A new stage production, Veera Rani Abbakka, written and directed by Preeta Mathur Thakur, serves as a reminder of a warrior that history forgot. Multiple books and films have been produced on the valour of Laxmibai, the Rani of Jhansi, who opposed the British annexation of her land, but three centuries earlier, in the 16th century, Rani Abbakka of Ullala refused to let Portuguese invaders dictate terms to her and fought off every attack by their well-equipped naval force.

She is regarded as India's first woman freedom fighter and one of the earliest Indian rulers to resist a European colonial power. Because of her courage and military strategy, the Portuguese could not capture the west coast of India and were confined largely to Goa.

A Queen Who Defied The Portuguese

Rani Abbakka governed Ullal, a small coastal kingdom in present-day Karnataka, near the strategic port city of Mangaluru. Despite ruling a relatively modest realm, Abbakka successfully repelled repeated naval invasions by the Portuguese navy for over four decades.

Following Vasco da Gama’s arrival in Calicut in 1498, the Portuguese Crown (Estado da Índia) sought to establish a monopoly over the Indian Ocean trade, particularly the lucrative spice trade. Their strategy relied on enforcing the cartaz system—a policy requiring local and regional merchant ships to purchase licences and pay duties at Portuguese-controlled ports. Vessels operating without a cartaz were routinely seized, their cargo confiscated, and their crews enslaved or killed. They tried to go southwards and capture Kanara, a thriving trading hub known for its pepper, rice, timber, and spices. Ports like Mangaluru, Ullal,........

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