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ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Essagi Patecar insurrection 1681

Synopsis
The Essagi Patecar uprising was one of the most important rebellions against Portuguese rule in the northern province of the Estado da Índia. The Patecar or Patkar clan had been in the service of the sultans of Ahmadnagar before the 1540s, when an ancestor of Essagi Patecar allied himself with the newly arrived Portuguese. Since then, the Patecars had held the border districts (parganas) of Panchena and Cairena, south of Thane Fort and not far from the modern city of Mumbai, as vassals of the Portuguese crown. By the end of the 17th century, Essagi Patecar controlled 22 villages and enjoyed various other rights and privileges in these districts. The first stirrings of rebellion came in 1679, when Patecar staged a brief uprising over a dispute over tax revenues from the tobacco trade. Three years later, the vassal chief took up arms again in a conflict with the Portuguese nobleman Luís Henriques, one of the most important landowners in the northern province. On 8 August 1681, Essagi Patecar's men sacked the village of Trombay, which belonged to Luís Henriques. In response, the Portuguese authorities sent a military force against the Belapur Fort (Belaflor do Sabaio), Patecar's main power base, forcing the rebel chief to flee to the neighboring Maratha territories. His lands were confiscated and the Portuguese took over the administration of the border districts until they were taken over by the Marathas in 1737.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 7 months. Name in sources: Revolta de Essagi Patecar. Location: Província do Norte Country (current): India. Monarchy: Portuguese. Main participants: Indigenous, Local elites. Number of participants: 250-500. Main reasons & motivations: Multiple, Political. Leadership: Essagi Patecar. Relevance: low.

Further reading
MENDIRATTA, Sidh Losa (2012). Dispositivos do Sistema Defensivo da Província do Norte do Estado da Índia, 1521-1739. Coimbra: University of Coimbra (PhD thesis). TEIXEIRA, André (2010). Baçaim e o seu Território: Política e Economia (1534-1665). Lisboa: Universidade Nova de Lisboa (PhD thesis).
Cite this entry

Ferreira, José Miguel (2023). "Essagi Patecar insurrection 1681", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Encyclopaedia of Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. https://mappingrebellions.com/revolt/essagi-patecar-insurrection-1681/ (accessed on 12 March 2026).