Early History.

KOLABA history may be divided into four periods, an early Hindu period, partly mythic and partly historic, reaching to about A.D. 1300; a Musalman period lasting from A.D. 1300 to about 1660; a Maratha period from 1660 to 1800; and a British period since 1803. As in Thana history, one chief interest in Kolaba is its connection with foreign nations from across the Indian Ocean, relations from pre-historic times with Arabia and Africa, a possible trade with Egypt and Phoenicia (B.C. 2500 - B.C. 500), dealings with Greeks and Parthians (B.C. 200-A.D. 200), the friendly treatment of Musalman Arabs (A.D. 700 -1200), the part conquest by the Portuguese (1530), and the supremacy of the British (1803).

The openings through the Sahyadris by the Bor, Devasthali, Kumbha, and Shevtya passes, from the earliest historical times (B.C. 225), probably made the Kolaba ports of Cheul, Mahad, Ghodegaon; and Rajpuri in Janjira, centres of trade. As in Thana, the trade at these ports rose to foreign commerce when the Kolaba coast was under a power which ruled both the Konkan and the Deccan and it shrank to local traffic when Kolaba became part of Gujarat or was under a local chief. [For early trade details see Thana Statiatical Account, XIII. 404 note 3. When Cheul was the leading port in the Konkan, merchandise must have centered at Cheul (Stanley's Barhosa, 69) from the whole of the Deccan through passes as far north as the Tal pass and as far south as the Par pass. Nikitin the Russian traveller (1470), who went from Cheul to junnar, seems to have gone by some pass very far to the north. His first stage. eight days to pilee at the foot of the Indian, mountain seems to have been eighty miles to Pulu at the foot of the Nana pass. The rest of his journey was ten days to Oomri apparently to the north of the Nana pass and six days to Junnar. Major's India in XVth Century; Niktin, 9] The oldest historical places in Kolaba are Cheul, Pal and Kol near Mahad, and Kuda near Bajpuri which have Buddhist caves of about the first century after Christ. Ghodegaon, about six miles south of Mangaon, is probably another old centre of trade. Cheul, or Chemulla, seems to be Ptolemy's Simulla or Timula (A.D. 150), and perhaps is Pliny's (A.D. 77) Perimula. The earliest Hindu reference to Cheul is as Chemula in two Kanheri cave inscriptions of the beginning of the second century after Christ. [Bombay Gazetteer, XIV. 172, 189.] The Kuda caves on the north branch of the Janjira creek about ten miles south-west of Roha and seventeen miles north-west of Ghodegaon, the Pal caves about a mile north-west of Mahad, the Kol caves about a mile south-east of Mahad, and the Cheul caves about a mile to the north of the old town of Cheul show that, about the first century of the Christian era, Kolaba, had Buddhist settlements of importance. [Hiwen Thsang (A.D.640, Foe Koue Ki, 391) mentions a stupa of Ashok (B.C.225) few miles to the east of Chimolo. The name suggests Cheul. but for other reasons the identification seems unlikely. The point is noticed under Cheul in Places of Interest.]

Early History B.C. 200 A.D. 200. Local Rulers, A.D.100

Five of the twenty-eight Kuda cave inscriptions record gifts by connections of Khandpalit the Mahabhoj [Dr. Burgess' Archaeological Survey of Western India, Separate Pamphlet, X. 4, 9, 14, 15, 17. A Mahabhoj is also mentioned in a Bedsa cave inscription. Ditto, 26.] or chief of Mandava, who seems to have belonged to a local dynasty whose head-quarters were probably at Mandad about a mile north of Kuda. About the same time an inscription in the Pal caves refers to a chief of a Kanabhoa dynasty as ruling somewhere in Kolaba. [Dr. Burgess' Archaeological Survey, X. 2.] So far there is nothing to show whether these local dynasties were independent or were subordinate to the Andhrabhrityas, who at this time had capitals at Paithan near Abmadnagar and at Kolhapur, and in Thana held Sopara and Kalyan. [The Kolaba caves have no inscription of the Andhrabhritya or Shatakarni kings. In the face of their numerous inscriptions in the Nasik, Karli, and Kanheri eaves, this would seem to show that they did not hold Kolaba until the total conquest of Aparanta by Gotamiputra I. between A.D. 120 and A.D. 135. The suggestion may perhaps be offered that Ariake Audron Peiraton, Ptolemy's name for the southern Konkan, may, because of Pliny's account of the danger from pirates in that part of the coast, have been changed to Andron Peiraton or Pirate Ariake from Andhra Bhritiyon or Shatakarni Ariake. But, on the whole, this seems unlikely.] Probably the Andhrabhrityas were overlords of Kolaba also, at least during their period of greatest power under Yajnashri or Gotamiprtra II. (A.D. 160).

