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Vasai is a large fort in Vasai village, in the Vasai taluka (county) of the District of Palghar, Konkan Division, Maharashtra State, Republic of India. The name "Bassein" is the English version of the Portuguese "Baçaim" (with the "ç" spoken as "s" and with the "m" silent), itself a version of an apparently native name that may have a connection to the Vasa Konkani tribals of the North Konkan region, extending from Mumbai into "South Gujarat." The Marathi name of the place is Vasai. The complete form of the Portuguese name is "Fortaleza de São Sebastião de Baçaim" or the Fort of St. Sebastian of Vasai. The Vasai fort is a monument of national importance and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.〔Monument #110, Mumbai Circle, ASI: http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_alphalist_maharashtra_mumbai.asp〕 The fort and the village are accessible most easily through the Vasai Road Railway Station, which itself is in Manikpur-Navghar, a part of the newly raised City of Vasai-Virar (See "Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation"), and lies to the immediate north of the cities of Mumbai and Mira Road-Bhayander. The "Vasai Road" Railway Station is on the Western Railway line (formerly the Bombay, Baroda & Central India Railways) in the direction of Virar Railway Station.〔Western Railway Mumbai Suburban Route Map: http://www.wr.indianrailways.gov.in/view_section.jsp?lang=0&id=0,6〕 == History == The Greek merchant Cosmas Indicopleustes is known to have visited the areas around Bassein in the 6th century, and the Chinese traveller Xuanzang later on June or July 640. 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. Until the 11th century, several Arabian geographers had mentioned references to towns nearby Bassein, like Thana and Sopara, but no references had been made to Bassein. Bassein was later ruled by the Silhara dynasty of Konkan, and eventually passed to the Yadavas of Devagiri, before being conquered by the Muslim rulers of Gujarat. The Portuguese first reached the west coast of India when the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut in 1498.() For several years after their arrival in India, they had been consolidating their power in north Konkan.() They had established a strong foothold in Goa, which they captured from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510.() 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 captured a Mohammedan ship in the harbour of Bombay, with 24 Moors belonging to Gujarat.() At the time, the cession of Mumbai (or Bombay) was of minor importance - but retroactively it gained a crucial importance when the place passed from the Portuguese to the English in 1661 as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza, and became a major trade center - making this the treaty's most important long-range result. Portuguese mariners exploring the north Konkan Coast, discovered the Arab Sultanate of Khambat or Cambay, building or renovating or expanding the fort in the early 15th century and attacked it in a failed effort to seize it. Later, after more systematic efforts, the Sultanate of Cambay ceded the fort to Portugal by the Treaty of Saint Matthew signed on the Portuguese brig Sao Matteus anchored in the Bhayander Creek or Vasai Harbor. The Treaty of Bassein 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 Bassein, as well as its territories, islands, and seas. The Mumbai Islands under Portuguese control include Colaba, Old Woman's Island, Mumbai, Mazagaon, Worli, Matunga, and Mahim. Salsette, Daman and Diu, Thane, Kalyan, and Chaul were other territories controlled and settled by the Portuguese. At the time, the cession of Mumbai (or Bombay) was of minor importance - but retroactively it gained a crucial importance when the place passed from the Portuguese to the English in 1661 as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza, and became a major trade center - making this the treaty's most important long-range result. Bassein was the Portuguese northern capital from the time of their 16th century treaty with the Sultan, until the Marathas, under Chimnaji Appa, captured it in 1739. The fort also played a strategic role in the First Anglo-Maratha War. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bassein Fort」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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