Battle of Vasai

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Battle of Vasai

17 February 1739 – 16 May 1739

Date
(2 months, 4 weeks and 1 day)
Vasai and surrounding area
Location
Maratha Victory; Portuguese army and
Result administration pulled out of Baçaim on 23 May
1739.

Belligerents

Maratha Empire

Portuguese Empire
 Pindaris

Commanders and leaders

Chimaji Appa
Captain Caetano de Souza
Ranojirao Shinde
Pereira 
Janojirao
Captain João Xavier Pinto
Girmaji Kanitkar
General Martinho da Silveira
Naro Shankar Dani
General Pedro de Melho
Manaji Angre
Colonel João Malhão
Malhar Rao Holkar

Strength

100,000[citation needed]

Casualties and losses

800 killed
Unknown Wounded[1]
Unknown Wounded[2]

The Battle of Vasai or the Battle of Bassein was fought between the Marathas and the
Portuguese rulers of Vasai (Portuguese, Baçaim; English, Bassein), a town lying near
Mumbai (Bombay) in the present-day state of Maharashtra, India. The Marathas were led by
Chimaji Appa, a brother of Peshwa Baji Rao I. Maratha victory in this war was a major
achievement of Baji Rao I's reign.[3]
Contents
 1 Background
 2 16th Century
 3 17th Century
 4 18th Century and Maratha Invasion
 5 Siege of Baçaim
 6 See also
 7 References
 8 Other sources

Background[edit]
The Provincia do Norte (Province of the North) region ruled by the Portuguese included not
just the town of Baçaim but also areas far away as Bombay, Thana, Kalyan, Chaul and
Revdanda. Baçaim is located about 50 kilometers north of Bombay, on the Arabian Sea.
Baçaim, was an important trading center, and its sources of wealth was trade in horses, fish,
salt, timber, basalt and granite, as well as shipbuilding. The town was a significant trading
centre long before the Portuguese arrived. Ancient Sopara was an important port that traded
with the Arabs and Greeks, Romans and Persians. It was also a wealthy agricultural region
with rice, betel nut, cotton, and sugar-cane widely grown.[4][unreliable source?]

16th Century[edit]
In 1530, Portuguese army captain António da Silveira burnt the city of Baçaim and continued
the burning and looting up to nearby Bombaim, when the King of Thana surrendered islands
of Mahim and Bombaim. Subsequently, the towns of Thana, Bandora, Mahim and Bombaim
(Bombay) were brought under Portuguese control.[5][unreliable source?] In 1531, António de Saldanha
while returning from Gujarat to Goa, set fire to Baçaim again — to punish Sultanate of
Gujarat king Bahadur Shah for not ceding Diu. [citation needed]

Plant of the Baçaim Fortress (1635)

In 1533, Diogo (Heytor) de Sylveira, burnt the entire sea coast from Bandora, Thana,
Baçaim, to Surat. Diogo de Sylveira returned to Goa with 4000 slaves and spoils of pillaging.
[6][unreliable source?]
For the Portuguese, Diu was an important island to protect their trade, which they
had to capture. While devising the means to capture Diu, Portuguese General Nano da Cunha,
found out that the governor of Diu was Malik Ayaz whose son Malik Tokan was fortifying
Baçaim with 14,000 men.
Engraving depicting Antonio Galvano (c.1490–1557)

Nano da Cunha saw this fortification as a threat. He assembled a fleet of 150 ships with 4000
men and sailed to Baçaim. Upon seeing such a formidable naval power, Malik Tokan made
overtures of peace to Nano da Cunha. The peace overtures were rejected. Malik Tokan had
no option but to fight the Portuguese. The Portuguese landed north of the Baçaim and
invaded the fortification. Even though the Portuguese were numerically insignificant, they
fought with skill and valor killing off most of the enemy soldiers while losing only a handful
of their own.[7][unreliable source?]

