Walter Rossa

Sidh Mendiratta©
Universidade de Coimbra

Ghost Towns.
Ruined and disappeared Portuguese colonial settlements in coastal Maharashtra,
India: new research results*

Abstract
Between circa 1530 and 1740 the Portuguese crown, Portuguese and Indian Catholic
landlords and the Catholic Church controlled a territory of approximately 7250 square
Kilometers along the northern coast of Maharashtra, including today's Mumbai
metropolitan area, with the exception of Bombay Island that was ceded to the British in
1661. The fortified towns of Daman, Bassein, Chaul and Thana were the more
important Portuguese settlements in the area.

The remains of Bassein and Chaul are extraordinary for their dimension and the quality
of their architecture. Both have lain peacefully in ruins for 250 years, almost deserted.
On the other hand, Portuguese Thana has disappeared under the buildings and activity
of a contemporary city although the fort and other old structures still exist.

An architectural survey of Bassein’s ruins has been conducted in 1998 under the
guidance of one of the authors of the present paper proposal who is also the author of
the only modern essay about the town’s urbanistic and architectural history. The only
existing survey and study of Chaul was published in German in 1964. Nothing reliable
has been published about Thana’s architecture and urbanism in the Portuguese period.

In the cadre of a multi-disciplinary team of architectural historians, historians and

geographers who have been working on the construction of a geo-referenced database
of iconographical, cartographical, photographical, bibliographical and documental
material about this territory in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, we propose, in this article,
to present the reconstruction of the urban form of Bassein, Chaul and Thana in the
Portuguese period, using contemporary satellite photography as a geographical matrix
on which to work with old Portuguese and British maps, many of which previously
unpublished, photographic and graphic research conducted on site, published and
unpublished written sources. The correct identification of buildings or their traces and
the emergence of entire town sectors from oblivion, from the jungle and coconut
groves, or from under present day urban sprawl could prove to be a powerful
knowledge tool.

Territorial Overview
Bassein1 consists of a bulwarked perimeter and a group of ruined structures within it
that barely allow visitors to unveil the importance of the town that was founded – and

footnotes
*
The original version of this article has been presented at the session Spanish and Portuguese
Colonial Architecture and Urbanism on the Fringes of the 61st Annual Meeting of the Society of
Architectural Historian in Cincinnati on April 2008. It was one of the materials produced to publicize
some of the results from Bombay before the British: the Portuguese legacy at the Bombay Peninsula's
territory, a research project supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (a Portuguese
Governement agency) and developed (2004-2008) by researchers from the Departamento de
Arquitectura of Universidade de Coimbra and the Centro de História do Além Mar of Universidade
Nova de Lisboa.

Dep.º de Arquitectura da Universidade de Coimbra | Colégio das Artes | Largo de D. Dinis | 3000-143 COIMBRA
Rossa & Mendiratta, Ghost Towns… 2|9

that only thrived – as the capital of the Northern Province of the Portuguese Estado da
Índia. It is located next to the sea, at the mouth of the Bassein creek, which separates the
Indian peninsula from the group of islands over which the metropolis of Mumbai has
developed. Apart from a handful of quarters for civil servants, no one resides in Bassein,
where the earth also remains fallow.2 However, just south and east of its ramparts, a
busy fishing community occupies the riverbanks. Bassein is state property of the Indian
government and is classified and maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.

About 30 km upriver, in an area where sedimentation has narrowed the divide, we find
Thane, at the northeast corner of Salcete Island. This was the main town of the region
before the Portuguese took over, in 1534. Already at this time, it had lost much of its
former importance due, precisely, to the difficulty that greater boats had in reaching its
port, known to Indian Ocean traders since the 7th cent.3 This was the price to pay owing
to the fact that this was the closest point between the mainland and the former seven
islands archipelago of Mumbai. Thane never became depopulated owing essentially to
the continued activity of textile production. Recently, it has grown exponentially and the
piling of cultural layers has rendered its urban shape almost illegible.

