Was Chatrapati Shivaji was the father of the modern Navy in india ?
Rajendra 1st Chola (1014 to 1044) was the great warrior . During his reign , the Chola power reached at its zenith. History military conquest reached to the eastern india in so far as his army crossed the Ganga river and defeated the Pala king, Mahipal. In addition to the military prowess, Rajendra Chola also established naval supremacy in the bay of Bengal and South East Asia . Both Pandyan and Chera navies were destroyed, therby establishing Chola supremacy in the eastern and western coast of india.. . During his reign , Bay of Bengal was converted into the Chola lake. Srilanka was subjugated and it remained under Chola rule for the next 50 years. Similarly, his naval expeditions reached to south east Asia . Shri Vijay kingdom and its Sailendra dynasty capitulated. Kadram (Keddah) also surrendered to him. Almost all south east Asian countries had come under his toes. Not only that , he established maritime trade relations with China . A Chola ambassador was stationed at Chinese Court. The strait of Malacca, the gateway to East Asia was completely under his control . To sum up , no indigenous power so much dominated the indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal as the mighty Cholas did in the mediaeval india. The Chola naval power was aggressive. Its main purpose was to establish extensive trade relations with south east Asian countries and China . On the other hand , the great Chatrapati Shivaji is said to be the father of modern Navy in india . However, Navy under Shivaji was defensive. He made Navy effective in guarding coastal regions.Navy was supported by various forts on the coastal regions. But his Navy was not strong enough to flush out western powers from deep sea . According to the historian, B K Apte , Navy under Shivaji was no match to the British Navy in the deep sea. It is worth noting that while Shivaji looted twice Surat, the Mughal depot, in 1664 and 1770 , he didn't dare to loot British factory located at Surat . Not he ever tried to capture Goa , Daman and Diu from the Portuguese who had entrenched themselves since 1509 . Maratha Navy was adept in protecting the coastal regions because of their better knowledge of the coasts and creeks. But in the deep sea , Maratha Navy could not match European powers. During the Peshwa rule , no adequate attention was paid on the advancement of Maratha Navy. That's why, the British could be able to establish their rule over in the 18th century on account of their naval superiority.
To sum up, While Navy under Rajendra Chola was assertive, conquering large tracts of land in South East Asia and fostering trade relations, Shivaji 's Navy was structured to protect the western coast of India to safeguard it's territorial integrity. Maratha Navy was basically defensive in nature.
