Fort Vasai (Vasai killa in Marathi, Fortaleza de São Sebastião de Baçaim in Portuguese, Fort Bassein in English) is a ruined fort of the town of Vasai (Bassein), Konkan Division, Maharashtra, Indian Union. The structure was formally christened as the Fort of St Sebastian in the Indo-Portuguese era. The fort is a monument of national importance and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.[1]
The fort and the town are accessible via the Naigaon Railway Station which itself is in the city of Vasai-Virar, and lies to the immediate north of the city of Mumbai (Bombay). The Naigaon Railway Station is on the Western Railway line (formerly the Bombay-Baroda railway) in the direction of the Virar railway station.The Greek merchant Cosma Indicopleustes is known to have visited the areas around Vasai in the 6th century and the Chinese traveller Xuanzang later on June or July 640. According to historian José Gerson da Cunha, during this time, Vasai and its surrounding areas appeared to have been ruled by the Chalukya dynasty of Karnataka.[2] Until the 11th century, several Arabian geographers had mentioned references to towns nearby Vasai, like Thane and Nala Sopara, but no references had been made to Vasai.[3] Vasai was later ruled by the Silhara dynasty of Konkan and eventually passed to the Yadava dynasty. It was head of district under the Yadavas (1184-1318). Later being conquered by the Gujarat Sultanate,[4] a few years later Barbosa (1514) described it under the name Baxay (pronounced Basai) as a town with a good seaport belonging to the king of Gujarat.[5]The Portuguese Armadas first reached the west coast of India after the discovery of the Cape route by Vasco da Gama, he landed at Calicut in 1498. For several years after their arrival, they had been consolidating their power in north and south Konkan, in and around present-day Bombay and Goa. They had established their capital at Velha Goa captured from the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur in 1510. According to historian Manuel de Faria e Sousa, the coast of Bassein (Vasai) was first visited by them in 1509, when Francisco de Almeida on his way to Dio captured a ship off Bombay Harbour, with 24 citizens of the Sultan of Guzerat aboard it.
The Treaty of Vasai (1534) was signed by Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat and the Kingdom of Portugal on 23 December 1534, while on board the galleon São Mateus. Based on the terms of the agreement, the Portuguese Empire gained control of the city of Vasai (Bassein), as well as its territories, islands, and seas. The Bombay islands under Portuguese control include Colaba, Old Woman's Island, Mumbai (Bombay), Mazagaon, Worli, Matunga, Mahim. Salsette, Diu, Trombay & Chaul were other territories controlled and settled by the Portuguese.
At the time, the cession of Mumbai (Bombay) was of minor importance, but retroactively it gained a place on the world map when the place passed from the Portuguese to the East India Company in 1661, as part of the dowry of Catherine Braganza. It became a major trade center, the treaty's most important long-term result.
Vasai (Bassein) became the northern territory's headquarters after the 16th-century treaty with Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. In the Portuguese era, the fort was styled as the Northern Court (Corte da Norte), second only to the Portuguese viceroy of the East in the city of Velha Goa. For over 150 years, the Portuguese presence made the surrounding area a vibrant and opulent city.[10][11] The Bassein and its surroundings were the largest Portuguese territory, including places such as Chaul-Revdanda, Caranja, the Bombay Archipelago, Bandra Island, Juhu Island, Salsette Island including the city of Thane, Dharavi Island, the Bassein archipelago, Daman and Diu.
In the second half of the 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 Cavalheiro, Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, Reis Magos Santiago, São Gonçalo, Madre de Deus, São João, Elefante, São Pedro, São Paulo and São Sebastião, São Sebastião was also called "Porta Pia" or the 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 the 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 gunboats each carrying 16 to 18 guns. This fort stands today with the outer shell and ruins of churches.[12][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), Mercês (1606).