Through the Thane channel, one arrives at the impressive bay of Mumbai. Continuing
south, in the direction of Goa — the capital of the former Portuguese Estado da Índia —
25 miles down we find the Kundalika river. The river mouth is protected by a striking
elevation to the south and the west, called Morro (hill). On the opposite margin is Chaul,
another bulwarked perimeter. Like in Bassein, the interior holds a group of ruins that
hint towards the urban settlement founded by the Portuguese, first to trade into the
Deccan and later also to secure the sea routes and access to the Portuguese territory
lying north. At Chaul, the land is privately owned and intensively used for agriculture.
Coconut groves tackle toe-to-toe with the ruins for space and prominence.

During the Portuguese period (1534-1739), Bassein, Thane and Chaul were the urban
settlements of the southern half of the Northern Province, called the Bassein district.4 In
the northern half – Daman district – only the twin settlements of Big and Small Daman
had urban scale.5 All the rest were villages, where the catholic community usually left the
strongest imprints on the territory, and defensive structures, whose effective role
towards the territory’s integrated defence is attested by the successive renewals operated
over the buildings even after the Portuguese had left.6

1
“Bassein” is the anglicized nomenclature of Baçaim, the common Portuguese name for the town that
once existed within the ruins of the present-day Vasai Fort.
2
The last inhabitants of Bassein left aound 1838 (Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency. Thana places
of interest. Bombaim: (facsimile edition from the 1882 original) Government of Maharashtra. vol.
XIV, 2000: 35).
3
Gazetteer…: 355.
4
Bassein, Thane and Chaul were conquered by the Marathas in May 1739, April 1737 and October
1740, respectively.
5
For a comprehensive aproach to the Portuguese urbanism in India see Walter Rossa (1995) — Indo-
Portuguese Cities: a contribution to the study of Portuguese urbanism in the Western Hindustan.
Lisboa: Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses. 1997.
6
Many fortifications built by the Portuguese were later occupied and altered by the Marathas and,
later still, by the British. Examples include Tarapur, Shirgaon, Dahanu and Sanjan. About that see the
Rossa & Mendiratta, Ghost Towns… 3|9

The growth Mumbai’s present-day metropolitan sprawl was structured upon those
villages and along the road network that joined them and that organized the territory —-
seven small islands — ceded as dowry to the Charles II of England in 1665.7

The Maratha conquest campaign of 1737-1739 occurred essentially over the Bassein
district and this led to present-day division of the old Portuguese territory between
Maharashtra and Gujarat. Daman remained Portuguese until 1961. The Northern
Province was the first of the two large territories that the Portuguese held in the East; a
colonial spectre that a research project — in whose team we are engaged — is currently
exorcising by facing it roundly.8

1. Thane
Besides being an important production centre of textiles, Thane was also an ancient
Hindu pilgrimage centre before the Portuguese arrived. A great number of temples built
around six major sacred tanks were still in place when D. João de Castro (1500-1548)
visited the town in 1538, although Thane had suffered badly from several military
incursions and pillaging prior to that.9 The Portuguese settled in with the main objective
of controlling the commercial activities and converting the population into Christianity,
the usual twofold approach of Portuguese colonization.

In order to control trade, it was crucial to secure the port and its accesses from the sea
and from the mainland; in order to convert the population, it was crucial to build
churches on the places occupied by Hindu or Muslim structures. However, for an initial
period of roughly thirty years, the missionaries made no significant progress in Thane
and the Portuguese residents lived in a town with a distinct Hindu environment, amidst
temples and mosques.

Around 1560, several factors contributed towards an energetic conversion of places and
peoples in Thane through the activity of missionaries. Among these factors was the
arrival of the Jesuits. They founded a mission that eventually evolved into the fortified
convent of the Mother God. For the construction of their convent, the Jesuits probably
used building materials from Hindu temples built around one of the sacred lakes of
Thane, close to the riverfront and towards the south of the central area of the town.

