Monumental neglect: Protected Dutch Factory on the verge of a collapse

A 17th century historical structure of a trading post built by the Dutch at Vengurla near the Maharashtra-Goa border is on the verge of a collapse.

Though listed as a protected monument by the archaeology department of the government of Maharashtra, there is no sign of protection anywhere. The only official presence is a small board warning citizens not to enter the dangerous building as it would be risky.

As I enter the crumbling edifice of the “Dutch Factory”, as it is called in the archaeology department records, I find three bicycles outside with a group of teenaged kids hanging out inside the ruins. They give me a strange looks when I ask them whether this is the famous “Dutch factory” structure. They laugh out loud and say, “There’s no factory here, and there are no machines. It’s just a stupid place,” and walk out of the premise. It’s a sad reflection of how the new generation of the town is completely disconnected about the place where their town started, developed and flourished about 350 years ago.

‘Factory’ is a common parlance for trading posts in history; first British trading posts in Surat were also referred as the Surat Factory.

Inside the two-storey structure made of red stone are collapsed roofs, rotting wooden beams and overgrowth of plants. It has a deep well at the rear. The staircase is sturdy and the fortifications on the four corners of the structure for defence with ramps are still intact.

Vithal Redkar an elderly gentleman in Vengurla market recollects that the historic structure was in proper condition till the tehsildar’s office was located there a few decades ago. “The office shifted to a new place and the place has since been neglected,” he said.

Another local, Dada Bua said that there was a secret passage under the structure which opened up to the Camp area, about three kilometres away. “There were plans to explore it, but I guess it never happened and now everything seems to be lost,” he added.

Elders say that the government should have at least put up a board signifying importance of the place.

Records state that the settlement was used for trade and to launch an attack on the Portuguese in Goa. In 1638 the Dutch settlement at Vengurla supplied food and stores to their ships during their eight-month blockade of Goa. In 1660, it has been mentioned as Mingrela, a large town stretching half a league along the coast, with one of the best roads in India. In 1675, it was again burned by the Mughals. In 1812, the town was ceded to the British.

The Ratnagiri State Gazetteer published by the culture department of government of Maharashtra details how the Royal Queen of Golconda waited and passed through this historic settlement with her 4,000 cavalry. “The queen and all her ladies were carried in close litters concealed from public view, and they were preceded by several camels covered with rich furniture, on one whereof was mounted a kettle drummer. The commodore and the director of the Dutch East India Company met her two leagues from the town, in which she stayed.”

State archaeology department officials were unavailable for comment on record. “The University of Delft has been documenting Vengurla as the place has architecture and urban planning that has strongly been influenced by the presence of the Dutch settlement,” a source said.

A bleak future?
State archaeology department officials were unavailable for comment on record. Sources said that a university in the Netherlands has been working on a project to document it.

The British Library Collection has a lithograph of the Dutch Factory and Fort at Vengurla by William Spreat after an original sketch by Robert Pouget, one of a series of ‘Views in India and in the vicinity of Bombay’ published in London c.1850.