Portrait of Nuno da Cunha

On 23 December 1534, the Sultan of Gujarat Bahadur Shah, signed a treaty with the
Portuguese and ceded Baçaim with its dependencies of Salsette, Bombaim (Bombay), Parel,
Vadala, Siao (Sion), Vorli (Worli), Mazagao (Mazgao), Thana, Bandra, Mahim, and Caranja
(Uran).[8][unreliable source?] In 1536, Nuno da Cunha appointed his brother-in-law Garcia de Sá as the
first Captain/Governor of Baçaim. The first corner stone for the Fort was laid by António
Galvão. In 1548, the Governorship of Baçaim was passed on to Jorge Cabral.[7]
Jorge Cabral

In the second half of 16th century, the Portuguese built a new fortress enclosing a whole town
within the fort walls. The fort included 10 bastions, of these nine were named as: Cavallerio,
Nossa Senhora dos Remedios, Reis Magos Santiago, São Gonçalo, Madre de Deos, São Joaõ,
Elefante, Saõ Pedro, São Paulo and São Sebastião, São Sebastião was also called "Potra Pia"
or pious door of Baçaim. It was through this bastion that the Marathas would enter to defeat
the Portuguese. There were two medieval gateways, one on seaside called Porta do Mar with
massive teak gates cased with iron spikes and the other one called Porta da Terra. There
were ninety pieces of artillery, 27 of which were made of bronze and seventy mortars, 7 of
these mortars were made of bronze. The port was defended by 21 gun boats each carrying 16
to 18 guns. This fort stands till today with the outer shell and ruins of churches.[9][unreliable source?]

In 1548, St. Francisco Xavier stopped in Baçaim, and a portion of the Baçaim population was
converted to Christianity. In Salsette island, the Portuguese built 9 churches: Nirmal (1557),
Remedi (1557), Sandor (1566), Agashi (1568), Nandakhal (1573), Papdi (1574), Pali (1595),
Manickpur (1606), Merces (1606). All these beautiful churches are still used by the Christian
community of Vasai. In 1573 alone 1600 people were baptized.[6]

17th Century[edit]

Map of Baçaim from Portuguese Atlas

As Baçaim prospered under the Portuguese, it came to be known as "a Corte do Norte" or
"Court of the North", it became a resort to "fidalgos" or noblemen and richest merchants of
Portuguese India. Baçaim became so famous that a great Portuguese man would be called
"Fidalgo ou Cavalheiro de Baçaim" or "Nobleman of Bassein".[10] Baçaim during the
Portuguese period was known for the refinement and wealth and splendor of its buildings,
palaces and for the beauty of its churches. This northern province, included a territory which
extended as far as 100 kilometers along the coast, between Damão (Daman) and Bombaim
(Bombay), and in some places extended for 30-50 kilometers inland. It was the most
productive Indian area under Portuguese rule.[citation needed]

In 1618, Baçaim suffered from a succession of disasters. First it was struck by a disease then
on 15 May, the city was struck by a deadly cyclone. It caused considerable damage to the
boats and houses, and thousands of coconut trees were uprooted and flattened. The winds
pushed sea water into the city. The monasteries and convents of the Franciscans and
Augustinians were ruined. The roofs on three largest churches in the city and both the house
and the church of the Jesuits were ripped off and ruined almost beyond repair. This storm was
followed by so complete a failure of rains which resulted in near-famine conditions. In a few
months, the situation grew so precarious that parents were openly selling their children to
Muslim brokers into slavery rather than to starve them to death. The practice was stopped by
the Jesuits, partly by saving from their own scanty allowances and partly by donations from
the rich.[11] In 1634, Baçaim's population numbered about 400 Portuguese families, 200 Indian
Christian families and 1800 slaves (Indians and Africans). In 1674, Bassein had 2 colleges, 4
convents, and 6 churches.[12]

St. James Church, Agashi

In 1674, 600 Arab pirates from Muscat landed at Baçaim. The fort garrison panicked and was
too scared to oppose the pirates outside the fort walls. The pirates plundered all the churches
outside of the fort walls and spared no violence and cruelty towards the people of Baçaim.[13]
[unreliable source?]
In 1674, More Pundit stationed himself in Kalyan, and forced the Portuguese to pay
him one-fourth of Baçaim's revenues. Two years later, Shivaji advanced near Saivan.[14] As
the Portuguese power waned towards the end of the 17th century, Baçaim suffered
considerably. The importance of Baçaim was reduced by transfer of neighboring Bombaim
island to the British in 1665. The British had coveted and eyed Bombaim for many years
before it came into their possession under the terms of the marriage treaty. They had ventured
to seize it by force in 1626 and had urged the Directors of the East India Company to
purchase it in 1652.[15][unreliable source?] The intolerance of the Portuguese to other religions seriously
hindered the growth of Baçaim or Bombaim as a prosperous settlement. Their colonization
efforts were not successful because they had gradually divided the lands into estates or fiefs,
which were granted as rewards to deserving individuals or to religious orders on a system
known as aforamento whereby the grantees were bound to furnish military aid to the king of
Portugal or where military service was not deemed necessary, to pay a certain rent.[16] The
efficiency of the Portuguese administration was weakened by frequent transfers of officers,
and by the practice of allowing the great nobles to remain at court and administer their
provinces. They soon became a corrupt and opulent society based upon slave labour. The
cruelties of the Inquisition (from 1560) alienated the native population of New Christians,
and the Iberian Union of Portugal with Spain (1580) deprived the Indian settlements of care
of the home government.[citation needed] The Portuguese trade monopoly with Europe could
henceforth last only so long as no European rival came upon the scene.[17]