Foreign Trade.

During Shatakarni rule the Konkan seems to have been enriched by the great development of the western trade which followed the Roman conquest of Egypt in B.C. 30. [According to Strabo (B.C. 25) (Vincent, Commerce of the Ancients, II. 86), the Indian fleet in the Red Sea increased in a few years from a few ships to 120 sail.] It is doubtful which of the Konkan ports was at this time the centre of the Egyptian trade. The references seem to point to Timulla or Cheul and to Sizerus, perhaps Janjira or Rajpuri.  [Pliny (A.D. 77) has a Perimula, a cape and trade centre about half-way between Tropina or Kochin and Patala or Haidarabad in Sindh. This, position answers to Symulla or Timulla, that is probably Cheul. (Compare Yule in Ind. Ant. II. 96). It is also perhaps the same as Pliny's Antomula, as if ' o τμνλα,' a noble mart on the coast (McCrindle's Megasthenes, 146-147). These identifications are doubtful. Zserus, Pliny's other mart on the Konkan coast, seems to be Jazra or Janjira. But this again is made doubtful by the forms Milizegeris and Melizeigara which appear in the better informed Ptolemy and Periplus, and seem to be best identified with the port and island of Malvan or Melundi in south Ratnagiri.]

Ptolemy, A.D.150

The Konkan is the part of the west coast which was best known to the Greeks at the time of the geographer Ptolemy (A.D. 135-150). Greeks, who had for many years traded to Symulla or Timulla, probably Cheul, gave Ptolemy information about Western India. [Ptolemy, I. xvii. Bertius' Edition, 17.] And from the mention of gifts by Yavans to the Kanheri, Nasik, Karli, and Junnar caves, some of the Greeks seem to have settled in the country and become Buddhists. [Lassen's Indische Alterthumskunde, IV. 79. In the first century after Christ Dionysius a wise man was sent (Jour. As. Sob, Ben. VII..[1] 226) from Egypt to India to examine the chief marts, and in 138 Pantænus the Stoic of Alexandria came to India as a Christian. missionary and took back the first dear ideas of the Shrivans and Beahmans, and of Buddha ' whom the Indians honoured as a god, because of his holy life.' Hough's Christianity in India, 1. 51. Compare Assemanni in Rich's Khurdiatan, II.120-121.] So, also, Indians seem to have gone to Alexandria, and perhaps gave Ptolemy his surprising knowledge of places of Hindu pilgrimage. [Ptolemy conversed with several Hindus in Alexandria. Wilford in As, Res. X. 101 105. As early as the first century there were Indian. Christiana settled in Alexandria. Hough's Christianity in India, I. 44. In the time of Pliny (A.D. 77) many Indians lived in Egypt. Dion Chrysostom mentions Indians in Alexandria about A.D. 100, and Indians told Clemens (192-217) about Buddha (Jour. Roy. As. Soc. XIX. 278). Brahmans are mentioned in Constantinople. Oppert in Madras Jour. Lit. and Scien. 187,8,210. It was about this time (A.D. 24-57) that according to one account 20,000 Hindu families colonised Java (Raffles' Java, II. 69) and Bali Crawfurd in As. Res. XIII. 155-159). The date is now put as late as A.D. 500. Jour. Roy. As. Soc. (M.S.), VIII. 162.] Ptolemy held the mistaken idea that the Indian coast stretched east and west instead of north and south. This confuses his account of India. But his knowledge of names is curiously exact and full. He divides the west coast into Surastrene or Saurashtra, corresponding to Cutch Kathiawar and north Gujarat; Larike, that is Lat Desh, or south Gujarat Ariake or the Maratha-speaking country, the Marathas are still called Are by the Kanarese of Kaladgi and north Kanara; and Damurike, wrongly written Lymurike, the country of the Damils or Tamils.  [Damurika appears in Peutinger's Tables, A.D. 100.] He divides his Ariake or the Maratha country into three parts, Ariake proper or the Bombay-Deccan, Sadan's Ariake [The meaning of Sadan's Ariake is doubtful. The question is discussed in Bombay Gazetteer, XIII. 418 note 1.] or the north Konkan, and Pirate Ariake or the south Konkan. Besides Sopara on the coast, Nasik near the Sabyadris, and the great inland marts of Paithan and Tagar, Ptolemy mentions three places in Kolaba, which can be identified, the cape and mart of Symulla, the cape apparently the south point of Bombay harbour and the mart modern Cheul; Hippokura south of Symulla, apparently a Greek rendering of Goregaon or Ghodegaon six miles south of Mangaon; and fialepatna not far from Hippokura, that is the modern Mahad called Palpattan from the Buddhist settlement of Pal about two miles to the north-west. [Ptomemy also notices that Paithan in the Deecan was the capital of Siri-Polomei probably Shri Pulumayi (A.D. 140), and mentions the Nana-Guna which he thought was a river, bat apparently is the Nana pass one of the chief routes from Paithan to the coast.]

