English
Fort
Chaporá, Goa, India
Military Architecture
Construction of the current Chapora Fort began in 1717 early in the governorship of the Viceroy Count of Ericeira (1717-20), after Portuguese forces re-conquered the lands of Bardez that had been in Maratha hands since the 1680s. However, it was only completed much later, during the government of Francisco José de Sampaio e Castro (1720-23), which led Pedro Dias to assert that at least the final part of the project was the responsibility of the Estado da Índia engineer Francisco Xavier da Fonseca. The fort located on the right bank of the Chapora River was meant not only to defend the bar entrance but also to stave off Maratha incursions beyond the waterline which marked the northern boundary of Goa’s territories at the time. On this defence front it co-ordinated with its counterparts in Alorna, Arabo and Colvale, also located along its course. The fort was built on a high knoll dominating the river estuary and has a very irregular form adjusted to the lie of the land. The walls are interrupted by five bastions and three gates, although passage was only through the main and the south-facing one, as the others were very hard to access. Occupied in 1739 by the Bhonsle Maratha forces, it was recaptured two years later by the Portuguese. In the early 19th century, with the Chapora Fort long abandoned, a small fort was built at river level northeast of the earlier structures. A quay was built near this fortalice in 1857, along with a custom house and residence for a captain, on the initiative of the engineer Major Pissidónio Joaquim de Faria, according to Ricardo Michael Telles. This position by the water was likewise left unmanned in the late 19th century.