marvelous 17th century report of António Bocarro e Pedro Barreto Resende (1635) — Livro das
Plantas de todas as Fortalezas, Cidades e Povoações do Estado da Índia Oriental. Lisboa: INCM. 3
vol.s, 1992 (vol. 2).
7
The seven islands were known to the Portuguese as: Candil (Colaba); Candil pequeno (Old
Woman’s Island); Bombaim (Bombay); Mazagão (Mazagaon); Varolly (Worli); Vadalá (Vadalla);
and Mahim. Of these, Candil, Candil Pequeno and Mahim were not part of the territory ceded in 1665
to the English but were later soon acquired de facto by them.
8
See note 4. The other territory was Goa. Although the Portuguese had also occupied parts of Sri-
Lanka, the constant warfare and brief period of effective control over that territory (ca. 1590-1640)
didn’t allow for deep-rooted territory-scale infra-structures.
9
D. João de Castro probably mistook the traditional number of villages within the island of Salcete
(66) for the number of religious ponds in Thane. There were most probably six major ponds and a few
minor tanks [D. João de Castro (1538/9) — Roteiro de Goa a Diu. Obras Completas de D. João de
Castro. Coimbra: Academia Internacional da Cultura Portuguesa. vol. II, 1971: 64-65].
Rossa & Mendiratta, Ghost Towns… 4|9

Augustinians missionaries arrived in 1574, Franciscans in 1580 and Dominicans came a

decade later.10 The Franciscans and Augustinians also appropriated each a sacred lake
and demolishing the nearby temples and reusing their building materials. The Franciscan
mission became the convent of St. Anthony, along the north bank of the Massunda
Lake. Late in the 19th century, decorated stones with Hindu motives could still be seen
dumped inside the sacred pond or re-used in the abandoned convent’s compound
walls.11

Towards the north of the town and across a small creek, was the native Muslim village
where the famous textiles of Thane were made.12 This area appears to have been kept
free from missionary interference, although naturally, no public display of heathen
religious activity was allowed after the 1560s.

Other smaller churches were built in the hamlets which lay in the fringes of Thane. The
Portuguese landed gentry lived in spacious porch-houses with gardens dispersed
throughout a wide area.13 One should note the absence of a central urban core delimited
by a clear perimeter what gives Thana a disperse or even rural shape settlement.

The defensive system of Thane started out as network of three small forts along the
river, mostly to control boat traffic which had to pay customs rights at the port. South
of Thane was the biggest structure, located in an islet and controlling the access from
the bay of Mumbai. The central structure was a smaller tower, just south of the Thane’s
port, which controlled the narrowest part of the river. The northern fort controlled
access from the north at the junction of the Bassein creek with the Ulhas river, which
led inland.14 The Portuguese only felt the need to build a strong fort to secure Thane
after the Maratha incursion of 1730, which was repulsed with the aid of the East India
Company.15

From this initiative resulted a series of plans, drawn between 1730 and 1737, that
represent the town and the proposed fortification; through these, we can perceive the
urban layout and the relations between the most important buildings of the Portuguese
period.16 Until recently, these buildings were only mentioned in texts or appeared in an
imprecise iconographical view of the region.17 Some of these buildings have left

footnotes
10
Gazetteer…: 351.
11
Gazetteer…: 351.
12
This area, once a hamlet in the edge of Thane, was known to the Portuguese as Tecelaria (Weavers’
place). Presently, it is an indistinctive urban neighbourhood known as Rabodi.
13
Very few representations of these houses — which influenced British colonial architecture in India
— have survived. One of the few sources is a watercolour by A. van der Heen, ca. 1782 (British
Library, shelf mark: WD 1060)
14
For a description of Thane’s fortifications around the 1630s, refer to António Bocarro e Pedro
Barreto Resende (1635).
15
Panduronga Pissurlenkar (1975) — The Portuguese and the Marathas. Bombay: Governement of
Maharashtra. 1975: 174.
16
This cartographical material belongs mostly to the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal (Cartography
D.321, D.333, D.334 e D.335), but the most significantos from Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa (1-
G-54).
17
António Bocarro e Pedro Barreto Resende (1635: vol. 2, plate 23).
Rossa & Mendiratta, Ghost Towns… 5|9

significant traces, like the Franciscan convent of St. Anthony or the Augustinian church
of Our Lady of Remedies. Others, like the Jesuit fortified convent, have disappeared.