Ptolemy gives no details of the trade which drew the Greeks to the emporium of Symulla. But from the fact that the Shatakarnis ruled the Deecan as well as the Konkan, there stems reason to suppose that it was the same trade which is described by the author of the Periplus as centering at Broach about a hundred years later. [McCrindle's Periplus, 125. Goods passed from the top of the Sahyadris eastward in wagons across the Deccan to Paithan, and, from Paithan, ten days further east to Tagar, the greatest mart in southern India, where goods were collected from the parts along the coast, apparently the coast of Bengal. There seems reason to believe that this was one of the lines along which silk and some of the finer spices found their way west from the Eastern Archipelago and China (compare Heeren, Asiatic Researches III. 384). Near the mouth of the Krishna, Ptolemy has a Maisolia apparently the modern Masulipatam, and close by Alosygne, the place from which vessels sailed for Malacca or the Golden Chersonese (Berlins' Ed., Asia Maps X. and XL). So important was the town that tha Godavari was known to Ptolemy as the Maisolos river (ditto). The Periplus has also a Masalia on the Coromandel coast, where immense quantities of fine muslin were made (McCrindle, 145; Vincent, II, 523). It seems probable that molochiron the Periplus name frr one of the cloths which are mentioned as coming to Broach through Tagar from the parts along the coast (Vincent, II, 412, 741-742), is, as Vincent suspected, a mistake and should be Masulinon or Masull cloth. (McCrindle, 136; Vincent, II. 412). This and not Marco Polo's Mohsol near Nineveh (Yule's Edition, I. 59) would then be the origin of the English muslin. Mausilina the Arab name for muslin (Yule, I. 59) favours the Indian. origin, and in Marco Polo's time (1290) Mutapali near Masulipatam was (Yule, II. 296) famous for the most delicate work like tiss e of spider's web. The trade in cloth between Masulipatam and Thana was kept up till modern times. In the middle of the seventeenth century Thevenot (1660) describes (Harris, II..373-384) he chintzes and other cloths from Masulipatam came through Golkonda by Chandor, Nasik, and the Tal pass to the Thana ports and about the same time Baldaeus (Churchill, III. 589) describes Masulipatam as a very populous place where the trade of Europe and China met and where was a great concourse of merchanst from Cambay, Surat, Goa, and other places on the west coast. It is worthy of note that the dark-spotted turban cloth now worn by some Bombay Prabhus, Musalmans, and Parsis, which was probably adopted by them from the old Hindu Thana traders, comes from Masulipatatam and is known as Bandri, that is Masulibandri, cloth.]]

Trade.