18th Century and Maratha Invasion[edit]

In 1720, one of the ports of the Northern Province, Kalyan, was conquered by the Marathas
and in 1737, they took possession of Thana including all the forts in Salsette island and the
forts of Parsica, Trangipara, Saibana (Present-day Saivan, south bank of the Tansa river), Ilha
das Vaccas (Island of Arnala), Manora (Manor), Sabajo (Sambayo/Shabaz near Belapur), the
hills of Santa Cruz and Santa Maria.[18][unreliable source?] The only places in the Northern Province that
now remained with the Portuguese were Chaul (Revdanda), Caranja, Bandra, Versova,
Baçaim, Mahim, Quelme (Kelve/Mahim), Sirgão (Present day Shirgao), Dahanu Sao Gens
(Sanjan), Asserim (Asheri/Asherigad), Tarapor (Tarapur) and Damão.[19][unreliable source?] By 1736,
the Portuguese had been at work for 4 years constructing the fortress of Thana, and aside
from the long delays, the workers were unpaid and unfed.[20] The locals who were tired of the
oppression, finally invited the Marathas to take possession of the island of Salsette, preferring
their rule to the oppression of the Portuguese.[citation needed] These were some of the factors that
weakened Baçaim and set the stage for Maratha attacks.

Siege of Baçaim[edit]
The Siege of Baçaim began on 17 February 1739.[21] All the Portuguese outposts around the
major fort at Baçaim had been taken. Their supply routes from the north and south had been
blocked, and with the English manning the seas, even that route was unreliable. Chimaji
Appa arrived at Bhadrapur near Baçaim in February 1739. According to a Portuguese
account, his forces numbered 40,000 infantry, 25,000 cavalry, and around 4,000 soldiers
trained in laying mines. Furthermore, he had 5,000 camels and 50 elephants. More joined
from Salsette in the following days, increasing the total Maratha troops amassed to take
Baçaim to close to 100,000. The Portuguese, alarmed at this threat, decided to vacate Bandra,
Versova and Dongri so as to better defend Baçaim. As per orders of the Portuguese
Governor, only Baçaim, Damão, Diu and Karanja (Uran) were to be defended. These were
duly fortified. In March 1739, Manaji Angre attacked Uran and captured it from the
Portuguese. This was followed by easy Maratha victories at Bandra, Versova and Dharavi
which the Portuguese garrison had vacated. Manaji Angre joined Chimaji Appa at Vasai after
this. Thus by April 1739, the noose around Baçaim had further tightened.
Malhar Rao Holkar I

The capture of Thana and Dharavi meant that even small boats could not reach Baçaim
without being fired upon by Maratha cannons. Still, General Martinho De Silva wanted to
fight a losing battle. Chimaji Appa now decided to bring down the fort of Baçaim itself.[22] All
except Vasai in Maratha hands, including the forts at Bandra, Versova, Dongri and Uran.[23]
The fort at Baçaim is situated on land with the Arabian sea on one side, and the Vasai creek
on another two sides.[24][unreliable source?]

