Backwaters of history
Updated On: 28 April, 2024 06:35 AM IST | Mumbai | Sumedha Raikar Mhatre
In a new book, geographers, archaeologists and maritime historians celebrate ports, docks, forts and harbours which made Mumbai an international centre of trade and industry
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History stands still at the Ferry Wharf: Bhaucha Dhakka caught in a yesteryear frame
Ruined forts can hold captivating chapters of history which throw light on the past. The ruins also underscore the shifting priorities of political powers. The Vasai Fort built in 1533 as a symbol of opulence and maritime supremacy of the Portuguese over the Mughals, lost its centrality (1739) during the Maratha rule; the fort was later taken over by the British East India company. In 1909, it was declared a protected monument. After years of neglect, especially since the dilapidated monument became a trespassers’ refuge, the fort fell in the custody of the Archaeological Survey of India. Today, the fort is one of the landmark precincts on the bucket list of heritage lovers of Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Interestingly, the state forest department recently trapped a leopard near the Vasai Fort entrance. The big cat’s chase again underlined the fort’s desolation. Vasai definitely is nowhere close to Dom Bacaim (the city of lords) as it was, modelled after the Evora city in Portugal, which was home to the Portuguese nobility residing in huge mansions.
The Portuguese settlement in Vasai, at one point, was characterised by spacious streets, squares and a fortification equipped with 11-arrow-tipped bastions that was pierced on the land and creek side; the naval armada in the Vasai creek was kept in battle-ready position as Vasai was the capital of the Province of the North.
Current-day Vasai is in the news for the wrong reasons. It is a part of the burgeoning Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation with an appropriate population of over 20 lakh residents. Its share of water woes, power cuts, rail route dependency, flooding sagas, rampant building construction and congestion provide fodder for the civic reporter’s daily dispatch.
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