The chief trade was with the Red Sea and Egypt in the west, and, apparently, inland by Paithan and Tagar to the shores of the Bay of Bengal and through that with the farther east. The chief exports to Egypt were, of articles of food, sesamum, oil, sugar, and perhaps rice and ginger; of dress, cotton of different kinds from the Deccan  and from the eastern coast; silk thread and silk; of spices and drugs, spikenard, cactus, bdellium, and long pepper; of dyes, lac and indigo; of ornaments, diamonds, opals, onyx stones found in large quantities near Paithan, and perhaps emeralds, turquoises, and pearls; of metals, iron or steel and perhaps gold. [Indian steel was famous. The Chisels that drilled the granite of the Egyptian obelisks are said to have been of Indian steel. Shaw's Egypt, 364. Indian steel is mentioned in the Periplus and in Antonine's Digest.] The imports were wines of several kinds, Italian, Laodicean, and Arabian; of dress, cloth and variegated sashes; of spices and drugs, gum sandarach, stibium for the eyes, and storax; of metals, brass or copper tin and lead, [Pliny notices that the Indians took lead in exchange for pearls and precious atones. The earliest known coins of the Andhra kings, found both at Dharnikot at the mouth of the Krishna and at Kolhapur, are of lead.] also gold and silver coins;  [The silver denarius worth about 8d. was exchanged for bullion. Vincent, II. 694.] of ornaments, coral, costly silver vases, plate, [Polished plate was a large item. Vincent, II. 716.] and glass; and of slaves, handsome young women for the king of the country. [Greek or Yavan girls were much in demand as royal attendants and concubines. In one of Kalidas' dramas, Yavan girls with bows and wearing garlands of wild flowers salute the king with the word chareh, probably the Greek xaipe or hail. Ind. Ant; II. 145; Mrs. Manning's Ancient and Mediaeval India, II. 176.] Besides by the Red Sea, after Trajan's victories in Persia (A.D. 110), there was a great trade by the Persian Gulf to Palmyra. [After the fall of Babylon and Ctesiphon, Trajan sailed down the Tigris to the Persian Gulf, embarked on the south sea, made inquiries about India, and regretted he was not able to go there. Dio Cassius in Eawlinson's Ancient Monarchies, IV. 813. According to another account Trajan visited Jizerus (Kerr's Voyages, II. 40), but this is wrong.] The merchants were Hindus, Buddhism favouring trade and owing many of its finest monuments to the liberality of Konkan merchants. [The Karli and Kanheri Cathedral caves were made by merchants; and many inscriptions in the Kuda, Kanheri, and Nasik caves record minor gifts by merchants. Arch. Sur. X. 16, 19,20,21, 28; Trans. Sec.Or. Cong. 346,347; and Bombay Gazetteer, XIV. 168,172, 173, 174, 176, 178, 179, 189. As has been already noticed, the Hindus of this time seem to have been great travellers. In addition to the former references the author of the Periplus notices Indian settlements in Socotra and at Azania on the Ethiopian coast. McCrindle's Periplus, 93.] Besides Hindus the leading merchants seem to have been Greeks and Arabs, some of them settled in India, others foreigners. Except as archers no Romans seem to have come to India. [Egypt was directly under the 'Emperor no Roman might go to Egypt without special leave (Vincent's Commerce, II. 69). Vincent writes, The merchants have Greek names, Diogenes, Theophilus, and Sopater. I have not met a single Roman name.' Vincent. II. 69, 209, 506.] Besides small coasting craft, and medium-sized vessels that went to Persia, large Indian and Arab ships traded to Yemen. [Vincent, II. 33, 37. 38.] The Greek or Egyptian ships were large, well found and well manned, carrying archers as a guard against pirates. [Pliny's Natural History, VI. 23.] They were rounder and roomier than ships of war, and, as a sign that they were merchantmen, a basket was hung from the masthead. The hull was smeared with wax and was ornamented with pictures of the gods, especially with a painting of the guardian divinity on the stern. The owners were Greeks, Hindus, and Arabs, aud the pilots and sailors were Hindus and Arabs. [Vincent, II. 56, 101; Lassen Ind. Alt. III. 68; Stevenson's Sketch of Discovery, 20.]

Kshatraps, A.D. 200.

About the close of the second century (A.D.178) Rudradaman, one of the-greatest of the Kshatrap kings of Gujarat, has recorded a double defeat of the Shatakarnis and the recovery of the north Konkan. [Indian Antiquary, VII. 262.]

