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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
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[[File:Bassein Fort entrance.jpg|thumb|[[Bassein Fort]] was at the centre of Portuguese operations in the 16th and 17th centuries.]]
The '''military history''' of [[Vasai|Bassein]] encompasses the period from 1526, when the Portuguese established their first factory at Bassein, until 1818, when Bassein lost its strategic importance following the defeat of the [[Marathas]] by the British.<ref name="imp"/>

Bassein (renamed to [[Vasai]] after [[Partition of India|Indian independence]]), is a city north of [[Mumbai]] (formerly Bombay) and forms part of Vasai Virar Municipality. It was historically known to the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] as ''Baçaim''. Medieval Bassein had a great strategic value for the Portuguese in
maintaining their command of the [[Arabian Sea]]. It had utmost strategic value for the [[British East India Company]] for protecting the northern flank of Bombay. Its [[Bassein Fort|fort]] had a massive military presence. Bassein was a maritime hub with extensive shipping and ship building activities, and brought Christian culture to the Bombay area, next in importance only to [[Goa]].<ref name="imp">{{harvnb|Machado|2011|pp=[http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/2000/6/06_chapter%201.pdf 8–12]|Ref=bassein}}, "The period covered is from 1518 to 1818, i.e., from the time the Portuguese started taking an active interest in Bassein area till the fall of the Marathas when Bassein lost all its strategic importance."</ref>

==Early history==
The [[Greeks|Greek]] merchant [[Cosmas Indicopleustes]] is known to have visited the areas around Bassein in the sixth century, and the [[China|Chinese]] traveller [[Xuanzang]] later on June or July 640 CE. According to Historian Joseph Gerson Da Cunha, during this time, Bassein and its surrounding areas appeared to have been ruled by the [[Chalukya dynasty]] of [[Karnataka]].<ref>{{harvnb|Da Cunha|1999|p=129|Ref=dc}}</ref>
Until the 11th century, several [[Arabian]] geographers had mentioned references to towns nearby Bassein, like [[Thana, Maharashtra|Thana]] and [[Sopara]], but no references had been made to Bassein.<ref>{{harvnb|Da Cunha|1999|p=130|Ref=dc}}</ref> Bassein was later ruled by the [[Silhara dynasty]] of [[Konkan]], and eventually passed to the [[Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri|Yadavas of Devagiri]], before being conquered by the Muslim rulers of [[Gujarat]].<ref>{{harvnb|Da Cunha|1999|p=131|Ref=dc}}</ref>

The [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] first reached the west coast of [[India]] when the Portuguese explorer [[Vasco da Gama]] landed at [[Kozhikode|Calicut]] in 1498.<ref>{{cite book|edition=illustrated, annotated|title=Vasco Da Gama|last=McFarren|first=Kathleen|publisher=Capstone Press|isbn=978-0-7368-2491-0|year=2004|page=[https://archive.org/details/vascodagama0000mcfa/page/4 4]|url=https://archive.org/details/vascodagama0000mcfa/page/4}}</ref> For several years after their arrival in India, they had been consolidating their power in north [[Konkan]].<ref name="b163">{{harvnb|Greater Bombay District Gazetteer|1960|p=163|Ref=bom}}</ref> They had established a strong foothold in [[Goa]], which they captured from the [[Sultan of Bijapur]] in 1510.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kerr|first=Robert|authorlink=Robert Kerr (writer)|title=A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/kerr/vol06chap01sect05.html
|chapter=Discoveries, Navigations, and Conquests of the Portuguese in India, from 1505 to 1539|volume=6|year=1812|accessdate=2008-01-05|publisher=George Ramsay and Company|ref=kerr}}</ref> According to Historian Faria y Souza, the coast of Bassein was first visited by the Portuguese in 1509, when [[Francisco de Almeida]] on his way to [[Diu, India|Diu]] captured a Mohammedan ship in the harbour of Bombay, with 24 [[Moors]] belonging to Gujarat.<ref>{{harvnb|Da Cunha|1999|p=132|Ref=dc}}</ref>

==Treaty of Bassein (1534)==
[[File:Map of Bassein from Portuguese Atlas (1630).jpg|thumb|right|Map of [[Vasai|Bassein]] (c. 1539), drawn by [[Nuno da Cunha]], [[Governor of Portuguese India]] (1528–38)]]
{{main|Treaty of Bassein (1534)}}

