Aguada Fort - History

Aguada Fort was built by Portuguese between 1609 and 1612. Most part of the fort has now been ruined but still people come to visit this fort. The fort was built in order to get protection from the invasion of Dutch and Marathas. A fresh water stream inside the fort was used as the water supply for the fort and that’s why the fort was named Aguada as in Portuguese agua means water.

Reasons for Building the Fort

Portuguese built this fort because the previous forts like Terekhol, Chapora and Rachol could not provide enough protection and could be invaded through water. Portuguese also constructed Reis Magos Fort, Cabo Fort, and Gasper Dias Fort but during the invasion of Dutch in 1604, the combined the forces of the three forts but still it was ineffective. Though Portuguese won the war but they incurred loss of lives as well as military resources. So they built Aguada fort.

Construction of the fort

Dom Filippe was the ruler of Portugal who provided facilities to build the fort. In order to raise funds, a tax was levied on the people. Portuguese Viceroy Ruy Tavara supervised the construction of the fort. The construction of this fort facilitated the Portuguese to store food supplies and weapons.

Sections of the Fort

There was a cistern in the fort which has the capacity to store 23,76,000 gallons of water. The fort has been divided into two parts in which the lower part was used to safely bring the ships to the harbour while the upper part was used as watering station and also as fort. Besides having gunpowder room, a big storage system for water, lighthouse and bastions was also there on the upper side. The upper part also has a secret passage to escape during invasion.