Periplus Details,A.D.247

The Konkan places mentioned by the author of the Periplus of the Erythraean sea, whose date is probably A.D. 247,[Reinaud's paper fixing the date of the Periplus at A.D. 247 has been translated in the Indian Antiquary of December 1879. The detailed account of the Kathiawar and Gujarat coasts, compared with Ptolemy's scanty and confused notes, and the fact that the author corrects Ptolemy's great error about the direction of the west coast of India support M. Reinaud's view that the Periplus is later than Ptolemy.] are Sopara (Ouppara), Kalyan (Kalliena) Cheul (Semulla), and Palpattan or Pal near Mahad (Palaipatmai) [McCrintlle.'s Periplus, 128, 129.] Though the direct commerce with Egypt had been driven from the Konkan ports there was still a considerable trade. Coasting vessels went south to meet the Egyptian ships at Musiris.and Nelkynda on the Malabar coast; [Musiris has been identified with Muyirikota and Nelkynda with Kannetri. Caldwell's Dravidian Grammar, Introduction, 97.] or further south to Ceylon; or on to ports on the Coromandel coast, chiefly to bring back the fine cloths of Masulipatam. [McCrindle's Periplus, 145; Vincent's Commerce, II, 523. Obollah at the head of the Persian Gulf was a great Indian mart and is perhaps the Abulama mentioned in Karle cave inscription 20 as the native place of the Parthian or Persian Harpharan who records the gift of a cave Details are given in Bombay Gazetteer, XIII. 413, 421 note 2.] There was an important trade with Gedrosia on the east coast and with Apologos, probably Obollah, at the bead of the Persian Gulf. The chief trade with Gedrosia was in timber, teak, squared wood, and blocks of ebony, with a return of wine, dates, cloth, purple, gold, pearls, and slaves. [Vincent, II. 378, 379. The timber was chiefly used in boat-building.] There was also a trade in muslin, corn, and oil with the east coast of Arabia, [Vincent, II. 296, 297, 346.] Socotra, Aden and Moosa near Mokha. and there was a trade to Zanzibar and other east African ports, taking corn, rice, butter, sesamum, cotton, sashes, sugar, and iron; and bringing slaves, tortoise shell, and cinnamon.[Vincent, II, 156,] Lastly there was a trade to Aduli, the capital of Abyssinia, the Indian ships bringing cloth, iron, cotton, sashes, muslin, and lac, and taking ivory and rhinoceros' horns. [Vincent, II. 116.]

In a fifth century inscription in Kanheri Cave X Cheul appears under its old form Chemula and is described as a great city with very rich merchants. [Bombay Gazetteer, XIV. 173. Cheul is perhaps the Sibor (Saimur) of the Greek merchant and monk Kosmas Indikopleustes (A.D. 525). Migne's Patrologise Cursus, 88; I. 446.]

Mauryas,500.

In the sixth century Kolaba with the rest of the North Konkan coast was probably held by Maurya or Nala chiefs as Kirtivarma (550-567), the first of the Chalukyas who turned his arms against the Konkan, is described as the night of death to the Nalas and Mauryas. [Bombay Gazetteer, XIV. 173. Cheul is perhaps the Sibor (Saimur) of the Greek merchant and monk Kosmas Indikopleustes (A.D. 525). Migne's Patrologise Cursus, 88; I. 446.] And Kirtivarma's grandson Pulikesi II. (610-640), under whom the Konkan was conquered, describes his general Chanda-danda, ' as a great wave which drove before it the watery stores of the pools, which are the Mauryas.'[Arch. Sur. Rep. III. 26. It appears from an inscribed stone of the fifth or sixth century brought from Vada in Thana that a Maurya king named Suketuvarna was then ruling in the Konkan, Traces of the name Maurya remain in the surname More which is common among Marathas, Kunbis, and Kolis. The two small landing places of the name of More, in Elephanta and in Karanja, are perhaps relics of Mauryan power. The only trace of the Nalas occurs in a local story of a Sal Raja who fnarried his daughter to the Malang or Arab devotee; who gave his name to Malanggad hill. See Bombay Gazetteer, XIII. 420, and XIV. under Vada and Malanggnd.] This Chalukya general, with hundreds of ships, attacked the Maurya capital ' Puri the goddess of the fortunes of the western ocean.' [Arch. Sur. Rep. III. 26. Puri has not been identified. Dr. Burgess thinks it may have been Rajpuri in Janjira, Cave Temples of India, 205. See Bombay Gazetteer, XIII. 423 note 2, XIV. 401.]

Silaharas,810-1260.