The [[Mughal Empire]], founded in 1526, was the dominant power in the [[Indian subcontinent]] during the mid-16th century. The dynasty was founded when [[Babur]], hailing from [[Ferghana]] (in modern-day [[Uzbekistan]]), invaded parts of [[North India]] and defeated [[Ibrahim Lodhi|Ibrahim Shah Lodhi]], the ruler of [[Delhi Sultanate]], at the [[First battle of Panipat|First Battle of Panipat]] in 1526.<ref>{{Citation
|url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/mughals.html
|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20130704144023/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/mughals.html
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=4 July 2013
|title=Mughal Empire
|publisher=Department of Social Sciences ([[University of California]])
|accessdate=2009-05-22}}</ref> After Babur's death on 26 December 1530, his son [[Humayun]] (1530–40) ascended to the throne at [[Agra]] on 29 December 1530.<ref>{{harvnb|Prasad|1974|p=145}}</ref>

In 1534, Sultan Bahadur Shah had been engaged in warfare against the [[Rajput]] states of [[Chitor]] and [[Mandu, Madhya Pradesh|Mandu]], Humayun, and the Portuguese. To exterminate the threat from the Rajputs and the Mughals, he decided to sign a peace treaty with [[Nuno da Cunha]], the [[Governor of Portuguese India]].<ref>{{harvnb|Pearson|1976|p=75|Ref=pearson}}</ref> He dispatched his chief officer Xacoes (Shah Khawjeh) to Nuno da Cunha with an offer to hand over the port of Bassein, its dependencies, and revenues by sea and land, and the seven islands of Bombay.<ref name="dc88">{{harvnb|Da Cunha|1993|p=88|Ref=dc}}</ref> The cession of Bassein was not a great loss to the Sultanate, as Bassein was to the south of the Sultanate, and not of any military importance during warfare. The Portuguese considered the cession as a tangible gain.<ref name="p76">{{harvnb|Pearson|1976|p=76|Ref=pearson}}</ref> On 23 December 1534, the [[Treaty of Bassein (1534)|Treaty of Bassein]] was signed on board the galleon ''San Mateos'' (St. Matthew).<ref name="dc88"/>

According to the treaty, all ships of the Sultanate bound to the [[Red Sea]] had to disembark at Bassein to take a ''[[cartaz]]'', and then on their return voyage from the Red Sea, first disembark at Bassein, and pay duties. Ships trading to places other than the Red Sea also had to take ''cartazes'', but were not obliged to pay duties to the Portuguese, while coastal trade required no ''cartaz'' at all. The Sultanate was prohibited from building any more warships, or using those it already had. Other minor clauses included the restoration of Portuguese captives, and the regulation of the horse trade.<ref name="p76"/>

Bassein and the seven islands of Bombay were surrendered later by a treaty of peace and commerce between Bahadur Shah and Nuno da Cunha on 25 October 1535.

==See also==
*[[History of Bombay under Portuguese rule (1534–1661)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
{{refbegin|2}}
*{{cite book|last1=Da Cunha|first1=J. Gerson |title=Notes on the History and Antiquities of Chaul and Bassein|year=1993|publisher=Asian Educational Services|ref=dc}}
*{{cite book|title=Greater Bombay District Gazetteer|series=Maharashtra State Gazetteers|volume=27|year=1960|publisher=Gazetteer Department ([[Government of Maharashtra]])|ref=bom}}
*{{cite book | last1 = Machado | first1 = Dolcy M | title = History and military importance of medieval Bassein and its surroundings | publisher = [[University of Pune]] | date = 29 Apr 2011 | ref=bassein}}
*{{cite book | last1 = Pearson | first1 = Michael Naylor | title = Merchants and Rulers in Gujarat: The Response to the Portuguese in the Sixteenth Century | url = https://archive.org/details/merchantsrulersi0000pear | url-access = registration | publisher = University of California Press | year = 1976 | ref = pearson}}
*{{Citation |last=Prasad |first=Ishwari |title=The Mughal Empire |publisher=Chugh Publications |year=1974}}
{{refend}}

[[Category:History of Vasai]]

Military history of Bassein - Revision history

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