The most striking feature of this group of plans is the clear-cut layout of the Thane fort,
started by the Portuguese in 1735, completed by the Marathas after their victory and
occupation in 1737 and transformed by the British into a prison in 1838.18 Today, this is
the notorious central prison of Thane district…, a place hard to approach and harder to
present with up-to-date images and information.

Possibly the most interesting aspect of Thane’s urban and architectural history is the
way that the Portuguese adapted the pre-existing urban layout and structures to their
own needs, within their pragmatic approach of conversion of spaces and places and
how the Marathas acted along similar lines. Not to destroy but to transform and adapt,
the builders of Thane have left us an almost incomprehensible urban city-scape, owing
as much to the intrinsic characteristics of Hindu/Indian urban culture — timeless and
contemporary — as to the non-rupture nature of the Portuguese period’s interventions.

At Thane, the Portuguese ghosts dwell peacefully — and according to the shapes
inherited from their predecessors — among the living. Indeed, it’s not a ghost town — it
bustles with vitality and confusion — but a town of ghosts; a palimpsest of layers and
stories which interconnect peacefully until the present.

2. Chaul
Differently, Chaul is a ghost of a city..., a corpse of an urban settlement. The ruins decay
rapidly due to the coconut groves that grow on a soil 3 or 4 feet above the original city’s
ground-level.19 Here and there are private houses and compound walls, built with
concrete co-joining stones procured from old Portuguese structures. In the midst of the
groves, one can easily find shards of pottery and fragments of azulejo tiles.

What can be seen in Chaul is less than what we saw in our first visit in 1994 and much
less than what Gritli von Mitterwallner saw and registered in 1964, when she produced
the only survey and monographic work about the place.20

Chaul was not planned or built in one go. Rather, it grew according to the circumstances
and relations between the Portuguese and their neighbours and also according to the
fluctuations of commercial activity. In 1510, the Portuguese obtained permission from
the sultanate of Ahmadnagar to establish a factory at the mouth of the Kundalika River,
a couple of miles away from the original Hindu settlement of Chaul. The common
process of Portuguese urban/territorial occupation in the East unfolded, with the
fortification of the original factory around 1521, the construction of a primitive church
just outside it and protected by its artillery a few years later, the spreading of houses
footnotes
18
For an account of the military operations of the Maratha occupation of the Northern Province, refer
to, Charles A. Kincaid (1918-1925) — A history of the Maratha people. Bombay: Oxford University
Press. 3 vol.s, 1922: vol. 2, 237-260.
19
The ground-level was purposely raised over the ruins of the Portuguese structures to allow for
agricultural use.
20
Gritli von Mitterwallner (1964) — Chaul - Eine Unerforschte stadt an der Wastküste Indiens
(Wehr, Sakral und Profanarchitektur). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co. 1964.
Rossa & Mendiratta, Ghost Towns… 6|9

anchored around bigger religious structures built by the missionary orders and also by
the routes that led inland, and, finally, a complete defensive perimeter.

With the first big threat of siege to Chaul, in 1570, a series of small bulwarks were built
along the main entrances to the town, opposite to the original fort (or fortified
factory).21 These were connected by a basic rubble wall that was rebuilt in stone after the
siege, and kept almost permanently in extension or consolidation works until 1740.22
The occupation of the elevation on the opposite side of the river mouth from Chaul
was a strategical must undertaken in 1594. This occupation gave rise to an unique
fortification, known as the Morro of Chaul, impressive both from the military point of
view and from its organical adaptation to the topography of the terrain.

The bulwarked perimeter of Chaul is quite well preserved. Two phases in its design can
clearly be identified: an older and weaker segment, along the whole south side and most
of the west, with small bulwarks and a pre-renaissance appearance; a stronger curtain,
covering the remainder northwest, north and east side, with bigger bulwarks and double
passage doorways, underground passages, quarters for soldiers, etc. Also, one of the
bulwarks, known as the Holy Cross and located on the eastern side, stands out clearly as
an 18th century construction.