Except that Cheul is perhaps mentioned as Chimolo by Hiwen Thsang (640), [ Julien'a Hiwen Thsang, 420.] no further notice or Kolaba has been traced till the rise of the Silaharas, twenty of whom, as far as present information goes, ruled in Thana and Kolaba from about A.D. 810 to A.D. 1260 a period of 450 years. [The family tree and other details of the twenty Silahara rulers are given in Bombay Gazetteer, XIII. 422-429.] The fifth Silahara king Jhanjha (Djandja) is mentioned by the Arab historian Masudi [Prairies, d'Or, II. 85.] as reigning at Cheul (Saimur) in A.D. 916, and, in an inscription of the fourteenth king Anantpal or Anantdev (A.D. 1096), exemption from tolls is granted to the carts of two ministers at the Kolaba port of Cheul (Chemuli). [ See Bombay Gazetteer, XIII. 426 note 1]

Yadavs,1200-1300

During at least the latter part of the thirteenth century Kolaba, "with the rest of the north Konkan, seems to have been ruled by viceroys of the Devgiri Yadavs. [Indian Antiquary, IX. 44.]

The Musalmans 1300-1500.

Vijaynagar Kings 1377

The early Deccan Musalmans seem, to have had little control over Kolaba. According to Ferishta [Briggs' Ferishta, II. 338.] as late as 1377 many parts of the Konkan were in the hands of the Vijaynagar or Anegundi kings. [The site of Vijaynagar is the modern village of Hampi thirty-six miles northwest of Bellari. The Vijaynagar dynasty included about twelve kings whose power lasted from about 1336 to 1587. Caldwell's History of Tinnevelly, 45-50; Ind. Ant. XL 177.] Soon after the introduction of British administration into Ratnagiri inquiries brought to light a general tradition, that before Musalman times the south Konkan, which included the present Kolaba, had been unders a dynasty of Lingayats called the Kanara kings, whose . ' head-quarters were at Anegundi. They were believed to have established the village organization of which traces remained though the original system was defaced by the later institution of khots. Their power was said to have gradually decayed, merging into a time of disorder, when the country was overrun by Kolis and nearly unpeopled. One of the leading local chiefs had his headquarters at Kurdu near the Devsthali pass about twenty-two miles south-east of Nagothna. [Rev. Rec. 121 of 1825, 2-4.] Jervis refers to this same tradition and notices that one of the centres of Vijaynagar power in the Konkan was at Raygad. [Konkan, 89.]

The Bahmanis 1347-1489.

From the beginning of their rule in 1318, the Deccan Musalmans seem to have held posts in Kolaba of which Cheul was one. [Briggs' Ferishta, II. 291, 295.] Under the Bahmanis (1347 1489) the change of capital, from Daulatabad south to Kalbarga caused the chief traffic to pass to the Ratnagiri ports of Dabhol, Chiplun, and Rajapur. Still Cheal remained a place of importance as in 1357 when Hasan Gangu distributed his territory into four provinces, the north-west province is described as comprehending Cheul, Junnar, Daulatabad, Bir, and Paithan. [Briggs' Ferishta, II, 295.]

In 1429 a force was marched to the sea and is said to have reduced the whole Konkan to obedience. In 1436 a second army was sent and the chief of Eedi or Raygad was made tributary. [Briggs' Ferishta, II. 424.] In 1469 Muhammad Gawan, the minister of Muhammad Shah Bahmani II. (1463-1482), marched against some refractory Konkan chiefs with a powerful army, including the troops of Junnar, Chakan, Kolhad, Dabhol, Cheul, Wai, and Man. And in 1451 by the establishment of Junnar as a leading Musalman centre the connection with the Konkan was strengthened, [Briggs' Ferishta, II. 484.]

 Gujarat Kings,1509.

Towards the close of the fifteenth century (1489) the inland parts 1609. Kolaba passed from the Bahmani to the Ahmadnagar kings. The sea coast, including at least Nagothna and Cheul, remained in the hands of the Gujarat kings [In 1502 the Italian traveller Varthema (Badger, 114) placed Cheul in Gujarat; and in 1508 according to Mirat-i-Ahmadi (Bird, 214) Mahmud Begada established a garrison at Nagothna and sent an army to Cheul.] till, in 1509, the overlordship of Cheul passed from Gujarat to the Portuguese. [Faria in Kerr, VI. 120. ] After this, though the coa3t boundary of Gujarat shrank from Cheul to Bombay, [Stanley's Barbosa, 68-69.] the Gujarat kings continued to hold the fort of Sangasa or Sankshi in Pen till 1540 when it was made over to Ahmadnagar. [Faria in Kerr, VI. 368.]

