page_title: Battle of Vasai
section_title: 16th Century
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Vasai / 16th Century
caption_attribution_description: English: Engraving depicting Antonio Galvano (c. 1490–1557), a Portuguese soldier, chronicler and administrator in the Maluku islands, and a Renaissance historian. Português: Gravura de António Galvão (c. 1490–1557), soldado e cronista Português, administrador das Ilhas Molucas e historiador do Renascimento.
context_page_description: The Battle of Vasai or the Battle of Bassein was fought between the Marathas and the Portuguese rulers of Vasai, a town lying near Mumbai 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.
context_section_description: 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. 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.
   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. 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.
   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.
  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). 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.
   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.
  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.
caption: Engraving depicting Antonio Galvano (c.1490–1557)
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