History of the Indian Navy
[1][2] The world's first[3] tidal dock may have been built at Lothal around 2300 BCE during the Indus Valley Civilization, near the present day Mangrol harbour on the Gujarat coast.
[4] The Rig Veda composed in the 2nd millennium BCE, credits Varuna with knowledge of the ocean routes and describes naval expeditions.
[5] A model of a bronze miniature ship with an open deck has been excavated from Pandu Rajar Dhibi from West Bengal dating about 1500-500 BCE.
[8] During Mauryan empire, Indians had already made trading connections in South east Asia from Thailand and Malaysia peninsula to Cambodia and southern Vietnam.
Powerful navies included those of the Kalinga kingdom, Maurya, Satavahana, Chola, Vijayanagara, Maratha and Mughal empires.
[9] The Cholas excelled in foreign trade and maritime activity, extending their influence overseas to Southeast Asia and China.
Over the course of the next century, the Samoothiri Rajas successfully repelled various attempts by the Portuguese to overthrow their rule, with each side enlisting various allies over time.
However, over time, the differences between Mohammed Ali, Marakkar IV, and his masters increased, culminating with his self-declaration as the "Lord of the Indian seas".
[14][15] One of the best-documented naval campaign of the Mughal empire were provided during the conflict against kingdom of Arakan, where in December 1665, Aurangzeb dispatched Shaista Khan, his governor of Bengal to command 288 vessels and more than 20,000 men to pacify the pirate activities within Arakan territory and to capture Chittagong,[16] During the Mughal Empire, the province of Bengal Subah had a large shipbuilding industry.
Economic historian Indrajit Ray estimates shipbuilding output of Bengal during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at 223,250 tons annually, .
[17] The chronicle of Ahkam 'Alamgiri, reveals how the Mughal empire has struggled to establish strong navy, boldened by the failure to prevent losses of Muslim vessels off the coast of the Maldives islands.
[19] Syed Hassan Askari concluded that the lack of priority of Aurangzeb to afford his naval project due to his conflicts against the Marathas has hindered him to do so.
[19] Askari maintained that Mughal was largely not independent to control the rampart piracy and European naval incursions, and instead resorted to depend on the strength of friendly Arab forces from Muscat to keep the Portuguese in check.
[26] Under that authority, he was master of the Western coast of India from Mumbai to Vingoria (now Vengurla) in present-day state of Maharashtra, except for Janjira which was affiliated with the Mughal Empire.
Until his death in 1729, he repeatedly launched attacks on European merchant vessels, capturing numerous cargo ships of the various East India Companies and extracting a ransom for their return.
[citation needed] On 29 November 1721, a joint attempt by the Portuguese and the British to put an end to Kanhoji's privateering endeavours failed.
Their combined fleet, consisting of 6,000 soldiers in four man-of-wars, besides other ships led by Captain Thomas Mathews of the Bombay Marine, failed to achieve its goals.
Aided by Mendhaji Bhatkar and Mainak Bhandari, Kanhoji continued to capture and ransom European merchant ships until his death in 1729.
[28] Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan developed one of the stronger regional navies in pre-colonial India, and forged alliances with several other non-South Asian powers to try to fend off the British.
This encounter, as well as piracy, led the English East India Company to build a port and establish a small navy based at the village of Suvali, near Surat, Gujarat to protect commerce.
The Royal Indian Marine suffered 330 casualties and 80 of its personnel were decorated with gallantry awards for service in the war.
These six ships and the minesweepers all eventually proceeded to India carrying out various duties in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Cape stations en route.
[39] The sloop HMIS Pathan sunk in June 1940 by the Italian Navy Submarine Galvani during the East African Campaign.
At midnight on 9 December 1941, HMS Glasgow sank the RIN patrol vessel HMIS Prabhavati with two lighters in tow en route to Karachi, with 6-inch shells at 6,000 yards (5,500 m).
[48][51] On 12 August 1944 the German submarine U-198 was sunk near the Seychelles, in position 03º35'S, 52º49'E, by depth charges from HMIS Godavari and the British frigate HMS Findhorn.
The operation was so successful that the Pakistani Navy raised a false alarm about sighting an Indian missile boat on 6 December.
During Operation Python on 8 December, the frigate PNS Dacca was severely damaged by INS Veer and the oil storage depot of Karachi was set ablaze.
On the western front in the Arabian Sea, operations ceased after the Karachi port became unusable due to the sinking of Panamian vessel Gulf Star.
The successful blockade of East Pakistan by the Indian Navy proved to be a vital factor in the Pakistani surrender.
After Indian paratroopers landed at Hulhule and secured the airfield and restored the democratically elected government at Malé, the Sri Lankan mercenaries hijacked the freighter MV Progress Light and took a number of hostages, including the Maldivian Transport minister and his wife.