The Portuguese1507-1660.

During the sixteenth century the history of the district centres in Cheul and Revdanda where the Egyptian and Gujarat fleets gained a famous victory over the Portuguese in 1507 and where in 1516 the Portuguese established a factory. [Da Cunha's Chaul and Bassein, 39.] In 1521, on the promise that he would be allowed to import horses through Cheul, Burhan Nizam (1508-1553) the Ahmadnagar king allowed the Portuguese to build a fort at Revdanda about two miles below the Musalman town. in 1524 the fort was finished. In 1528 a Gujarat fleet of eighty barks appeared at the mouth of the Cheul river and did much damage to the Ahmadnagar territory and to Portuguese trade. A Portuguese fleet was sent to act against the Gujarat fleet. The Portuguese took several Gujarat vessels, and passing up the Nagothna or Amba river burnt six Gujarat ' towns.' On his way back to his boats the Portuguese general was attacked by the commandant of Nagothna, but beat him off with loss. In 1533 and again in 1538 the Gujarat kings made treaties with the Portuguese. In 1540 Burhan Nizam of Ahmadnagar took the fort of Sahkshi in Pen from its Gujarat commandant. The Gujarat commandant asked for help from the Portuguese whore-took the fort, and kept it for a time, but finding it costly handed it to Ahmadnagar. [Faria in Kerr, VI. 368.] So formidable had the power of the Portuguese grown that in 1570 the kings of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, Kalikat, and Achin in Sumatra -formed a league against them. Mortaza of Ahmadnagar, who was stirred to great exertions by the hope of securing Cheul and Bassein, led an army against Cheul, but without effect. [Faria in Kerr, VI. 423.] The Portuguese in their turn invaded the Ahmadnagar territory, attacking Kalyan and burning its suburbs. In 1594 the Ahmadnagar king again attacked Cheul and detached a body of horse to ravage Bassein. [Briggs' Ferishta, III. 284.]

The Moghals,1600.

On the capture of Ahmadnagar in 1600 the whole of the district except Portuguese Revdanda, fell to the Moghals. But only four years later, except Cheul and the Country for a few miles round which was held by a Moghal officer, the whole was recovered by Malik Ambar the Ahmadnagar minister. [Briggs' Ferishta, III. 315.] It remained under Ahmadnagar till 1630, when, on the final overthrow of the kingdom by Shah Jahan (1628-1658), it passed to the Moghais. [Elphinston's History, 509.] But the Moghals exercised so little control that, within two years, almost the whole of the district fell into the hands of Shahji Bhonsle, Shivaji's father. [According to Jervis (Konkan, 89) in 1632 Shahji was offered the whole of the Nagar Konkan if he would agree to hold it from the Moghal Emperor and would give up all claims to lands in the Deccan.] In 1635 a strong Moghal force was sent to recover the Konkan from Shahji who retreated to the hill-fort of Mahuli in Thana and was there forced to surrender. [Elliot and Dowson, VII. 59.]

Bijapur 1636

In 1636, as Adil Khan of, Bijapur agreed to pay tribute, Shah Jahan made over the Konkan to him. The places especially noticed as ceded to Bijapur were Jival or Cheul, Danda-Rajpuri, Chakan in west Poona, and Babal or Pabal perhaps Panvel in Thana. [Elliot and Dowson, VII. 258.] In 1637 Shahji entered the service of Bijapur. [Elliot and Dowson, VII. 35,52,57; Grant Duff, 52.] Under the Bijapur kings the Konkan between the Savitri and Bassein was divided into two commands, one between Bhiwndi and Nagothna whose head-quarters were at Kalyan, and the other from Nagothna to the Savitri under the Janjira Sidis whose head-quarters were at Danda-Rajpuri and who held the government on condition of protecting trade against pirates and of carrying pilgrims to Mecca. [Grant Duff, 63.]

The Marathas, 1650-1690

Shivaji, 1648-1680.

In 1646 Shivaji who had seized the forts of Torna, Islamgad, Tala, and Ghosale and established his power over a large part of the Deccan made a double attack on the Musalman governors of the Konkan. The attack on Janjira failed, but (1648) the governor of the north Konkan was surprised, Kalyan was taken, and all the Musalman forts were seized by the Marathas. To secure his hold on the Konkan, and as a safeguard against the Sidi, Shivdji ordered the building of two forts, Birvadi near Ghosale and Lingana near Redi or Raygad. [Grant Duff, 64.]

