Karwar

Karwar, in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, has a history deeply linked to the sea, river trade and changing coastal powers. Lying where the Kali River meets the Arabian Sea, the natural harbour made Karwar an important maritime point for centuries. Early references point to trade in pepper, rice, timber and other goods with Arab and later European merchants along the Konkan coast. Nearby Sadashivgad Fort, on a hill by the river mouth, guarded the estuary and became the strategic key to controlling Karwar’s harbour.

From the 16th–18th centuries, Karwar saw successive influences of Portuguese, Bijapur sultans, Marathas and finally the British. The British East India Company used Karwar as a factory and minor port, exporting forest and plantation products. Under the British Bombay Presidency, it grew as a district town with courts, churches, schools and administrative offices.

Karwar also has a cultural place in modern history: a young Rabindranath Tagore spent some time here with his brother, later recalling the beauty of the Karwar seascape in his writings, which is why the main beach is often called Tagore Beach.

In independent India, Karwar developed as a fishing, trade and naval town, with a major naval base nearby. Today its identity combines old port heritage, quiet beaches, seafood culture and strategic maritime importance along Karnataka’s coast.