Chimnaji Appa

Chimnaji Appa was the son of Balaji Vishwanath Bhat and the younger brother of Bajirao Peshwa. He was an able military commander who liberated western coast of India from the Portuguese tyranny. His crowning glory was his capture of Vasai fort from the Portuguese in a hard fought battle.

By the advent of eighteenth centaury, Portuguese supremacy of the oceans had been decidedly ended by the rising might of the British, French and Dutch Navies. Yet the Portuguese still maintained a strong presence on the western coast of India, right from the Gujarat coast, through the Konkan, up to northern Malabar. They maintained well defended fortresses all along the coast located in islands and harbor mouths. From their headquarters in Goa they ran a theological Christian state all along the western coastal region from Daman and Diu down to Mangalore. To further the cause of Christianity, Inquisition was promulgated throughout the Portuguese possessions in India, and a pogrom to annihilate Hindus through conversion or massacre chugged along with due zeal. Hindus were subjected to tortures frequently surpassing even the barbarity of contemporary Islamic rulers.