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62 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
All danger from this source ceased the following year, by the
Treaty of Peace signed at Westminster, and the marriage of the
Prince of Orange with Mary, daughter of the Duke of York.
Before this was known in India, the Dutch Admiral encountered
on the Coromandel coast, ten of the Company's trading ships
which, notwithstanding the disparity of their force, maintained
an obstinate conflict, in which two, being dismasted, were cap-
tured, and a third ran ashore rather than strike her colours.*
But anxiety was again felt for the safety of Bombay, owing
to the hostile attitude assumed by the fleet of the Seedee. Early
in 1673, Mr. Aungier first gave permission to four ships of the
Mogul fleet to pass the Monsoon in Bombay harbour, which was
due to a desire to conciliate the Emperor, as the Company's
chief trade was derived from Surat ; but, at the same time, he
resolutely refused to allow the allied, and more powerful, fleet of
the Seedee,t or Abyssinian Admiral, of Jinjeera, to remain in the
harbour. In October, however, much alarm was occasioned in
Bombay by the sudden arrival in the harbour of the allied
fleets of the Mogul and of the Seedee, which, landing a large
force, devastated the Corlahst belonging to Sevajee, from which
the English drew all their supplies. In the following April,
the Seedee's fleet again appeared in the harbour, and landed at
Sion, in the island, but were driven out by part of the garrison,
and one of the Company's frigates. Another attempt to land
Ave hundred men at Mazagon was likewise repelled by force;
* Orme, in his " Historical Fragments," gives an account of this action,
principally derived from Mr. Fryer, who was physician in the Company's ships
between 1672 and 1680.
t The Abyssinian Admiral in the service of the Mogul, who conferred on him
the Jagheerdar of the southern portion of the province of Kalliannee, was
generally known by the name of Seedee, and was under the authority of the
King of Viziapoor, but received a stipend from tlie Mogul. The condition of
his tenure was the maintenance of a Marine for the protection of the Mogul's
subjects trading to the Gulf of Persia and Arabia, from the Malabar pirates and
Portuguese, and his possessions were not considered liereditary, but were conferred
on the most deserving officer of the fleet, and the chief so selected was styled Seedee
and Wuzeer. The " Hubshee," as he was also called, from his nationality, became
independent on the subversion of the Mogul power, though he owed semi-allegiance
to the Peishwa of the Mahrattas. Upon the overthrow of Bajee Rao in 1817, his
allegiance was transferred to the British. The crews of his vessels were in part
composed of his countrymen, and a small African colony was thus formed in the
Concan. The great maritime dep5t was Dlumda Rajapoor, within halt a mile of
wliich stands the small fortified island of Jinjeera, and though tlie former was cap-
tured by Sevajee, the Seedee's fleet enabled him to defy the Mahratta army. The
name of the Admiral or Seedee at this time was, says Grant Duff, " Futih Xhan,"
though Orme calls him Sambole, who gave place, in 1676, to Seedee Cossim. Tbe
Seedee had charge of several forts, amongst which were Tala, Gossala, and
Rairee, which also fell into tlie hands of Sevajee. The name Seedee is probably
an adaptation of the word " Syud," or Lord. In the vulgar language of the Dec-
can all the natives of Africa were called Seedees, and the coal-trimmers in the
steamsliips (/f the Indian Navy, who were negroes, were rated on the ships' books
as " Seedees," and always so called.
X Tlie Corlahs, meaning "districts," is a tract of land on the main extending
from ThuU the soutli point of the harbour, to tlie river Penn. The word, wliicli
is frequently found in the ancient records of Bombay, has long become obsolete.