Within the town’s walls, we can point out towards four main groups of ruins. The first
is the original fortified factory, much altered by the Portuguese themselves. It has a
basic quadrangular layout with towers at its corners. Just south of the fort was the port
with its custom house and wharf. Today, the fort nests some recent buildings and has
been much defaced. Next, we have the ruins of the Dominican church. The main altar
and the side chapels in the Epistle’s side are standing and one can perceive the scale of
the church’s nave. Like the rest of the town, 3 feet of soil cover the original level of the
church floor, which, if removed, would probably reveal many inscribed tombstones.23

Close-by, to the north, are the ruins of the Franciscan convent. The most striking
feature is the church tower, used also as an observation post for naval activity. This
convent was fortified and mounted with artillery during the siege of 1570/1571.24 To the
northeast is the Augustinian convent, with its smaller tower. Like the other ruins, the

footnotes
21
For a description of the 1571 siege of Chaul, see Couto, Década VIII, 1777-1788 (ca. 1595-1615),
chap. 36, 38.
22
The most recent known fortification works relating to the bulwarked perimeter of Chaul took place
in 1721 [J. Gerson da Cunha (1876) — Notes on the history of Chaul and Bassein. New Delhi: Asian
Educational Services. 1993: plate H).
23
The Dominican convent of Chaul, dedicated our Our Lady of Guadalupe, was funded around 1549,
according to J. Gerson da Cunha (1876: 101).
24
The foundation of the Franciscan house at Chaul occurred between 1561 and 1564 [Frei Paulo da
Trindade (1629) — Conquista Espiritual do Oriente. Lisboa: Centro de Estudos Históricos
Ultramarinos. 1964: 193-200]. In 1570, it was fortified as a detached bulwark outside the primitive
defensive perimeter of Chaul. It was mounted with 5 cannon (Diogo do Couto (1595-1615) —
Décadas da Ásia. Lisboa: Régia Officina Typografica. 1777-1788: VIII, cap. 36).
Rossa & Mendiratta, Ghost Towns… 7|9

terrain is privately owned. Here, unfortunately, the owner didn’t hesitate to build a
mansion over the rubble and foundations of the convent.25

Fast decaying, perhaps condemned to oblivion, the ruins of the spectre of the
Portuguese organic urban layout at Chaul still have the power to enthral us today,
through their beauty and scale, dominating the sea and the beach, as in the days of old.

3. Bassein
The process through which the Portuguese acquired and extended their hold in Bassein
was quite similar to one of Chaul. In sequency: a factory, a fort, urban development, and
a bulwarked perimeter. However, the defensive preoccupations were different and the
original fort, besides having some pre-Portuguese elements, was quite larger than the
one at Chaul. Also, the scale and architectural quality of the religious buildings are only
to be compared with the ones at Goa within the whole of the Portuguese Eastern
Empire.

The urban layout at Bassein also reveals some degree of grid planning characteristic of
ex-nuovo Portuguese settlements and also, probably, of urban renovations well into the
early 18th century. The extension of the bulwarked perimeter, even allowed for the
inclusion of a considerable un-built area which could be used for agriculture or as a fish
farm in times of prolonged siege. Bassein was also the only known Portuguese town in
India to have paved streets and some hygienic guidelines.26

In this brief overview of Bassein, we can only focus on a few of the town’s structures.
The walls of the bulwarked perimeter remain impressive today, with their eleven
bastions. Two of these were gate bastions with siphoned doors: the land gate, towards
the west, and the sea gate, at the extreme south east. The perimeter encloses roughly 40
hectares of land. Through mining operations at the foot of the St. Sebastian bastion, the
Marathas forced their entry into Bassein in 1739.

The ruins of the Franciscan convent reveal extensive dependencies although the church
building is deeply ruined. A rare galilee projects over the main entry, evoking the galilee
of the Franciscan church in Évora (Portugal). Over the nave, an arch indicates the
location of the high choir and some tombstones are still in place, in spite of frequent
cricket playing. The building evolved from a primitive house founded by fr. António do
Porto in 1547.