Fourteen years later (1662) Shivaji strengthened Redi or Raygad, and fitted out a fleet in imitation of the Janjira Sidis. He rebuilt or strengthened Kolaba fort off Alibag, repaired Suvarndurg and Vrjayaurg, and collected war vessels. His chief centre at this time was the harbour of Kolaba. [Grant Duff, 85. ] His power was so formidable that the Bijapur government, through his father Shahji's mediation, was forced to enter into a truce with him, and give him the whole territory south of Kalyan.

As soon as he found himself free from the risk of war with Bijapur Shivaji turned his arms against the Moghals. [Jervis' Konkan, 92.] In the latter part of 1663, he assembled an army near Kalyan and another near Danda-Rajpuri and gave out that he meant either to attack the Portuguese at Bassein and Cheul, or to reduce the Sidi. His real design was on Surat which he surprised and plundered on the 6th January 1664. [ Grant Duff, 89.] Shivaji enriched Redi with the spoils of Surat, made it the seat of his government, and changed its name to Raygad. In the same year (1664), on the death of his father, Shivaji assumed the title of Raja and struck coins, His aggressions and attacks on trade led to a quarrel with Bijapur and to active measures being taken against him by the Moghals. As he found himself unable to withstand the Moghal advance Shivaji agreed to hold his lands from the Emperor and to attend at Delhi to be invested. Enraged at the low position which was given him at the Moghal court-he fled from Delhi in 1667 and spent the greater part of 1668 and 1669 at Raygad in the management of his territory. In 1672 the Janjira Sidi whose power had been lately (1662) increased by his appointment asMoghal admiral, blockaded the Karanja river and made a fort at its mouth. Towards the close of the-year (October 1672) a Sidi and Moghal squadron landed troops on the banks of the Nagothna river, laid the country waste, and carried off the people as slaves. [Orme's Historical Fragments, 38-39.] After establishing his power over the whole of the central Konkan except Danda-Rajpuri Shivaji was crowned with splendour at Raygad in June 1674 [ Detail are given in Places of Interest, Raygad.]

Shivaji Crowned Raygad,1674.

In 1679, enraged with the English for allowing the Sidi fleet to take shelter in Bombay harbour, Shivaji's admiral took possession of Khanderi (Kenery) to the south of the harbour mouth. The English and' the Sidi joined in an attempt to turn out the Marathas. The English sent a fleet and there was some hard fighting. Both sides' suffered  severely but the Marathas continued to hold the island. In 1680 the at Sidi entrenched himself on Underi (Henery) about two miles east of Khanderi and the Marathas in vain tried to drive him out. [Bruce's Annab, II. 448; Low's Indian Navy, I. 65-69. Details are given under Khanderi and Underi in Places of Interest.] On the fifth of April 1680 Shivaji died. Besides by enriching it with the spoils of Gujarat the Deccan and the Karnatak, Shivaji did much to improve the Konkan by giving highly paid employment in his army and in building and guarding his hill forts. He also introduced a more uniform and lighter land tax, suppressed irregular exactions, and fostered trade. [Details of Shivaji's survey and assessment are given in the Land Administration Chapter.]

Sambhaji, 1680-1689.

By the accession of Sambhaji the district passed from a good to a bad ruler.  Sambhaji displeased the people by his license, [Khafi Khan (1680-1735) notices (Elliot and Dowson, VII. 341) that Shivaji, though an infidel and a rebel, was a wise man. He had built a well near his abode at Baygad and used to sit near the well and when the women came to draw water talked to worn as to his mother and 'sisters. When Sambhaji succeeded he too used to sit by the well and. when women came to draw water he used to seize them and handle them roughly and indecently. The people whom his father had settled there fled to the land of the Firingis.] and, giving up the regular 'rental introduced by Shivaji, went back to the old practice of cesses and exactions. His support of the rebel prince Akbar subjected the coasts to the ravages of the Moghal fleet and strengthened the Janjira Sidis in their raids into the inland parts. In 1683 Sambhaji failed in an attack on Cheul and in the following year almost the whole district was ravaged by a Moghal army. [Nairne's Konkan, 75.] Finally in 1689, by the fall of Raygad, the control of the chief part of the district passed from the Marathas to the Moghals.