Where the Dutch lived

A standard wired board warns of three months imprisonment or a hefty fine for causing harm to the archaeological site. From where you stand, such an act of felony looks almost impossible. The damage has already been done. What looks like piles of bricks encircled by a low wall is in fact the ruins of the historical Dutch fort at Sadras, near the Kalpakkam nuclear facility.

Two cannons are placed in front of a small gate set in an arched gateway.

As you walk along the mud path towards the dilapidated buildings at the distance, you notice two things. The roar of the waves beyond the ramparts and the pug marks of goats. ``We sometimes bring them in to mow the grass,'' the keeper Kannappan, says.

You begin to wonder if the visit is worth it when you are led to a courtyard full of decorated cement boxes. One is mounted on carved stone pillars. They are graves of the Dutch who inhabited these parts. The graves have Dutch inscriptions on them (Hier Onder Rust De followed by information about the deceased) and a curious array of bas-relief pictures. Try to decipher the Roman script and you could spend engaging moments wondering about the Dutch settlers' lives.

Someone called Lauren Van Buyren had an emblem of skull and crossbones (killed by a pirate?), while others had choices ranging from a rose to an adventurous ship to horses to sunbeams, a boy with two wheels, an eagle to a heart with two piercing arrows.

Move on into a cave-like structure and you arrive into a rectangular hall. The centrepiece is a part of the roof that has caved in. One side of the wall looks like it has been boarded up. ``There used to be a tunnel here,'' Kannappan, who is wearing a shirt with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) logo on it, informs you. ``The escape route that reaches the sea.''

Pick your way through heaps of rubble and there are more such tunnels. To the east on either side are similar buildings with semi-circular roofs and arched interiors. The ASI has begun work on these buildings, which house a dancing hall and dressing rooms. Outside, there is a flight of steps leading to a small landing. ``It could be a mount for elephants. It could also be a platform for troops to trumpet their victories from this vantage point.''

Whoever heard of a Dutch presence in these parts? When did they come? Where did they go? For colourful stories told in conspiratorial whispers, quiz the men playing ludo under the tree outside the ramparts. ``There is buried treasure in the tunnels,'' they hiss. ``That's why the firangis keep coming back. They are trying to break the code on those graves.''

But for historical facts you need to talk to K.T. Narasimhan, superintending archaeologist, Chennai Circle, at his office in the Fort St. George precincts. ``No proper records exist about the history of the fort,'' he says. ``We examined the construction material, the style of architecture, the position of the accumulated debris and the dates on the grave stones to arrive at conclusions."

Till 1993, the crumbled walls of the historic fort were barely visible under the overgrown weeds providing a backdrop for activities far removed from what they were intended for. The ASI took over, cleared the greenery and built the fort wall. It excavated the cemetery and restored the granary on the northwest. In a major discovery, Narasimhan's team found a rainwater harvesting mechanism where water flowing down ornamental pipes was collected in a pit outside the fort. They were also impressed with the way the four-sided load of the roof has been supported by a single pillar in the middle of the room. The solid pillar would prevent the roof from collapsing when attacked.

Every year, the renovation work reveals amazing aspects of the forgotten crucible of Dutch conquest. The thin burnt bricks narrow the construction date to the 18th Century. The Chaturangapattinam village and the fort (now divided by the Atomic Centre) formed the Dutch colony. The rectangular fort was a repository of guns, ammunition and horses that were imported for the war effort. The Dutch fought the British who wanted a piece of the Coromandel cake. Food that came from Holland was received, stacked and supplied. The bell tower at the entrance and the northeast bastion were used to look out for the enemy who too came through the sea below. Troops guarded the magazines and the tunnels obviously screened their movement.

Every Dutch family had a burial plot and the two-tier system and the dates show that two generations conducted military manoeuvres here.

One welcome fall-out of the restoration work is the automatic cleaning of the beach. The surf beyond the stronghold now has few local visitors and the open area has dirt-free white sand sparkling in contrast to the clear blue of the sea.

The British overran the citadel and by 1818, the Dutch were finished. But the memory of their eastern adventure has been acknowledged as `a place of national importance'. There is treasure here all right... the fort's history itself.

GEETA PADMANABHAN

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