It is the Jesuit college that reflects, better than all, the refinement and culture of the
Portuguese society at Bassein. Under the evocation of the Holy Name of Jesus, it was
footnotes
25
The Augustinian order founded their convent in Chaul, dedicated to Our Lady of Grace, in 1587 (J.
Gerson da Cunha, 1876: 98).
26
For a concise account of the urban characteristics of Bassein and its territorial and historic contexts,
refer to Walter Rossa (1999) — Baçaim: 7 alegações para uma aproximação ao espaço físico. Os
Espaços de um Império. Porto: Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos
Portugueses. 2 vol.s, vol. “estudos”, 1999: 105-123 [also published at Walter Rossa (1989-2001) — A
urbe e o traço: uma década de estudos sobre o urbanismo português. Coimbra: Almedina. 2002: 135-
161]. There one can also find a comprehensive bibliography about Bassein. See also Walter Rossa
(1995).
Rossa & Mendiratta, Ghost Towns… 8|9

founded between 1552 and 1555. The main façade of the church is one of the treasures
of what can tentatively be called Indo-Portuguese Reform Classicism, an heterogeneous
architectural language that incorporates Hindu motives and erudite models in
unorthodox relations and proportions. The overall morphology of the church reports us
to the theme of the Ark of the Covenant or Noah’s vessel. The college’s ruins included
several dependencies and rooms which amply deserve, like the other examples of Chaul
and Bassein that we have referred to, a thorough archaeological research.

Probably the most expressive element of Bassein’s self-conscious urbanity and

cosmopolitan rhetoric was the town’s main square. The dimensions of the square, its
adjacent buildings and the overall clarity and coherence of its urban layout stand out
among Indo-Portuguese towns, generally without a clear and ample central public space.
At its southern side, the square was bounded by the town’s original fort, with its circular
bastions and the church of Our Lady of Life attached to its walls. Inside the fort was the
captain’s house. Towards the northwest was the Misericórdia church with the hospital
structure attached. Continuing clockwise, was the city council house or Câmara.
Towards the north, the square was enclosed by a market and the Dominican convent,
an imposing group of ruined structures today. On the eastern side was the Palace of the
General of the North, an administrative position second only to the viceroy and created
in the mid 16th century. At the centre of the square was the pelourinho, the symbol of
judicial authority. Today, the square has lost its character owing to the construction of a
Hindu temple in it centre and the creating of an artificial pond along its western side.

Bassein was a capital and was thus inhabited by civil servants, military cadre, members
of the secular and regular clergy, merchants and landlords. It was a town of fidalgos, a
cosmopolitan settlement reflecting the scale of its hinterland and its status within the
Empire. However, only Christians were allowed to sleep in Bassein — the remainder
had to seek shelter outside the town’s walls, whose gates locked at sunset and unlocked
at dawn. During the two centuries of Portuguese life, the Christian nature of Bassein’s
soil was repeatedly strengthened with inscribed tombstones, many of which still exist.

Allegedly because of that, but probably by something deeper, the local tradition has
reasons to believe that Bassein is inhabited by ghosts who, during the night, roam freely
through the ruins. Because of that, the local fishermen have no wish to live in Bassein.
Therefore, to the spirits of the departed fidalgos — and to no one else — we owe the fair
preservation of the heritage of Bassein today: the tangible heritage of a true ghost city.

In the days of the Estado da Índia, these three urban settlements were the epicentres of a
triangle that defined, together with the sea on the western side, the insular territory that
nowadays is called Greater Mumbai. Churches, forts, roads, farmer and fishermen’s
villages were the among the elements that structured the integrated framework of that
ample territory – a territory that, towards the end of the 19th century and all along the
20th, witnessed an exponential and voracious urbanization.

As members of the research team working on the project Bombay before the British…, we
have been accessing this strange urban narrative. Curiously, we have understood that
although the forts, the road network and the rural communities with their respective
churches have prevailed as landmarks of the territorial structure and landscape of
greater Mumbai, the tree cities we have discussed and their role within the territory have
Rossa & Mendiratta, Ghost Towns… 9|9

been completely forgotten. Soon the ruins that are home to all these ghosts will
disappear and the ghosts will be too weak too evoke the past. But we believe it is still
possible to intervene to preserve their memory and place in the history of Portuguese
colonial architecture and urbanism.