A painting of Chimaji Ballal Peshwa near Parvati temple in Pune

The village of Baçaim itself and the large Maratha camp at Bhadrapur were to the north.[25]
[unreliable source?]
Within the fort itself, the towers of São Sebastião and Remedios faced the Marathas
at Bhadrapur. The barracks and everything else was inside, with the main gate facing the
Vasai creek. Chimaji Appa began the siege on the 1st of May 1739 by laying 10 mines next
to the walls near the tower of Remedios. Maratha soldiers charged into the breach caused by
exploding four of them. Almost immediately, they came under fire from Portuguese guns and
muskets. Chimaji Appa, Malhar Rao Holkar, Ranoji Shinde and Manaji Angre goaded their
contingents to scale the walls throughout the day. Next day on 2 May, the tower of São
Sebastião and Remedios were repeatedly attacked. More mines were set off during the day,
causing large breaches in the walls, between the two towers. Around 4,000 Maratha soldiers
tried to pour into the fort, but the Portuguese opposition was fierce. They also managed to
defend the two towers by lighting firewood. On 3 May, the tower of São Sebastião was
demolished by a Maratha mine. Maratha armies could now easily march into the fort, without
the fear of being fired upon from the tower. The encirclement and defeat of the Portuguese
was complete. Chimaji Appa decided to settle the war at this point by sending an envoy to the
Portuguese. In his letter, he warned them that the entire garrison would be slaughtered and
the fort levelled if the war continued. The Portuguese commander in charge of the fort duly
surrendered on 16 May 1739.[26] On 23 May 1739, the saffron flag flew atop Baçaim.[27]

See also[edit]
 Portuguese India
 First Anglo-Maratha War

References[edit]
1. ^ "[Goanet] MARATHA-PORTUGUESE WARS TO CONTROL BOMBAY-VASAI
REGION". Mail-archive.com. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
2. ^ [1][dead link]
3. ^ Jaques, Tony (12 November 2017). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E.
Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313335372. Retrieved 12 November 2017 – via
Google Books.
4. ^ "V E R N O N S V E N T U R E S @vernonsventures Instagram Profile - Picbear".
picbear.com.
5. ^ https://www.colonialvoyage.com/portuguese-bassein-bacaim-vasai/#
6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Vasai Fort - Bassein Fort – Solotravellers". www.thesolotravellers.in.
7. ^ Jump up to: a b "History of Vasai Essay - 2984 Words".
8. ^ "Nuno da Cunha & Treaty of Bassein - General Knowledge Today".
www.gktoday.in.
9. ^ "Travel India". www.travelindiapro.com. Archived from the original on 15
November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
10. ^ Asiatic Society of Bombay (3 March 1875). "Journal of the Asiatic Society of
Bombay". Asiatic Society of Bombay – via Internet Archive.
11. ^
https://gazetteers.maharashtra.gov.in/cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/Thana
%20District/places_Bassein.html
12. ^ https://cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/greater_bombay/history.html
13. ^ "The English in Western India - Piracy". Scribd.
14. ^ Campbell, James MacNabb; Enthoven, R. E. (Reginald Edward) (3 March 1883).
"Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency". Bombay : Gov. Central Press – via Internet Archive.
15. ^ ScoopWhoop (10 February 2016). "Did You Know Mumbai Was Given As Dowry
To The British By The Portuguese?".
16. ^
rent.https://bvrnstream.blackvaultradio.com/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.207009/2015.207009.Im
perial-Gazetteer_djvu.txt
17. ^ "portugal no mundo". www.portugalweb.net.
18. ^ ""belapur fort" in a sentence - belapur fort sentence examples - ichacha.net
sentence maker". eng.ichacha.net.
19. ^ "Opinions on Shirgaon, Thane". www.writeopinions.com.
20. ^ Pritchett, Frances. "10chapter". www.columbia.edu.
21. ^ "How Chimaji Appa defeated the Portuguese - Latest News & Updates at Daily
News & Analysis". 1 January 2017.
22. ^ "Marathas v/s Portuguese – Vasai , May 1739". 15 November 2016.
23. ^ Homegrown. "Hidden History: The Forgotten Stories Behind 12 Of Mumbai's
Forts". homegrown.co.in.
 24. ^ "Vasai Creek empties west into the Arabian Sea - Rally For Rivers".
25. ^ "Vasai in Maharashtra, Bassein Fort, Traveling Bassein, Temples of Vasai,
Aagashi Jain Mandir, Arnala Fort, Chinchoti Waterfalls, Holy Christ Church in Vasai".
www.indiantravelportal.com.
26. ^ http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/31595/9/09_chapter%205.pdf
27. ^ "Maharashtra State Gazetteers Greater Bombay District". 17 February 2009.
Archived from the original on 17 February 2009.

Other sources[edit]
 History of modern Deccan, 1720/1724-1948: Volume 1
 Footprint India

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